From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ben Going (born June 15, 1985), username
boh3m3 (pronounced bo-heem) on YouTube, is a video
blog personality based in Torrance, California.[1]
According to the Associated Press, Going is "one of the
best-known members of the YouTube community." [2]
Most of Going's videos are shot in black-and-white. He has claimed to be
"the only person on the (YouTube) Most Subscribed List
that swears excessively".[3] Often
in his videos, he wears a signature black hat.[4]
Subjects of Going's vlogs have included pop culture, the news media, and the state
of the YouTube community, in addition to personal anecdotes.
YouTube
Going intended that his first submission to YouTube, posted in
May 2006, serve as an audition tape for MTV's "Jackass".[5][6]
Failing this, he went on to adopt a vlogger personality that
has worked to give him over 44,000 subscribers and a top spot on
YouTube's Most Subscribed list.[7] Two of
his videos, No Swearing! (posted
June 6, 2006) and Why Do You Tube?
(posted November 29, 2006 but has since been removed), were
featured on YouTube's homepage and each has a view count over
900,000. Various news outlets have approached Going for his opinion
on the state of the YouTube community or YouTube in general.[8][9][10]
Stemming from his video channel's exposure, YouTube paid Going
to produce two videos for use in holiday themed, corporate
sponsored promotions in December 2006. The first to be released was
part of the YouTube and Coca-Cola Holiday WishCast, sponsored by Coca-Cola.[11]
According to Adweek, this
promotion marked the first time YouTube made an ad deal with its
top users.[12] The
second was featured on YouTube's homepage for the YouTube New
Year's Eve Countdown, which was put on in partnership with Warner Music
Group and sponsored by Chevrolet.[13]
Stickam has credited
Going for bringing 1,000 new users to its video networking website
hours after he advertised his presence there on YouTube.[14] In
January 2007, he hosted a live, 24-hour Stickam broadcast to raise
awareness for the Darfur
conflict.[15]
In addition to several other popular YouTube users, Going
contributed with Barenaked Ladies to produce a music
video for their single Sound of Your Voice in February
2007.[16] The
video has been featured on the Barenaked Ladies' homepage.
In May 2007, YouTube entered Going as one of the first users to
take part in its partnership program. As a YouTube partner, Going
can capitalize on "promotional opportunities" and advertiser based
revenue sharing.[17][18]
He was one of the first twenty to thirty YouTube users to have this
status. Although The New York Times once quoted
Going's saying that he hopes "video blogging might become some kind
of career,"[5]
since becoming a YouTube partner he has retracted that
statement.[19]
YouTubers for net
neutrality
On August 17, 2006, Going posted Save the
Internet! to YouTube. Described by Newsday as "a one-minute, black-and-white,
tech-age public service announcement", the video, which Going
scripted, presents a short argument for net neutrality that
includes video appearances by YouTube users Tony Huynh, Barats and
Bereta, and Brandon Hardesty, among others. Free Press blog SavetheInternet.com subsequently featured
it,[20]
leading the video to gain a view count in excess of 500,000.[21][22] Of
the video, Salon.com
quoted Ben Scott, one of the coordinators of
SaveTheInternet.com, to have said that Going's “Save
the Internet!” "is doing the work of 30 full-time
communications professionals".[23]
Vegemite
wars
In February 2007, Australian news program A Current
Affair picked up Going's January 27, 2007, The Australians are
Fooling Us All! and used it to springboard a mock defense
of Vegemite. In his video,
Going imagines the substance to be made of "yeast, salt and pain."
To counter, A Current Affair enlisted media personality Peter
FitzSimons, who muses Vegemite to comprise, rather, "the
distilled essence of Australia".[24]
Although the segment focuses on Going, it also features Australian
YouTubers who profess a fondness for Vegemite, including Natalie Tran[25][26] and
Caitlin Hill.[27] A
reporter for the The
Age responded by questioning A Current Affair's
journalistic integrity.[28]
Off
YouTube
Going grew up in Cocoa, Florida, and lived there until
just before he started high school.[29] He
waited tables in Huntsville, Alabama, throughout the
earlier part of his YouTube career.[5] In
April 2007, Going moved to Torrance, California,[30] after
accepting an offer to apprentice under a professional music video
director.[31] The
move was facilitated by fan contributions exceeding $1,000.00 made
through PayPal.[6]
See also
References
- ^ Kornblum, Janet (October 30, 2007). "These guys draw a YouTube
crowd". USA
Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-10-29-youtube-stars_N.htm. Retrieved
2007-11-02.
