Do TikTok influencers have it easy? The life of an online sensation
What does it take to be a TikTok star? Is there a knack or are we all naturally gifted?
TikTok is a well-known social media site that has changed the way we consume information and the media. TikTok is made up of short-form content such as videos and carrousels of images. These videos open up the public to a variety of different content and content creators all with different personal goals. Some content creators use TikTok as their main social platform for work whilst others use it alongside an everyday job to provide an extra source of income or purely as a creative outlet. TikTok became so popular throughout the pandemic because a lot of people felt a need to turn to this social media platform in order to be a part of a community with a shared experience. There are a variety of ages that watch content on TikTok and statistics show that is currently on the incline in worldwide figures. TikTok, alongside other social media platforms, has created jobs and a lifestyle that many young people aspire to but is it really all it is cracked up to be? Is it truly as easy as it looks?
TikTok content creator Chloe Walsh, otherwise known as @Chloejwalsh8 on TikTok, has 316.0 thousand followers on her account with 17 million likes across all her content. Chloe has an everyday job as a circus perfumer and uses her TikTok account to share the behind-the-scenes of her job whilst using it as a side hustle. She started her TikTok account in 2021 during the latter end of Covid-19 when she had more free time due to the pandemic affecting her job. Her account starting to gain a larger following meant that she started to do everyday lives where she would have “1000, 2000 people every time” watching her get ready for her circus shows. Chloe found that with consistency with her TikTok lives had a considerable impact on how many people were engaging and watching therefore working alongside her job schedule enabled more consistency. These lives resulted in higher viewer numbers and engagement with her content which brought more people to view her page and consume the content she creates.
Chloe’s full-time job has provided her with unique content that a vast majority of people will have very little understanding of. Being a circus performer and of the travelling community opens up a range of discrimination, judgement and misunderstanding. Chloe’s main aim, in the beginning, of her content was to “show people that circus people aren’t like foreign creatures, like foreign objects”, therefore using TikTok as a platform to educate the general population about different lives and job roles. With social media comes a lot of discrimination and judgment therefore utilising these platforms as a form of education as well as entertainment allows Chloe to explore all sides of content creation. TikTok further enabled Chloe to “show that we were all human and normal” whilst showing how hard circus performers have to work with it not always being about “the glitz and the glam”. The engagement she receives on her content has enabled it to become another career path alongside her regular job by just sharing her experience of being a circus performer, something that she is very passionate about. However, some aspects of Chloe’s working life cannot be shared due to circus life being “it’s own culture in it’s own right” and as she was not born into the lifestyle she, therefore, feels she has more boundaries to respect. This, therefore, limits her exploration of certain aspects of her content which requires her to think creatively about what her audience would be interested to watch.
“Show that we were all human and normal”
With social media, audience demographics determine the content that algorithms put out to each individual. In Chloe’s case, her audience demographics have changed over time as her account has grown and her content has developed. In the beginning, Chloe’s audience consisted of young girls typically between the ages of 13 and 14, who were circus fans but over time it has changed to typically be people of “25 to 35, even going up to 50”, this age range tends to be more interested in her makeup looks and she does not add frills to her everyday life of living in a caravan. With her presenting both sides of life with her type of job, “my target audience really enjoys people being truthful and down to earth”. However, she felt that the younger target audience preferred the “glam image of TikTok”.
For up-and-coming TikTok content creators, there is a differing level of expectation compared to established creators. Louise Oddy, an up-and-coming TikTok creator, has found that creating content can be challenging due to “pressure on trends and views” which determine how often your video is shown on people’s For You Page’s. The pressure of keeping up with trends and not receiving the engagement you desire can affect your motivation. In order to be trending and appear relevant you have to create content that keeps up with the current trends and what society is wanting at the moment. People do not always make content that they enjoy but more for views and likes, therefore choosing success over enjoyment.
“Pressure on trends and views”
When creating content, being conscious of what you are posting crosses creators’ minds particularly when they are starting up and forming their audience. Chloe stated that “you can be the least controversial person in the world and people will still find an issue” which shows that people look for flaws in influencers because they are willing to share their life publicly. TikTok has enabled people to create unedited content, hop on trends and share aspects of their life that other social media sites may not accommodate. In order to be unique and gain a following it requires going against the trends and creating content like no other. Being a TikTok content creator holds a level of pressure and expectation because of expectations set out by viewers to behave in a certain way and create content that appeals to the majority and not the minority.