Since YouTube fandom thrives on authenticity, it’s no surprise a hashtag for fans to be honest drew YouTubers and fans alike to Twitter to share their opinions on both the medium and its stars.
#YouTubeFandomHonestyHour began trending Sunday afternoon, after one fan, @stylinsonsugg, decided to bring back the long-inactive hashtag. The last traction the hashtag had was in August 2014.
We really need to bring back #youtubefandomhonestyhour
— georgie ⎊ (@marveIouie) May 10, 2015
Who's up for starting #youtubefandomhonestyhour again?? I feel like we all have a little something we need to get off our chest
— georgie ⎊ (@marveIouie) May 10, 2015
Her friend @yikesjoe kicked things off.
https://twitter.com/YIKESJOE/status/597464400333770755
Fandom started following suit, with a mix of complaints, suggestions, and personal memories.
https://twitter.com/UpdatesO2L/status/597497464891973632
https://twitter.com/classybethany/status/597481492051316736
most big youtubers are boring,thirsty for money,dont care about their viewers and their content is unoriginal OK #youtubefandomhonestyhour
— el (@eleanormcpx) May 10, 2015
https://twitter.com/realtowby/status/597519682028068864
Even big name users got involved in the hashtag.
https://twitter.com/BryOnTour/status/597511916462940160
https://twitter.com/johngreen/status/597502356918525952
Maybe the booktube community should be getting the book deals though… #youtubefandomhonestyhour
— Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) May 10, 2015
However, some of the instigators of the movement are unsure if they want their idols to be paying attention or not.
https://twitter.com/YIKESJOE/status/597515559513825280
Illustration by Max Fleishman