- ^ "Examining the Path to
YouTube Stardom". Associated Press. January 26, 2007. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2826538&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312. Retrieved 2007-06-14. "'It's
really about finding out what you do best and putting it out
there,' says Ben Going, a 21-year-old Alabama waiter who as
"boh3m3" is one of the best-known members of the YouTube
community."
- ^
The Hill on Ben
Going's MySpace blog as of
August 12, 2007
- ^
"Top YouTube videographers
descend on San Francisco". CNET. February 17, 2007. http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-6160390.html. Retrieved 2007-06-13. "'I
don't have any groupies yet,' said Ben Going when asked whether his
Internet fame has changed his life. The 21-year-old waiter from Huntsville,
Alabama, has a regular YouTube audience that numbers over
43,000 subscribers. Two minutes after making his joke, Going was
approached by two red-haired teenagers who asked him for an
autograph. Going, known at YouTube as Boh3m3, shrugged at a
reporter and appeared simultaneously thrilled and embarrassed.
Lowering his hat, the one Going wears in many of his videos, he
signed away."
- ^ a
b
c
Tedeschi, Bob (February 26, 2007). "New Hot Properties: YouTube
Celebrities". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/26/technology/26ecom.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5124&en=9670fbf567afd78d&ex=1330232400. Retrieved
2007-06-13.
“Ben Going,
creator of Boh3m3, another of YouTube’s most popular channels,
started his YouTube series in part because he aspired to work with
the Jackass team. Mr. Going, a waiter in Huntsville,
Alabama, who shoots videos from his bedroom, now says he hopes
'video blogging might become some kind of career.'”
- ^ a
b
Hoffman, Scott "ExcChatting With Ben Going
(Boh3m3 On You Tube)" "The Critic" at moviepicturefilm.com, March 17,
2007
- ^
Official YouTube Most
Subscribed List, You Tube as of June 15, 2007
- ^
Kuchment, Anna (September 26, 2006). "Technology: Want to Be a
Video Star?". Newsweek. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14869770/site/newsweek/. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
""People are looking for an emotional connection," says Ben Going,
a.k.a. boh3m3, a 21-year-old from Huntsville, Alabama, who vlogs
about music at MySpace.com and YouTube. Discuss your passions, but keep it
short: no more than two or three minutes."
- ^
Lauria, Peter (November 12, 2006). "Video Venom Popular Posters
Revolt Against YouTube". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/11122006/business/video_venom_business_peter_lauria.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-18. "'I'm
starting to feel some twinges of betrayal,' said Ben Going, better
known to YouTube users as Boh3M3. 'They seem to be more
money-oriented than I imagined.'"
- ^
Coyle, Jake (October 11, 2006). "Users wonder about the future of YouTube".
Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15227651/. Retrieved 2007-06-18. "A
prominent figure of the YouTube community, boh3m3 said, “Come on,
man. Google is good. If it had to be bought by any company, I have
to say Google is a ... great choice.”"
- ^
YouTube and Coca-Cola
Introduce Video Greeting Cards for the Holidays Joint
YouTube and Coca-Cola press release December 12, 2006 For the first
time people will be able to send their own personal videos as a
holiday greeting card online. Visitors can share their holiday
spirit by uploading their own videos, customizing video greetings
created by popular YouTube personalities, Geriatric1927, Boh3m3, Terra Naomi, Renetto,
thewinekone and LisaNova, or sharing holiday-themed videos
from Coca-Cola including clips from vintage Coke
advertisements.
