Zoella, the British vlogger, is the new queen of the internet
The 24-year-old Briton has developed an online following to rival that of Beyonce or Taylor Swift
The internet has brought a great many things into this world, from social networking, email and memes to online dating and even arguably revolution.
It has also given us Zoella. Zoella, or Zoe Sugg as she is known offline, is one of a new breed of online celebrities, an expanding group of video bloggers - or vloggers - who, thanks to their YouTube channels, have developed a worldwide following to rival that of Beyonce or even Taylor Swift.
The 24-year-old Briton, who has emerged at the head of the pack (she was recently described by Vogue as the queen of the internet), has had almost 307 million views of her intimate videos dispensing beauty and life advice; 6.6 million people subscribe to her channel. And now, her first book, Girl Online, the fictional tale of a blogger, has become the fastest-selling debut novel ever -selling 78,000 copies in its first week and eclipsing the debuts of JK Rowling and EL James.
Sugg is a phenomenon who, for some, has come from nowhere. But to a younger generation aged between 11 and 18, many of whom have avidly devoured videos produced by Sugg and her fellow bedroom vloggers for the past five years, the world is simply catching up.
Just how a fashion student from village in Wiltshire has come to define the zeitgeist is a testament to the DIY spirit that online platforms such as YouTube promote.
The daughter of a property developer father and a beautician mother, Sugg studied at Corsham school, a visual arts college in Wiltshire, and left with top marks in art, photography and textiles. She decided to forgo university in favour of an internship at an interior design company and then, in search of a creative outlet, she ventured into the world of blogging.