Is Vlogmas Still a Thing?
By: Kristin Merrilees
Tags: Christmas, 2020, Holidays, YouTube, Social Media

Is Vlogmas Still a Thing?

Let’s travel back in time to a cold December day many years ago. After a long day at middle (or high) school, you bundle up and walk home enduring the winter chill, until, after what seems like forever, you finally reach your home, quickly getting your homework done so you can get on to something way more important. That thing? Vlogmas.

You make yourself a cup of delicious hot chocolate and open up YouTube, eagerly clicking on your favorite YouTuber’s newest installation of the internet’s favorite holiday tradition, reveling in festivity and winter spirit.

So, What is Vlogmas? The Beginnings…

Vlogmas was created in 2011 by YouTuber Ingrid Nilsen, who had the idea to post a video (a “vlog,” or video blog) every day leading up to Christmas as a sort of “advent calendar” for her subscribers. Kathryn Lindsay describes in Refinery29 how daily vlogging was not yet a “thing” when Vlogmas started: “It was rare that you’d see someone give such an intimate look into their lives every single day, especially not a beauty YouTuber like Nilsen.” Nilsen’s first Vlogmas video, which offers a look back into a different, improvised and unedited era of YouTube, was uploaded on December 2nd, 2011.

Since that video, Vlogmas gained popularity amongst other YouTubers and soon became an annual tradition on the platform. In the following years, many in the beauty and lifestyle community began to participate — one of the most notable being English YouTuber Zoe Sugg (or “Zoella”). Her Vlogmas 2013 lineup features shopping at the luxury department store Harrods, tree decorating, traveling, Christmas sweaters, and of course, opening presents.

Other YouTubers who became known for their interesting and even elaborate Vlogmases each year include Alisha Marie, Meredith Foster, Aspyn Ovard, Claudia Sulewski, and more.

This time (roughly around 2012–2016) was (in my opinion) arguably the “golden age” of beauty and lifestyle YouTube, and this was definitely reflected in holiday videos. One of the queens of this type of content was Bethany Mota, who, come each winter, would upload lots of holiday content, whether that be recipes, gift ideas, ways to decorate one’s room, outfit ideas, etc. And while Mota didn’t post videos every day Vlogmas-style, she did run a series called “C2C,” or “Countdown to Christmas,” where she would upload videos of her shopping at Target, going ice skating, or making a gingerbread house.

Some creators would even do vlogs for Vlogmas on their extra channel (their “vlog” channel) and have other, more structured videos on their main channel — such as Alisha Marie’s “DIY Holiday Room Decor” video. These videos were very on-brand for the types of lifestyle and beauty content that were popular at the time, being cheery and festive, full of pop songs, and very colorful and crafty. It was your Christmas Pinterest board come to life.

Vlogmas and a New YouTube Generation

Okay, let’s go a few years into the future with the rise of the “relatable YouTuber” generation, which included people like Summer McKeen, Emma Chamberlain, Hannah Meloche, Haley Pham, Ellie Thumann, and even Olivia Jade (yes, that Olivia Jade). Around this time (roughly 2017 to 2018/2019), vlogging was now much more common, and many of these YouTubers had done Vlogmas in the past before their channels were as popular.

Hannah Meloche, for example, has done Vlogmas a few times over the years, showing festivity, shopping, hangouts with friends, and more in her videos. Below is her playlist of all the Vlogmas videos she has uploaded (note — she did do Vlogmas this year, which I will discuss more in a bit).

However, at the same time, it seems that Vlogmas did not have the same hype or appeal around it (to both this new crowd of YouTubers and their subscribers) as it once did. Perhaps this is because by this time, being a social media star was way different than it had been in 2011. YouTubers could keep connected with their fans and viewers in more ways, such as through Instagram and Snapchat. Through these channels, it was easier to provide brief updates, as opposed to having to upload a whole YouTube video.

