The Vlog Brothers

John and Hank Freen (http://wishingforhorses.com/2011/01/25/meet-the-vlogbrothers/ ())

The Vlogbrothers. Yes, their videos are often the first thing I see on the Youtube homepage. They are witty, informative, and not to mention hilarious. Starting their Youtube career in 2007, John and Hank Green have attracted massive audiences, made over 1000 videos, and using their internet status, organized VidCon, run a record label, and started a few charity projects. They are my heroes and I am proud to say so, having motivated and inspired me in so many different ways.

John and Hank Green are real-life brothers, living in separate cities in the United States with their own families and "actual" jobs (John Green is a bestselling author, he wrote "Looking for Alaska" and "The Fault in Our Stars", Hank Green is the inventor of 2D glasses, and runs a few websites). They started their Youtube careers as the Brotherhood 2.0 project, in which they ceased all text-based communications to each other and instead, communicate through video vlogs every weekday for a year. This was a huge success, attracting a massive audience therefore they decided to continue, transforming what was originally just a Youtube channel with a series of vlogs to a platform for educational, informational, and entertaining content; helping me understand the U.S. national debt crisis, motivating me to make my mark in the global community and making me laugh at silly conspiracy theories and misprints in historical documents.

Many side projects grew from this one channel, like Crash Course, a channel completely dedicated to teaching students about world history and biology, Scishow, run by Hank Green to bring Youtubers an almost daily dose of scientific concepts, theories and news. Videos from these channels and their main channel often get featured in papers and are sometimes even aired on television, and get shown in classrooms across the world; enlightening and opening the eyes of many. They have also helped many people support themselves, and connect with other people.

DFTBA records is a record company run by the Vlogbrothers which lets the artists have the majority of the profits earned by their albums. This revolutionary idea helped many budding musicians and Youtube artists that would usually get overlooked by other major labels.They've also proceeded to open online stores for other Youtubers where they can get the majority of the profits. They've changed lives with these things. Supporting students through art school by selling posters of their artwork, selling t-shirts to help fund other people's projects.... they started Project for Awesome, a charity project in which Youtubers will take a day to promote and raise money for a cause they are passionate about, like stopping global warming or finding a cure for cancer. They also organized VidCon, in which people of the Internet from all over the world can come together and share ideas, connect with each other, and overall have a good time.

DFTBA (tumblr. ())

their videos are uplifting and, well, lets me know that not all hope is lost in the world. they've made many videos that changed my perspective and outlook of life; they've introduced new ideas and concepts to me that impacted me greatly and motivated me to try new things and become fascinated with the world around me. Why do they do all this you ask? For the enlightenment and betterment of others. The Vlogbrothers have impacted the global Internet community in so, so many positive ways, they have educated, motivated, and inspired; they have demonstrated the true power of the Internet, how one small vlogging channel can have such a huge impact in the community, how two siblings with one goal can achieve so much, how learning can actually be... fun. They're using their celebrity status to do good for society; motivated purely because they want to help others. I shall end this essay with their closing, DFTBA, Don't forget to be awesome.