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The video clips on the popular app Tick Tock turning regular folks into social media stars, we are
seeing a
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new breed of celebrity these days influencers cashing in on their legions of social media
followers, experts say influencers will hold even more sway over the things we buy, the things
we say, and the things we do,
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leaving consumers to decide for themselves whether or not they’re under
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the influence. Hello, everybody, and welcome to “Under the Influence” with your hosts, Maddie,
Jack and Cooper. Today, we’re going to be talking about the various nuances of influencing in a
time where social justice is at the forefront of social media. Let’s get into it.
0:45
Hi, guys,
0:46
hello,
0:47
what’s going on?
0:49
It’s everyone’s three favorite influencers.
0:52
So before we dive right in, I think, you know, obviously, we know what influencing is, or at least
an idea every everyone in Gen Z does. Um, but there’s no denying, it’s a huge and growing
industry at that. So what we kind of come up with is social media influence is really just a
marketing term that describes an individual’s ability to affect other people’s thinking in a social
online community. Whether that be you know, Instagram, Facebook, whatever platform, and
companies can harness social media influence to help generate brand awareness, sell inventory,
and you know, like increase customer engagement. So according to Forbes, social media
influencing is a $10 billion industry, which is a huge amount of money, but kind of not surprising
when you see just like all the influencing happening on all those digital markets. And what
makes us different from past marketing trends and like big corporations is they’re really just
using people and they’re following and monetizing it. And people can usually just use like their
followers their quote, unquote, influence for money in conjunction with these companies, and no
one really questions why, or how they have these followings, whether that’s from their business,
their name, their talent, or if they’re just like, famous for being famous, and they have a
following because they do like Paris Hilton, or Kim Kardashian, who are one of the most
successful influencers in their own right, and why are they famous? Because they’re famous,
which is so interesting,
2:36
right? And I mean, a lot of people probably hear that 10 million number and think that’s crazy.
But really, I don’t know about you guys with my screen times at least five, six hours a day, you
know, I’m trusting influencers with everything I do, what to cook for dinner, what shoes to buy,
where to donate my money, all these things, I look to my social media apps and accounts for so it
really it makes a lot of sense. And I’m sure you know, my explore page looks a lot different than
your guys’s explore pages. And that’s kind of the beauty of social media is that everyone’s it’s
very personalized to them. So we all have our own influencers that we follow. You know, I’ve got
birthday Andy for plant based cooking and Roca moons, we’re at home workouts and so many
other people like this. So I’m assuming like we’re all in sort of different worlds, and on different
sides of these apps. So I’d love to hear you know, who do you guys follow? whose influence Are
you under?
3:28
Yeah, I never thought about like cooking or health and wellness and all those people but like
both of those industries. There’s such a market of just influencing and people making money off
of that I’m over the quarantine Last summer I was a huge Chloe ting fan and her workouts both
on like insert Yes, of course. Yeah, floating and on on YouTube, all those fun ones just because
like we couldn’t leave the house. And I think I follow like two different categories of influencers
of people who are like, full time influencers as their main stream of income, as they’re like, their
main job and like, they’re just like creating content on these different platforms. And then there’s
people who have their own career in their own right as an artist, as a singer, as a writer, as a
personality as an entrepreneur. And just because they are so famous in that respect, and they have
a following. They can be an influencer for for whatever, whether that’s business related or not
like they they can accept a check for holding this certain brand and saying hey, go buy this. Um,
but I like Dominic Walton. I used to be a big fan of Shane Dawson. He’s kind of low key council
now but um, and then I even think of like ariana grande de was like a huge still is a huge
influencer. She has a bunch of brand deals with like a whole lot of products and she has her own
lines of stuff. But what about you, Cooper?
4:53
So yeah, I listened to a bunch of different people, whether it be entrepreneurs like Dave Portnoy.
Dave Grubman, or different DJs that I like their music like Diplo, or just other people that I look
up to, whether I realize it or not, you know, I’m watching what they’re doing, watching where
they’re going, watching, you know what they’re buying, and it is influencing me, even if that is
subconsciously. So that kind of brings us to the point of why we’re doing this podcast. And you
know, everyone listening today is consuming content from different influences or influencers.
