The current state of the world has sparked many to turn to social media for distraction, escaping from their anxieties and worries to watch videos on making the J.W. Anderson “Harry Styles Cardigan” or creating trendy candles themselves.
However, what happens when the fastest rising platform to-date decides to give power to saddle-ranching, waiter punching, party-throwing influencers who promote the idea of just not caring about anyone except yourself?
TikTok influencers have become some of the most powerful in the world. Over the past year, we’ve watched Charli and Dixie D’Amelio go from Connecticut teenagers to 153 million followers combined (and urgently rising). Many of their inner circle are in the same situation. Whether you’re a Sway House or Hype House fan (or, option #3, someone who doesn’t have time to sell their soul and watch teenagers renegade on camera), you’re aware of the likes of Noah Beck, Bryce Hall, Addison Rae, and many more. Whether it’s for good or bad reasons, that’s always a toss-up.
The app has allocated about $200 million to pay people like Addison, Charli, and Dixie directly for making videos regularly. They launched this “creator fund” in late-July of 2020, something unfamiliar to competitors like Instagram or Facebook.
This creator fund only allows these influencers to grow more, gaining more and leaving a glass ceiling above them. While this seems like a monumental business move that’s entering a new era of social media, it’s actually something that could be fueling an unstoppable beast.
Many of these instant stars have faced more “scandals” and been the target of more drama than any other type of celebrity in the past. Bryce Hall, amounting to almost 18 million followers and half of a TikTok power couple with girlfriend Addison Rae, has been subject of media attention after throwing a gigantic, 100+ person 21st birthday party in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as punching a waiter at popular LA bar, Saddle Ranch.
Recently, the D’Amelio sisters and other friends jetted off on a Bahamas vacation. When asked about why they felt as though traveling during the pandemic was appropriate, Noah Beck, also on the trip, responded to Pop Galore Magazine, “It is what it is,” and ‘you need some time to kind of disconnect for a little. That’s what that was meant for. It was just a little trip to get away.” Many considered this tone-deaf and inappropriate considering the millions of front-line workers who could use a break as well.
The D’Amelio sisters, Beck, and Hall all benefit from the creator fund.
60% of TikTok users range from 16 to 24, many, however, being much younger. This new wave of unapologetic, socially irresponsible influencers directly translates into the eyes of those trying to make their own socially conscious choices themselves.
Currently, Gen-Z is an unprecedented generation with access to technology like none other. This is the age of the influencer; however, we have the choice of following those who care and those who don’t. With conglomerates like TikTok literally funding these problematic situations, will the next generation have the option of deciphering who’s right and who’s wrong?
It’s unfair to judge those who gain a following and influence before they can even get a driver’s license. The pressure and mass amounts of judgment that come with people watching your every move is something that only the thickest of skin can handle.
However, with a younger audience that turns to the platform for an escape, it often ends up a more toxic, harmful place. We get to decide who we follow and who we don’t, but what will happen when there isn’t a choice anymore?
Here are some of the staff’s favorite socially-conscious Instagram accounts!
Words by Olivia Hawkins
Graphic by Grace Daly