Not everything we see on YouTube is real, such as fake views, faked videos, and fake personalities.

YouTube began in 2005 and has grown dramatically through the years. Every minute, people around the world upload more than 300 hours of footage to YouTube and it hosts 1.3 billion videos, according to the website Business of Apps.

More and more people are becoming YouTubers, and more and more people are becoming famous because of it, such as PewDiePie, Liza Koshy, James Charles, The Dolan Twins, Shane Dawson, The Ace Family, Ninja, etc., making unknown amounts of money every month.

Buying subscribers for YouTube is pretty popular. Buying subscribers helps the growth of the videos and the YouTube channel, and yes, buying subscribers is legal. (The Ace Family is suspected of buying subscribers.)

Many YouTubers have fake identities that have nothing to do with their real personalities. Those people project those identities to their viewers while living totally different lives in reality. No one is 100 percent the same in videos as they are in person, but it’s to the point where it’s almost like living a double life.

An example of YouTubers faking things for views and subscribers is a channel called “Poppy.” This channel features short videos of what seems to be a young girl named Poppy doing different weird things, such as interacting with a plant and a mannequin. The channel was quick to get recognition and reactions, with some people being weirded out and others intrigued.

Later, people found out that “Poppy” was just a character made up by 24-year-old Moriah Rose Pereira, who made the channel to get people to listen to her music. “Poppy” is now known as an American singer, songwriter, composer, author, actress, dancer, model — and YouTuber.

Characters, or personas, aren’t the only things that are made up on the platform; there are also faked stunts. An example of this is a prank constructed by YouTubers Sam Golbach, Colby Brock, and Sam Pepper on Pepper’s channel. The prank consisted of Pepper kidnapping Golbach and Brock and then “killing” Brock in front of Golbach, his best friend. Allegedly, only Pepper and Brock knew of the prank, making Golbach the prank victim. The video showed Brock being shot in the head as Golbach watched in panic.

After the video was uploaded, they started getting major backlash. Later, Golbach and Brock came clean on a radio show called Zach Sang Show where they admitted that Golbach was in on the prank and the whole thing was scripted and staged.

There are also faked relationships. According to Clevver News, controversial YouTuber Jake Paul admitted to faking his relationship with fellow YouTuber and prior manager Erika Costell, a fake that was also the subject of a New York Times article.

There have also been cases of fraud, such as YouTuber Andrey Smygov from RichKidsTv channel who told his viewers to “donate” to a charity that later turned out to be a scam. He used the money to buy himself a Lamborghini.

Others have allegedly gone so far as to fake a terminal disease. YouTuber Leon Lush claims that YouTubers on the Channel XtremeGamez Tommy and Jonny faked a disease, telling their young viewers they were quitting YouTube because they were dying. Later they came back and announced that they were cured.

For more info and statistics on YouTube, check out this site: http://www.businessofapps.com/data/youtube-statistics/