Ben Going
Encyclopedia
Ben Going username boh3m3 on YouTube
, is a video blog personality based in Torrance, California
. According to the Associated Press
in 2007, Going is "one of the best-known members of the YouTube community."
Most of Going's videos are shot in black-and-white
. He has claimed to be "the only person on the (YouTube) Most Subscribed List that swears excessively". Often in his videos, he wears a signature black hat. Subjects of Going's vlogs have included pop culture, the news media
, and the state of the YouTube community, in addition to personal anecdotes.
's "Jackass
". That failing, he went on to adopt a vlogger personality that has worked to give him over 44,000 subscribers and a top spot on YouTube's Most Subscribed list. Two of his videos, No Swearing! (posted June 6, 2006) and Why Do You Tube? (posted November 29, 2006 but has since been removed), were featured on YouTube's homepage and each has a view count over 900,000. Various news outlets have approached Going for his opinion on the state of the YouTube community or YouTube in general.
Stemming from his video channel's exposure, YouTube paid Going to produce two videos for use in holiday themed, corporate sponsored promotions in December 2006. The first to be released was part of the YouTube and Coca-Cola Holiday WishCast, sponsored by Coca-Cola
. According to Adweek
, this promotion marked the first time YouTube made an ad deal with its top users. The second was featured on YouTube's homepage for the YouTube New Year's Eve Countdown, which was put on in partnership with Warner Music Group
and sponsored by Chevrolet
.
Stickam
has credited Going for bringing 1,000 new users to its video networking website hours after he advertised his presence there on YouTube. In January 2007, he hosted a live, 24-hour Stickam broadcast to raise awareness for the Darfur conflict
.
In addition to several other popular YouTube users, Going contributed with Barenaked Ladies
to produce a music video for their single "Sound of Your Voice" in February 2007. The video has been featured on the Barenaked Ladies' homepage.
In May 2007, YouTube entered Going as one of the first users to take part in its partnership program. As a YouTube partner, Going can capitalize on "promotional opportunities" and advertiser based revenue sharing. He was one of the first twenty to thirty YouTube users to have this status. Although The New York Times
once quoted Going's saying that he hopes "video blogging might become some kind of career," since becoming a YouTube partner he has retracted that statement.
. Described by Newsday
as "a one-minute, black-and-white, tech-age public service announcement", the video, which Going scripted, presents a short argument for net neutrality that includes video appearances by YouTube users Tony Huynh, Barats and Bereta
, and Brandon Hardesty
, among others. Free Press
blog SavetheInternet.com subsequently featured it, leading the video to gain a view count in excess of 500,000. Of the video, Salon.com
quoted Ben Scott, one of the coordinators of SaveTheInternet.com, to have said that Going's "Save the Internet!" "is doing the work of 30 full-time communications professionals".
. In his video, Going imagines the substance to be made of "yeast, salt and pain." To counter, A Current Affair enlisted media personality Peter FitzSimons
, who muses Vegemite to comprise, rather, "the distilled essence of Australia
". Although the segment focuses on Going, it also features Australian YouTubers who profess a fondness for Vegemite, including Natalie Tran and Caitlin Hill
. A reporter for The Age
responded by questioning A Current Affairs journalistic integrity.
, and lived there until just before he started high school. He waited tables in Huntsville, Alabama
, throughout the earlier part of his YouTube career. In April 2007, Going moved to Torrance, California
, after accepting an offer to apprentice under a professional music video director. The move was facilitated by fan contributions exceeding $1,000.00 made through PayPal
.
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, is a video blog personality based in Torrance, California
Torrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
. According to the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
in 2007, Going is "one of the best-known members of the YouTube community."
Most of Going's videos are shot in black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
. He has claimed to be "the only person on the (YouTube) Most Subscribed List that swears excessively". Often in his videos, he wears a signature black hat. Subjects of Going's vlogs have included pop culture, the news media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
, and the state of the YouTube community, in addition to personal anecdotes.
YouTube
Going intended that his first submission to YouTube, posted in May 2006, serve as an audition tape for MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's "Jackass
Jackass (TV series)
jackass is an American reality series, originally shown on MTV from 2000 to 2002, featuring people performing various dangerous, crude, ridiculous, self-injuring stunts and pranks...
". That failing, he went on to adopt a vlogger personality that has worked to give him over 44,000 subscribers and a top spot on YouTube's Most Subscribed list. Two of his videos, No Swearing! (posted June 6, 2006) and Why Do You Tube? (posted November 29, 2006 but has since been removed), were featured on YouTube's homepage and each has a view count over 900,000. Various news outlets have approached Going for his opinion on the state of the YouTube community or YouTube in general.
Stemming from his video channel's exposure, YouTube paid Going to produce two videos for use in holiday themed, corporate sponsored promotions in December 2006. The first to be released was part of the YouTube and Coca-Cola Holiday WishCast, sponsored by Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
. According to Adweek
Adweek
Adweek is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1978....
