Vlogbrothers (sometimes stylized as VlogBrothers or vlogbrothers) is a
video blog
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 ...
channel 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 ...
. The
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
-based show is created and hosted by the
Green brothers
The Green brothers, John (born 1977) and Hank (born 1980), are two American entrepreneurs, social activists, authors, and YouTube vloggers. The two extensively work together, having started their collaborative popularity with a daily vlog proj ...
:
John Green
John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube Content creation, content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' ( ...
and
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 ...
. The first incarnation of the brothers' online
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...
was the "Brotherhood 2.0" project, preceding the establishment of the pair's regular vlogging activity through the Vlogbrothers channel.
The Vlogbrothers channel was the first in what would become a larger portfolio of YouTube channels created and developed by the Greens, sparking a community of fans and supporters of Vlogbrothers, known individually as Nerdfighters, and collectively as
Nerdfighteria
Nerdfighteria is a mainly online-based community subculture that originated on YouTube in 2007, when the VlogBrothers (John and Hank Green) rose to prominence in the YouTube community. As their popularity grew, so did coverage on Nerdfighteria, w ...
. Subscribers of the brothers on YouTube are the base of the online community Nerdfighteria. The Green brothers encourage their viewers to become a community by creating websites and various projects, like the
Project for Awesome
Project for Awesome (often abbreviated P4A) is a community-driven charitable movement on YouTube, created by the Green brothers, Hank and John, run through their VlogBrothers YouTube channel and through their online community known as Nerdfight ...
, as a way to engage with their subscribers.
Vlogbrothers is owned by
Complexly
Complexly is an American online video and audio production company, based in Missoula, Montana, and Indianapolis, Indiana. Its founders are brothers John and Hank Green (who acts as CEO), who began their Vlogbrothers YouTube channel in 2007. In ...
(formerly named EcoGeek LLC), which was originally solely owned by Hank, but now jointly owned by both Greens.
Format and schedule
The Greens state that their vlog has no consistent format: "Really, it's not about anything in particular. Whether we're talking about our lives, making each other laugh, or trying to get something more important across, people seem to enjoy it." The channel passed one million subscribers on March 5, 2013. As of 2022, the brothers post two videos per week onto their Vlogbrothers channel, with John posting his videos on Tuesday, and Hank posting on Friday.
Brotherhood 2.0 project
The Green brothers, inspired by ''
the show with zefrank
''the show with zefrank'' was a web video show by Ze Frank produced each weekday from March 17, 2006 until March 17, 2007. The format of the program combined commentary on media and current events with viewer contributions and activities. It is c ...
'', devised the Brotherhood 2.0 project late in 2006. The project was launched on January 1, 2007, based on the premise that the brothers would cease all text-based communication for one year and, instead, converse by
video blogs
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 i ...
every weekday. The project was made available to the public on YouTube, with John's first video on his original channel "sparksflyup," as well as through the brothers' own Brotherhood 2.0 website. On July 18, 2007, Hank Green uploaded a video of himself performing his song "Accio Deathly Hallows" in honor of the
seventh ''Harry Potter'' book. This video was the first Vlogbrothers video to make the front page of YouTube, and the starting point of the brothers' success as vloggers. Toward the end of 2007, the brothers launched the first
Project For Awesome
Project for Awesome (often abbreviated P4A) is a community-driven charitable movement on YouTube, created by the Green brothers, Hank and John, run through their VlogBrothers YouTube channel and through their online community known as Nerdfight ...
campaign, in which YouTubers created innovative videos promoting their favorite charity, with the aim that their promoted charity gains more awareness, and donations from viewers. The Brotherhood 2.0 Project ended on December 31, 2007. However, the brothers decided to continue uploading videos on YouTube due to their popularity and growing fan base.
