Meet the KuwaitiVlogger

You are in college at 20-years-old. You take classes for a degree only to have it in your back pocket, while you spend over 20 hours a week perfecting your primary craft. That is often times the harsh reality for someone with their eyes set on a career in acting or music.

Though not an actor or musician, this is Salman Alotaibi’s life as a “YouTuber.”

In a lifestyle that your parents would not understand, ask anyone under 25 if they are familiar with “Youtubing” for a living. You would find that it is, in fact, the newest form of fame for this generation – something that Alotaibi is not alone in pursuing.

“My parents know I’m doing it, but they don’t want me to lean on it too much. If I cared only about YouTube, then I would drop out of school. I am still education first so it is really difficult to fully succeed at both,” said Caleb Probst, a sophomore at UAB and an aspiring YouTuber.

It is a career completely driven by views, merchandise, and staying hot, while simultaneously, keeping a plan B intact knowing you may be nothing more than a fad.

Salman Alotaibi, 20, also known as “KuwaitiVlogger” has amassed nearly 570,000 subscribers on his channel, where he vlogs and tries new things and technology to a predominately Arabic audience.

As a civil engineering student at the University of Alabama from Kuwait, Alotaibi manages to receive income off of an extensively produced and edited video every Friday – a lifestyle that many college students dream of.

“I think everyone wants to be a YouTuber, just like everyone kind of wants to be an actor, but people are usually too afraid or don’t know how to start. Being creative and making content on your own pace from out of your house seems like the perfect job,” said Richard Kanneh, a sophomore creative media student at the University of Alabama.

Alotaibi has enjoyed the perks of an atypical job. A natural traveler, transferring from Columbia University to UCLA to the University of Alabama, he has recorded videos in Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and his hometown of Kuwait. He has plans booked in Europe for commercials already this December. He camped out in Miami on a school night for the new iPhone all for a video so it is safe to assume that, well, he is one of the busier on campus.

Classes are admittedly a second priority for the 20-year-old vlogger, but he does constantly emphasize his need for a backup plan. Until then, he says he will continue to work as hard as possible in the entertainment field. After all, the money is too much to pass up.

Like many YoutTubers, Alotaibi makes a strong percentage of his income from non-YouTube affiliated streams of income. Personal merchandise and advertising revenue make up the bulk of his paycheck.

How much exactly?

A whopping 95 percent of his money comes from outside of the YouTube site.

“You don’t make a lot of money out of videos on YouTube if it isn’t viral. Companies care about content more than subscribers,” said Alotaibi.

When many people think of these types of “lucky” careers in the entertainment industry, stressful may not come to mind. That is far from the truth for the KuwaitiVlogger. Alotaibi puts his heart and soul in making videos and often stays up until 5 a.m. to edit.

With goals of one day living in Los Angeles and making a living creating fully personalized content, the 20-year-old YouTuber is committed to achieving this lifestyle despite the mental troubles it has given him – something he believes is under looked as a social media influencer.

“No one in social media is mentally stable. You may think ‘why would you not want fame? You don’t want money’?” No, you have no idea how much it affects you socially and mentally,” says Alotaibi.

Alotaibi used to battle coming to grips with his own identity. He says that YouTube made him constantly battle who he was versus the character he portrays.

When he would get in front of the camera, he couldn’t think of anything else besides “be perfect.” Alotaibi does not want to disappoint fans who remove themselves from their own imperfect reality when they watch a KuwaitiVlogger video. This has led the YouTube star to become trapped in his own mental prison where he would crave the fame and impact, but just couldn’t escape the identity crisis.

Fortunately for Alotaibi, the character that he wanted to build ended up becoming himself. Once a shy kid in high school, the social media influencer feels like he has acclimated to the YouTube world, but wishes he could have had a better warning.

“You are going to go through depression. You are going to have bad mental health. You aren’t going to know who you are. You will lose a lot of friends. If you just have a heads up and are appreciative, it is going to be fine. I am fine, now at least. I am wiser and I am thankful.”