Talk:Michael Stevens (YouTuber)

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: no consensus. General agreement to move away from the current title, but several different alternatives were provided with no strong consensus for any particular option. (non-admin closure) {{GearsDatapacks|talk|contribs}} 13:04, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

Michael Stevens (YouTuber) → Michael Stevens (presenter) – I created the article in 2015 (in hindsight, overly reliant on primary sources, but it was over a decade ago, I was young and inexperienced), and at the time chose the title "Michael Stevens (educator)". Accepting that the term "educator" was not ideal, I concurred with the logic behind the move to "Michael Stevens (YouTuber)" in 2024, although I noted my discomfort with that career descriptor last year.

Since then, a relevant development is that Tom Scott (YouTuber), one of two articles cited by User:Vigilantcosmicpenguin in their support of "(YouTuber)", has been moved to Tom Scott (presenter). Notably, an editor who happened to be the subject of the article made a respectful and well-informed case in favour of the move; there was seemingly majority support for moving away from "(YouTuber)" even before Scott's input. I see no reason why Stevens should be treated any differently than Scott in this regard, especially as he is now the co-host of a popular science podcast made by a British production company, accessed on many platforms other than YouTube. The Vsauce website also describes Stevens as the host of Vsauce1, and I would argue that "host" is functionally synonymous with "presenter". Neegzistuoja (talk) 08:01, 31 March 2026 (UTC) — Relisting. {{GearsDatapacks|talk|contribs}} 09:06, 7 April 2026 (UTC) — Relisting. {{GearsDatapacks|talk|contribs}} 12:48, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

• Support change from YouTuber, I think Stevens (and really most YouTubers) produce plenty of content off the one specific platform that the term YouTuber implied. Besides "presenter", which maybe feels a bit British for an American, "content creator" would be the only alternative I would think would make sense. However, I support both and am interested in what alternatives people give. I still think educator would not be suitable. -- Cerebral726 (talk) 14:52, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

  Update to primary, no disambiguation based on pageviews. He has a 5x greater over the last year than the next highest and an order of magnitude more views than the next that uses only "Michael Stevens": . Cerebral726 (talk) 15:57, 7 April 2026 (UTC)

Oppose. I disagree with the argument that "presenter" fits here. Tom Scott described himself as a presenter, and he cited an example of someone describing him as such. In the case of Michael Stevens, I can't find anyone using the term. From what I can find, sources primarily describe him as "YouTuber", "educator", or "Vsauce creator". So unless Stevens dislikes the label YouTuber (as was the case with Scott), there is no reason to change it. — Vigilant Cosmic Penguin 🐧 (talk | contribs) 22:52, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

In articles announcing and reviewing the new The Rest is Science (for recency), I count: 5 x "educator, inventor, and the creator and host of Vsauce"; 3 x "YouTuber"; 2 x "educator"; and 1 each for "science creator", "science educator", and "Vsauce creator".. Adding to the confusion, Indy 100 treat "Vsauce" as Stevens' alias, rather than a web series that he presents/hosts, while PodcastingToday don't really give him a descriptor, which could support an argument for a primary topic move (to the un-disambiguated "Michael Stevens" page without brackets). Most of those articles initially introduced Stevens by his full name alone without a career descriptor at first.

If we treat how he's primarily described in sources as the decisive factor, that would favour a move back to "(educator)" (acknowledging the prevalence of that term may be WP:CITOGEN-related). I think the reasons for that move in 2024 remain valid (cf. James F. Jones (educator), Heather Knight (educator), Anne Rasmussen (educator)), while "(inventor)" would not reflect what the subject is best known for. "(creator)" would be rather vague, as would the lengthy "(content creator)", and neither are common in BLP titles.

I also don't think the personal preference of the subject of the article should necessarily be the decisive factor, per WP:IFEXIST. Stevens disliking the term shouldn't be the only possible reason for a move. In Scott's case, he didn't create the requested move, and on balance there seemed to be support for a move away from "(YouTuber)" before his comment.

I still believe a move away from "(YouTuber)" is preferable, not just for the reasons I laid out last year around naming a career-descriptor after a company. It's also not the most common descriptor, and the longer he spends on high-profile projects that are not the Vsauce YouTube channel, the weaker the case for "(YouTuber)" becomes. I'd support "(presenter)", "(host)", "(internet personality)", "(science communicator)", or a primary topic move. Neegzistuoja (talk) 00:50, 2 April 2026 (UTC)

Support move away from "YouTuber": "YouTuber" is far too narrow of a description. Stevens does not only create content for YouTube.

I would support "presenter" as a disambiguator, but I do think it needs to be balanced with what sources refer to Stevens as. If there are a number of sources that state "presenter", I'm happy with this. Strugglehouse (talk) 11:15, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Relisting comment: Consensus seems to be away from YouTuber, but no consensus on the alternative title. Second relist to hopefully get a definitive decision
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, {{GearsDatapacks|talk|contribs}} 12:48, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Support move away from "YouTuber", but it's not clear to me (and others, evidently) what the appropriate disambiguator here would be. "Educator" appears to be the most dominant descriptor used in secondary sources.