At this time too, the types of content that did well on YouTube were much different than they were during the beginning years of Vlogmas. Compared to Nilsen’s very spontaneous, off-the-cuff, and unedited first vlog in the December of 2011, the new generation of YouTubers, although they were very natural and “relatable” on camera, often had to put in a lot of editing and filming hours into their videos. This combined with the fact that many of them were quite young, and likely had to manage a number of social platforms as well as other responsibilities, would make doing a Vlogmas series of the same quality as their normal videos very difficult.

This doesn’t mean that they didn’t upload Christmas-themed videos and even vlogs, however. Vlogs of Christmas-related outings or trips, as well as “What I Got for Christmas” videos, were often how these YouTubers would show off their holiday spirit.

Emma Chamberlain’s 2017 video “it’s christmas time…IN THE CITY”

Hannah Meloche’s 2017 video “WHAT I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS 2017”

Ellie Thumann’s 2018 video “spending Christmas in New York City”

The Future of Christmas and Holiday Videos

Currently, it seems that the most popular influencers and creators, instead of doing daily vlogs during the holiday season, now turn to both collab videos and short-form content (ie. TikToks).

Collabs are one way that YouTubers can make entertaining holiday-themed content for their fans — and this content often has a very celebratory tone to it. In 2018, the arguable “in-crowd” of the moment, the “Sister Squad,” which consisted of the Dolan Twins, Emma Chamberlain, and James Charles, surprised their subscribers on December 25th with three Christmas-themed collaboration videos, one on each of their channels.

The Sister Squad’s 2018 Christmas collab videos

This year, influencers Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, Noah Beck, Chase Hudson (“Lil Huddy”), Larray, and James Charles each dropped collaboration videos of their own, consisting of a snowball fight, Christmas dinner, buying each other Christmas gifts, white elephant game, gingerbread house competition, and Christmas carols on Omegle. The videos each have millions of views and remain on the YouTube trending page as of a few days later. Dixie also notably released a Christmas song with Liam Payne a few weeks ago, called “Naughty List.”

And, in 2020, there is of course going to be Christmas content on TikTok — such as this popular dance, to a remix of the songs “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Winter Wonderland,” which many influencers have been doing.

One unique thing about TikTok, however, is that small accounts can also make content that can go viral, which has allowed everyone to participate in the online holiday festivities this year. In fact, this year the Christmas TikToks started popping up way earlier than December — like, in the summer earlier. Many of the Christmas accounts established several months ago have continued to post content throughout this month. Some Vlogmas-specific accounts have even popped up, aiming to continue the tradition started so many years ago.

However, by no means has Vlogmas left YouTube — for many people, it is still going strong, if in different ways. Some YouTubers chose to do Vlogmas when they could (or have Vlogmas summaries of each week) rather than vlogging every day. Some examples of YouTubers who did this are Ellie Zeiler (who also uploaded other holiday-related content in addition to her two Vlogmas videos, such as making gingerbread houses as well as a holiday gift guide). In her Vlogmas videos, she documents her activities throughout the month of December, such as a photoshoot, getting coffee, and bringing her friends gifts.

Ellie Thuman, also made weekly Vlogmas videos, showing three weeks in her life, in which she takes college finals, does a secret Santa with her family, and, of course, gets coffee.

Hannah Meloche continued with a more traditional Vlogmas this year, as she has in years past, posting videos of her hanging out with friends, taking a road trip to a winter cottage, and more. So has longtime YouTubers Alisha Marie, who has even created merch to celebrate the tradition, which her channel has become known for.

Ultimately, YouTubers, TikTokers, influencers, and content creators are all celebrating the holidays online in unique and entertaining ways. While not everyone is doing a traditional Vlogmas, the roots of Vlogmas in TikToks, YouTube videos, and the general tradition of spreading winter cheer online are very evident. Small creators and everyday people are even finding ways to participate in the tradition, by posting Christmas hauls and holiday-themed videos on TikTok. In this sense, and in a year where holiday spirit is so desperately needed, the spirit of Vlogmas is stronger than ever. Happy holidays!