, this promotion marked the first time YouTube made an ad deal with its top users. The second was featured on YouTube's homepage for the YouTube New Year's Eve Countdown, which was put on in partnership with Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
and sponsored by Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
.
Stickam
Stickam
Stickam is a website devoted to live-streaming video, featuring both professional and user-generated content. The site launched in 2005. Stickam features user-submitted pictures, audio, video, and most prominently, live streaming video chat...
has credited Going for bringing 1,000 new users to its video networking website hours after he advertised his presence there on YouTube. In January 2007, he hosted a live, 24-hour Stickam broadcast to raise awareness for the Darfur conflict
Darfur conflict
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
.
In addition to several other popular YouTube users, Going contributed with Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
to produce a music video for their single "Sound of Your Voice" in February 2007. The video has been featured on the Barenaked Ladies' homepage.
In May 2007, YouTube entered Going as one of the first users to take part in its partnership program. As a YouTube partner, Going can capitalize on "promotional opportunities" and advertiser based revenue sharing. He was one of the first twenty to thirty YouTube users to have this status. Although The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
once quoted Going's saying that he hopes "video blogging might become some kind of career," since becoming a YouTube partner he has retracted that statement.
YouTubers for net neutrality
On August 17, 2006, Going posted Save the Internet! to YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. Described by Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
as "a one-minute, black-and-white, tech-age public service announcement", the video, which Going scripted, presents a short argument for net neutrality that includes video appearances by YouTube users Tony Huynh, Barats and Bereta
Barats and Bereta
Barats and Bereta is a sketch comedy group consisting of Luke Pierre Barats and Joseph Daniel Bereta. Formed in 2003, the duo originally made videos to amuse friends, often combining real and fictional acts. They had met when both were students of Gonzaga University. These videos eventually made it...
, and Brandon Hardesty
Brandon Hardesty
Brandon Allan Hardesty is an American comedic performer and actor. Hardesty posts original comedy videos as well as "uncanny" recreations of scenes from movies, playing every part himself, excluding a few of his projects, such as his Little Rascals and the original Batman movie...
, among others. Free Press
Free Press (organization)
Free Press is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, national organization working to reform the media in the United States.It was founded in 2002 by media scholar Robert W. McChesney, The Nation contributor John Nichols, and Josh Silver, current CEO of the Democracy Fund, a foundation challenging the influence...
blog SavetheInternet.com subsequently featured it, leading the video to gain a view count in excess of 500,000. Of the video, Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
quoted Ben Scott, one of the coordinators of SaveTheInternet.com, to have said that Going's "Save the Internet!" "is doing the work of 30 full-time communications professionals".
Vegemite wars
In February 2007, Australian news program A Current Affair picked up Going's January 27, 2007, The Australians are Fooling Us All! and used it to springboard a mock defense of VegemiteVegemite
Vegemite is a dark brown Australian food paste made from yeast extract. It is a spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits, and filling for pastries...
. In his video, Going imagines the substance to be made of "yeast, salt and pain." To counter, A Current Affair enlisted media personality Peter FitzSimons
Peter FitzSimons
Peter John FitzSimons AM is an Australian journalist and author, based in Sydney. He is a former radio presenter and national representative rugby union player.-Early life:...
, who muses Vegemite to comprise, rather, "the distilled essence of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
". Although the segment focuses on Going, it also features Australian YouTubers who profess a fondness for Vegemite, including Natalie Tran and Caitlin Hill
Caitlin Hill
Caitlin Alexandra Hill is an Australian YouTube personality under the name TheHill88. She produces, edits and uploads her videos from her home in New York City....
. A reporter for The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
responded by questioning A Current Affairs journalistic integrity.
Personal life
Going grew up in Cocoa, FloridaCocoa, Florida
Cocoa is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 16,412 at the 2000 census. As of 2008, the estimated population according to the U.S. Census Bureau was 16,478. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:Cocoa was...
, and lived there until just before he started high school. He waited tables in Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
, throughout the earlier part of his YouTube career. In April 2007, Going moved to Torrance, California
Torrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
, after accepting an offer to apprentice under a professional music video director. The move was facilitated by fan contributions exceeding $1,000.00 made through PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
.
External links
- snarky bastard films, Ben Going's official website
- Ben Going's account on YouTube
- http://www.livevideo.com/video/BikiniNews/BF7E57AD94304901BF24167772712D01/episode-61-boh3m3-in-a-bikini.aspxInterview, in a bikini, on Bikini NewsBikini NewsBikini News is a series of satirical news videos featuring two comedians performing in bikinis in a comedic style similar to The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live. It includes sketch comedy elements, including plotlines where the main characters marry and have romantic affairs with ninjas. It is...
vodcast ]