“Vlogging” is quickly becoming an extremely popular genre of visual entertainment. A ‘vlog’ is a blog post which is in video form. Vlogs started become more popular after the creation of YouTube in 2005, as that provided a platform for people to upload their vlogs for others to see and comment on. And while the internet is filled with thousands and thousands of vlogs; one very creative and smart man saw it as an entrepreneurial opportunity to reach and impact many and has risen to mainstream prominence over the past year.
Casey Neistat had showed interest in expressing his thoughts and ideas through video form from an early age. In 2003, he created a video called “iPod’s Dirty Secret” where he criticized Apple’s lack of a battery replacement program for the iPod and gave reasons as to why they should. In very “David v. Goliath” style, his video actually made Apple come out with a battery replacement policy and the public and the press praised what he had done. Neistat was smart enough to see YouTube as a platform by which he could reach, impact and share ideas with millions of people across the world. And since 2015 has been releasing daily vlogs. What has set him apart from the countless others who have attempted to do so, is the amount of effort, creativity and genius his videos show. Releasing an almost 9-minute vlog every day means he has to plan out his theme for the day, plan out the shots (camera/GoPro/Drone), edit through hours and hours of footage and then upload it onto YouTube within 24 hours of the previous one. The impressive thing is that every vlog is even more impressive than the last, featuring breathtaking shots (especially through Drone footage) of his city (NYC) and he manages to give messages of hope and encouragement to his viewers both young and old, which is a great way to be using the internet for.
I think of him as a great example of a young entrepreneur as he saw a new medium to take advantage of to be uniquely brilliant on, and made full use of it. In additional to a major following, he also found a way to monetize his videos, landing lucrative deals with major companies and was also named GQ’s “Man of the Year” in 2016.
You can visit his channel and see his videos, here.