The influencer vs. celebrity trope has become a recurring topic for a while now. Many argue that being an influencer is nowhere near the same as being a celebrity since celebrities work hard to get where they are, unlike influencers. With that being said many influencers often venture out to have careers that celebrities usually have, such as being a singer or an actor. Because they already have a following they’re able to become more successful than many celebrities who have taken years to get their name. This leads me to the question, is being an influencer cheating, and should they be counted as celebrities?
Influencers usually get known off of social media apps, most notably Instagram and more recently, Tiktok. Because of these apps, they are able to build a name for themselves due to their following. They make money off of brand deals and being brand ambassadors for many companies such as Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty lingerie line and more. Influencers know how to beat the algorithm and are able to gain more followers, leading them to become more famous.
Because of the way social media is built, you don’t actually have to have real talent or work hard to become an influencer. Most of the time you just need to meet society’s beauty standards and/ or show your body. I see nothing wrong with this, but I do think this system is unfair and should be fixed. You can also become an influencer by dancing on Tiktok and nowadays that’s relatively it. The more numbers you gain on social media, the more companies reach out to you, and the more money you make. If you crack the code to social media, you can be a successful influencer. It’s not hard at all.
While influencers have it easier, being a celebrity takes much more time and effort. Celebrities often branch into careers such as being a dancer, actor, musician, makeup artist, and more. Even though some have it easier than others due to having connections in the business, most usually don’t. Although those without connections usually have exceptional talent, it takes years of being told “no” and “you’re not good enough” for them to finally get their big break. It isn’t until this happens that they finally get the numbers or followers social media influencers usually have and even then it still isn’t enough.
What I mean by that is even though an artist such as SZA has worked hard to get where she is, she still won’t have as many followers as a Tiktok influencer such as Addison Rae. Most of you are probably thinking there’s no way that Addison has more followers than SZA, but she actually does. While SZA has 8.5 million followers, Addison Rae has 35.1 million followers all because of doing random dances on Tiktok.
Do you see what I mean now? Is it fair for TikTok dancers to be more known than artists with exceptional talent? Another thing that comes into play with influencers is a lot of the time they get a bunch of followers, are then able to make connections, and go into the industry, becoming singers and actors without any hard work.
A prime example of this is Dixie D’Amelio. Dixie was able to get famous because of her sister who got famous for doing other people’s TikTok dances. Once Dixie was introduced, she started making Tiktoks, which allowed her to gain a following. A few months later she broke out into the industry as a singer. Usually, it takes singers years to get the number of streams Dixie has, but because she was able to make connections by getting “Tiktok famous,” she was able to cheat her way through the industry and become a more known singer than artists such as Giveon, Lucky Daye, Mxmtoon, and so many more.
This can also be seen with Addison Rae who is now an actor. She was able to cheat her way through the industry and is already about to be in two movies in less than a year of starting her career. Usually, actors start by doing commercials or having small roles in TV shows, but Addison was able to jump-start and get the opportunity to have major roles in movies without any experience.
Now, that my friends, is what I call cheating.