One Republican vs. twenty-five Kamala Harris voters, who would win?
Jubilee is a YouTube Channel dedicated to producing political and social videos. The channel started in 2017 and has amassed a large amount of followers, becoming a main staple of pop culture. The channel thrives on bringing together people with different opinions and beliefs, trying to find a common ground between them.
An interesting development with the channel is the political videos they have been publishing due to the recent election. Publishing videos with participating members of the Democrat or Republican party debating with people from the opposing side.
AP Government Teacher Russell Rudman said, “It’s not real journalism. Without any statement of financial neutrality, it’s worthless.” His view exposes a common perspective around Jubilee videos – that Jubilee may be influenced by other political groups and are not doing fair videos for the millions of viewers the channel commonly has, giving false info to consumers.
The increased exposure of Jubilee has promoted the creation of reaction videos on social media platforms like Youtube and Tiktok, leading to the channel becoming massively popular with Jubilee’s account at about 9.4 million subscribers as of November 2024. Jubilee attempts to fight criticism regarding their large influence by fact checking in the description of their videos, a policy administered by the company staff under Jason Y. Lee, the creator and current owner.
Jubilee also makes other types of videos, including a series called “Test Your Radar,” where someone has to try and guess if people fit a specific social category, such as being heterosexual or homosexual. These series are much more entertainment-based, whereas the policy videos previously mentioned are more informative and “complex”. Other types of videos include the “Circle Of Secrets,” where a demographic shares their own private stories with each other and the internet, effectively for a form of world wide group therapy.
Jubilee watcher and Millikan student Zoe Van Gessel said, “It makes pop culture more polarizing than it already is. I don’t know if it’s an accurate representation of conversations with your peers.” She is essentially stating that Jubilee does not provide a realistic lens of how socialization actually works, and that through this Jubilee adds to the culture divide. This is especially valuable considering the special impact Jubilee viewers have on the channel, as Jubilee is directly influenced by whether or not the viewers enjoy their output.
Evidently, Jubilee has a large social footprint and spins both entertainment and political debate into one consumable product that’s popular with the internet. Many have been able to watch and consume Jubilee as both something to entertain themselves and others, as well as something to gain knowledge from. The prominence of the channel has undeniably risen due to the presidential election, and it’s important to consider the ramifications of such a high-profile channel releasing politically-themed videos. Jubilee has positioned itself within our culture as something that is a prime source of entertainment and information, whether for better or for worse.
Find Jubilee here and watch their videos at this link: https://www.youtube.com/@jubilee?reload=9