Post-Brotherhood 2.0
![Hank & John Green (7492866636)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Hank_%26_John_Green_%287492866636%29.jpg)
In their December 31, 2007 video, the brothers revealed their decision to continue vlogging even though the project had ended. Following the conclusion of Brotherhood 2.0, a website was set up for their community, known as Nerdfighters. The website was originally maintained solely by Hank Green, but was later updated and moderated by a group of community volunteers known as the "Ningmasters". New projects, videos, discussions, groups and forums entirely made by the Vlogbrothers fan community were uploaded daily. The brothers' videos continue to be the basis of the online community known as "
Nerdfighteria
Nerdfighteria is a mainly online-based community subculture that originated on YouTube in 2007, when the VlogBrothers (John and Hank Green) rose to prominence in the YouTube community. As their popularity grew, so did coverage on Nerdfighteria, w ...
".
Continuing the trend of their previous charitable endeavors, the Greens rallied their viewers to make micro-donations on
Kiva.org
Kiva (commonly known by its domain name, Kiva.org) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, that claims to allow people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in 77 count ...
. The Nerdfighters lending team was launched in September 2008. As of December 2021, the Kiva Nerdfighters group ranks fifth on the site for total money loaned through total domestic and international microloans. It has roughly 51,000 members who have loaned a collective total of over $17.9 million.
On January 20, 2010, John Green went on paternity leave, and
Maureen Johnson
Maureen Johnson (born February 16, 1973) is an American author of young adult fiction. Her published novels include series leading titles such as ''13 Little Blue Envelopes'', ''The Name of the Star'', ''Truly Devious,'' and ''Suite Scarlett''. ...
made videos in his place until his return the following month, when he introduced his son, Henry.
Hank Green was interviewed by
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
in May 2011. During 2011 and 2012, the Green brothers had their Vlogbrothers videos consistently featured on media outlets such as ''
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
'' and ''
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''. On September 14, 2012, Hank Green made a video celebrating the 1000th video on the Vlogbrothers channel that commemorated the brothers' experiences over the previous 5 years.
One million subscribers and ten years on YouTube (2013–present)
On January 15, 2013, they featured in "An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall" celebrating the anniversary of John's novel ''
The Fault in Our Stars
''The Fault in Our Stars'' is a novel by John Green. It is his fourth solo novel, and sixth novel overall. It was published on January 10, 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play ''Julius Caesar'', in which the noble ...
''. The two-hour live streamed event also featured
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the ...
,
Kimya Dawson
Kimya Dawson (born November 17, 1972) is an American folk singer-songwriter, one half of the anti-folk duo the Moldy Peaches. Dawson's work with the Moldy Peaches earned them a cult following and critical acclaim, with their 2001 song "Anyone El ...
, and
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
. In February, John Green participated in a
Google+ Hangout with
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
during which John's wife,
Sarah Urist Green
Sarah Urist Green (née Urist; born October 3, 1979) is an American art museum curator, author, and creator and host of PBS Digital Studios program '' The Art Assignment''. Green spent seven years curating exhibitions at the Indianapolis Museum o ...
, also appeared. Prior to this, she had not been seen on camera or in any of his blogs, preferring not to join her husband on camera. Her elusive attitude gained her the nickname "The Yeti". On March 5, the channel hit 1 million subscribers and both brothers live-tweeted the occasion.
Later, on June 25, John Green went on paternity leave for the birth of his second child, Alice, and six guest hosts made videos in his place, including
Hannah Hart
Hannah Maud Hart (born November 2, 1986) is an American internet personality, comedian, author, and actress. She is known for starring in '' My Drunk Kitchen'', a weekly series on YouTube in which she cooks something while intoxicated. She als ...
(MyHarto),
Grace Helbig
Grace Anne Helbig is an American comedian, actress, and internet personality. She is the co-creator and co-host of the podcast ''This Might Get Weird'' (2018–present) alongside frequent collaborator Mamrie Hart and is the voice of Cindy Bear ...
(itsgrace),
Craig Benzine
Craig Gene Benzine (born October 5, 1980) is an American video producer, musician, and vlogger better known by his YouTube channel name of WheezyWaiter. On July 15, 2020, his channel hit 1 million subscribers and has over 155 million total vide ...
