Metro Voice News Celebrating Faith, Family & Community
We’re back this month with reviews of some free stuff! YouTube video sows have millions of viewers and are just a click away on your phone or laptop.
Bible Project
Subscribers: 1 million+
Monthly
Back in 2014, friends Timothy Mackie and Jonathan Collins were wondering how they might break down complex theological themes for those reading the Bible. Both men, with their degrees and biblical training, just wanted to lay out the truth of God’s word in an engaging way.
So they came up with an idea: What if they could communicate themes and chapters of the Bible with compelling video narrative? An online resource for those who wanted to see and hear stories come to life.
They called it the Bible Project. What began as a few uploads in 2014 has turned into a website and a YouTube channel where animated, almost comic book-like line drawing videos are broken down into categories: Spiritual Beings, Biblical Themes, Luke-Acts Series, The Torah Series, The Wisdom Series, Word Studies, Old Testament, New Testament and Studio News.
And now, with a handful of staff located in Oregon, there are more than 150 videos, 200 podcasts and millions of views across the world.
EvanTubeHD
Subscribers: 1 million+
Weekly
Back in 2011, Evan posted his very first YouTube video at the age of five.
Now, Evan is a 15-year-old high schooler with more six million subscribers to his main channel, EvanTubeHD, where he and his sister Jillian, dad Jared and mom Alisa unbox and review toys and games. But that’s not all. Although EvanTubeHD is the main channel, they have several other channels now as well, including The Tube Family, JillianTubeHD, EvanTubeGaming and several others featuring Evan’s dad.
What started as Evan and his father simply spending time together and filming their love for toys has evolved into a multimillion dollar business. And one of the family’s guiding principles is that Evan would be a good role model. In an interview with Fast Company, Evan’s father, Jared, said that teaching his kids to be good role models and to set a good example for others is key for he and his wife.
Evan and his family seem to get along well together. They’re kind, silly and funny. Also, Evan’s father has made it clear that many of the toys the kids get are donated to charities.
This channel teaches kids how to problem solve by putting their own toys together.
Even after nearly a decade on YouTube, EvanTubeHD remains relatively clean and family friendly. Sure, siblings occasionally poke fun at one another, and unboxing tons of toys might feel like an overwhelming amount of consumerism at times. But when compared to many other similar YouTube channels, EvanTubeHD feels like a breath of fresh content air.
–Reviewed by Kristin Smith
