VidCon 2026 welcomed content creator Michelle Phan as its second class of inductees, along with Markiplier, Philip DeFranco, and Blogilates founder Cassey Ho.
A pioneer in the field of beauty content creation, Huang began posting makeup tutorials on YouTube in 2007. Her tutorials have not only spawned an internet beauty empire, but also led to partnerships with Lancôme and L’Oréal. Fans have also launched their own brands, including beauty subscription boxes IPSY and EM Cosmetics.
Fan started her career long before words like “YouTuber” and “content creator” became common parlance, and she’s seen a dramatic shift in attitudes towards creators on the internet.
“Today, people know that the moment they turn on a camera and dance in front of it or take a photo, they’re not going to get weird looks,” Huang told Mashable’s digital culture editor Crystal Bell.
“When I was a YouTuber, people would look at me strangely if I took out a video camera and filmed in public. They were like, ‘Who is this person, who is doing this weird thing?'” the fan recalled. “But today it’s so normalized. Everyone is creating content, and I think that’s great because everyone has a story to share.”
That change is evident at VidCon 2026, which has grown exponentially since Huang first attended the convention in its early days.
“It was so surreal just seeing how huge it is now and all the different creators involved,” said Phan. “I feel like I knew it was going to be this big, but to see it here now is so surreal.”
Watch the full interview above. Mashable has you covered when it comes to VidCon.
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