I found this fairly long interview on The Verge with Marques Brownlee (MKBHD on YouTube) to be very interesting:

But what looks effortless and fun to the viewer is often the result of careful planning and investment. YouTubers are entrepreneurs, and Brownlee — my guest on today’s episode of Decoder — talks that talk with the best of them.

Marques Brownlee could be described as “tech reviewer” or a “social media influencer” or a “YouTuber.” I don’t watch all his videos, but I have checked in with his YouTube channel periodically since I first saw him (as a college student!) on an episode of TWiT. While he is telegenic and charismatic, he also presents himself as someone with a strong sense of ethics who is very smart and thoughtful about he approaches his business. This interview gives a pretty long look into Marques Brownlee’s professional world.

My wife, who is a high school teacher, recently reported to me that one of the top “professions” that teens want to go into is “social media influencer.” That is kind of eyeroll-inducing to me, but I suppose it is as realistic and as meaningful an aspiration as “famous writer” was to me. It is important to know how much work goes into that sort of job, and how much time, investment, and infrastructure goes into keeping up with the competition.