The Surprising Second Act for One of YouTube's Biggest Stars
The line snakes across an entire airport hangar. Hundreds of people, most of them teenage girls, stand single file and chatter excitedly, bouncing on their heels and occasionally dissolving into nervous tears. At the front of all this is the man they’ve been waiting to meet, a guy that almost nobody over the age of 24 has heard of: Connor Franta, YouTube star.
“I love you!" Squeals Shelby, a 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl, as she reaches the front of the line. "I love you, too!” He responds. Shelby, like everyone else, is now granted two photographed poses with Franta -- and she, like everyone else, takes this decision seriously. Many fans spend their brief time with Franta discussing what they should do in their photo. Make the shape of a heart with their fingers? Mug cheek-to-cheek? Kick up a foot?
Shelby goes with a high five. She leaves smitten. Franta will be here for hours longer.
We’re in Anaheim, Calif., at VidCon, the world’s biggest gathering of social media stars, which draws 20,000 attendees a year. This is one of the many places Franta comes to meet his public, and he has good reason to keep them engaged: His audience has made him rich. He has a net worth in the millions (he won’t confirm or deny reported estimates of $3 million), and what he calls a “significant” source of his income comes from promoting products through his various social media channels: , where 5.6 million subscribers watch videos of him talking about his life or enacting short skits, he sells ads, product placement for the likes of Coca-Cola and NatureBox and offers a 30-day free Audible.com subscription. He also promotes brands on Twitter
