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Tyde's high for WA super vlogger

Tyde Levi. Picture: Michael Wilson/ The West Australian

T *yde Levi *is still getting used to the rock-star reception that seems to greet him wherever he goes.

The *Mirrabooka * teenager is part of a new breed of YouTube bloggers, known as vloggers, who command a global following in the millions and a frenzied fandom worthy of other teen idols such as One Direction and *Justin Bieber *.

While Levi is one of the fresher faces on the scene, his brother *Troye Sivan *was recently named one of Time magazine's 25 most influential teens on the planet, having brought out a chart- smashing EP and walking the catwalk for Saint Laurent in Paris on the back of his YouTube popularity.

Still, Levi has an impressive 700,000 combined followers on social media and is already flying around the world for fan conventions, meet and greets and DJing gigs.

The 15-year-old told _AAA Weekend _he was inspired to start vlogging a few years ago thanks to his big brother.

"I saw how well he was doing and I thought 'Why can't I try it too?' I uploaded a vlog and it just blew up," Levi said.

"I just like sitting in front of the camera and being myself, talking to (viewers) and seeing what kind of reactions I get. It's just a really cool feeling."

But Levi didn't realise just how bright his star had become until he travelled to Florida for international YouTube convention Playlist Live last month, where he and Sivan saw hundreds of keen fans during a four-hour meet and greet.

"It's a bit of a shock, to be honest," the Year 10 student admitted. "You never really think 'OK cool, I have 300,000 subscribers', so when you see a whole lot of people in person it's like 'Whoa, this is a big deal'."

Levi will next have the chance to meet followers closer to home when he embarks on a national tour with Amplify, an inaugural festival for the connected generation that will bring together some of the web's biggest personalities and is headlined by Sivan and US sensation *Connor Franta *.

"There haven't been any major YouTube conventions in Australia yet so I can't wait," Levi said.

"I haven't met a lot of my fans - I have probably met more fans in America and other countries than Australia.

"I think when I am performing I am going to do a bit of a DJ set and see what happens. Then I will be doing meet and greets, too. It's going to be amazing."

Jessie Papain