20 years in SA – How has YouTube reshaped the local creator economy.
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GUEST – Lorraine Landon - Head of Advertising Products and Solutions at Google Sub-Saharan Africa
YouTube is celebrating 20 years in South Africa, a milestone that tells the story of how a simple video-sharing site grew into one of the most powerful players in media, advertising, and the creator economy. Over the past two decades, South Africans have gone from being casual viewers to global creators building careers, launching businesses, and even challenging the dominance of traditional television.
But YouTube’s impact goes beyond entertainment. It has become a marketplace where brands and advertisers meet audiences directly, where young entrepreneurs build businesses from scratch, and where culture is shaped in real time. As the platform continues to innovate with features like Shorts, live streaming, and monetisation tools, the question is no longer whether YouTube matters but how deeply it is intertwined with the way we consume content and create opportunities in South Africa.
YouTube is celebrating 20 years in South Africa, a milestone that tells the story of how a simple video-sharing site grew into one of the most powerful players in media, advertising, and the creator economy. Over the past two decades, South Africans have gone from being casual viewers to global creators building careers, launching businesses, and even challenging the dominance of traditional television.
But YouTube’s impact goes beyond entertainment. It has become a marketplace where brands and advertisers meet audiences directly, where young entrepreneurs build businesses from scratch, and where culture is shaped in real time. As the platform continues to innovate with features like Shorts, live streaming, and monetisation tools, the question is no longer whether YouTube matters but how deeply it is intertwined with the way we consume content and create opportunities in South Africa.
