Window to world

[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Window to world" ids="125397,125398,125399,125400"] BY SHAHD ALHAMDAN MANY Saudis closed the YouTube tab just for the day as they went to King Abdullah Sports City ‘Al-Jawhara Stadium’ filled with joy, passion, fun to meet their favorite YouTube creators on Friday after a soft launch of the event at a media conference on Thursday. The day will feature live shows by some of the region’s most influential YouTube creators. YouTube is an American video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California. YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube launched the first YouTube FanFest in the Arab world in Jeddah and famous YouTube stars had the chance to interact and perform for their fans. Omar Hussein, Bader Saleh, Aljuhara Sajer, The Saudi Reporters, Moha, D7oomy 999, Omar Farooq, Hatoun Al Qadi, and many more, were some of the participants. These creators are part of a growing YouTube community in Saudi Arabia where watch time per capita is ranked the highest in the world. There are more than 30 channels in the Kingdom that have more than million subscribers, and 15 percent of the views for some of the creators are from outside the Kingdom. During the YouTube FanFest media conference at Park Hayat Thursday, it was mentioned, that people in Saudi Arabia watch more YouTube than people from any other country. Every year, the number of views in the Kingdom is growing massively, and just on mobile devices viewership grew by 65 percent in the last 12 months. For many Saudis the YouTube has become a platform for learning new skills, inspiring and motivating themselves, and creating businesses and startups. Stephen Nuttall, head of YouTube EMEA, said, “YouTube has become a place to gain knowledge, to learn, and acquire new skills. People in Saudi Arabia are looking to YouTube as a great platform for inspiration and a great window to the world.” Nuttall explained that FanFest is an event that YouTube hosts around the world and it provides an opportunity to bring all the creators on one stage in front thousands of fans that are incredibly excited to have the chance to see their stars on stage, and also meet them, one to one afterward. “There are many talents in the Kingdom and there are a huge number of fans of the creators. I think the event is more about celebration of the wonderful creativity and the creation of Arabic content all around the region. Many creators started to see YouTube as a place to run their careers, and run their own businesses,” he said. Mohammed Al-Moshayea, one of the leading YouTuber and participants in the event, decided to resign his high-salaried job in the finance field after a few months and focus on the YouTube world. He creates videos for him and his kids and focuses more on the content that fits Saudi culture. His effort has catapulted him to one of the leading and creative YouTubers in the region. “YouTube is a great platform for youth. I could not balance my work and the YouTube effort since the latter was taking most of my time. I had to make a choice, and I decided to resign my job and concentrate on creating videos. I am happy with my decision and do not care what other people think,” he added. He said that since taking the decision to focus on YouTube videos, he’s enjoying life more as my creativity gets burnished, he’s spending more time with his family and he’s also gaining the needed money from doing videos on YouTube while many chances are opening up for him now to travel. The only negative point in his opinion is the lack of privacy. Even his kids now are famous so when they are in public places, most of the time people interact with them so they cannot play or eat like other children. This was YouTube’s second event in Saudi Arabia after last year’s launch of Batala, a platform dedicated to highlighting the region’s female creators, in Riyadh.