Steven Lim is a rising YouTube sensation, and he’s at it full-time. He currently has close to 9,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, which shares compelling stories about the Asian-American community. He started out making videos as a way to reconnect with college friends; however, he quickly fell in love with the process and began making short films, comedy sketches and storytelling segments.
“By going into it myself, I’m doing my part in pipelining more Asian-Americans into entertainment. Now, [only] time will tell if I can grow a sustainable audience or not, but I feel like I’ve already succeeded by putting myself out there and trying,” Lim says. “It’s really exciting to be a part of shaping Asian-American culture, and I want to be there, at the forefront of Asian-American entertainment.”
His video, “Asian Parents React to I Love You” went viral; it has more than 600,000 views and counting. The video was picked up by 9gag, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed and other online media outlets. Here is the video:
*If video does not work, click on this link (Video produced by Steven Lim)
“I think the reason the video was so compelling is because it set a certain expectation through the video title and then surprised people halfway through on the result,” he explains. “There was also a good rhythm of anticipation throughout the video and the format was something that is accessible to the way people consume information today.”
While his audience is 80 percent Asian-Americans between the ages of 13-25 based on analytics, the video didn’t gain popularity in the Asian community until after its mainstream success. Lim says he found this to be interesting and backwards.
A 2011 Pew Research study “Asian-Americans and Technology,” found that 87 percent of Asian-Americans use the Internet every day. That percentage is higher than that of any other racial group. It is higher than the percentage of all U.S. adults that use the Internet every day, which is at 73 percent. Asian-Americans use the Internet more than any other racial group across all forms of mobile connectivity, whether that is cellphone, laptop or wireless connectivity.
It makes sense that this group, which is underrepresented in mainstream media, would use the Internet as a creative outlet and as a means of consuming creative content — especially content that relates to their own experiences.
Asian-Americans are well-known for having some of the most popular and top-subscribed to YouTube channels. Of the top 10 personalities on YouTube in 2012, three were Asian. They occupied the second, sixth and 10th spots respectfully. The top 10 women also included three Asians, according to Readwrite’s “Why Asians Rule YouTube.”
Japanese-American Ryan Higa, or “Nigahiga,” has consistently been one of the top-viewed and top-subscribed YouTube personalities since he first joined YouTube nine years ago. He currently has almost 14 million subscribers and his top video has had more than 50 million views. Other examples of popular Asian YouTube personalities include Vietnamese-American makeup demonstrator Michelle Phan, who has more than 7.6 million subscribers, and Chinese-American Kevin Wu, or “KevJumba,” who has more than 3 million subscribers.
Actress Stella Choe starred in the viral YouTube video, “What Kind of Asian Are You?” It presently has more than 7.6 million views and was shared on numerous mainstream media sites, including the Huffington Post, and social media. In the video, a white man asks Choe where she’s “really from” and later defines and stereotypes her based on her Korean background. She turns this on its head by mocking the white guy’s British background in the same way. Here is the video:
*If video does not work, click on this link (Video produced by Ken Tanaka)
“I knew it was funny and I thought the concept of turning the tables was a great idea, and I knew it’d resonate for sure with friends of mine… but I didn’t expect it to blow up the way it did,” she says. “But when it did, it made me realize it’s a funny way for me to present an issue that clearly is a talking point of how Asian-Americans are represented.”
One of the producers of the hugely popular Korean film, “Ode to My Father,” saw the video and was in the process of casting a Korean-American character. He presented the YouTube video to the director. They were doing a casting in L.A. so those behind the scenes of “Ode to My Father” found Choe’s information through her YouTube. Choe auditioned for the role and ended up getting the part.
According to Mic ’s 2013 article “Asian-Americans Are the New Kings Of the Internet,” YouTube itself has been responsible for sparking several well-known Asian-American personalities’ and groups’ careers. This includes Wild N’ Out’s Timothy DeLaGhetto, Taiwanese-American comedian Kevin Wu and filmmaking group Wong Fu Productions, among others.
Wong Fu Productions has been one of Lim’s favorite Asian-American YouTube groups and a source of inspiration.
“They inspired me just because they were willing to take that risk and go into [YouTube] full time. They also galvanized the community and were the people really pushing the movement,” says Lim. “Now they’re focusing some time on ISAtv [an online premiere platform with millions of views], and that’s really encouraging too.”
While Lim thinks it’s promising that Wong Fu is putting their efforts into developing more mainstream Asian-American entertainment, he has no plans to break into film or television.
“Would I do it if the opportunity came up? Definitely! But YouTube will always be my priority and my passion because I believe in it as a medium,” he says. “YouTube is more accessible space for Asian-Americans to participate in. YouTubers also have the unique ability to connect to their fans that TV stars are unable to. In that way, I believe YouTubers can have a more immediate impact on peoples’ lives.”
Another one of Lim’s popular videos is “Restaurant Kid,” which has almost 25,000 views. Lim says that while we all know kids of Asian restaurant owners, it’s a story that’s not often told in the media. He himself has never seen a video, article or blog on the “restaurant kid” story, even after actively searching. Here is the video:
*If video does not work, click on this link (Video produced by Steven Lim)
“The video made its rounds on WeChat (China’s FB/messenger app) among the restaurant community, as people felt it was very relatable,” he says. Many of the people in the comments section mentioned how the short film moved them, made them cry or that they could identify with the kid. Commenters were appreciative of him having created the film.
“The reason I loved ‘Restaurant Kid’ is because that was the most outpouring of support I’ve gotten from my channel. I got tons of comments, e-mails and messages telling me that finally, for once, they’ve seen a video that tells their story,” says Lim. “And I get why other YouTubers and mainstream media aren’t going to cover a story about restaurant kids. It’s because the demographic is too small and the money’s not there.”
While Lim is happy to make an impact and recognizes the success Asian-Americans are experiencing through YouTube, he believes the Asian-American YouTube community is still largely segmented from mainstream YouTube culture and from mainstream film and TV.