How Zach Clayton went from fan to social media celeb in one year

This interview is a part of #KanvasLive, an interactive, cross-platform content series brought to life on the Kanvas app and AOL.com. See more on coverage here.

One year ago, Zach Clayton was just a teenager who was just dipping his toes into the world of social media. Today, the 16-year-old has millions of followers on a variety of networks, including YouNow, the live-streaming platform that he initially blew up on.

Although the teenager started climbing the social media ladder via streaming, he's since expanded his talents to YouTube. Zach is partners with Collab, the largest independent network for multi-platform talent. He, along with online stars Baby Ariel, Loren Gray, Brennen Taylor, Mario Selman, Weston Koury, and Nick Bean have launched a new channel called "Our Journey" on YouTube.

AOL.com had a chance to chat with Zach at VidCon, an annual conference that celebrates video creators and the fans that make them famous in Anaheim, California. Read below to see what Zach had to say about his rise to social media stardom, his favorite thing about his fans, future career plans and more!

Check out the scene at VidCon
%vine-url="https://vine.co/v/5B2Uate3Uvg"%

Is this your first year at VidCon? What are you most excited for?
I came last year, but I was more of a fan at that time. I was a lot smaller on social media and not many people knew me, so I came more to see people and witness everything more. But this year, I feel like I am more a part of stuff, like interviews, panels, games and all that stuff. And I'm also here to see more online friends because we don't see each other much, so this is like a time for us to all get together and make videos with each other and just have a good time.

What was the moment where you realized social media would be a big part of your future?
The moment where I was broadcasting to like, 20 people and then 10 minutes later, I was broadcasting to almost 500 people on YouNow. It was like, someone who was streaming got off and then all their followers started watching me. And they were all fan-girling and saying things like, "Oh my god, we love you so much", "You're so cute and funny" and they asked for my Instagram and stuff. I remember thinking, "Oh, this may be an actual thing and you can actually get popular from it."

What is your favorite thing about your fans?
I love the support they give! Any decision I make or anything I really want to do, they're always there to back it up and respect it. They don't only give me support on just one thing, they always spread it around -- on my Instagram and my Twitter and they also go and give thumbs up on my YouTube videos.

How did you get your start on social media?
When I first started, I didn't really know what social media was. I didn't have an Instagram or anything when I did my first broadcast. I just thought it was really cool because I saw my friend post about it. I like to be funny and make people laugh, so why not try to do it on a live-stream? At first, nobody watched and then eventually, I had a really good broadcast where everyone came in. I thought it was a just a lucky night. And then I came back the next day and they all came back to watch again. After that, it just kept getting bigger and bigger.

What are you excited for in the future? Do you have any fun projects coming up?
Well, I just recently started this collaboration channel and it's been really taking off called "Our Journey". Over time, it's going to get even bigger and it's just something I've been having a lot of fun with it's six of us right now and we all have our set days. Each week has a different theme that our videos are about, like "Summer Week". We have weeks planned out until December. It's just really fun because it's something different every week and everybody posts, so you see a little bit of everybody's personality and how people do that.

For more VidCon coverage, scroll through the gallery below:

More from AOL.com:
How Eva Gutowski used her weirdness to build a social media empire
Vine sensation Christian Delgrosso dishes on his new movie "Mono"
Viral baker Rosanna Pansino explains why #GirlLove is the best love