YouTube sensation
Frankie MacDonald recognized for online popularity
Frankie MacDonald is back in the headlines, which should come as no surprise to fans of Cape Breton’s world-renowned amateur weatherman.
Earlier this week, MacDonald opened his mail to discover he had received a major award from YouTube, the immensely popular worldwide video sharing website. As a recipient of the Silver Play Award, he was honoured for having more than 100,000 subscribers to his “dogsandwolves” channel.
With his online weather forecasts, and occasional comedy routines, garnering more than 24 million views in less than six years, the Internet sensation has become a legitimate international celebrity.
The popular online social media platform Facebook even classifies Frankie, as he is affectionately known, as a “public figure.”
“I am really happy to get the award,” said the autistic 32-yearold, whose Whitney Pier home overlooks Sydney’s coal piers.
“I got it because people like watching my videos all of the time,” he said, during a quick break from his job at the Mayflower Mall.
MacDonald, who has created an impressive following with his entertaining and informative online weather forecasts, has been making videos and honing his craft for more than a decade.
His grandmother Rose marvels at the proficiency MacDonald has developed with his various devices.
“He just loves it — he’s on them from the moment he gets up in the morning, it’s what he does,” she said.
MacDonald’s rise to celebrity status began after he started uploading his videos to The Weather Network. His more than occasional presence on the Canada-wide station’s website introduced him to the nation and he soon became known for his entertaining style, passionate delivery and accurate weather forecasts.
Along with his technological prowess, MacDonald also has a remarkable recall when it comes to milestone dates.
“I made my first scenery video on December 27, 2007 and I made my first YouTube video on December 16, 2009,” he said.
Since then, his online videos have been viewed 24 million times. And MacDonald will tell you that number is probably much higher as he reset his YouTube account in June 2011. He also has more than 46,000 followers on Twitter and his Facebook homepage has registered some 78,000.”
Frankie now has more than 123,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, but it still may take the popular Cape Breton man some time to reach YouTube’s next award, the Gold Play Button, that recognizes channels with more than one million subscribers.
And, if he keeps going long enough, there is always the Ruby Play Button that honours channels with more than 50,000,000 subscribers. The only person to receive that award is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, an online Swedish web-based comedian and video producer better known as ‘PewDiePie’. Last year, Time Magazine named Kjellberg to its list of the world’s 100 most influential people.