It seems that the fame of pop stars, actors, and actresses has now been eclipsed, at least among teenagers. No longer can the celebrities of traditional entertainment mediums claim that they are the most popular with that demographic.
A study by Variety found that the top five most popular celebrities among kids aged 13-18 are all YouTube stars. Scored based on approachability, authenticity, and other measures of personality, these people surpassed actors, actresses, and performers from traditional film, television, and music industries. Sitting at number one among the celebs is the Smosh pair, who post comedy videos in games and real-life situations. The Fine Bros, who also make comedy videos, are second. Number three is PewDiePie, AKA Felix Kjellberg, the successful producer of video game content. His YouTube channel has the most subscribers on YouTube, sitting at 29 million.
The top mainstream celebrities are actor Paul Walker at number six, actress Jennifer Lawrence at number seven, and singer Katy Perry at number nine.
You can check out the top ten most popular celebrities among teens below. YouTubers are marked with an asterisk.
Smosh*The Fine Bros*PewDiePie*KSI*Ryan Higa*Paul WalkerJennifer LawrenceShane Dawson*Katy PerrySteve CarellRecently, it was revealed that PewDiePie makes $4 million on his videos every year. He produces Let's Play videos in a wide number of games. PewDiePie often posts upwards of a dozen videos every two weeks, and all of them generally hit 2 million views in that same time period. But that doesn't mean he is comfortable with the fame. "I'm so central to YouTube now, and that puts me in the spotlight and raises a lot of questions like 'Why is he so big?'" he said. "I'd much rather prefer to have something like 5 million subscribers."