Have you ever wondered how influencers accumulate extreme amounts of money? It’s as simple as countless hours spent scrolling and double tapping through posts. Even though you may not acknowledge your impact, your likes, comments, shares, and follows are what make influencers rich.
Household names in the TikTok and YouTube industry will make tens of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars on their average post. TikTok influencer Alix Earle, known for her beach blonde hair and UMiami College past, has a networth of 8 million, according to an article published in Forbes in October 2024. And Nara Smith, usually known for her slow yet entertaining voice and homemade recipes, made about $200,000 in March of 2024, according to an article published in Parade Magazine in June of 2024. These numbers may not mean anything if you’re in favor of these influencers, but what about the people who shouldn’t be profiting?
The average TikTok user has most likely come across a case of cancel culture. People who have been on the app for a while remember Charli D’Amelio when people claimed her to be unappreciative of her fans. But some would argue that the most shocking story is the two charges Ruby Franke was faced with August 30th, 2024.
Ruby Franke was the mother of 6 children and was married to Kevin Franke, who posted on a popular family YouTube channel titled 8 Passengers. The channel had a younger audience, and before they were canceled they had around 2.3 million subscribers. But this August, the news came out: Ruby Franke was arrested on two counts of child abuse charges. Fans quickly unfollowed and news was stirring, but this didn’t take away the fact that for years people interacted with their posts, feeding them more and more money. This case is the perfect example of how your likes and follows aren’t as meaningless as they may seem, just one follow can make the wrong person famous.
As we asked St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes students, most people we interviewed, explained that the list of people they followed were all based on things they were interested in, such as sports, fashion, or comedy. However, does this following list change depending on what these influencers stand for?
Sophomore Pearson Lambeth said she didn’t realize the faults in her following list until she took a second look. She says that she follows TikTok creator, Jellybeansweets, an “ASMRist” who films mukbangs and who has gained a larger following this year. Once Pearson thought about the creator Jellybeansweets, and how eating excessive amounts of food isn’t healthy nor is it good for your bank account,she said that this isn’t the kind of content she stands for, and doesn’t want to give money to creators who promote ideas she doesn’t support. From now on, she will be “following for a reason.”
According to freshman Pippa McAree, even after her favorite actor and celebrity, Blake Lively, got canceled for the way she was promoting her new movie It Ends With Us, Pippa explained how she couldn’t possibly “Not love Blake Lively.” And Pippa isn’t the only one who couldn’t bear to give up her favorite celebrities. Even though this is a hard thing to give up, the people you follow are the people that you support.
Although you’re not directly giving an influencer or celebrity money by liking a video, you are boosting their content and making them more popular. By doing this, that celebrity will get more sponsorships and make more money.
When asked if they realize the actions in liking a post, most people responded along the lines of thinking that their like doesn’t matter in a sea of millions of other likes. However in reality, more people than you imagine think the same way. This creates a domino effect of people doing careless actions.
