Analysing PewDiePie!

Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, is the 2nd most subscribed on YouTube (the most subscribed actually, since the #1 is owned by YouTube itself), was born in Sweden and currently lives in the UK. He mostly makes videos of him commentating over games he plays, with a facecam somewhere on the screen as well. Since his first video in 2010, he has gained over 17 million subscribers, making his channel have more subscribers than the amount of inhabitants in the Netherlands!

As you can see, his amount of subscribers is growing vastly, gaining over 7 million(!) subscribers in just half a year. He earns over 100,000 subscribers per day, making his one of the fastest growing channels. The question is, why does this Swedish guy have such an enormous amount of subscribers?


First of all, PewDiePie, or Felix, has a huge variety in the type of videos he makes. Yes, he mostly makes videos of him playing games while he commentates it, but he plays a lot of different games. From 'The Impossible Quiz', a mind boggling game, to horror games like 'Slender'. Besides these 'real' games, he makes videos of him, sometimes together with his girlfriend, being on websites like Omegle, or screwing around with programs like Photobooth. The advantage of having a lot of variety in your videos, is that a broad audience watches them. He attracts children with his videos of him playing funny games, he attracts teenagers with videos of him playing horror and action games, and he attracts girls by playing together with his girlfriend and because of his facecam, since he is not the worst looking kind of guy.

Secondly, Felix shows a lot of 'emotion' in his videos, even though he overreacts quite a bit. Yet, people seem to like this. They like watching a guy screaming at the top of his lungs when encountering a monster in one of the horror games, or laughing uncontrollably when something funny happens. Not only that, but he also has a very catching laugh. This all contributes to the viewers laughing, which gives them a positive feeling, making them watch more of his videos to get a good laugh out of them.

Furthermore, he makes his videos look very attractive. When scrolling through his uploaded videos, all of them have a interesting, weird, or funny looking thumbnail. This makes people laugh before they even clicked on the video, and makes them interested to see what he has come up with this time. Also, the titles of his videos are in caps lock, making them stand out more and making it more likely people click on the videos.

Last but not least, he interacts with his subscribers. He ends his videos giving the camera a brofist, as if he gives them to his viewers, making it personal. Also, at the 'Shorty Awards', he went over to his fans, talking to them and giving them autographs, to show that he cares about every single one of his subscribers.


Well, that's it for this post! Hopefully I have taught you enough to know why PewDiePie has become so big. If you enjoyed reading this, be sure to give it a follow! :) 

Next time, we'll take a look at FreddieW!