Lucy Thomas: Welcome to the [TRENDING] podcast. Today, we will talk about influencers and whether my interviewees would want to pursue that career. According to a 2023 Morning Consult survey of 1,000 Gen Zers, 57% want to be influencers. If that statistic translated to the upper school, that would wind up being approximately 228 kids. So, today I will be talking to senior Annie Painter, who could see herself as an influencer , and junior Murray Goff who couldn’t see himself in that role. First, I will be talking to Annie.

Thomas: Hi Annie, welcome to the [TRENDING] podcast.

Annie Painter: Hi.

Thomas: Today we’re gonna be talking about like influencers and if you want to become an influencer.

Painter: Okay.

Thomas: Do you want to become an influencer?

Painter: I would love to become an influencer.

Thomas: What appeals to you about being an influencer?

Painter: Probably the most appealing thing is getting free stuff from brands for literally doing nothing. Because I love like shopping, and I love like going places, especially like Ulta and Sephora. And those influencers are always getting PR deals from skincare and makeup places that would be so fun.

Thomas: And who are your like, top influencers? Like, who would you want to be?

Painter: I really like Demetra, and I really like Sophie Rain. She’s probably my favorite. Oh yeah, I really like those two girls, like, they’re so fun.

Thomas: And who would be your like, what would be your internet personality if you were to be an influencer?

Painter: I would try to be like, really honest with people because I hate, like, influencers who lie a lot and they’re like, super fake. So yeah,

Thomas: And what’s your like platform of choice?

Painter: Probably TikTok, maybe like, a little bit of Instagram, but probably TikTok.

Thomas: And what would be your next steps if you wanted to embrace this goal?

Painter: I would probably make like a new account. And just post like a lot of videos because I feel like one of them is bound to blow up.

Thomas: Yeah, is there anything else you’d like to add?

Painter: Um, no.

Thomas: Thank you.

Painter: Yeah.

Thomas: Now I will be transitioning to Murray’s perspective.

Thomas: Hi Murray. Welcome to the [TRENDING] Podcast. Today we’re going to be talking about influencers, and whether you would like to become an influencer. What do you could you introduce yourself in terms of, like, what experience you’ve had with influencers and social media?

Murray Goff: Okay, so I’m Murray. I’m in 11th grade. Use he/him Pronouns, um, in general, I am a consumer of, like, online media, so like, every once a while, like YouTube and Instagram and all that sort of stuff, and in general, I think influencers are pretty interesting. And I think there’s a special kind that I like, which is more like the, the ones that are more into, like documentaries or explaining things. I enjoy those more than, like the people who show off clothes or have like singing, or any stuff like that.

Thomas: And could you see yourself in that role as an influencer?

Goff: Not really, I think it seems from the outside like an ideal job, like you kind of get to you kind of get to do things that you enjoy while other people watch, and then that pays for itself, or people give you gifts. And I think it’s easier, it’s harder. I think for men to become influencers, there’s a lot more that you have to be going for them. I feel like, and so most of the time, I see men doing like gaming stuff or like history stuff, and women leaning more towards like fashion or singing or other things like that. But I think it’s always interesting to kind of see that sort of meld of that. I think for me, I probably wouldn’t, because that’s not really what I want to do, but I think it would be fun to do things I enjoyed doing more and then actually get paid for and have a life off that.

Thomas: Yeah, and can you see other people that you know going into those roles, like whether it be like history explaining things documentary style, or is that more of something that you see as more far fetched?

Goff: I think it’s, it seems like it’d be a good job, from what I’ve known from like looking into different influencers, is that it’s much harder to get to where you want to be in. A lot of it just ends up being by luck or by chance. And so I don’t know if I could see anyone I know necessarily being an influencer, I definitely think there’s a lot easier ways. I think it’ll mostly just be whatever algorithms decide, whatever with ones and zeros, someone would be lucky enough to get seen by enough people.

Thomas: And when did you do all this research on influencers?

Goff: It wasn’t too much in the influencing, necessarily, but like listening to YouTubers talk about, like, their stories or whatever. Yeah, because sometimes it’s interesting. Many people think that, like, it seems to be like an easy job, whatever YouTube will pay you for doing this stuff, but often it’s not that much. And like, whatever estimates online aren’t the same, like, basically the estimates for how much money an influencer is made. Is kind of faulty because it depends on where you’re getting, like, whatever your views or your subscribers from, and some things earn more and like sponsor sponsorships, and it’s just much more confusing. I think, when I was younger, I thought it would just be fun to be able to play video games and share with other people and then get paid for that, but that was when I was, like, 12 or 10 maybe, and it wasn’t really gonna happen.

Thomas: Okay, is there anything else you’d like to add?

Goff: I don’t know. I feel like a lot of it seems people think, Oh, whatever. To be an influencer, you have to be perfect. But I think you can kind of just be yourself, and you’ll find the right group of people, because there’s always somebody looking for that media to, like, watch a streamer or watch a video. So if you do something interesting, I think people will be into that.

Thomas: Okay, well thank you so much for talking to me today .

Goff: Of course, thank you.

Thank you for tuning in to the [TRENDING] podcast today. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at lucyet.rubicon@spa.edu. Make sure to stay tuned to new episodes of the trending podcast at the start of every month.