YouTube's Promotion Of Zac Efron's Channel Is Being Met With Criticism By Users—And They Have A Point

Alan Herrera

Apr. 03, 2019

Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb

In case you missed it, Zac Efron is now on YouTube.

Efron's channel went live on March 30.

My new @YouTube channel is live! Come join me at 9:00am PST - I’ll be answering questions until the first video, “O… https://t.co/VbGPB2DKRG
— Zac Efron (@Zac Efron)1553960902.0

The actor, who will soon be seen on the big screen again as serial killer Ted Bundy in Joe Berlinger's Extremely Shocking, Incredibly Wicked and Vile, now has his own channel and it's being promoted by YouTube.

We Spent 96 Hours In The Desert… | Off The Grid www.youtube.com

He isn't the first high-profile performer to have his own channel: Jack Black and Will Smith have their own channels as well. And all three men's channels are now facing criticism, but not because of anything the actors have done.

YouTube is facing criticism because its decision to promote celebrities is seen as a blow against independent content creators, effectively taking the "You" out of "YouTube," as one critic pointed out.

@YouTube @ZacEfron Let's feature maybe some new non-famous creators more often? Or how about just people who aren't… https://t.co/WJNSMPqPqr
— TechSquidTV (@TechSquidTV)1553963110.0

Others also weighed in.

@YouTube @ZacEfron Yeah, promote big celebrities and not the thousands of amazing creators on your platform.
— Suhant Mehta (@Suhant Mehta)1553962486.0

@YouTube @ZacEfron Oh good another mainstream celebrity getting endorsed by YouTube. Meanwhile our favourite conten… https://t.co/txfQubrI1A
— Sigma Later (@Sigma Later)1553962475.0

@YouTube @ZacEfron A big time celebrity gets endorsement from YouTube--a platform made to support small time creators.
— Reece (@Reece)1553962071.0

@YouTube @ZacEfron Aww so sweet of you to help out a guy with only 15 million followers on twitter, I bet he has a… https://t.co/rXlrHD68HZ
— Zorlaq (@Zorlaq)1553978654.0

@YouTube @ZacEfron Promote some of us small underrated creators?? We are hidden gems on this platform.
— Bencoolski (Co-Leader) (@Bencoolski (Co-Leader))1553970609.0

@YouTube @ZacEfron Lets help the thousands of small creators that are on this platform and not the few big time celebrities
— Chris Beyers (@Chris Beyers)1553962661.0

YouTube has not responded to requests for comment.