Region's YouTube stars meet fans at Dubai festival

Dubai - Youtubers, social media glitterati step out of cyber world to meet fans.

Emirati national and 25-year-old Abdul Aziz Al Jasim, aka, the Real Bin Baz has a massive fan following. "This happens to me very often now. Initially, I was a little nervous, now I'm used to it and I am grateful for the support," said Jasim.
Jasim - Binbaz for his fans - has over 1 million subscribers on Facebook and two million followers on Instagram. He is a 'You Tube celebrity'.
Over 35 Youtubers and social media glitterati got the opportunity to step out of their cyber world and meet their fans in person. The region's first day-long YouTube festival was held at Zabeel Park in Dubai on Friday, November 20. Over 800 people registered for the event.
"These meet ups take place on a regular basis in the US and the UK. However, this is the first time we are organising it here and it is fabulous," said Diana Baddar, head of YouTube partnerships, Mena region.
A majority of the YouTubers was from Saudi Arabia. "Saudi is a big market, and a big country. Because they don't have movie theatres, many have taken to YouTube to express themselves, and the fan following on these vlogs are tremendous," added Baddar. Given the success of the event, YouTube does plan on holding it more regularly.
Jasim added: "I want to eventually act in movies ... this has been an amazing platform."
Identical twins and popular users of the Vine and Dubsmash app, Abdullah and Noor Ali (Egyptian nationals) said: "We've got a lot of following on social media, which would not have been possible otherwise." Noor said their YouTube and Instagram handle is called 'Twinzylx'. "It's an amazing event and we're hoping there will be more of such events. People with hidden talents will get popular," said Abdullah.
Saudi national Jay Sajer, a 25-year-old YouTuber said her videos are mostly about beauty, travel and fashion. She has been vlogging for four years and has received tremendous support from young girls in Saudi Arabia.
"I initially received a lot of hate mail for what I was doing ... but my father was very supportive and that is why I am successful today," she said.Sajer has over 200,000 followers on Instagram and over 300,000 on YouTube.
She said: "This has encouraged me to become an entrepreneur using my channel as a medium."
Another Saudi-based YouTuber Moutasim Tarabzouni, who along with his partner runs a fun channel on relationships between men and women called 'He and Her'.
He said: "I began the channel after I got divorced. I realised I wasn't made for marriages. But after doing the channel, I think I am ready to get married again ... or not." The channel has over half a million followers on YouTube and 300,000 followers in Instagram.
Visitor to the festival, Belal Marwan said: "I love the event ,,, all of this has helped me get inspired. Maybe, I'll start my own channel."
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai