Despite being heavily involved in geek culture, girls have historically not felt the pull of YouTube when it comes to geek content. To take the example of gamers, just 30% of YouTube gaming audiences are female, despite 45% of gamers being female, according to MediaKix statistics. The good news is that these statistics are starting to reverse, and through a few inspirational stories, female led digital culture is receiving a serious amount of attention on the world’s most popular streaming site. As more women interact with YouTube’s geek content, genre views on the platform are expected to rise.

Pushing engagement

The perceived success of a YouTuber is often linked to their ability to engage with audiences. Subscribers and comments are crucial for receiving wider media attention and climbing Google rankings, according to Social Media Daily, and this is often the defining factor between a quality channel and a superstar one. Few YouTube stars are a better example of this than iHasCupquake. As Mic notes, iHasCupquake came to fame through her Minecraft series. What is interesting about her channel, however, is the sheer level of engagement it receives; according to SocialBlade, it ranks 383rd in the world in terms of importance. The style and strategy employed by iHasCupquake is important for future geek girls seeking success on YouTube, and improving representation in the wider media. Furthermore, the geek-girl audience the channel attracts, pushes the viewing numbers up for geek content across the platform.

Eating into established markets

Geek girls are breaking into well-established genres on YouTube. Cookery is one example of this; a male-dominated realm online, the likes of Babish, Dog and Donal Skehan have seized control and set a precedent for niche geek content creation further down the line. Breaking this mold are the likes of Rosanna Pansino, who has obtained 7 million subscribers through her nerdy baking show, Nerdy Nummies. Stated by The List to be a geek from a young age, the representation of women like Rosanna in one of the biggest YouTube arenas can only be a good thing, and is sure to affect the number of views geek content receives more widely.

Moving into high-tech

Technology is a male dominated world, and a few established names have taken up much of the market when it comes to YouTube tech videos. An increasing number of women are now getting heavily involved in this subject area, and disrupting the status quo further. In some cases, women are doing it better than male-dominated channels ever did.

Take, for example, Blondie Bytes. According to Women In Technology, instructional videos posted by Blondie Bytes on how to develop technology through coding have been a smash hit – and not only with women. The educational style and format have come across strongly across all genders and backgrounds, with the simplicity yet hidden depth of her instructions much vaunted. If female geek YouTubers can break into an area as closely guarded as technology, it bodes well for the YouTube scene as a whole. Similarly, as women continue to explore geek content, geeky channels and content providers can expect to see rises in their viewing figures across the board.

YouTube has been dominated by men since its creation. Meanwhile, women have been creating top quality content while the limelight is taken. In geek culture, the rise has been slower, but today, inspirational female YouTubers are showing that there is a clear space at the table for geek girl digital industry content on the web.

 

featured image: Pixabay

 

 

Betty Bugle
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