Stephen Byrne has opened up about his early days on YouTube and how the video sharing site has grown since he was first on it.
The presenter started out on YouTube back in 2007, and shortly after – he was discovered by major Irish broadcasting company, RTE, in 2008.
“A couple of friends found my videos and gave me a bit of a hard time for them,” he told Goss.ie at the launch of Coca Cola’s Chill to Win Competition.
Video star: Stephen was discovered through his YouTube channel by RTE | INSTAGRAM
The Dublin native revealed that once he changed schools, he gave making videos another chance before being approached by RTE.
“I changed schools and went at it again, did six months of that, and then I was working in RTE, which was crazy!” he admitted.
“I knew what I was doing was a little bit strange at the time and i knew not many people did it, but I really enjoyed it.
Strange: The radio DJ thought what he was doing was strange, but loved it | VIPIRELAND.COM
The 26-year-old revealed that the YouTube community was something new, and he never saw it getting so big.
“It was something that I thought was a real honest, new community.
“There were loads of people who were incredibly positive about doing this thing that other people thought was kind of strange.
“Which was mad to see, I never thought that it would be rivaling other major media.
“I never saw someone like [YouTube star] PewDiePie having 50 million subscribers.
“It was such an unreal thought back then!”
Bigger and better: Stephen never saw YouTube being so popular in major media | VIPIRELAND.COM
But can we expect a YouTube video anytime soon from Stephen?
“I would love to, I have so many ideas, it’s definitely something I really want to do,” the RTE star admitted.
“I would be very surprised if I didn’t make another YouTube video by the end of the summer.
“It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for so long, but have been too scared to go back to it because will people care anymore?
“But I don’t care, I want to do it because I enjoy it.”
Coke are teaming up with Stephen by inviting Ireland’s teens to show how they keep it chill for the chance to report live from all three days of Longitude.Â
Aspiring social stars just need to send Coca-Cola a snap of how they chill in hot situations – with the best budding reporter going head-to-head in the ultimate chill challenge while coached by Stephen Byrne! The supercool reporter will become Coca-Cola’s intrepid reporter at Longitude, while also gaining access to festivals including Tenants and Electric Picnic during the summer.
Think you have what it takes? Then send your snaps to: @CocaColaIreland.Â
