Editor's note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
In the ever-expanding world of technology, social media has become a place where people can stay connected with one another but they can also express their talents and showcase their work to a wider range of people.
From content creators like James Charles to Cody Ko, more and more people have kickstarted careers simply from posting on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and even Vine, back when the app was still around.
However, people aren’t just creating this content for entertainment anymore. Now, many post on social media with the intent to grow their following so they can become bigger content creators with a steady flow of income.
This job title, from which many have coined the terms “content creator” or “social media influencer,” seems to come with a plethora of benefits.
More and more people are realizing that they can now make money doing something they once viewed as a hobby, like gaming, shopping or just simply being funny.
The idea of being able to essentially work for yourself by creating and distributing content on your own accord and profit from your interests and hobbies is appealing to many. This is why there has been a rise in social media influencing as a job in the past few years.
Though some of the money that creators make comes from advertisements, sponsorships or brand deals, a good amount also comes from the social media sites that can pay popular creators from the money they receive from paid advertisements displayed on their platforms.
The more a platform is visited, the more its users see advertisements. This means that popular content creators, with a large following, make it so that the users see these advertisements.
An influencer’s profit also has to do with their followers and engagement on these platforms. Essentially, the larger the following a person has, the more impact and engagements they have on social media and, therefore, they receive more money.
This, along with the fact that there are relatively no age limitations to who can be an influencer on social media, is the reason that so many people gravitate towards careers in this field.
In 2017, Emma Chamberlain, who was sixteen at the time, became popular for simply recording her day, sharing stories from her life and uploading it to YouTube. Shortly after, Chamberlain dropped out of school at 18 to pursue and further her career as a social media influencer, eventually garnering a large following on all social media platforms.
Chamberlain began doing brand deals with stores like Urban Outfitters and Dote, to even more luxury brands like Louis Vuitton. It is reported that influencers like Emma who have anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 followers can make up to $1,000 or more on brand deals like these.
With this factor in mind, it's no surprise that, according to Naibuzz, Chamberlain’s net worth is estimated to be $2.5 million.
Even more to this point, Ryan Kaji was just four when his parents created a YouTube channel called "Ryan Toys Review", where he could review children’s toys. The videos reached a tremendous amount of viewers and the channel has amassed over 22 million subscribers in the four years since its creation.
Kaji and his parents have continued to grow his brand, creating everything from video games to toothbrushes with Ryan’s face on it. This only contributes to the amount of money that the now eight-year-old is making from his massive social media impact.
Now that social media has the power to turn even the youngest of creators into millionaires, it’s no wonder so many people are interested in starting a career as an influencer.
Besides the appealing promise of money, notoriety and working for themselves, many are also beginning to abandon the idea of traditional jobs due to technology advancing to the point where the jobs that were once fulfilled by humans can be done the same--if not better--by technology.
Market Watch reports over 30 million workers in the United States will have their jobs replaced by artificial intelligence. Though not all of these jobs are “white-collar” jobs, this is still a significant amount of jobs that won’t be available for future generations.
The main concern with the rise in social media jobs and the decrease in jobs being held by humans is that the future generation may feel more determined to pursue careers in social media and less inclined to hold positions of societal importance, such as scientists, lawyers and doctors.
In a time where so many people want to take the path of simplicity, it’s important that the future generation doesn’t get discouraged in their ability to aim for careers with more contribution to society.
At the end of the day, social media platforms aren’t forever, as exhibited by sites like MySpace and AOL, which once ruled the internet.
The social media world, just like technology, is always changing.
For this reason, future generations should think beyond the present and realize the importance their career choices have on themselves and the world around them.
Courtesy of FRCblog.com.
