Oct 17, 2015 5 min read

Stephen Georg has a life much like any other. The 26-year-old lives in an apartment in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with his wife, Mallory. Like many people, he enjoys watching movies, playing video games and spending time with his two cats.

Oh, and Georg has been videotaped every day of his life for almost six years.

Georg is a YouTuber. Since 2009, he has single-handedly run StephenVlog, an online video channel dedicated to one simple concept: recording the events of his life. While originally a hobby, he now manages his YouTube career as a full-time job.

StephenVlog’s origins trace back to Georg’s college days at Savannah College of Art and Design, where he graduated with a degree in film and television in 2011.

“I was focusing on video editing and I wanted material to practice with, so I started the vlog to have editing practice on a daily basis,” Georg said.

Over time, however, his channel gained popularity, and his experiment evolved into the success it is today.

“I think in the first video, I say, ‘You know, I might just do this for a few weeks and see how it goes,'” he recalled. “It has been a few weeks. Just a few hundred weeks.”

Today, StephenVlog has gained nearly 58,000 subscribers. His success continued into his second channel, StephenPlays, created in 2011. Instead of vlog content, StephenPlays focuses on “Let’s Plays,” a popular video format involving live commentary paired with video game footage.

Georg credits the existence of his second channel to the community surrounding the 1995 game Earthbound for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

“I was always very active in the community, and a few years in, I met Emile Rosales, who goes by the name ‘Chuggaaconroy’ on the internet,” Georg said. “He sent me these videos of him talking over video games and I always thought it was really odd because Let’s Playing hadn’t really taken off at the time.”

However, as the medium rose to fame, Georg decided that he could make this type of content, and he has been releasing gameplay videos ever since.

More than four years later, StephenPlays hosts over 100,000 subscribers in its own merit. In addition to his collaboration with fellow YouTubers like Rosales, Georg attributes several other factors to this success amidst the abundance of channels with similar content. His wife also co-commentates a large portion of his content.

“Most of the people doing this are younger, and most of the people doing this are single,” he said, “So the fact that I have a wife and we’re making gaming videos on the Internet, there are very few people who do that.”

Georg also credits the diversity of his content to his channel’s popularity. While he frequently covers mature titles such as Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto V, and the Assassin’s Creed series on his channel, he also plays a great number of family-friendly games, including Minecraft, Pokemon, and Donkey Kong Country.

Yet, one of the greatest forces that has kept Georg’s career strong over time is the support of his family, friends and fans. While initially confused by the projects, Georg’s parents have stood alongside him every step of the way, and now proudly share his exploits with anyone they meet. Dedicated viewers openly chat with the personality through forums such as Twitter and flock to scheduled meetups during major gaming conventions. And since the beginning, the gaming and YouTube communities have continued to travel alongside Georg’s journey and provide him with the inspiration to continue on.

“I view fellow creators as people,” he remarked on the group of YouTubers he has grown to work with over the years. “A lot of the time, a viewer views an online creator on a pedestal. I don’t view fellow creators like that. They’re friends. When you have a network of friends like that, you can do great things.”

Now, with over 74 million views between both channels, Georg’s popularity only seems to be increasing – and with a consistent stream of content releasing every day, it shows no signs of stopping. Still, it is impossible to tell what the future holds for him.

The only way to find out is one day at a time.

Alex York is senior at Commonwealth Connections Academy.