In past times; Cooperatives were established for the development of poor villages, expert teams on agriculture and animal husbandry were sent to the villages, and various projects were carried out by the state on education, health and infrastructure. Although these steps have been somewhat successful in the past, new solutions can be produced in the age of technology.
With you today; We will take a look at the story of the first and only village in the world, known as the YouTube Village, that changed a poor village from top to bottom.
It all started with a simple love of vlogs
Liton Ali is a teenager living in Shimulia Village, Bangladesh. Living in Shimulia Village with a population of approximately 400, Ali must have been influenced by the YouTube videos he watched, as he started shooting videos in the style of video blogs (vlogs) on his mobile phone in 2016. All day, Ali was meaninglessly recording what he lived in the village or the work of his friends. There were times when he even took videos with a key phone.
Since there was an internet problem in the village, Ali was uploading the videos he took to YouTube collectively when he went to his uncle. Ali had no realistic expectations from these videos. His main goal was just to have some fun.
When the videos attracted attention, the color of the work changed.
When it comes to interest in the videos that Ali shared with Facebook and YouTube; Ali decided to bring the matter up to his uncle. In the village, the meals cooked by the village people every day, the tools and equipment produced in the village, daily routine works and hunting footage would be shared on YouTube.
Ali’s uncle Delwar Hossain, relying on his nephew’s enthusiasm, supported Ali and they bought a camera for the video shoot as the first thing.
In 2017, the channel went into a professional restructuring.
After Ali and his uncle Hossain bought professional equipment, they made a minor correction to the name of the channel and updated the name of the channel to AroundMeBD. Arround me stands for “around me” and BD stands for Bangladesh. The previous name of the channel was Arroundme.
The reputation of the channel increased with 93 million watched videos
While the women were cooking in Shimulia Village, Ali and his uncle recorded the cooking footage with the permission of the women. One day, when the video, which includes the moments of a 3-year-old girl cooking, received more than 93 million views, they decided to turn a new page on the idea of YouTube.
Moments when little 3 year old girl cooks:
The whole village became a partner to the YouTube channel
Yes, although it may sound a bit strange at first, ArroundMeBD is a channel owned by Shimulia Village. All advertising revenue of the channel is spent for the village. While food and equipment expenses are covered by the channel’s advertising revenues; With the increased money, places such as houses, schools and health centers are built for the villagers.
Thanks to the canal, everyone in the village of 400 people eats free of charge; The remaining meals are distributed to those in need in neighboring villages. While the whole village used to live in simple tin houses; Now, “livable” houses are built for each family in turn.
As ad revenues increased, so did the channel.
As the number of subscribers and views of the channel increased, naturally, advertising revenues also increased. According to a data released in 2020, the channel was generating $8,000 in advertising revenue per month. This is equivalent to 744,856 Bangladesh Taka.
The villagers of Shimulia, who earned a very satisfactory income thanks to YouTube, also made some changes in the videos. For example, women now wear a single type of dress for a more professional impression, more equipment-making and hunting videos, building sharing and chat content are shared compared to the past, and local food is emphasized.
Opinions of the village people about the canal
We mentioned that the livelihood of the whole village is on the YouTube channel. Especially women who are busy with food videos; “I used to cook, now I cook. The only difference is that now me and my village are making money.” Men are also very happy with their situation because they also contribute to the channel with their daily work.
Everyone in the village is now a YouTuber
In the first years, when the villagers only cooked, things are no longer the same. Almost everyone in the village learned how to take videos and photos. They shoot their own videos and even receive training on editing and editing. Undoubtedly, Hossain, whose main profession is teaching, has a great contribution to education.
According to Hossain, everyone in the village is a YouTuber. Almost everyone has enough knowledge to shoot videos alone and share them on YouTube. Hossain hopes that the YouTube Village he founded will set an example for all of Bangladesh and that other poor villages will develop like Shimulia.
If you want to be a guest of YouTube Village…
If you would like to join the world’s first YouTube Village, where there are 4.27 million subscribers and where different foods and vehicles are made every day; You can access the channel from the link here.
So, what do you guys think about YouTube Village?
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