- ^
Morrissey, Brian "Coke Uses YouTube Stars for
Holiday Campaign" Adweek,
December 13, 2006
- ^
Reardon, Marguerite YouTube hosts New Year's
Eve Bash CNET News Blog December 29,
2006 Special video messages from YouTube celebrities, such as Boh3m3, Smosh, Terra Naomi, Renetto, Chad
Vadar, and thewinekone, along with artists from WMG labels Atlantic
Records, Warner Bros. Records and Warner
Music International will be featured on the home page.
- ^
Stickam press release YouTube stars prove real
identity live on Stickam Stickam, October 5, 2006 "...genuine
high-profile video bloggers like boh3m3, who creates YouTube's 9th
most subscribed channel, are using Stickam’s unique broadcasting
and social networking site as a valuable tool for confirming their
true identities live....“I think it's quite an awesome site,”
boh3m3 said about Stickam. “I wouldn’t be surprised if more YouTube
people started using it as a tool to talk to the fans.” boh3m3
achieved instant popularity on Stickam after announcing his plans
to “Go Live” on the site. Just hours after his post appeared on
YouTube, nearly 1,000 new Stickam accounts were created, and
hundreds of members signed onto boh3m3's friend list. His profile
received almost 10,000 views in just two days."
- ^
Boh3m3, YouTube &
Darfur the YouTube channel of neddotcom of darfurby.com, January 6, 2007
- ^
Moses, Asher YouTubers star in Barenaked
music video The Age,
February 21, 2007
- ^
YouTube Elevates Most Popular
Users to Partners, The YouTube Blog May 3,
2007
- ^ Miguel Helft (2007-05-05). "Contributors on YouTube May
Share Advertising Revenue". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/05/technology/05tube.html?ex=1187841600&en=ae6940b91e2b4aac&ei=5070. Retrieved
2007-08-21.
- ^
Boh3m3 and Thehill88 are
official & the Journey of Vblogging Businessboomer's channel
on YouTube, June 11,
2007
- ^
"YouTubers Support Net
Neutrality", SavetheInternet.com as of
August 24, 2006
- ^
Save the
Internet! Boh3m3's channel on YouTube, as of April 17,
2007
- ^
"Grassroots Movement Wants Laws to Keep Big Media
from Controlling Internet". Newsday. October 10, 2006. http://www.freepress.net/news/18198. Retrieved 2007-06-19. "A
21-year-old waiter from Huntsville, Alabama, Ben Going,
wrote the script, got a few figures from the online video site
YouTube to participate, and posted the clip on the site. With more
than 536,000 views by YouTube users, the video demonstrates how the
seemingly obscure topic has transformed into a grassroots movement
that claims its goal is to keep the Internet free from interference
by telecommunications giants."
- ^
Reilly, Daniel W. (October 2, 2006). "The telecom slayers". Salon.com. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2006/10/02/slayers/index.html. Retrieved 2007-06-20. "In
the first week after it was posted on YouTube on Aug. 17, the video
was viewed over 350,000 times, according to figures provided by the
site. By comparison, the infamous "macaca" video of Virginia Sen.
George Allen calling a man of Indian descent the racial slur, was
viewed 200,000 times in roughly the same amount of time. A
testament to the power of viral marketing, the Net neutrality video
"is doing the work of 30 full-time communications professionals,"
Scott says.....Going says he pieced the video together because he
feels that his hobby, his business, his way of life, is under
attack."
- ^
YouTube on OZ News:
Vegemite Wars badbarb's channel on YouTube, February 8, 2007
- ^
private video
- ^
"Re: The Australians are
fooling us". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4OUVT5zaBM. Retrieved
2009-03-14.
- ^
"Vegemite 101". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt_2gJmdezM. Retrieved
2007-06-19.
- ^
Ed "Last Laugh: Vegemite Wars
(or How to Get on National TV in Australia Without Really
Trying)" The Age's blog "The Last Laugh", February 8,
2007
- ^
Memoirs Of a Childhood
Asshat Boh3m3's channel on YouTube, December 7, 2006
- ^
The California Chronicles:
Packing, Madness, and TV's Death Boh3m3's channel on YouTube, April 5, 2007
- ^
The BIG Secret
Revealed! Boh3m3's channel on YouTube, as of May 30,
2007
External
links