The Internet has quite literally become our lives.

According to The Washington Post, teens are spending more than 7.5 hours a day connected to the technological world, meaning communication and entertainment are evolving in order to keep up with our generation of “digital natives”.

Celebrities, authors and educators have turned to modern means of communication to connect, inform, and entertain. With all of the popular social media outlets of today, connecting the “common folk” to those of interest is as easy as turning on a computer.

One such pioneer is author-gone-YouTuber John Green. The Florida-native, Alabama boarding-school educated, bestselling author of such titles as The Fault In Our Stars and Looking For Alaska is also a very successful dual YouTube account holder, with the channels Vlogbrothers and CrashCourse, of which he runs with his brother, Hank.

The Green brothers’ channel, Vlogbrothers, has more than 1.4 million subscribers and covers a wide range of topics, from Snooki’s contributions to society to being “friendzoned”. While Vlogbrothers focuses more on amusement, CrashCourse is an educational channel with such subjects as English, Chemistry, and United States history with more than 900,000 subscribers. Both channels feature videos with more than 1.5 million views, and are seen by people from all over the world.

Green is also the co-creator of VidCon, an online forum and annual convention that connect members of the online video community to their fans.
According to the website, “Every year, VidCon features some of the best talent, new and old, that has found an audience through the new medium of online video”.
But what makes Green’s ventures so popular?

The man understands young people.

After a six month stint working at a children’s hospital, Green’s ability to communicate with the younger generation was apparent. Since then, he has written young adult novels and targeted young-adult audiences in his online ventures.

He presents his opinions and ideas and ideals in continuous flows of wit, humor, and personableness, which makes him appealing to the masses of young adults that access the Internet. His books, blogs, and videos also take apart the typical tell-a-story or tell-a-fact system, and revitalize it, bringing a sense of signature uniqueness.

Green also understands the importance of connection, and then utilizes the tools of social media to create a bond between himself and his “Nerdfighter” (the name he has given his online fans) community. Green has responded to and addressed thousands of tweets, Tumblr posts, and YouTube comments over the past four years, creating a bond with his fans that would be nearly impossible without the Internet.

Green has helped to pave the way to a new level of fan-author connectivity while simultaneously revamping the online community.