Carlesa Holmes traveled to Manhattan from Virginia and waited more than eight hours on the sidewalk - all to be first in line to meet her favorite celebrity.  But it wasn’t a pop music star or a famous actor that inspired the spunky 24-year-old to make the trip. Instead it was Lilly Singh, aka “IISuperwomanII,” a YouTube personality who records herself at home cracking jokes and acting zany. Her videos have been viewed nearly 700 million times.  “She’s Canadian and Punjabi,” gushed Holmes after meeting Singh and having their photo taken together. “How can you not love her? I’m going to get back in line to try to meet her again.”  Holmes was one of about 1,000 fans who lined up around the block Wednesday near Madison Square Garden for a YouTube-sponsored fan meet-up, part of the video streaming service’s 10th anniversary celebration.  In addition to Singh, personalities like Tyler Oakley, Dude Perfect, and The Slow Mo Guys were on hand, and well as Bethany Mota and iJustine.  These names may not be familiar to readers of the gossip pages, but to millions of young fans around the country, they are major superstars.  Many YouTube personalities host their own fan meet ups around the country, and this is only the second time YouTube itself has brought them together.  “As YouTubers we mainly talk to ourselves in rooms, and the people watching are just numbers on a screen,” said Singh. “To actually meet them in person keeps you going as a creator. And you have to give back to the people who got you where you are.”  Where they are is a niche of fame that simply did not exist before the Internet. The most famous among them have parlayed their personal brands into profitable businesses. Bethany Mota, for instance, now has her own line of clothing at Aéropostale. When Mota was introduced at the meet-up, the crowd erupted in squeals of delight as if One Direction had just walked on stage.  “You have to be yourself and make people interested in you and want to be like you,” observed a 24-year-old fan who asked to be identified by his YouTube name, Jimi from Brooklyn. “I came here to get some tips on how they did it.”  This week YouTube announced that four of its top creators would begin producing original scripted series of the kind that have made Netflix, Amazon and others much more than just streaming video services.  But for now it’s the young men and women, often alone in their bedrooms with a webcam, who continue to mint new celebrities.  “I never had any formal training for acting or hosting or anything like that,” said iJustine, a YouTube personality who reviews technology and video games for her millions of subscribers. “The fans see us as people. We are not a playing character. We are actual people.”
Fans wait hours to meet Bethany Mota, iJustine, Lilly Singh and other creators at huge YouTube meet-up in Manhattan.