And we kind of want to use this podcast as a bell of mindfulness to bring everyone’s attention to,
you know, take a step back and evaluate who you’re listening to. And really asking the question,
do these influencers You follow? have the right intentions,
5:49
right, because so many of the really famous people know how to deal with this fame and know
what it’s like to have these followings. But then this whole industry is creating this different level
of micro influencers of people who, you know, don’t necessarily know the power of their words
to everyone that they’re reaching. And I think a really cool example of this is I know jack has a
good friend, Joshua, who has grown his own platform, and he created his own partnerships and
really, sort of entered this influencing industry. So it’ll be really interesting to hear from him,
what kind of awareness he has of who he who he reaches.
6:23
Yeah, for sure. It was really great talking to him about this. And one misconception that I think a
lot of people have, that I also had was like, You need to have this huge empire and following
under you just to start making money as an influencer and to be like an effective one at that. But
Josh, like, totally prove me wrong there and that he doesn’t even have like 2000 followers on
Instagram. And he has like a pretty pretty comparable account to like us three like it’s he’s pretty
average Joe, like senior in college, just trying to like make a buck, but he’s a really effective
business person, and he can sell a product, as well as sell his platform. So that was really
interesting to see how accessible this market can be. And like, really, anyone can be an
influencer, if they want to be, you just have to be willing to like put the work into it like
anything.
7:18
So what you’re saying is when our podcast blows up, three of us are going to become easy
money influences,
7:23
for sure. Under the influence. Cool. Well,
7:27
let’s listen.
7:32
Hi, Joshua Johnson.
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Hello, jack mastriani.
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How are you?
7:36
Oh, so good. How are you?
7:38
I’m pretty good stringing along. So you are an influencer? Yes, sir.
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for lack of a better word. Yes, I am.
7:48
And what, in the past, what influencing deals Have you secured and had good relationships with?
7:57
Well, primarily, I’ve spent most of my influencing career short lived as it may be with Coach
The, the brand. And that’s been doing pretty well, for me, honestly, you know, I go, and I get to
see new products before they release, I get to sort of model and use great photography skills for
myself, and to promote a brand that I actually really support and enjoy. And I think the product is
actually worth selling and buying.
8:29
First and foremost, were you approached by coach? Or did you just kind of like secure this and
start this yourself?
8:35
It was sort of a mutual sort of event, it started at a local level, my local coach store I used to go in
all the time over the summer. And I just began to like, understand the product and talk more and
become friends with the employees. And they had just actually just started an Instagram for the
store itself. And I was and they like, took pictures of customers, and they just use pictures of me.
And from there, then I got messaged by coach to actually become an influencer, it honestly was
pretty, it feels more like an independent contractor job than anything. There isn’t much that I
know, before the general public, but there is indeed certain perks that come along with it in
regards to products that are actually being sold, whether it be discounts, or like the exclusive or
the pre sale or just sort of little benefits here and there that make the product a little more
accessible to you rather than to others.
9:38
And did you have any reservations about becoming an influencer in general, or did you think for
the time being, this is a good opportunity for me It could open doors and you said you said
initially you believe in the product, which a lot of influencers do have that philosophy, they’re not
gonna they’re not going to put in name on something they don’t believe to the fullest or at least
doesn’t help them at the
10:04
least. Well, no, I think I think we I’ve started in the middle of a pandemic, so I was hesitant a
very little, then that couldn’t make me money. But I think I had done a lot I was I grew up as a
kid model. And I modeled for stores, like Target dillards, like, children’s place. And so I was
very accustomed to selling a product. And I think that going back to a previous question you
would ask, I think it all sort of comes down to just being a good business person, you know, good
representative for yourself. Because you asked about, what was you asked about? Not really
having a following, but still becoming an influencer. And I think, like I said, it comes down to
being a good business person when you sell a product. Because more times than not, it’s the fact
that you have as opposed to having like, a million sort of ghost followers, for lack of a better
term, but you have like a quite a close knit 500 people who you actually talk to and connect with
that, you know, if you showed them something, they would respect your opinion, and want your
input on their decisions. And so having that sort of feel you actually sometimes end up getting
more sales and pushing more products out there than you would if you were had like, 2 million
followers on Instagram.
11:31
Yeah, for sure. Um, and do you consider yourself like, once you have this one successful job and
gig with Coach, are you inspired with bigger ambitions as an influencer, not just as an amazing
singer, dancer actor, but as an influencer, an influencer alone, as a source of income and as like a
way of life and as a career to do bigger and better things.
11:58
I would always love to do bigger and better. I. But at the end of the day, you know, like, I, it’s
sort of interesting, I don’t take myself seriously in this position. I mean, I enjoyed and it’s fun,
and it brings good fortune, but I don’t like you couldn’t have told me that this would be what I do.
