We caught up with US YouTube & TikTok social media sensation Vincent Gao. Taking us back to 2010, this was the catalyst that inspired Vincent to start self-vlogging. Subsequently evolving to having a videographer cover the technical work, so that Vincent could have the freedom to showcase his true self. The trigger for Vincent’s ‘humour based’ content originated from Vine. He explains how he grew up watching creators including lelepon, logan paul and kingbach. This helped lay the foundation for where is he is today. With a following of 5.9 million followers on TikTok [137.9M likes] / [YouTube: 917M views].
Vincent goes onto highlight that when it comes to his creatives, he began with producing content around harmless pranks with the help from his trusted group of friends. Whilst he opens up on how those being pranked did not always see the funny side, the premise for this work was to bring laughter to the world. Prior to this, Vincent’s plan was to continue studying business finance and management, with aspirations to make it within the banking industry.
“I always saw myself as wanting to give back to the world in some way. I’ve always admired leaders who were able to move hearts, not by bossing around but by motivation and encouragement”.
YouTube is very much seen as the preferred channel for content creation. Vincent admires those content creators that are able to continue making their videos on a daily basis, even when the results are not what they were expecting. In addition to the ability to adapt in different circumstances to a range of situations that come with content creation.
“I used to think that to do something you love, you have to be a certain kind of professional. But then as I grew up and saw many creators travel and do different things, I noticed that being a creator allows you to be anything you want because your audience will watch it and grow with you”.
Vincent highlights the beauty of creating content on these channels, is the freedom to dive into the ocean and make a vlog about it. If you get a spaceship and go to Mars, you can make a vlog about it too. The social media star points out that the bigger audience one has, the more judgmental people become. He welcomes any comments or dms. Appreciating their comments, as in his view many of the people have taken time out of their day to leave feedback. For those that leave negative comments, its about putting it in its place, and not letting those comments distract from the great work being pushed out. For Vincent, these platforms make the reach limitless. Anything is possible. The whole world can see your message. Whilst drive is inevitably lost along the way. Vincent makes time to take breaks. The caveat through, is being smart with them. “Breaks are fun from time to time, but too long is bad for keeping your momentum going and keeping your audience engaged”.
Having completed over 2000 TikTok’s to date, Vincent feels no matter what industry or job you want to get into, it’s good to be motivated. But discipline is key because when you are unmotivated, only discipline will get you through it. You must never stop pursuing your goals even if there are setbacks from time to time because it will make you stronger for the next go around.
