For over 15 years, the Vlogbrothers have stayed true to their mission
By Meg Dowell
On January 1, 2007, Hank and John Green embarked on a journey none had attempted before: Communicating only through "video blogs" (vlogs) every single day for one year, alternating videos, all on one YouTube channel.
There were some other rules in place. Videos could not be longer than four minutes, for example. But for the most part, the brothers had free reign to make videos about pretty much anything they wanted.
A lot has changed in the lives of the two brothers since that first video upload. But the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel itself, in many ways, has remained mostly the same.
Who are the Vlogbrothers Hank and John Green?
Hank Green and John Green (often confused for one another both online and in person) are real-life brothers who are now both authors and online content extraordinaires. Since their original YouTube channel grew in popularity after their 2007 experiment, they have since launched other projects, such as free online education network Complexly, home of channels such as CrashCourse and SciShow.
Hank and John's "video blogs" sprouted an ongoing online fandom called Nerdfighteria, which regularly participates in charity events such as the yearly Project For Awesome fundraiser.
John Green is the author of books such as The Fault In Our Stars and Turtles All The Way Down. Hank Green has also written several novels (An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and its sequel) but is best known for his hosting appearances on YouTube channels like SciShow, where he has become known as Gen Z's "science guy" similar to Millennials learning science from Bill Nye.
The Green brothers are also the founders of the annual content creation event VidCon.
Do Hank and John Green still make YouTube videos?
Despite all their individual and shared success outside of YouTube, Hank and John Green still make videos back and forth on the original Vlogbrothers channel. A few things have changed -- they only make one video a week each now, on Tuesdays and Fridays, and videos occassionally surpass the four-minute mark without "punishment."
But not much else has changed about the channel itself since 2007 (except, perhaps, the video quality). The brothers still make videos "talking" to one another, often about whatever topic might be on their minds at the moment. The videos remain thought-provoking, often entertaining, and always authentic to who the brothers are as people.
Will they continue to make videos on the channel for decades to come? That may depend on how long YouTube is around and other life events that may one day take precedent over making YouTube videos. For now, the Vlogbrothers are still going strong, and the internet is a slightly more pleasant place with the channel still around and active.