Internet personality MatPat is bringing his love of live performance and digital creation together as he prepares to host the 2023 Streamy Awards.
As the social media mogul (born Matthew Patrick), 36, built his YouTube channel in the early 2010s, he unintentionally became a member of the trailblazers of digital entertainment.
In a new interview, he tells PEOPLE that he quickly realized that content creation was blossoming into something significant — and now the Streamy Awards represent that evolution.
“I think being in this industry for as long as I have, you get such a deep appreciation for everything that it entails,” he explains. “So being able to be a part of a show that honors them, celebrates them, takes a cross-sectional look at the entirety of the industry … that is such a cool position to be in.”
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Patrick says that he is particularly proud to host the show because it recognizes the industry’s pioneers. “I’ve been preparing my whole life,” he says.
“The show is really fun because it is touching on the past, present and future of digital video,” he teases. “So you’re going to have nostalgic references, but you’re also going to have some more modern memes and references in there, as well as like, ‘Hey, where do we think this whole industry is going as a whole unit?’”
Another element of the upcoming show Patrick says he is looking forward to is his monologue on the various “generations” of online content (he places himself in the third).
Courtesy of the 2023 Streamy Awards
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He describes generation one as “viral videos where you didn’t necessarily know the creator’s name, but you knew the video title”; the next emerged when people began to develop a brand around themselves by regularly uploading; the third was where “long-form content” entered the space, and the show he and his wife Stephanie started, The Game Theorists, blew up.
“Then you’ve had two generations since then,” he says. “It feels like we’re kind of crossing into generation six at this point, which is wild to say it’s been 15, 16 years or so. But the internet moves very quickly and the evolution happens very fast, so this is a cool chance to look back at those first five generations and really map out where we’ve gone and who some of those big important movers and shakers were.”
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When it comes to his personal goals, the Broadway producer, who has a degree in theater and neuroscience, explains that hosting is “a big bucket list item” in his career, even describing it as a “right of passage” after launching five YouTube channels over the course of 12 years.
“I think one of the struggles and one of the frustrations that a lot of online creators have is that they do have a hard time crossing into more mainstream media or getting coverage of all the incredible stuff that they’re doing,” he says. “A lot of times it’s hard to cut through that noise.”
Patrick notes that he often hears people disregard digital video creation as an easy job, when in reality, he sees it as the opposite. He shares that he is happy to take part in garnering wider recognition for the industry at the Streamys.
“Unlike traditional media where there are people who are experts in each individual thing, a lot of these content creators have to be all of them, and entrepreneurs and bosses and managers and this and that,” Patrick points out. “It is an incredibly robust industry and it is an incredibly difficult industry.”
He adds: “To be honored on that stage and to be able to stand up there amongst your peers and say, ‘Hey, I did it. I got this’ — it’s incredibly validating.”
This year’s show will stream live on Streamy social channels on Aug. 27 at 9 p.m. ET.
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Source: HIS Education