Sarah Chieng is no stranger to the camera. In fact, she is in charge of it when she vlogs about her college experience. A second-year Texas native attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), Chieng has the privilege of calling herself a content creator. Her content consists mostly of vlogs (video blogs) and "sit-down-and-chat" videos that feature her family and friends, although once and a while, she will mix it up by uploading a cooking video or one in which she talks about current events. With more than 2,500 subscribers, I spoke with Chieng this past Friday to discuss what life is like as an up-and-coming college YouTuber.
This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.
What made you want to start doing YouTube?
It all started when my family went on vacation once and I decided to do a vlog about it. I showed the video to my family members so they could see our travels. One day, my dad goes “Oh, it’s really good, you can put it on YouTube.” So I did, and that’s kind of how it started. As I got older, I just adapted the channel to whatever stage of life I was in.
How do you come up with new video ideas for your YouTube channel?
Sometimes, it is seeing what other people post, but I think a lot of it is just dependent on whatever I’m doing. I think I post a majority of vlogs. A lot of my “sit-down-and-talk” videos are based on questions that my friends will ask me.
Who is your audience?
I think the general college student. One of the biggest sentiments for me was that going into college, I literally had no idea what to expect. I feel like I went into college very blind, and that’s something I elucidate in my videos. I guess one of the things I try to do is humanize what it means to be a college student.
How have people generally reacted to your channel’s content?
I’ve definitely been very fortunate with how positive the response to my channel has been. Personally, I’m a very sensitive person, so if someone’s mean in the comments or responds rudely, I know that I would take it pretty hard. But I’ve been pretty lucky I would say.
How has COVID-19 impacted your ability to produce college-related content?
I will be on campus next semester, but this semester, I’m living in an apartment with friends. During quarantine, it was like “oh, you’re filming another video inside your house and not going out,” so it definitely takes being more creative. In terms of being able to produce content, I’m still doing pretty good. If I needed more faces, I had my roommates, and when I was at home, I still had a pretty solid network of M.I.T. students who I would speak to. So, I don’t think it’s actually been a problem for me.
What is your advice to students who started a YouTube channel during quarantine?
You have to think about the balance between what you want to produce and what people actually want to see. For me, sometimes those are two different things. I guess you just have to think about your goals. You have to figure out early on what you want your channel to be about and kind of stick to it, then understand and be realistic about how well it’s going to resonate with people.
What is your favorite part about being a YouTuber?
At this point, I would say most of my friends, family and people in my life, they know about this channel. I’m pretty comfortable filming in front of them, and I think everyone around me is very supportive of when I try to video something. They’ll be happy to be in it, or they’ll help film. When they get to see the final product, I think it’s really cool.
To get to know Chieng even more, check out her social media handles down below:
YouTube: Sarah Chieng
Instagram: @milksandmatcha
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