Indian YouTubers raised Rs 50 lakhs by live-streaming an event to fund oxygen supply as India reels from the impact of the second wave of COVID-19.
YouTubers Slayy Point and Mythpat, along with OpraahFx, brought together India’s YouTube community to live stream on Monday, 26 April.
The seven-hour long YouTube live stream was hosted by Slayy Point on Mythpat’s YouTube channel, that saw the presence of influencers like Techno Gamerz, Kusha Kapila, Technical Guruji, Salonayy, Total Gaming, Ashish Chanchlani, Mythpat, Carry Minati, Viraj Ghelani, Abish Mathew, Ankush Bahuguna, BeYouNick, Tanmay Bhatt, Ranveer Allahbadia, and Dolly Singh.
During the live stream, the influencers were seen playing online games, and engaging with the audience to raise funds.
“It is unbelievable that the influencer media has so much power. A channel like mine with only 4 million subscribers had this much impact. The community which is often not given enough credit or respect can come together to literally create magic and save lives.”Slayy point, YouTuber and Content Creator
Hinting at the crumbling medical infrastructure, Comic content creator Saloni Gaur aka Salonayy believes that “the system has failed”.
"We know what is the current state of our system right now so we’ll have to help each other, and people coming forward to donate and help other people is something I’d like to see even after this pandemic gets over," Saloni told The Quint.
'Best Time to Use Your Reach': Mythpat
Advising fellow YouTubers and content creators, Mythilesh Patankar said that this is a very crucial time for all citizens. "I feel every influencer should make extensive use of their reach and do everything in their capacity to help the society.”
"The amount raised will go to Hemkunt Foundation who are helping in producing more oxygen cylinders for COVID patients," Patankar added.
Meanwhile, YouTubers Abhi and Niyu assert that real influence is having an offline impact through online content. "The charity stream managed to raise Rs 50 lakh for oxygen support which is just mind blowing. And even otherwise, we've had so many people come and tell us they got help after we put up a story, because someone decided to help them with leads, it is surreal," they said.
'We Understand What People Are Going Through' : Ashish Chanchlani
Youtuber Ashish Chanchlani said that he understands what the public is going through. "The astonishing part about the stream was different types of audiences –gaming, comedy, technology; all of these people from different pedigrees brought together had an immense effect."
Echoing his thoughts, YouTuber BeYouNick said: "We keep collaborating especially for causes whenever we get such a chance. Often it doesn’t translate into content and so most people don’t know about it. So yes, at this moment, if you have the ability to help even 1 person, that’s a privilege that you should exercise. It will make yours and someone’s life better."
With the rising number of cases and calls for help online, Creators have been using their social media platforms to keep people informed and have been amplifying their SOS messages.
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