Many people may associate the word ‘viral’ with sickness, but for UF alumnus Cameron Magruder, it means money and glory.
Magruder, better known to his fans as Scooter Magruder, is making a name for himself on the Internet. YouTube announced May 8 it would sponsor and train Magruder and 16 others as part of an ongoing effort to generate more content.
“I love making people laugh,” the 23-year-old telecommunication production graduate said. “One million subscribers is the goal.”
His videos have already been well-received. Known for their humor and spot-on impressions, his weekly videos cover many topics but focus mainly on sports.
One of his most popular videos, Stuff Gator Fans Say, has been featured on Buzzfeed and is full of playful jabs, especially regarding Florida State University. He asks, “If two FSU grads get a divorce, are they still cousins?”
Combined, Magruder’s videos have a total of 1.7 million views, but that’s just a drop in the bucket for him.
“I don’t think that’s a lot; it’s not a lot to me,” he said. “I have a lot of work to do still.”
The YouTube program he was selected for, called Next Creator, launches a series of contests almost monthly to find new Internet stars. Each contest is searching for a different type of talent – from cooking to relationship advice.
Magruder was selected as a vlogger, or video blogger.
He’s focusing his channel more on sports now and plans to start a weekly sports show starting next Sunday. He described it as “Tosh.0, but just sports and much shorter.”
Magruder isn’t the only Gator to achieve YouTube fame.
Toby Turner, who also graduated with a degree in telecommunication production, has 3.4 million subscribers to his channel and more than 800 million video views. He even moved out to California to make his videos as a full-time job.
Even more popular is GloZell, a musical theater graduate who has almost 200 million video views and has plans to host her own television show.
Magruder hopes to join these other Gator YouTube sensations and hopes that UF and the world are ready for his big break.
“Prepare for greatness,” he said with a laugh, “because I have so many great videos just waiting to be shot. I’m about to go into full-time beast mode.”
Contact Shelby Webb at swebb@alligator.org.
UF graduate Cameron "Scooter" Magruder, 23, poses for a graduation picture in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
