It is a valid work option in our modern world IF you have the skill set, talent and dedication. It is also possible to branch it into other things such as acting, voice work, and etc using YouTube as a springboard.

For people who do it for fun, I imagine the drive for some is caused by admiring big YouTubers. Much like a kid who picks up learning guitar because he admires a rock band, its the same thought process.

Just a few examples.

Well im just going to list kinds of people that want to be gaming youtubers :

• I am lazy, i want to play video games for a living even tho im 14 and played like 10 games in my entire life
  
• This is easy, i can get rich, i just have to self advertise the shit out of myself
  
• Im an attention whore
  
• I see a business opportunity in youtube, i just have to follow the newest gaming trend , and make videos on it ( even tho that there are 1000 of channels that make the same exact videos 10 times better 10 times faster)
  
• Im a person that likes producing content, i rarely focus only on games that are in the trend , i play games i enjoy , i work hard on my videos , write scripts (reviews), do a lot of work, but in the end im really happy with my content.
  
• Im an 5 year old that wants to be pooddeeepieee, i have a random username with random numbers and symbols in it. Streamers hate me.
  

I probably missed a lot, also i only focused on gaming youtubers, since i don't watch many vlog channels , and well animation channels have like only 1 kind "I animate cause i have nothing better to do. And it's looks cool."

Ah, well dude, the only things in life that bug us are the ones that we let bug us. There's really no point in thinking on it too much, people who don't care much about what they do are rarely going to get far with it.

I think for most "Youtubers", YouTube begins as a hobby, a fun thing to do on the side. After a while, you start building an audience, people seem to be enjoying what you put out there, it slowly becomes something more serious. People who go in expecting to make big bucks or becoming the next internet sensation are usually disappointed and lose interest pretty quickly.

Speaking for myself, I just like to make people laugh, and I find making videos to be a good way to do that. I feel like I can be myself and show off my personality in ways I couldn't do with other mediums. Being able to make a living off of it was just something that happened over time; a fortunate side effect, I guess.

Becoming a youtuber is being accepted as a job in today's society when you hear about the most recent stars of youtube, both in the gaming side and outside. Pretty much anyone can become a youtuber, ngl.

That being said, the thing I like being about a youtuber is getting everything recorded as soon as possible, so that editing it down will be easier/less hassle than uploading something with a lot of mistakes. It's easy to record certain instruments (as I'm currently making a music channel) and using youtube to upload music will help me out when it comes to seeing what my potential audience likes and dislikes. It's basically a win-win. I get to build confidence with uploading, and people get new music.

For me recording has always been a huge passion of mine. Ive been using camcorders and making videos since I was very little. I made videos just for me and my friends, but eventually people in my surrounding got annoyed by me for just filming them all the time.

I played a lot of Wow at that time, and when YouTube came around I had the idea of putting PVP tutorial videos on there to help people and the community. One thing lead to another and today I still makes videos. For me its just a passion of recording, editing and hopefully offering value.

making videos is fun, i like making videos for myself mainly. and if people tune in i am honored that someone wastes their time to watch my retarded self do anything

I am a YouTuber for several reasons.. I would like to eventually be able to make money off of YouTube.

JAY YOU SHOULDN'T BE IN THIS FOR THE MONEY!!!!11111one

I am not just in YouTube for the money, the money would help me be able to stay home and produce better quality content.
Not only this, I would be able to spend more time with my wife and little girl.
Lastly.. I would be more available to my subscriber pals, and to my mom and dad who both have health issues.
Working for an employer, a 9-5 job, that is dead end and sucks you absolutely dry, is not my cup of tea. But we nearly all do it.

I just want to do what I've always wanted to do.. act, entertain.. acting and entertaining are more demanding.. but I love doing it. So despite YouTube being more demanding than my IRL job.. (and not paying me for it) I still love to do it.

I want to teach people how to do stuff, how to cheat games (like the old days of gameshark) and vlog.. I just like to do this very much. And it helps me unwind. I know when I get home, I have my wife and child, and my audience, there waiting for me.

Its really fun to do honestly thats why i like being one

I'm a creative person so Youtube is a perfect outlet for me to channel that creativity and to meet and make new friends

Personally, I make videos because I enjoy it. I like editing, I like talking to people while I am playing (or show my reaction) and I like bringing joy to at least one person who watches my videos. I don't seek fame or a lot of views/subscriptions, but I do enjoy the fact that I can make someone smile with what I do. Also, I enjoy games way more when I am "on the spot". It makes me pay more attention to the game itself and go through with it, instead of giving up instantly.

I can't speak for everyone else but personally I decided to become a YouTuber not for the money since I make a pretty good amount being a network administrator but because I have seen the charitable work that Pewdiepie, Markiplier, and other YouTubers do and it really inspired me to want to help the world as well. It is an exhausting profession but I have picked up steam fairly quickly and every day I get to meet new people on here and on twitter that share my dream or that just enjoy what I am doing and even that alone has become its reward for doing this. I know I probably have the sappiest reason on here and it probably even sounds rehearsed but its the truth. I grew up with nothing so I know how hard it is having to live that kind of a life. When I can get a big enough fan base under me I really want to start doing charity streams and anything else I can think of to try and rally people together to help make the world a better place. Whats really cool is that by doing YouTube I have found other YouTubers that share my same passion so now we work together to try to build each other up and keep each other motivated because lets face it, when you're working full time AND putting out two videos a day you kind of forget what sleep and a social life is.

tldr; I do it so that I can one day help charities and causes across the world.

Because YouTube is F-U-N !

This is obviously my personal reason for being a youtuber. I can not speak for others but can only assume that it is because they are young and impressionable and wish to be like the people they spend hours watching. I however am old and have my own reason.

I have been going at Youtube for 3 years now, and before this post you have never heard of me. I REFUSE to give up because I am the type of person to not back down when committed, I have spent too much effort to not continue my goal of being somebody.

All my life (again I mention that I am not the 12-15 year old that most people think I would be with watching Pewdiepie [no offence, to those rare few that are not Pewdiepie's normal little kid demographic] ) I have been unknown, despite my great charisma. I do not posses any skills like a normal person, I am not a barber or wielder, or even a fast food cook. All I have going for me is a give it to you straight personality that might or might not be over the line of psychopathic.

I started Youtube those 3 years ago because I wanted to be someone, I wanted to be known and I wanted to be able to speak the truth, to not have my opinions bought, to be a celebrity that is still very much down to earth. I apologize for creating an essay for you, but I figure you deserved a true from the soul response.

I am a Youtuber because this is the only thing I have got, I want to leave a mark, and regardless of if I get anywhere, which my bad luck says I wont, I won't/can't back down.

If you read all this thank you, I spent way too much time replying to this thread.

I think it's definitely a mixture of different reasons.

People have now seen exactly what YouTube is capable of doing for people, whether that's recognition, an escape from daily life or the opportunity to a positive influence on other people.

I've used YouTube actively since about 2008 or so, but I only really started taking regular content creation seriously last year. I do a lot of art-based work (photography, mostly) and I was kind of stuck in a rut. I was going in circles and I wanted to challenge myself.

Making videos was out of my comfort zone in that I had next to no experience and a lot of insecurities to work through. But doing YouTube has allowed me to get over myself for the most part and I'm a lot more confident since I started.

The reason I'm still doing it is because people have been supportive, editing is fun as heck, I get to research useless funny snippets of information and I've been told by several people that I make them laugh. And that's a freakin' awesome feeling.