I don’t fully understand to what extent 先生 is used when not in a classroom situation. Is Koichi called 先生, because he made WaniKani? How about someone like Tae Kim, or Misa from Japanese Ammo? Or someone just making a YouTube tutorial?
Thanks for any help you can give, as this is confusing me a bit. 
Maybe this would help?
In general usage, it is used, with proper form, after a person’s name and means “teacher”; the word is also used as a title to refer to or address other professionals or persons of authority, such as clergy, accountants, lawyers, physicians and politicians or to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill, e.g., accomplished novelists, musicians, artists and martial artists.
And interestingly enough, I’ve heard it used to get the attention of restaurant / cafe staff.
This article seems pretty in depth too!
Nice article, thank you for sharing! Just a had a read through it and it cleared up some of my confusion. 
So… Sometimes? 
It definately seems like more of a case-by-case situation based on their experience and preference instead of a generic “Yeah, everyone on youtube can be sensei”. Thank you!
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