I once asked a teenager what he wanted to be.
“An influencer,” he replied.
An influencer? That's not a job, I scoffed.
“Go online,” he said. “They’re everywhere and they make big bucks.”
Darn if he wasn’t right. Some of the most boring, infantile, whiny people have channels where they basically go on vacation, wear gifted clothes and act like they’re entitled. In exchange, their YouTube channels kick back money for the number of views they get.
One, I was told, cleared $6 million last year and all he did was show himself working out and wearing expensive clothes. Sure, he was shirtless a lot but there was no skill to this. He wasn’t even good at speaking on camera. He fumbled words (don’t they do retakes?), begged for followers and talked about what a tough day he had coming up: He was going to audition for a movie role.
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So, in essence, these people make big money sitting around their homes taping themselves doing next to nothing.
How is this a career?
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I asked my young friend what comes after the big money starts rolling in.
“Drama,” he said. “You’ve got to keep them watching. So, you either get mad at someone or start crying. If you’ve got a girlfriend, you break up with her and start talking about how lonely or lost you are.”
And then? “Bigger money rolls in. Followers feel sorry for you and think you’ll cheer up if they Venmo cash or send you gift cards. A trip is usually in order.”
Those trips, I learned, could be to major European cities, all expenses paid, in the finest hotels. Often, a designer will send clothing if he knows where the influencer is staying. The goal is to get the pseudo-celebrity to wear the clothes so his followers want to buy them. Never mind the price tag.
And then?
“If the numbers start dropping, you need to start an OnlyFans page.”
Naively, I asked, what’s that? “That’s where you take your clothes off on camera and do things.”
I didn’t want to know.
“That’s big money, though. You could double what you earn from a YouTube channel and you don’t have to share it.” YouTube, you see, takes a big cut of their "income."
During this economics lesson, I realized talent and skill have nothing to do with influencers’ careers.
Oh sure, the page might start as a “how-to” venture but it quickly morphs into a “lifestyles” channel. Before you know it, followers are paying for the influencer’s fun – the kind of fun they can’t afford for themselves.
Eventually, the influencer moves onto another field (venture capitalist, perhaps) or quits the game. If enough money has been saved, he can retire before he’s 30.
So what if you’re twice that age? Could someone, say, 40 or 50 be an influencer?
“Not going to happen,” my teen friend explained. “No one wants to watch an old guy sit around his house.”
Point taken.