You know, I wouldn’t, there was no way that I would have told you that I would be an influencer
for coach of all people. And so I think while bigger and better is great. I’m also very happy and
content with what I have now.
12:28
Yeah. So for now, this is a side hustle that landed in your lap that is mutually beneficial for both
parties. And if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. But it’s not, it’s not the start of something new. Yeah, I
12:43
mean, I would have exactly if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. And, you know, if it gets bigger, only the
more joy do it, you know, but if it stayed the same, I wouldn’t be too upset either. I’ve definitely
paid a lot more attention to Instagram and the algorithm in more ways than one, even in regards
to other social media and what and how, like Facebook, tick tock use utilize their algorithm to
push product or push videos up to the front of your page. So I’ve definitely become more aware
of that. And I think, one it’s very fascinating and of itself, how the same photo posted at a
different time of day determines what is actual traction on the internet. And so I guess there are
times where there is content that I want to push out, but knowing that the algorithm isn’t going to
work in my favor at this exact time, that I have to be very more deliberate with when I post
things as well as I’ve become more conscious of like the aesthetic and the grid, because you at a
certain point, you become a product as well, just your same aesthetic, because when people see
your, your promoted post, and they come over to your page, they want to see you having a life
that’s somewhat looks like theirs, and you want to be relatable and you want to be you want to be
a real human, but you also want to be very, very presentable in your appearance, you know, you
want to be have those things that people get excited about when they see. So I think overall, it’s
just up to my awareness of Instagram and my social media.
14:14
Okay, okay, so I actually interned for a public relations firm last summer, and I learned about this
whole other side of the influencing industry. Basically, I was on a team for a client in the
supplement industry. And one of my jobs was creating a list of potential influencers for that
company to partner with and send their products to. And I would have to go through influencers,
Instagram and Twitter pages, and scroll through all of their posts from even if they made their
account a decade ago. And before I could add anyone to the list, I had to make sure that they
were, you know, posting responsibly during the pandemic, that they weren’t having radical
viewpoints and political conversations that they in general just had an okay pass on social media
that wasn’t going to raise any red flags for the company. If they’d been chose to post about the
supplements, so once I vetted a list of influencers, then the client would send the mailers in
hopes that they would post about the products organically on their own. And then if they seemed
interested, then that’s when the conversations with sponsorships came in. And that’s where the
money starts flowing. So in addition to all this, there were also influencers who were already
partnered with the company. And on the days that they were scheduled to have their posts, I
would have to monitor Instagram all day long from the moment that they posted. And I would
have to make sure that they didn’t have any typos in the caption, I’d have to check in on likes, I’d
have to read all the comments, and anything else to notice to know about the post. So really, this
is all just a long winded way of showing how much is happening behind the scenes of every
influencer account. And to me, it’s really interesting, how much is happening with the companies
they partner with and how some intern somewhere sitting at a desk like me, maybe noting that
you tagged your best friend in the comments of that account. I know it’s really made me think
twice about what influencers I follow and what they choose to devote their time and energy to,
you know, do they post actively about social justice issues? If they don’t, it’s not necessarily a
deal breaker for me, you know, if it’s a food account, but it does make me check in and ask, well,
are they silencing their platform when there’s other big news and other voices need to be
amplified? You know, are they traveling around in a pandemic without a care in the world and
posting all about it? These are the kinds of questions I want to ask myself. And these are all
things I especially now think about after having that experience.
16:35
Thank you, Maddie. And going off what you said, this makes me want to talk about the idea of
canceled culture. So canceled culture is defined as a modern internet phenomenon, where a
person is ejected from influence or fame by questionable actions. It is caused by a critical mass
of people who are quick to judge and slow to question. It is commonly caused by an accusation,
whether that accusation has merit or not. canceled culture is something that anyone who is on
social media is familiar with. And I’m going to be going in and talking about some current case
studies of people who got canceled. But yeah, this, this idea of canceled culture is, is very
interesting. And this isn’t something that just relates to influencers. Every single one of us lives
in the world of the internet. After you press that send button. Anything that’s published on the
internet, lives there forever, once it’s posted, just because you deleted that does not mean it’s
gone. We live in the internet era. When you type something, when you post something, when you
record something, it exists forever. There is no taking it back or deleting it. It is there forever. So
not only does this apply to influencers, but this applies to everyone. You know, there’s there’s a
lot going on with, you know, different people getting canceled that who are not even celebrities
or influencers. You know, there’s a lot of Tick Tock trends, that if you’re on Tick tock, you’ve
probably seen some of these, where, you know, random students from random schools, say
something that they think is anonymous or say something on an online chat where they think
they’re talking with strangers. The clip goes viral, they say something very inappropriate or
racist. And it goes viral on tik tok, it gets millions and millions of views overnight. The kids are
identified as sent to their school that is sent to their parents. The internet, literally is a team of
private investigators. And if you do something or say something, a clip could go viral. People
investigate people try to find you try to find your job send stuff to your employer send stuff to
your school send stuff to your principals. Their canceled culture it goes so much further than this.
