These YouTube Commentary Channels Will Help You Stay on Top of Every Trend
The commentary community on YouTube is massive, including various content from reaction videos to drama channels and commentary on social media and pop culture.
A good YouTube Commentary channel should make you laugh as much as it makes you reflect. They should be fair and honest when discussing issues—especially drama channels—and do a substantial amount of research on the topic before discussing it and offering unique insights. Most of all, they have to have a unique personality that draws you back to watch every one of their videos. The commentary community has many creators, so they need to provide something unique to stand out.
When people think of commentary YouTubers, they often think of three or four people, but the community is extremely diverse, meaning that everybody has a different perspective on different issues. Two creators can make a video on the same topic and their videos will be completely different. From social media culture to influencer drama, these YouTube commentators will keep you up to date on social media trends and pop culture and leave you highly entertained.
Casey Aonso
Toronto-based YouTuber Casey Aonso creates beauty, comedy and commentary videos. Casey has a very down-to-earth vibe that leaves you feeling like you're listening to a friend. She's gained 352k followers on YouTube for her hilarious and interesting insights on popular trends, such as TikTok's prank community. She has a series called Exploring The World Of, where she does a deep-dive into topics like YouTube scams and clout culture. She also makes entertaining "ranking videos," where she ranks random things, such as the 90 Day Fiancé couples. Casey critiques in a light-hearted way, so it's always in good humor and never malicious. Her videos are funny, relatable and interesting.
D'Angelo Wallace
D'Angelo Wallace is the calm voice of reason we all need in 2020. Literally. His voice is so soothing. His 1.69 million subscribers on YouTube love his in-depth look into different social media phenomenons and famous influencers. D'Angelo offers an intriguing perspective with his dry sense of humor and carefully crafted commentary. He drew a lot of attention in the summer of 2020 when he released a three-part documentary-style series on Jeffery Star, Shane Dawson and Tati Westbrook. He has since then released two videos on the Paul brothers.
Usually, YouTubers would capitalize on influencer drama by focusing on superficial aspects, but D'Angelo takes a more intellectual and critical stance. He reviews the influencers' entire history, carefully assesses their actions, how they've affected other people and whether they've changed. D'Angelo comments when someone or something is wrong but is generous when allowing people space to grow. D'Angelo's videos are incredibly well-researched and produced. His second channel is just as impressive, and the videos are shorter if you need something quick to watch!
Tiffany Ferg
Tiffany Ferg is a 24-year-old media studies student from NYC and YouTube commentary icon. She made a name for herself with #InternetAnalysis, where she breaks down topics and analyzes them. Tiffany has a very natural way of delivering her videos. It's incredibly entertaining even when she's educating us. She covers social media topics like "Should YouTubers Quit Their Day Jobs?" and "What It's Like To Go Viral (an interview with Myra West about Quitiness, vulnerability, & more)."
Tiffany uses these videos to start meaningful conversations about pop culture and social trends. She also uses her platform to talk about important issues, like sustainability, the normalization of Facetune, mental health and the responsibility of correctly using your platform. Tiffany will inspire you to think more critically about popular trends and be more aware of societal problems. Tiffany represents the new wave of commentary YouTubers, like D'Angelo, who create critical videos that offer intelligent and thought-provoking takes on everyday topics.
Danny Gonzalez
Danny Gonzalez was a Vine star who migrated to YouTube after Vine shut down in 2016. He proved that he wasn't only funny in six-second clips, but he could entertain in 30-minute videos. Danny posts comedy videos, writes original songs, reacts to movies and provides commentary on social media trends like the POV TikTok community.
What is unique about Danny's channel is that he approaches popular topics in creative ways. His recent video, I Made A Viral TikTok Song, is both funny and informative. The premise of the video is that Danny goes undercover to create a viral TikTok bop. The lengths Danny goes to hide his identity is hilarious, but it's a fascinating look at the creation of popular songs and the analytics of TikTok. Danny spends a lot of time working on his videos and truly cares about the quality of his content. Subscribe to his channel to become a member of "Greg," Danny's name for his 4.1 million subscribers.
Angelika Oles
Angelika Oles has one of the few non-biased drama channels on YouTube, making videos recapping recent social media drama. She presents the drama without any bias and she never personally attacks the people involved. Angelika has covered almost every social media influencer like Gabbie Hanna, Trisha Paytas, Logan Paul, James Charles, Tana Mongeau and Jaclyn Hill. Angelika offers her opinion on the issues, but she lets her followers make up their minds and encourages people to share their thoughts. Angelika wants to keep her followers informed about the celebrities and influencers we all know to choose for ourselves who we want to support. She also has a second beauty channel.
Smokey Glow (Hannah)
Hannah's channel, Smokey Glow, is full of beauty and commentary videos. Hannah's channel ranges from makeup reviews to detailed analyses of different social media influencers and trends. She has a The Evolution Of series, where she chronicles the content of famous influencers like Emma Chamberlain and dissects how their videos have changed over time. Hannah is always fair in her videos. When she offers her opinions, they are very thoughtful and respectful. Suppose you can't decide between beauty or commentary content? She combines her love of both in a series called Talktorial Tuesday, where she films a makeup tutorial while discussing various issues.
Jarvis Johnson
Jarvis Johnson is a former software engineer turned YouTuber. Jarvis is charming and personable, so it's easy to understand why he's gained 1.39 million subscribers on YouTube. Jarvis covers popular topics in inventive and hilarious ways, analyzing celebrity and social media culture. Recently, Jarvis talked about how various celebrities handled the pandemic in his "Celebrities Are Boring Now" video. He also posts silly videos, like when he tried out various life hacks from Troom Troom.
Jarvis has a great sense of humor and isn't afraid to make fun of himself. In his The Bachelor video, he dresses up in a suit to deliver the video. He does poke fun at The Bachelor's concept, but he also admits that he watches the show. One of Jarvis's great features is that he isn't afraid to call out something if it's wrong. For example, in his analysis of Papa John's TikTok content, he talked about how Papa John's problematic history.
Itz Keisha (Keisha Shadè)
Keisha Shadè is a UK-based content-creator and singer-songwriter who comments on social media trends and celebrity drama. Keisha's fun and outgoing personality make her videos so entertaining to watch. She's one of those YouTubers whose videos you could binge in one day. Keisha is another drama channel that doesn't personally attack people. She discusses their controversies and offers legitimate criticism and never hesitates to call out problematic people or situations, making her an honest and trustworthy voice in the drama and YouTube community.
Kiesha includes meaningful discussions in her videos, like how Billie Eilish was body-shamed, the racism Keisha experienced in Brandy Melville and the Black Lives Matter movement. Keisha is also passionate about music and has released great songs. You can listen to her latest song "FREAK" on all streaming sites.
Interested in YouTubers and how they started their channels? Check out this interview with Stephen Sharer.