Top 10 YouTube creators Singaporean consumers are following

YouTube has released its Top Creators list to highlight emerging creators who have seen exceptional growth in their number of subscribers based in Singapore. The list sees a mix of local and international creators.

According to YouTube, Singaporeans mostly looked outside their borders in search of new creators to suit their different interests. In fact, the top three creators in Singapore were found to be American YouTuber Mr Beast, who helped viewers live vicariously through his expensive and astounding stunts and challenges; Australian YouTuber Chloe Ting, who posts fitness videos; and Malaysia YouTuber mrnigelng, who shot to fame with his reaction video to a BBC Food’s egg fried rice recipe.

However, Singaporeans were also charmed by local creators who created content that resonates. Taking a fourth spot on the list is Sneaky Sushii, a channel which holds conversation on various social issues, including the undervaluation of creative work in Singapore, by challenging the popular opinion and encouraging debate. Following closely behind is cooking channel Spices N’ Pans, which made mouths water with recipe videos featuring popular Singaporean cuisine. Well-known local YouTuber Jianhao Tan’s secondary channel, Jebby Family, also received love for his personal vlogs featuring his family life and his newborn baby Starley.

Here are the top 10 creators in Singapore:

1. Mr Beast
2. Chloe Ting
3. mrnigelng
4. Sneaky Sushii
5. Spice N’ Pans
6. Dream
7. ZHC
8. Nino’s Home
9. 李子柒 Liziqi
10. JEBBEY FAMILY

In addition, five creators from the top 10 creator list also made it onto the top 10 breakout creators list, which celebrates creators whose subscriber count increased more than three times within the last year. Besides the five creators, the list of fastest growing channels also included local YouTuber Ghib Ojisan, who helped viewers rediscover the unexplored nooks and crannies of Singapore with local vlogs, and YEOLO, whose reaction videos on COVID-19 happenings struck a chord with audiences.

Here are the top 10 breakout creators in Singapore:

1. Chloe Ting
2. Mrnigelng
3. Sneaky Sushii
4. Dream
5. Nino’s Home
6. MrBeast Gaming
7. Pamela Reif
8. Ghib Ojisan
9. Sugu Pavithra
10. YEOLO

What Singaporeans are watching

According to YouTube, watch-time in Singapore grew by over 30% over the last year as Singaporeans went online to stay informed and productive at home. The most-viewed video on the platform in the past year was prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s address on the COVID-19 situation. With another of prime minister Lee's address ranking eighth in YouTube's list of top trending videos, this showed that in time of uncertainty, Singaporeans looked out to its leaders for information and assurance.

With social restrictions in place during the circuit breaker, video consumption habits of Singaporeans also shifted towards self-improvement videos as they looked for ways to meaningfully occupy their time. Thus it is no surprise that fitness videos such as the no-equipment arm workout, and cooking videos, including a step-by-step video on how to make one pan egg toast, made the list of top trending video.

In addition, Singaporeans were drawn to humorous and uplifting content to take the edge off a difficult time, as seen through the popularity of Jianhao Tan’s video, which provided a relatable account of the struggles of home-based learning. Singaporeans also joined in international fun with mrnigelng’s reaction video to an egg fried rice recipe. 

While apart physically, YouTube also found that Singaporeans continued to look for ways to have real conversations with the people around them. Founders of local YouTube channel Night Owl Cinematics, Ryan Tan and Sylvia Chan, held a frank conversation with viewers on their divorce, which ranked second in the list of top trending videos, while local influencer June Oh gave a raw account of her leaked tape while giving advice to others who may have had the same experience.

In a bid to ramp up its advertising offerings, YouTube has been looking into different revenue streams in recent months. Earlier in November, YouTube said it is allowing brands to amp up their messaging via audio ads. The audio ads are available in beta via auction on Google Ads and Display and Video 360 on a CPM basis. The audio ads will have the same audience targeting options, bidding strategies and brand lift measurement capabilities as YouTube video campaigns. The streaming platform is also reportedly venturing into the eCommerce scene, testing a feature that allows users to purchase products they see on its videos. According to a Bloomberg report, YouTube is already asking creators to tag products used in their video and this data is then sent to Google.

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