Moreover, I actually think he is the clear primary topic here, with pageviews showing him eclipsing his next closest competitor for that title (Michael Fenton Stevens) at a ratio of 6.96:1, with 17,813 total pageviews; as such, he is clearly who the general public are overwhelmingly searching for when typing or linking to "Michael Stevens". With respect to long-term significance, I don't see any other articles who are anywhere near his level of public profile and thus, notability. Sean Stephens (talk) 01:01, 20 April 2026 (UTC)

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. – robertsky (talk) 20:55, 9 May 2026 (UTC)

Michael Stevens (YouTuber) → Michael Stevens – I understand and respect GearsDatapacks' decision to close the previous request. Based on my reading of the discussion, I think there would be more support for a move to primary (no disambiguation) than the YouTuber status quo. Neegzistuoja (talk) 07:25, 25 April 2026 (UTC) — Relisting. TarnishedPath^talk 10:06, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

@Cerebral726, Vigilantcosmicpenguin, Strugglehouse, Sean Stephens, Hameltion, Roman Spinner, BD2412, and Necrothesp: happy to hear your thoughts on the matter. Neegzistuoja (talk) 07:29, 25 April 2026 (UTC)

Comment: I started a move discussion back in 2024 for the same title. As I said then, pageviews analysis shows that this article is by far the most viewed for the name. However, everyone else pointed out that long-term significance is not as clear (unless something has changed since then). — Vigilant Cosmic Penguin 🐧 (talk | contribs) 07:47, 25 April 2026 (UTC)

One change since then is that Stevens became the co-host of a popular science podcast, entirely separate from his YouTube channel. Articles about the new podcast generally introduced him simply as Michael Stevens in the title/subtitle (and rarely used the word "YouTuber" at all), suggesting he is notable by this name without the need for disambiguation. Neegzistuoja (talk) 21:23, 25 April 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose a primary topic determination at this time based on the sheer number of notable individuals sharing this very common combination of given name and surname. BD2412 T 18:37, 25 April 2026 (UTC)
• Oppose. Absolutely no primary topic here by long-term significance. Articles about the new podcast generally introduced him simply as Michael Stevens in the title/subtitle (and rarely used the word "YouTuber" at all), suggesting he is notable by this name without the need for disambiguation. This is really not how we determine primary topic! You could say it about anybody. -- Necrothesp (talk) 07:19, 27 April 2026 (UTC)

  I think this article has more enduring notability and educational value (per the WP:PT2 definition of long-term significance) than the other 15 articles on the current disambiguation page. Of these 15, 11 are stub-class, 3 are start-class, and the only other C-class is arguably a distinct name (Meic Stevens). Meic, born in 1942 and still living, is the earliest-born among these articles, so there is no comparison of significance from different historical periods. 100% of the outgoing pageviews from the disambiguation page went to this article in the last 2 months. This page had 21,000 views over the last 30 days; the next closest (Michael Fenton Stevens) only had 3000, and none of the others reached 1000. Year-by-year, for every year since 2017, this page (created in 2016) has had significantly more annual views than all others. 159 other pages link to this page, plus an extra 80 for the former "(educator)" title; the next closest is Michael Stevens (footballer) with 99. The topic of this article has fully overshadowed the others in "Interest over time" per Google Trends since 2011. @BD2412 and Necrothesp: admittedly I'm not experienced in primary article moves, but does this not provide evidence of long-term significance relative to the other 15 articles? Neegzistuoja (talk) 10:39, 27 April 2026 (UTC)

  I am hard pressed to find that a Youtube celebrity has more enduring notability than a Master Chief Petty Officer of the U.S. Navy, or than someone who produced the Kennedy Center Honors for over a decade and won seven Emmys. This seems more likely a case of WP:RECENTISM. BD2412 T 18:55, 27 April 2026 (UTC)

  For my benefit if nothing else, what exactly do we mean by "enduring notability"? The phrase "Youtube celebrity" feels somewhat uncharitable: a) this Stevens has a career beyond YouTube; and b) is affiliation with YouTube, one of the most notable websites in the history of the internet with billions of active users, inherently less notable than the Kennedy Center Honors, keeping WP:GLOBAL in mind? Per Wikipedia viewcounts and Google Trends, this Stevens has attracted far more attention than the others for up to 16 years now, which made me think WP:RECENTISM wasn't an issue? Neegzistuoja (talk) 22:09, 27 April 2026 (UTC)

Note: WikiProject Internet culture, WikiProject YouTube, WikiProject Biography/Science and academia, WikiProject Video games, and WikiProject Biography/Arts and entertainment have been notified of this discussion. TarnishedPath^talk 10:09, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose Given the number of topics at the existing disambiguation page, I see no reason to give the primary topic to a contemporary person. Not clear how long his influence will remain, he doesn't seem to have the type of celebrity as someone like Mr. Beast or Pewdiepie has to justify him being more significant than any of the other possible targets Masem (t) 11:33, 2 May 2026 (UTC)