A 24-year-old Indonesian YouTube star known for multi-hued hairdos, offbeat skits and a trademark bandana has become the first person in Southeast Asia to reach a “milestone” 10 million subscribers, the video-sharing website said on Thursday (Feb 7).
South China Morning Post reported Muhammad Attamimi Halilintar, or “Atta” to his fans on Feb 5 shared a photo of himself with a tally of 10,000,057 subscribers.
In keeping with his goofy online persona, Atta staged a PR stunt where he posed in a hospital bed, complete with IV drips attached, suggesting that hard-won fatigue comes with being a YouTube celebrity.
By Thursday afternoon, Atta’s YouTube subscriber count had risen to 10,195,181, according to data-tracking website Socialblade – making it the most popular YouTube channel in Indonesia. (That initial hospital post attracted more than 850,000 likes the same day, and by Thursday it had 2.5 million.) His videos, by Socialblade’s count, have racked up more than 770 million views.
“We do have other YouTube channels in Southeast Asia that have crossed 10 million YouTube subscribers, but they are all media companies,” said Tu Nguyen, the YouTube spokesman for the Asia-Pacific. “Atta is the first creator channel to cross that milestone.”
In a message to his fans, whom he calls the “A-Team”, Atta said: “When I’m finished with my activities, I’ll be looking for a space to build a mosque,” he said. “I hope there’ll be more [Indonesian] YouTubers who will have 10 million subscribers as well, so we won’t get underestimated by foreigners.”
He does light reporting as well. As the Jakarta Post wrote, Atta “posts vlogs, interviews with celebrities and celebrity house tours. He often includes messages about not giving up and describes how he built his career from zero”. In 2018, he reportedly wrote the book Atta Halilintar: Draw My Life.
“I think everybody knows him now. He’s a nice guy,” said Wendy Wulandari, 30, a Hong Kong-based Indonesian who first learned of Atta two years ago. “Now, he is rich because of all his subscribers on YouTube. I’ve seen his family’s house in Jakarta, it’s big.”
YouTube declined to disclose just how much Atta makes from his 10 million followers.
Source : South China Morning Post
