Matthew Santoro (born July 16, 1985) is a Canadian Twitch streamer,
YouTuber
A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006.
Influence
Influent ...
,
and
social media influencer
An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...
. He compiles top ten lists and "50 Amazing Facts" videos
on his main channel. Other channels he owned, for
vlogging
A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...
and gaming, are no longer available.
As of May 10, 2021, Santoro's channel has over 6 million subscribers and 1.4 billion video views.
Channel history
Santoro most frequently uploads top ten lists, such as "10 Forbidden Places You’re Not Allowed to Visit!" and "10 Extremely BIZARRE Phobias People Actually Have!".
Personal life
Santoro grew up in
Welland
Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750.
The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-o ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and later moved
St. Catharines, Ontario.
He is of Italian descent through his father, while his mother is French-Canadian. In May 2015, he moved to
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. A fan of
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals
* A male duck
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name
* Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* ...
and
hip-hop culture, Santoro often refers to Toronto as "The 6ix".
In January 2016, he uploaded a video titled ''My Abuse Story''. He tearfully talked about an unnamed romantic partner, who he claimed was manipulative and forced him to turn his friends and family away in favour of her and she had also psychologically and
physically abused him during their relationship. It was claimed by his friend, Rob Gavagan (
né
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth reg ...
Dyke), that the "unnamed partner" mentioned in the video was
Nicole Arbour
Nicole Arbour is a Canadian comedian, choreographer, singer, actress and YouTuber.
Career
Arbour is a former cheerleader for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association. While studying at Humber College, she started her chee ...
.
Santoro moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in the first week of January 2017 and possesses a
U.S. green card but maintains Canadian citizenship.
On October 21, 2017, Santoro released a video revealing that he suffers from
clinical depression
Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introdu ...
. He has made several update videos explaining his progress and he has since been doing better.
On July 27, 2020, Santoro explained that after moving back to Toronto, someone or some group stole a trailer from the moving company that housed most of his belongings, leaving him nothing other than what he had moved back to Toronto with himself. The stolen trailer was found on July 30, and its contents were returned to Santoro on July 31, although some items were still missing, and several were damaged.
On December 2, 2022, Santoro uploaded a video to YouTube titled "I'm back!", in which he addresses his hiatus from posting videos for over a year. In it, Santoro talks about the hardships he faced during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and its negative effect on his mental health.
Career
After Santoro graduated from
Brock University
Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bear ...
with a
Master of Accountancy
The Master of Accountancy (MAcc, MAcy, or MAccy), alternatively Master of Science in Accounting (MSA or MSAcy) or Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcy, MPAcc or MPAc), is a graduate professional degree designed to prepare students for public ...
in 2010, he became an accountant. He also started making videos on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
that year, mostly skits. In 2012 he got laid off from his accounting job. He described that experience in a vlog titled "I Lost My Job Today". He then started focusing on his YouTube career and thus began posting videos weekly. Also during this time, he recalls in an interview, that he noticed that his opinionated fact compilation videos, such as his top ten lists and "50 Amazing Facts To Blow Your Mind" series, were viewed more than his other videos. That made him begin uploading those types of videos more frequently. He believes that his more frequent of uploading of these videos helped increased his viewership from only a few thousand per video in the past, to the millions he currently has.
He is able to make a career out of YouTube through the money he earns from ad revenue, which is more than what he made as an accountant.
In 2016, Santoro was caught by other YouTube personalities
plagiarizing
Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
content word-for-word from Listverse, and as a result, Santoro stated that he would cite sources in his videos from then on, including retroactively adding citations to videos he has already uploaded.
In a tweet published on August 15, 2021, Santoro announced that he was leaving
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
after 10 years of uploading, in favor of streaming on
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...
.
In December 2022, Santoro announced his return to YouTube.
Notable collaborations
Santoro has been a special guest narrator on
' ''Everything Wrong With...'' series. He was featured in the ''
Underworld: Evolution'' video which was published on October 10, 2014. He also collaborated with Matthias, creating a song, "The Booty Song", and
Barely Political in their video, "YouTube Complaints 2015". Santoro and
Vsauce3 collaborated with
The Muppets
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...
, in a video titled, "What if Quicksilver Ran Past You?", which was the first video in the Muppet collaboration initiative on YouTube.
