, Columnist
YouTube Rules Brazil's Brave New Media World
How a host of zany vloggers became some of the country’s most influential public figures.
What came after the Girl from Ipanema.
Courtesy of Felipe NetoThis article is for subscribers only.
As in most homes populated by teens and tweens, sharing a roof with an exotic cast of screen idols is part of our family deal. Hence my nodding acquaintance with Brazil’s second most-watched video blogger, Felipe Neto, whose cackle and harlequin coiffure can send my 12-year-old -- and just about every other Brazilian her size -- into a swoon.
Yet when I actually met Neto, I was disarmed. Skinny, tall and quietly focused, he was nothing like the manic prankster I’d come to know online. His mop was a dull mauve, disappointing for the man who’s done for hair dye what Imelda Marcos did for footwear.