Within the past ten years, the rise of social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube has developed a new career under a powerful industry. Labeled as social media influencers, those who are able to utilize these growing platforms for their benefit create content that is considered appealing to internet users that can ultimately give them enough popularity to get paid because of their internet fame. Ranging from beauty gurus, daily vloggers, health and fitness bloggers, and cooking channels, the content available on these social media sites is endless.
The rise of this industry coincided with the rise of cell phone use and social media as an entertainment outlet. Many took advantage of the industry’s growth and used it to put out creative content. Fast forward a few years later, the industry now mainly revolves around views and likes and the money that can derive from the popularity of a video or a photo posted. A social influencer is considered to be a person whose name has developed enough recognition to the point where their content is regularly viewed with a large following. These influencers develop a name for themselves and receive collaboration offers from big companies. Paying to be mentioned in a video or for their product to be displayed/talked about positively in a post allows these companies to utilize the social media influencers dominance within the internet to reach a new consumer audience. Many times these influencers are looked up to or are simply considered role models for many of their viewers, especially younger ones. Being aware of the influencers impact, companies know that if an influencer says they like a product, whether it’s a clothing piece or a makeup palette, their viewers will most likely follow along and buy the product as well.
These sponsorships ultimately allow influencers to earn just as much, if not more, money as someone who went to a four year college would. This is also the case for those influencers who did not receive a college education. Although there are sites, such as YouTube, that end up receiving a cut from the influencers pay, they could still be earning one thousand dollars or more a week. A large following on YouTube, for example, would not be enough to make a career out of the platform. Sites like YouTube largely base their pay on views. Meaning, a greater amount of views per video will call for a larger paycheck. The idea of simply creating content to appeal a large audience has now caused many to skip out on a college education and move to larger cities like Los Angeles or New York where there are a greater amounts of management offices who specialize in helping creators grow. Ten years ago, it would have been considered unrealistic to pursue a career within the internet, especially if it meant weekly paychecks would be largely based on one’s appeal to internet users. However, today these industries continue to grow more and more along with people’s obsession and attachment to their phones, the internet, and social media. As the internet continues to grow and become a crucial part of everyday life and interaction, so will the appeal of social media influencers as a career choice and entertainment option.