He collaborated with
Lilly Singh
Lilly Saini Singh (born September 26, 1988) is a Canadian YouTuber. Singh began making YouTube videos in 2010. She originally appeared under the pseudonym Superwoman (stylized IISuperwomanII), her YouTube username until 2019. In 2016, she was in ...
,
Olga Kay,
Toby Turner
Toby Joseph Turner (born March 3, 1985), also known by his stage name Tobuscus, is an American Internet personality and actor. Originally from Niceville, Florida, he is best known for his YouTube videos. As of November 5, 2021, Turner has a to ...
, and
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
, among others, in ''Terminator Genisys: The YouTube Chronicles,'' a promotional series for the 2015 film ''
Terminator Genisys
''Terminator Genisys'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Alan Taylor and written by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. Produced by Skydance Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is a reboot o ...
''.
In July 2018, Santoro released the 100th episode of his "50 Amazing Facts" video series; for the occasion, Santoro had each fact presented by a different YouTuber. Those who took part included
Rhett and Link
Rhett James McLaughlin (born October 11, 1977) and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal III (born June 1, 1978) are an American comedy duo. Self-styled as "Internetainers" (a portmanteau of "Internet" and "entertainers"), they are known for creating a ...
,
Kanwer Singh
Kanwer Singh (born July 12, 1981), known professionally as Humble the Poet, is a Canadians, Canadian YouTube personality, author, rapper and spoken-word artist. He is the author of three books, ''Unlearn: 101 Simple Truths for a Better Life'', ' ...
,
Daym Drops
Daymon Scott "Daym" Patterson, better known as Daym Drops, (born September 24, 1977) is an American food critic, YouTube celebrity, rapper, and television presenter. He initially gained popularity on the video-sharing site YouTube for his video re ...
,
MatPat
Matthew Robert Patrick (born November 15, 1986), known online as MatPat, is an American YouTuber and internet personality. He is the creator of The Game Theorists, The Film Theorists, and The Food Theorists YouTube channels, each analyzing vari ...
,
Hank Green
William Henry Green II (born May 5, 1980) is an American vlogger, science communicator, entrepreneur, author, internet producer, and musician. He is known for producing the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green ...
,
iJustine
Justine Ezarik ( ; born March 20, 1984) is an American YouTuber. She is best known as iJustine, with over one billion views on her YouTube channel. She gained attention as a lifecaster who communicated directly with her millions of viewers on ...
, and the
Fine Brothers
React Media, LLC (also known as React; formerly as Fine Brothers Entertainment) is an American media company, founded by brothers Benny Fine (born March 19, 1981) and Rafi Fine (born June 9, 1983), creators and media entrepreneurs. React Media p ...
.
Other work
Santoro is the host of Quest Nutrition's "Food for Thought" webseries. The first episode, "10 Incredible Facts About Chicken", premiered on May 28, 2015.
Santoro, along with
Yousef Saleh Erakat
Yousef Saleh Erakat (; born January 22, 1990), also known as FouseyTube or Fousey, is an American YouTuber who produces parodies, vlogs, comedy sketches and interviews. He also has two other channels, Fousey and DoseOfFousey.
Early life
Yousef E ...
,
Soledad O'Brien
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. Since 2016, O'Brien has been the host for ''Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien,'' a nationally syndicated weekly talk show ...
and
will.i.am
William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas.
...
hosted the
Global Citizen
Global citizenship is the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: "humanity". This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives ...
2015 Earth Day event. On September 26, 2015, Santoro, along with
AsapScience
AsapScience, stylized as AsapSCIENCE, is a YouTube channel created by Canadian YouTubers Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown. The channel produces weekly videos that touch on many different topics of science.
AsapScience is one of the largest ed ...
,
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...
and
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...
hosted the
Global Citizen
Global citizenship is the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: "humanity". This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives ...
festival.
In June 2015, Santoro obtained a global publishing deal from
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.[Periscope
A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position.
In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...]
on November 11, 2015.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Matthew Santoro's channelon
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
Matthew Santoro Vlogs's channelon YouTube
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santoro, Matthew
1985 births
Canadian people of Italian descent
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Living people
Brock University alumni
Canadian YouTubers
People from Welland
Canadian accountants
Streamy Award winners
People involved in plagiarism controversies
Educational and science YouTubers