(wheezywaiter),
Rosianna Rojas (missxrojas), and the winners of the "Nerd Factor" competition: YouTube users MagicTurtle643 and NerdyAndQuirky. In November, John created a video discussing bullying in general, as well as his personal experience with getting bullied.
Starting in 2012 and 2013, John and Hank launched an event called "Pizzamas" in which they sold merchandise of "Pizza John": a white outlined image of John sporting a thick mustache, originating from a 2009 Vlogbrothers video that then became a popular
meme
A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...
in the Nerdfighteria community.
The event evolved in 2014, with John and Hank uploading videos every weekday for two weeks, as they had during the first year of the YouTube channel. The merchandise also evolved, introducing
fan art
Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that work. They are usually done by amateur artists, semi-professionals or professionals. As fan labor, fan art refers to ...
printed on objects including blankets and tote bags, and other merchandise such as pizza-scented air fresheners, with all the proceeds being donated to charity.
On September 11, 2015, the Greens began listing all videos on the channel under the
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license
A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...
. Hank Green later clarified on Reddit that "We didn't mention it, we just switched over. I'm not sure what people would do with a Vlogbrothers video, but I want them to be able to do it."
On August 5, 2016, the project "How to Vote in Every State" was launched. It encourages viewers to register to vote with links to quick, comprehensive videos on how to do so in for each state.
In the beginning of 2017, the duo celebrated their ten years on YouTube. In honor of this, they held a one-time convention, NerdCon: Nerdfighteria, that was held in Boston, Massachusetts from February 25–26, 2017. The convention celebrated the duo's YouTube career and the Nerdfighteria community.
On October 22, 2019, the Green brothers launched a project with
Partners in Health
Partners In Health (PIH) is an international nonprofit public health organization founded in 1987 by Paul Farmer, Ophelia Dahl, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, and Jim Yong Kim.
Partners in Health provides healthcare in the poorest areas of de ...
to improve maternal health in
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
.
Reception
The Greens were able to find a dedicated audience, with ''
Christian Today
''Christian Today'' is a non-denominational Christian news company with its international headquarters in London, England.Christian Today > Contact Us/ref>
History
The website was established in 2000 to report on news in the global church a ...
'' detailing "their message, celebrating nerdiness, education, science, and imagining others complexly, has resonated loudly across the globe."
Margaret Talbot
Margaret Talbot is an American essayist and non-fiction writer. She is also the daughter of the veteran Warner Bros. actor Lyle Talbot, whom she profiled in an October 2012 ''The New Yorker'' article and in her book ''The Entertainer: Movies, Magi ...
of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' has praised the topics of the video blogs, describing, "The tone of their monologues ranged from goofily informative... to wonkish." Talbot added, "Many posts dispensed adult wisdom, but in a reassuringly modern way." However, Craig Rubens of ''
GigaOM
Gigaom is a technology focused analyst firm and media company. The company evolved from a blog which offered news, analysis, and opinions on startup companies, emerging technologies, and other technology related topics. It was started by Om Malik ...
'', gave a more critical review of the video blog, comparing it negatively to ''
the show with zefrank
''the show with zefrank'' was a web video show by Ze Frank produced each weekday from March 17, 2006 until March 17, 2007. The format of the program combined commentary on media and current events with viewer contributions and activities. It is c ...
''. While Rubens stated that, "none carry Ze’s torch with more earnestness than the brothers Green," he closed by saying the Greens' vlog "remains a nerdy knockoff of Ze’s seminal work."
References
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External links
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Project for Awesome YouTubeNerdfighter Community Website/Forum
{{John Green
2007 web series debuts
Creative Commons-licensed works
Green brothers
Video blogs
YouTube channels launched in 2007
Nerd culture
Mass media in Missoula, Montana
Mass media in Indianapolis
Vlogs-related YouTube channels