Rwby, and projects like it!

As an update to last week, Phillip DeFranco's new channel is sucessfully taking off, and has, as promised, really brought the community into Youtube. However, this week, I am going to shift my focus from YouTube and take a look at another community driven website known as RoosterTeeth. This website, like many of the things that I follow, got it's start on YouTube, with one of their earliest creations, the comedy-sketch-esque compilation of Red Vs. Blue. Which is based around characters they created from the then-popular game Halo in 2003. RoosterTeeth has grown since then, getting their own merchandise, much like forhumanpeoples.com, and creating more content thanks to the involvement of their fans. Their newest project is one that I have come to love, and is successfully taking off. The Show Rwby. Rwby is the story of Ruby Rose, a girl who wants to become a Huntress in a world filled with the evil creatures of Grimm. It is a spin off of the old Grimm Brothers' stories and so far has gained a small cult following including myself, and a few of my friends. Plus thousands of regulars on the RoosterTeeth website. Rwby is animated, written, and voiced by members of RoosterTeeth, and is on it's 14th episode of the first season.

DeFranco's Nation

This past week Phillip DeFranco launched another section of Youtube called ForHumanPeople. This new site is going to be an interactive collaboration between the Youtube community and the people at DeFranco Inc. Who run the For Human People website. I have already discussed these kind of Youtubers before, so I won't go into too much detail, but so far, like his earlier release of SourceFed Nerd, the website is taking off quite well even though there is only once episode so far. In other news, Hank Green, one half of the Vlogbrothers is continuing his Streamy and Emmy winning blog series Lizzy Bennet Diaries with another one of Jane Austin's books. This round will be the book Emma. The web series, which is titled Emma Approved, will tell the story of Emma through a new media that is relatable to today's teenagers. So it is a big week for the internet. Oh, and in a moment of celebrity gossip, Phililp DeFranco is going to be a father! So, on top of his recent proposal and someone from the Nation giving his father a kidney because of Phillip DeFranco Sr.'s PKD, he is having another big week full of good surprises.

Online Campaigns

This week’s blog will be dedicated to sites like indigogo.com and kickstarter.com. These sites have become more popular in the recent years. Only a few years ago, it was an uncommon and frowned upon notion to try and take money from any of the viewers of Youtube, or readers of your blogs. Now however, with the help of these sites countless people have started to take full advantage of this opportunity. From Smosh and Tobuscus using the money to make a video game to PewDiePie using the money to help water.org, these two websites are gaining their own niche within the internet world. One of the more famous pushes for these websites was the recent campaign to have a Veronica Mars movie, which was successful and is underway in the filming. There is something to be said from the fans having a new control over what happens in their fandoms by donating money, and it is an interesting social experiment to see exactly what they will pay for. Although I like the idea of the Veronica Mars movie, even though I was not an original fan of the television series, it does have me wondering how people can just throw their money at campaigns to fund these people who already make a lot of money. It makes me wonder what is going to happen to the independent artists, like NotLiterally on Youtube who use the money because they could not get the support any other way, whereas some of the bigger stars of Hollywood are using these sites almost to bribe fans into paying for something they’ve been asking for.