They are real and open but not in an uncontrolled and unhealthy way. This is not the world of confessional newspaper columnists. Saccone Joly explains that what we see is the truth but, she is keen to point out, not the whole truth.

“I hold back – surprisingly – a lot. I think this is the case for many vloggers, although you may not expect it. As much as yes, it is the “real me” that you’re seeing, I think it’s fair to say that nobody divulges absolutely everything to all the people in their life – even your best friend or your spouse might not know everything about you! I am putting out as much or as little as I feel comfortable with.

“And that is the beauty of expressing yourself through your own YouTube channel or blog,” Saccone Joly continues. “Because you are not run by a production company or anybody else who doesn’t have your best interests at heart. You get to choose what you feel comfortable sharing, and keep the rest to yourself. That way, you never feel exposed. Having said that, I do think it’s nice to share certain things with my viewers because it helps them relate to me and it also often shows me I am not alone in situations or experiences I go through in life. If I share something slightly more personal, I get an outpouring of support and lots more interaction from my viewers which is something I love to see because it tells me I’ve helped them in some way.”

The power of this new form of mass sharing should not be underestimated. It is only now that the YouTube economy exists, giving a share of its advertising revenue to contributors with a decent following. YouTube essentially provides the platform (they call it an eco-system) and the more your videos are watched, the more likely it is that YouTube can sell advertising off the back of them. To become a YouTube partner (ie. eligible to have adverts on your videos and therefore make money) you need somewhere around 1,000 views on all your videos, between 500 to 1,000 subscribers and, at the very least, 50 videos on your site. The more viewers you attract, the higher your ad revenues (YouTube takes 45% of all ad revenue as payment for hosting). YouTube estimates that there are more than a million creators around the world making money from their videos, with thousands making over six figures (in dollars).

Meet the young women taking over the internet and making a living from YouTube