In a virtual world where follower counts and engagement metrics are the ultimate clout, industry experts give their best advice on how to thrive
Time was, before social media and our complicit acceptance of 21st-century jargon such as “content” and “engagement”, influence could be gauged on good old-fashioned herd hierarchy and gut feelings, like fear—think: Michael Corleone in The Godfather or Regina George in Mean Girls.
These days, in an interactive digital world, a newfangled, ever-evolving concept of “influencer” has become a bona fide career path—a recent Harris Poll survey conducted on behalf of Lego Group found that American and British children aged 8 through 12 selected YouTube star as their dream job, way ahead of astronaut, musician, teacher and professional athlete. Now the strategic acquisition of influence can be both quantified and monetised, to the tune of US$8 billion last year alone.
See also: How Chinese Social Media Influencer Gogoboi Turned His Fashion Blog Into A Mini Media Empire
Those kids, they’re onto something. Case studies abound. Beauty influencer Jeffree Star, who first found social-media fame on MySpace in the early 2000s, went from having only US$500 in his bank account six years ago to owning and operating a product empire that nets US$150 million annually. Filmmaker and high-school dropout Casey Neistat was a relative unknown, despite having had a show on HBO for one season in 2010, until he vlogged for 600 days in a row. When he finally took a break from posting videos daily in late 2016, experts estimated that, on views alone, not counting additional brand deals, Neistat was earning between US$200,000 to US$300,000 each month.
The proliferation of streaming platforms has also been a boon to influential gamers—earlier this year, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins reportedly inked a deal worth between US$20 million and US$30 million to leave the streaming platform Twitch in favour of Mixer, which is owned by Microsoft.
