PewDiePie More Influential Amongst Teens than Most Celebrities

A recent study has found that teenagers in the United States are more fascinated by YouTube stars than they are with most traditional kinds of celebrities, with PewDiePie near the top of the list.

Variety has reported its findings from a recent survey it hosted, revealing that YouTube stars are becoming more popular with teenagers in the U.S. than most actors, musicians and other kinds of celebrities are. In particular, PewDiePie, whose claim to fame is playing games live while commentating on his encounters, is ranked the third most popular YouTube star out there. PewDiePie beat Jennifer Lawrence, Seth Rogen, Daniel Radcliffe and Leonardo DiCaprio in terms of YouTube popularity. YouTube personalities Smosh and the Fine Bros. took the top two spots over PewDiePie.

Surprisingly, the highest-voted traditional celebrity is Paul Walker, which is strange because this survey was administered in July 2014 and he died in late 2013. The survey itself assessed 1,500 participants on how 20 well-known personalities compare in terms of authenticity and influence. 10 were chosen based on having the most subscribers and views on YouTube, with the other 10 picked based on having the highest Q scores (the industry standard of measuring a franchise, character or person's appeal to the public) among teenagers. Surprisingly, the top five of the survey were all YouTube personalities.

We might catch hell for saying it, but AtheneWins has been doing that kind of commentary longer and PewDiePie's vocal tones sound like he's doing South Park impressions. Nevertheless, it's great to see a video game-based YouTube personality score so well in Variety's survey.