Editor's Note: This is Part 3 of a three-part series on local online influencers.
Jonah Munnings was raised with a camera in his hand.
While the 18-year-old Collingwood Collegiate Institute student boasts a modest following of 143 subscribers on YouTube, the local teen is hoping to diversify and springboard his following into something bigger down the road.
“It kind of all started when I got a camera. My dad makes documentaries, so he always had a bunch laying around,” said Munnings. “My first video was just me talking about my favourite super heroes for like 20 minutes.”
Munnings started his channel in August 2018. Back then, Munnings said he didn’t have many friends so he used the platform as an outlet.
“I like to talk a lot and share my feelings,” said Munnings. “YouTube is that kind of platform where people who have something they want to say, that’s where you talk.”
Munnings considers himself a vlogger, or video blogger. His format is mostly him talking to the camera about his life.
“The channel is mostly a diary,” he said. “I wanted to start at 17 so when I have kids, they might one day watch this. I want to make memories for myself too, so when I’m super old I can look back on this stuff.”
“It’s not really for fans, fame or money. I’m just doing this for me,” he said.
Munnings says he’s very influenced by his father, who is a professional filmmaker and makes documentaries for a living.
“From my childhood, I can always remember my dad having a camera. He made money off that and we lived off that,” he said. “He knows what hard work is and I’m really proud of him.”
On YouTube, there are a few content creators Munnings looks up to, such as Casey Neistat (a fellow vlogger with 10 million subscribers) and Dude Perfect (a trick-shot channel with 48.5 million subscribers).
“I haven’t found any algorithm on YouTube or any platform for instant success. Everybody chases that. It’s more about finding your passion and chasing that thing,” he said.
While there are many philosophies on how to make a successful YouTube channel including clickbait titles, dynamic thumbnails and unique slants, Munnings sees a trend of YouTubers getting their starts on other platforms, such as Vine, TikTok or even in TV and film, and only after achieving success on those platforms are they able to successfully make the jump to YouTube.
“Nobody knows who you are if you’re not (already) famous,” he said.
After a YouTuber gets 1,000 subscribers, the platform will start paying a content creator per thousand views on videos. There is also money to be made through sponsored content or native advertisements within videos. Engagement can also help viewership, but Munnings says it’s a slippery slope.
“Comments help the page. Once I put out a video and someone hated it and told me I was trash. I was upset because they were being mean, but I was also super happy because they noticed me,” he said.
But for Munnings, he says it doesn’t matter to him whether he ever makes money off YouTube.
“I have a lot of things going on in my life right now,” he said, with a laugh. “Diversifying in any way you can is so important in any creative field.”
Munnings is wading into music now as his lead passion, in addition to making videos. He also runs the Collingwood Youth Centre film club for this season.
“I want to smile and be positive every time the camera is on, but I also want to be myself. You have to find a kind of balance between not opening up too much to the world and keeping some of you to yourself,” he said.
Overall, Munnings believes there is a certain irony to the advent of social media and the connections it creates.
“We have all these platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitch or YouTube where you can reach out to people, make friends and build a big community. We have that. But if it’s not working out, it can be easy to feel down about it,” said Munnings. “I don’t think we need to base our feelings off what the world has to say about us. That’s something we do a lot in my generation because the world is always staring at you. We always worry about it.”
“You can look at it two ways: it’s great because we’re all in the community, but it’s also kind of scary because you can still feel alone or depressed. You can have lots of friends on the socials but not meet a single person,” he added.
