"Influencer" has become one of the most aspirational jobs for kids and adults. What now?
The Wednesday edition of the Goods newsletter is all about internet culture, brought to you by senior reporter Rebecca Jennings. The Wednesday edition of the Goods newsletter is all about internet culture, brought to you by senior reporter Rebecca Jennings. ð§ð½ So your kid wants to be an influencer ð When they were 4 years old, Benjamin Burroughsâs kids became obsessed with a YouTube channel called [Ryanâs World](. The appeal wasnât all that mysterious: In each Ryanâs World episode, a child (Ryan) would open up a bunch of toys and then play with them, allowing viewers to feel like they were playing alongside him. Their obsession with Ryanâs World went beyond the screen; almost immediately, each of Burroughsâs children asked if they could be a YouTuber, too. âWe said no,â says Burroughs, laughing. His and his wifeâs concerns were fairly standard: They felt weird about monetizing their children, they didnât want to create a digital footprint that couldnât be erased, and they didnât want to give mega-corporations like Google or Facebook even more information about their kids. But the experience led Burroughs, a professor of emerging media at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, to begin studying the fascinating, lucrative, and at times ethically questionable world of child influencers. âInfluencerâ is now one of the most desired career paths for both children and adults. A [Morning Consult poll]( found that 54 percent of Americans ages 13 to 38 would become an influencer if given the chance, while a [Harris Poll study]( of 3,000 kids found that in both the US and the UK, if choosing between a teacher, a professional athlete, a musician, an astronaut, or a YouTuber, nearly 30 percent ranked YouTuber as their top choice. So whereâs the line between making safe, informed decisions and crushing your childâs dreams? âOn the one hand, parents can ask, âWhy should I stifle my childâs creativity? They want to share something with the world,ââ Burroughs says. âBut then when it becomes a job, that's where it becomes a gray area.â He recommends thinking about what kind of exposure you and your kid are willing to handle. âIs the childâs face going to be on camera? Are they doing voiceovers? Are you showcasing work theyâve done, such as animation? I would put these in different categories,â he says. These were the kinds of questions Sarah Zeiler asked herself when her daughter Ellie started making YouTube videos as a young teen. âI was extremely encouraging,â she says. âI was like, if you love it, you should make it, not just watch other peopleâs content.â Zeiler instituted several rules: no bikinis, no duck lips, and no bragging about stuff you have. But when kids at school started making fun of Ellie's videos â mostly fashion hauls and other formats popular with teen girls at the time â Ellie quit. Even though so many kids want to be influencers themselves, they can be incredibly tough on their peers who try to make it happen; whether or not they make it as popular influencers, there is an inevitable emotional toll of constant feedback, both online and off. Then quarantine hit and Ellie began [posting on TikTok](, where her videos immediately went viral. The content itself was standard for the form â she danced, she lip-synced, she wore cute outfits â but her viewers were mostly fascinated by how much she resembled TikTokâs biggest influencer at the time, Charli DâAmelio. Within two weeks, the Zeilers received inquiries from marketing companies, agents, and managers offering to bring her sponsored content deals, but thanks to Zeilerâs background in PR and marketing, she knew they needed to take time before signing anything. It also helped that Ellie was in high school when these opportunities rolled around. âThe reason why it worked was because she was mature enough,â says Zeiler. âShe really understood what we were saying to her.â They waited six months, when Ellie had amassed 3 million followers, to sign her first brand deal. (To this day, Ellie, now 18, is managed by her mother.) Zeiler hopes that parents of aspiring influencers will ensure that their children donât assume theyâll get famous â or, if they do, that it will last forever. âAnybody who's gotten to Ellieâs level knows itâs a little bit of luck turned into super-hard work,â she says. âWhat I would say is: Donât quit school, and donât quit your day job until youâre truly making a living for not just months, but years.â Even if they do hit the algorithmic jackpot, itâs important that influencing doesnât become kidsâ entire lives. âHave other things youâre spending time on that you can draw self-esteem from, because thereâs no guarantee with this. We always wanted Ellie to feel like she had the option of not doing it.â Teenagers who spend lots of time scrolling through their TikTok or YouTube feeds may find it difficult to understand that the chances of making a living from posting content is vanishingly small. When Burroughsâs freshman students enter the classroom, many of them say they want to be influencers, drawn in by the imagined lucrative lifestyle of having fun, making their own schedules, and getting free stuff. [Yet one 2018 analysis]( showed that 85 percent of YouTube traffic went to just 3 percent of the channels, and that more than 96 percent of YouTubers make less than the US federal poverty line. Even if money isnât a motivation, itâs only natural that kids will identify and idolize a kid who looks just like them, playing with toys on a screen. Ironically, thatâs how Ryan of Ryanâs World became a YouTuber in the first place â he [watched other kids doing it, and he wanted to, too](. Burroughs warns that overidentifying with influencers can set up children for false expectations about what real life looks like. âParents should have conversations with their kids to help them be aware that theyâre being marketed to through influencers,â he says. âThey make it seem like itâs totally normal for children to be constantly opening up toys all day long.â Perhaps this, rather than the particulars of a creatorâs career, is what children and teenagers actually long for: excitement, beauty, a life without chores or homework, where the world is made up only of vacations and playtime. After all, who doesnât? [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Clickbait ð - Meet the woman behind the White Houseâs [newly spicy tweets](.
- Is it too easy for people to [access ADHD medication on TikTok](?
- How YouTubers are [profiting from hawking crypto scams](.
- Female servers on TikTok are noticing they get [more tips if they wear pigtails](. Wonder why!
- The Gen Z Wall Streeters [offering a peek behind the scenes of their finance jobs]( â much to the displeasure of their employers.
- The [Gabbie Hanna stuff]( from last week is extremely depressing.
- A good explainer on how concerned, exactly, we should be about [TikTokâs ties to the Chinese government](.
- Everyoneâs [a nimcel](! One Last Thing ð In honor of Friday's premiere of The Rings of Power, here's a [compelling theory on what to call the haircut]( every queer person in Brooklyn has. [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe](param=goods). If you value Voxâs unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2022. All rights reserved.