Calling all influencers! With some hardware, some software and a little know-how, you can be a superstar on YouTube too

Written by Carrie Marshall Artwork Grace Morris

The artist Andy Warhol famously said that one day everybody would be famous for 15 minutes. He got the number right and the unit wrong: today, everybody can be famous for 15 seconds. That’s how long a song on TikTok lasts – although the video it contains can be a little longer.

There’s been an explosion of people uploading music, video and podcasts for people to stream live or listen to at their leisure, an explosion in places to share content, and a whole new world of hardware and software to help make the most of it. It’s never been easier to share on social media – although making money from it is more difficult. But money isn’t the only reason to broadcast yourself. It’s a lot of fun, and you never know where your clips might take you.

Over the next few pages we’ll discover the hardware, software and hosts you need to get the most out of sharing. We’ll look at the gadgets and apps that do all the difficult stuff for you, explore how to edit your video to make it pop, and show you how to look good on camera. Although we’ll mainly be talking about the Mac here, lots of the kit, apps and advice apply to iPad and iPhone too.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

The hardware and software you need to save and stream

FIrst things first, in order to turn your bright ideas into something others can see or stream, you’re going to need a few items of both hardware and software.

The hardware you need depends on the content you plan to make and where you’re going to put it. For example, you can make videos for TikTok or Instagram reels with just an iPhone and Apple’s free Clips app, and you can also get iMovie for free in order to access more professional tools, such as effects and editing. You can record a podcast directly into GarageBand and use its built-in effects to make it sound great, and if you want to record people over Zoom or FaceTime there’s our old favourite Audio Hijack, which can record pretty much any audio that plays on your Mac.

If you’re recording podcasts, Audio Hijack makes it easy to bring in Zoom or FaceTime guests, record multiple mics or capture any Mac audio.

The most important part of your setup is the hardware that records your sound or your video. For podcasting or voiceovers that means a good quality USB microphone to plug directly into your Mac (or your iPhone or iPad via USB-C or Apple’s USB to Lightning converter) or a non-USB microphone connected via a USB audio interface such as a Focusrite Scarlett Solo, M-Audio M-Track Solo or a Komplete Audio box.

For video, if you have a reasonably recent iPhone then its camera is better than many budget cameras and almost all webcams, and if you have macOS Ventura and iOS 16 or later you can use Continuity Camera to make your iPhone work as a webcam for any video app.