20 years of YouTube: Tibo InShape and “shorts,” a muscle-masculine in tune with the times

A sacrosanct watchword: motivation. In the lexicon of muscle-masculine YouTuber Tibo InShape, it recurs almost like a punctuation mark. As proof, it's the only word used, embellished by two bicep emojis, in the description of the most-viewed shorts on his channel. Published on August 24, 2023, it starts off with a bang, against a backdrop of electro music, with a clip of a tango between a boy, the spitting image of Tibo InShape, and a girl, no older than ten. The former ends up kissing the girl, who, disgusted, runs away. The multi-entrepreneur plays on this similarity and films himself in front of the mirror, shirtless, muscles bulging, and face closed, as if this episode had traumatized him to the point of spending his days face to face with dumbbells for twenty years. Ten seconds, not one more, and 311 million views. Easy as pie.

Two years ago, Thibaud Delapart, in his personal life, turned to shorts. Powered by the algorithm, his short vertical content, which oscillates between muscle advice, reactions, motivation, and comedy, sometimes in English but most of the time without any commentary, is a hit... abroad. In December, the main breeding ground for his audiences was none other than India, followed in order by France, Russia, Indonesia, Germany, Brazil, the United States, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, and Italy.

Enough to raise the eyebrows of his detractors who consider his success undeserved. Allegations