Ray Mak, the Malaysian who became an international meme… for leaving YouTube comments.

If you’ve watched enough videos on YouTube, chances are you might have come across a few comments by this one person in particular who just seems to be on every video…

Even if you don’t recognize his name, you’ll most likely recognize his user icon. This guy’s name is Ray Mak, and up until recently, most people on the Internet were unaware that he’s actually Malaysian. Including us.

He’s a cover-artist on YouTube who’s famous for a number of things, but he is mostly known for his comments that are found in almost every video on YouTube. In fact, he’s blown up so much from this that people have even begun questioning whether he was actually a real person, with crazy theories being made about him, along with hashtags, memes, and all the viral works.

Recently, he left a comment on one of our Facebook posts, so we just knew we had to uncover the secret to his commenting spree. We needed the scoop from the man himself. To reveal the truth behind his virality. So, we interviewed him. And to our surprise, he told us that…

The reason why he leaves so many comments is because… he’s nice??

So, the truth of the matter is that he’s just an ordinary guy who watches videos on YouTube just like the rest of us. And much like the rest of us, he likes to leave a comment on every single video he watches because he wants the creators to feel appreciated. *cue the aww’s*

But the difference is that he has a double verification on YouTube; one being the “verified channel” badge (for channels that are verified by YouTube) and the “official artist” badge (which is used to show that the channel is the artists’ official channel).

However, despite the fact that his channel is ‘officially verified’, Ray told us that his verifications were NOT the reason why his comments would pop to the top. You see, being a “verified content creator” doesn’t give you any special perks or benefits outside of your own YouTube channel, but it does make you stand out in the comments section.

“Each day I watch a few videos and leave a comment there. And fast forward a year later, there are people who actively search for my comments there and click the like button which makes it pop up to the top.” – Ray Mak, to CILISOS.

Not to mention, the reason why it seems like he has “so much time to leave comments” is actually because he DOES actually have more time to leave comments. Since the MCO started, there was a spike in his commenting spree because he was just watching more videos cause we were all basically working from home anyways.

But other than that, if you were to do the math and calculate the number of videos he most likely watches a day, it’s no wonder it looks like he’s everywhere. Especially since he’s been on YouTube for so long, because…

He was one of the OG content creators on YouTube.

According to Ray, part of the reason why he was actually able to keep both the verification mark AND the ‘official artist’ badge was because of his origins on YouTube. Because every hero/villain/legend/meme man has their own origin story, right?

He first started his channel in 2006, as a “personal diary” of sorts to upload his college videos, until one day a video of him playing the piano went viral. So, from there he basically did a Sheraton and moved towards making his own content for YouTube, creating covers of popular songs in a variety of different languages, ranging from Kpop to Indian music. (Fun fact: He can’t read sheet music, so he plays allll of his covers purely by ear!)

From there, he was one of the first content creation partners to sign with Google (literally signing a physical document, btw), which then led to him being verified as both a content creator and as an “official artist”.

And though he didn’t expect to go viral…

Being an online sensation has definitely helped his channel grow.

Ever since he started watching more videos and commenting more during the MCO, his channel started gaining more attention because people started noticing his comments even more. And in December last year, his channel exploded after being dormant for quite a number of years.

“Since I started my YouTube channel very early on, most of my initial subscribers are aging adults with families. So, they don’t have as much time to keep up with my content which left it quite inactive. But when it exploded last year, now I even see kids making videos about me.” – Ray Mak.

And though some of the content made about Ray Mak might be… interesting, to say the least, he takes it all in good fun and says that he feels flattered more than anything. And with new streams of content featuring him, it has created more momentum for his channel, with more people checking out his account.

However, Ray also noted that most people would just come in to leave comments as a way to gain his attention, before immediately exiting his page. A feat, that he says, has left him with a lot of subscribers and engagement… but very little watch-time, which matters a whole lot if you’re a content creator on YouTube looking to get monetized (a.k.a. paid for your videos).

So, mystery solved?? He’s just an ordinary guy with a penchant for leaving comments?

The Internet can be a pretty cruel place, and it’s honestly not any easier on people who create content online. For example, with Ray Mak, many netizens were quick to bash him online and speculated that he was actually commenting as a way to gain subscribers. But that couldn’t be further from the truth, as proven by our interview with him.

However, this does say a lot about the reality of the people we watch online. Especially with most influencers and public figures, when you meet them in real life, they’re often not the same as they seem online; this could be both a good and a bad thing, depending on what it’s like if you meet your idols.

But this definitely goes to show that just about anyone has the potential to be a viral sensation. And who knows? Maybe after leaving a bunch of comment on all of Ray Mak’s videos, this writer could also end up being a meme herself.