A YouTube celebrity is a person, and in some cases, an animal, who has gained widespread recognition on the Internet and beyond by appearing in a video featured on YouTube.com. Not all YouTube celebrities have achieved their status voluntarily. Particularly during the early stages of viral videos, certain YouTube celebrities were unaware that they had been filmed on video or that that video was later uploaded onto the Internet. In these cases, where the origin of the YouTube celebrity was difficult to track down, they were often given a nickname that described their video, such as “Star Wars Kid,” “Angry German Kid,” or “The Bus Uncle.”

After YouTube was purchased in 2006 by Google™, it saw a rise in popularity as the website for Internet videos. Since then, many companies have sought to capitalize on the potential for viral marketing inherent in videos on YouTube. In turn, this movement has also given rise to YouTube celebrities such as lonelygirl15, who was featured in a series of diary-styled videos as teenage Vlogger (video blogger), Bree, but was later revealed to be professional actress, Jessica Lee Rose, who had been acting out a series of scripts pioneered by the Creative Arts Agency (CAA).

Another example of a popular YouTube celebrity is 26-year-old Wisconsin resident and “Queen of YouTube,” Nornna. Nornna developed a cult-following on YouTube through posting a series of over 600 home videos of herself and her cat, Patches. The videos feature the YouTube celebrity performing mundane, daily tasks, such as combing her hair or eating a corn dog in silence.

One of the most popular examples of an animal-turned-YouTube celebrity is “The Dramatic Hamster.” A short clip from a Japanese television show, the video features a prairie dog that turns dramatically towards the camera, giving a suspenseful stare. “Dramatic Hamster” was later parodied in a video Mash-Up by the band, Weezer for their song Pork and Beans.

YouTube celebrities that have used Internet video to further their careers independently in the media include Tay Zonday, Obama Girl, and Andy Milonakis. These and other YouTube celebrities have garnered media exposure on television, newspapers, and in some cases, acquired corporate sponsors that pay for product placement within the videos that feature them.