I I even saw a video just today on my on my tic Tock for you page. And it was a video. These
kids were at chick fil a and they asked for sounds really stupid or just it’s crazy. I just saw this
today. They asked for a honey mustard and the employees gotten mad at them for asking because
they said they already put it in, and they actually forgot it. So these kids post the video and give
the number of the chick fil A’s restaurant and say call them and ask for the honey mustard
because they were mad that the employees got mad. And this video blew up was getting
hundreds of 1000s of engagements and the people of the internet, just start calling and troll this
restaurant and, and you know, they could ruin businesses that the phone number is actually
disabled because 1000s and 1000s of people were calling the restaurant and disturbing the
business.
20:41
And you know, these are, these are like, these are people’s lives. And it’s almost it almost seems
like it’s a game nowadays, where you just like people just hop on the canceled train. Another
example of this is there’s an app called Life 360. I’m sure many people are familiar with this or
are familiar with the scandal. But life 360 is an app that parents use to track their kids, it gives all
different types of information, it gives their live location, it gives their phone use, it gives their
driving speed. And you know, no kid obviously wants to be on that. But a lot of parents forced
them to. So have a kid made a video about it. And it went viral. And he told the entire internet to
go to that app and read it a one star on the Apple App Store. And it got hundreds of 1000s of one
star reviews saying that’s an a horrible app, and they’re trying to get it taken down off of the App
Store. And this caused a huge controversy, the app went from like a 4.5 star to literally like
below a one star. And the internet just went crazy and fully canceled and destroyed the company.
I’m not sure any recent updates on this situation. But you know, as we go back to the the
definition of canceled culture. It’s caused by a critical mass of people who are quick to judge and
slow to question, people just jump on this train of let’s cancel, let’s cause controversy. Let’s spam.
And it’s just this effect where everyone just hops on board. And no one really looks into the
actual situation a lot of the times, and these are real people’s lives at stake. And it’s a very, very
toxic culture. And canceled culture needs to be canceled.
23:00
So we’ve definitely left everyone with a ton to think about when it comes to influencer culture. I
know you know, especially after listening to Cooper, talk about canceled culture, I’m gonna
really change the way I interact with with canceled culture as a whole, you know, I’m gonna
really try and think about who I agree should be canceled. If I even agree anyone should be, I
think it’s really important to make those decisions on your own and not just follow mainstream
media. So I’m really glad we got to talk about this.
23:30
I’m glad that’s what you took away Maddie, and that you’re going to be more conscious about
canceled culture. And for me, I’m really going to just think about, you know, that interview with
Joshua, and how it really opened my eyes that anyone has the opportunity to become an
influencer and that, you know, I may even try out you know, trying to work with some brands
and monetize my own platform.
23:56
Cooper the influencer I’m Maddie, after listening to your section, I think the one thing I want to
go forward with is as a consumer and as a social media user, I just need to be super mindful and
aware of the people that I’m following. Because following them, gives them the agency and
power that they have in the first place. And we don’t think that just like following a person gives
them money and power and influence but at the end of the day, that’s exactly what it does. And
then if I ever choose to be an influencer, I need to be super aware of the companies that I’m doing
business with and if I my values align with the company’s values, and I’m not supporting a
company that might be doing harm to a demographic of people that I don’t necessarily know
about, um, but yeah, I think I deserve like little like Marie Kondo on my Instagram perhaps like
going through and just like cleaning out like if it doesn’t spark joy, if it isn’t for the greater good,
why am I following it? You know?
24:58
Yeah. And with that, I I think we we should set everyone free to scroll and hope that they will
now do so in a more conscious way. And that even if we don’t have our own millions of
followers that we will be active on social media in ways that we know would make millions of
followers proud.
25:19
Thanks for listening everybody.
25:21
Thank you.
