Derry's top '˜YouTuber' Adam hitting his targets

Adam, who as of yesterday had 12,389 subscribers on his channel, TheNewAdamb99, said YouTube has become his part-time job and one that pays pretty well.

The 17-year-old from Fernabbey has only been on Youtube for two years but has seen his profile soar with every new posting, with his ‘How To’ series and lyric prank videos even going viral. To date his channel has attracted over 1.5m views.

But his passion for YouTube has not affected his school work. In fact, last year he managed to rack up 11 A*s at GCSE level - one of the best set of results in the north - and is currently studying Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology at A-Level.

Adam said he has learned to balance his time between his hobby and his schoolwork. “A video takes around five hours start to finish, and that might be a five minute video- a lot goes into it. I do it as my job so I’m very lucky. I’m thankful I don’t have to sign myself up with a part-time job somewhere. I didn’t start it for money, but it’s an added bonus.”

Adam said that feedback is for him the best part of YouTube. “I try to answer every single comment because if someone takes the time out of their day to comment, it is only fair I reply to them,” he said.

“I try to be as entertaining as possible, and get people to laugh or at least smile. No-one wants to go on a channel and become depressed or sad.”

He said it was a crazy feeling meeting people who have previously only seen him via the channel, even at school, but adds that this seems to have made him more accessible as Head Boy, because pupils in a sense know him already, and some have expressed to him how his channel has helped them with certain situations.

Adam said it was great to see younger people from his school setting up their own channels and said that YouTube can be very beneficial for improving confidence and communication skills. It even helped him with the interview for the Head Boy position.

Speaking about that new role, Adam said : “I take a lot of pride in it , it’s such a reputable school in the town and I will try my best to live up to that.”