Ryan Higa

The closest thing I have to a manager is probably my mum.

YouTube keeps changing, and you have to change with it.

If you're likable, people will like you.

I do a little bit of acting, but I wouldn't call myself an actor.

I was doing nuclear med I didn't like it. My first semester I switched to film major. YouTube helped make that decision for me.

For the very first video I ever made, I was told to film our family reunion, or something like that, and I had so much fun with it that I just kept doing it since then - probably since seventh grade.

I have comedic things in my stuff, but I don't consider myself a comedian. I'm just a YouTuber, I guess just a personality.

Technically, I direct, I'm a writer, and I do all these things, but I never went to school for them. It's just something you pick up; it's like its own art, basically.

In making YouTube videos, you can't just be an actor, you have to also know the shots and how to write.

I've always wanted to connect with my viewers but there's only so much you can do through commenting and tweets.

I was supposed to go into nuclear medicine and become a doctor.

To me, 'success' is happiness and my top tip for happiness would be to understand and learn to use perspective.

I try to use my influence and empower my community to always question the status quo - whether it relates to broader policy issues or YouTube gossip.

Success is liking yourself and what you do because if you like yourself, you are happy with who you are and how you live and what you do.

One of my first videos on VHS, unknowingly at the time, was a stop-motion of a cup moving across a countertop on its own. I was pretending that I was performing some kind of magic trick. It was my way of doing effects without understanding how to edit.

The fans are the motivators that keep me creating my style of content.

Everything on mobile seems a lot quicker. You have direct access to each individual fan, and they can respond to you just as quickly as you sent a text message.

Fake news and rumors thrive online because few verify what's real and always bias towards content that reinforces their own biases.

I try to keep the topics trendy. If it's a rant, it's something I feel strongly about, and people will watch it because they either agree or disagree.

When I make a video, I'm always thinking about the fans.

I'll continue to make videos as long as I have the time and people continue to watch my videos, but eventually I'd like to mainstream into TV or movies.

I read the viewer comments and that helps me decide what my next video will be.

I actually started making videos in 2004, before YouTube, using a VHS camcorder, but had to take the tape with a cassette to friends' homes so that they could see it.

I feel like more and more advertisers are coming to YouTubers.

There are product placements. I worked with a lot of companies like Universal and Wonderful Pistachios.