In the wake of the outing of LonelyGirl15 as a New Zealand actress, the newest vlogging superstar is a 79 year old English widower named Peter aka Geriatric1927 - the grandpa & elder statesman of YouTube. The self-described YouTube addict started his vlog in August to "bitch and grumble about life in general from the perspective of an old person who's been there and done that." in a series entitled "Telling it All. Through each of his 30+ videos, Peter has told his life story, including his growing up during World War II and joining the British Army, his experiences in England's education system, his meeting his wife, and his passion for motorcycles. He has also on occasion commented on YouTube, his fans, haters on YouTube, and even this week's acquisition by Google.Geriatric1927's first video gained 2 million views and his YouTube channel is now 2nd all time in subscriptions only to LonelyGirl15. A search on YouTube for his handle yields 582 results which range from video responses to him, both positive and negative, news profiles like the BBC on him, video tributes to him, and parodies. Despite all the attention he has gained, he has shied away from advertisers and media who want to profile him.
Some people credit him as an inspiration for trying new things like YouTube at his age, for opening himself up to the world, for his style of storytelling, and for brining a higher profile for the elderly. Others say he's a refreshing, real human voice on YouTube, particularly after many realized they were duped by LonelyGirl15. He is an unlikely, yet amazing internet superstar indeed... basically, he rules.
As we keep hearing more and more in recent months with data to support, sites such as MySpace and YouTube are actually rather popular with older demographics. It's clear that they're not just for teenagers & twenty-somethings. The implications for marketers are quite interesting then as popular social mass media sites are identified as a medium for all demographics and more and more voices across the world are heard. Websites and companies that cater to the elderly should take note to use the internet to reach their target market more effectively.
Links:
Wikipedia on Geriatric1927
MySpace Fan Page for Geriatric 1927
BBC News on Geriatric1927
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