Building A Following

After a long day of work, most students prefer to settle down with a stack of homework, a favorite Netflix show and some well-deserved sleep. Boston University’s elite videography superheroes, however, stay up tirelessly throughout the night, editing and filming content to post the following morning.

They are forced to cut corners when it comes to having a social life, participating in extracurricular activities and school work. Devoting their time towards a passion is a boon. The recognition, sponsorship and money they get are a major bonus. But as Kings Kommentary owner notes, “not all that glitters is gold.”

By dawn, Nnamdi Kingsley Okwerekwu (Questrom ’19) is a BU student majoring in business. But by dusk, Okwerekwu runs Kings Kommentary, a channel devoted to comedic content filled with pranks and rants. The channel has acquired over 330,000 followers within its three years on YouTube.

Making time for both school and filming keeps him busy.

“We all know that BU is no joke,” Okwerekwu said. “It's been challenging balancing school and YouTube, but I think that God gives his biggest challenges to the toughest warriors and I think I'm a pretty tough warrior. So, I'm going to just keep going and try to keep balancing everything.”

Okwerekwu said he has appreciated the love that he receives from family and friends, and his subscribers are new source of love for him.

“It feels good to have 330K plus followers because there's a lot of love in that, and that's why I do this,” said Okwerekwu. “I love ‘love.’ I love the idea of love. With the girls, but also with life: with family and friends and now my supporters.”

Okwerekwu admitted that though he doesn’t know where the future of his channel is headed, one thing he is sure of is ensuring its progress.

“I hear the number, and I want to keep going higher,” said Okwerekwu.

For others, YouTube is more of an intimate journey. It is an attempt to document life or a chance to connect with people from all over the world.

Kellie Rose Belarmino (SAR ’21) runs a channel with about 2,000 subscribers. She uses her channel to record her life at Boston University.

“I know when I was applying and when I was first admitted, I wanted to know a lot more about the school and the lifestyle of living here. So, I think about that when I produce videos now. There's an incoming class, so what can I do or create for them to see what life is like here?”

YouTube to Belarmino has become a “visual journal, so everything I document are things that I see and things that I want to remember years on.” “I think YouTube is the perfect platform to capture something to remember later on when you just forget the details,” said Belarmino. “College is the best years of your life, so you want to remember and make the most of it.” Lucy Geraghty’s (SAR ’19) YouTube channel has accumulated over 60,000 subscribers. She recently studied abroad in Paris, France, and loved her experience, especially the opportunity she had to showcase all of it on YouTube. “It’s weird having people recognize me because I'm just a normal person, and it's just me talking to a camera” said Geraghty. “But it's nice to know that you're making an impact.” It was interesting for Geraghty to experience fans while she was abroad, she said. “I also met people in Paris, and they were asking me if I was going to do a meet up in Paris, and I was like, ‘I feel like 10 people in Paris watch my videos,’” said Geraghty. “But it was really cool. I met people in the Louvre and in Greece that watch my videos.”

Like Okwerekwu, Geraghty finds the connection and love from her subscribers of utmost importance.

“I think my favorite part has been feeling like I'm helping people and connecting with subscribers because people comment on my Instagram asking for advice all the time,” said Geraghty. “I feel like I'm making a difference when people say like, ‘you brighten my day.’”

For rising YouTubers, this social media platform has been a means of discovering resources and talent. Freshmen Geneve Lau (COM ’21) and Jacob Wittenberg (COM ’21) became friends through BU but have since delved into and discovered their passion for social media.

Lau and Wittenberg connected through a mutual friend at Warren. They went to take photos together one morning at a park and the rest was history.

“We got along well, hung out and I helped him shoot one of his music videos,” said Lau.

They also run a growing coffee shop review Instagram (@bean_happens) together. She jokingly remarked that him owning a DSLR doesn’t hurt either.

“Pooling our resources together has been really helpful,” said Lau.

Wittenberg also commented on how he hopes his videos can help future incoming classes.

“I know when I was applying and when I was first admitted, I wanted to know a lot more about the school and the lifestyle of living here,” said Wittenberg. “So, I think about that when I produce videos now. There's an incoming class, so what can I do or create for them to see what life is like here?”

Not only are social media platforms important for BU YouTubers, but BU has provided numerous opportunities for their personal and professional growth.

“We have an entire communication school of people that want to learn what we're doing and want to help out. There are also people from whom we can learn a lot,” said Okwerekwu.

Okwerekwu explained that in the past, for projects such as music videos, he has been able to team up with people from BU’s College of Communication who are excited to produce top-quality content. Students see this as an opportunity to get their hands dirty, and having eager students like this at their YouTubers' disposal has been advantageous.

“BU has three fairly big YouTubers [Gretchen Geraghty, Arlin Moore and Kings Kommentary], and a lot more on the rise,” said Okwerekwu. “Not many schools have that, so being able to meet people like me who know my struggles and blessings has been great.”

For YouTubers that create college-related content, going to BU has been a major reason as to why they create content. Whether it is to give prospective students a glimpse into the day in the life of a BU student or a room tour of a lesser-known dorm, there hasn’t been a shortage in possibilities. Moreover, Wittenberg comments on the culture on campus. “

It’s really easy to produce things because I’m comfortable going out and saying, ‘This is where I live, these are the people, this is what I’m doing here,’” said Wittenberg. “BU is a very supportive environment for creating content and being present in the social media scene.”

However, no matter how many eye bags they manage to accumulate, the amount of knowledge and the opportunities they receive makes it all worth it.

“Being a YouTuber, I sometimes feel like a double major in Business and Communication,” said Okwerekwu. “It’s exciting how much I get to learn.”

by Suparna Samavedham / photo by Celine Koh / design by Solana Chatfield