“More than an hour before the doors open at the Anaheim Convention Center, there’s already a line that stretches from the entrance, past a nearby Hilton, around a water fountain, through a palm-tree lined promenade, and all the way to the driveway’s entrance.” Most of the people in line are young. So you might guess they were waiting to see a movie star, the latest boy band, or the cast of a hit TV show. But they were there to take selfies with a different kind of celebrity; one that’s famous, in part, because they are not famous in the traditional sense of the word. They are stars of the small screen. Fast Company’s Sarah Kessler takes you inside YouTube’s fame factory. Back in my day, that would have amounted to little more than a couple cute cats wearing funny sunglasses.

+ And don’t think this trend is limited to a few thousand tweens that line up at these events. According to a recent survey in Variety: “U.S. teenagers are more enamored with YouTube stars than they are the biggest celebrities in film, TV and music.”

+ The trend seems to hold for the younger demographic as well. My son and his entire crew of fellow 8 year-olds are all about the new British Invasion; a high-pitched, fast-speaking young man with a British accent and a crazy laugh” who describes his adventures in Minecraft. Meet Mr. Stampy Cat.