Influencers are too predictable

It took 10 years for Lady Gaga to get her feet off the ground, but when it did, she had it all. The charisma, the talent, the branding. Then it took her 10 years to find a near nemesis. In my unpopular opinion, a great example of this is the way Ava Max - a near Gaga copy cat- has followed a fast route to fame. If you just look at the similarities in the music, the blonde hair and “monster” branding. It’s almost as if Ava Max is taking direct inspiration from Gaga’s career and implementing it into her own to gain notoriety. Sadly enough, it’s working.

In the same way, there’s a new competitive duo in the influencer world: Emma Chamberlain and Charlie D’amelio. But this time, their rivalry occurred within a meer 1-year time span.

The road to viral success is getting predictable, and the scary thing is that people are getting to it faster and faster. Here’s the cycle that you can expect to see in every up-and-coming social media star in the next year.

Phase 1: The Protective Hype

At the start of a creator’s career, a viewer finds a creator and if they are small enough, they want to keep them a secret. Why? Because no one wants to share their new best friend. If someone gets too big then they won’t be able to get the attention you want. In Emma Chamberlains’ example, so many people were “preserving Emma” by keeping the Internet’s secret gem.

Unfortunately, the jokes on them. The platforms generating these celebrities, like YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok, etc., are in it simply for the money. The algorithm will start to notice this newfound love for new talent, and with one computer switch, the algorithm will start pushing content to everyone’s home page.

Phase 2: Joining Forces

Once more and more people start discovering a creator, the creator will start to get invited to events, brand trips and meetups. Everyone wants to be wherever the hype is.

This is a perfect example of why I think the Hype House was created. You can only be a certain amount of famous alone. Joining forces with a big group of creators will allow you to grow an even larger audience. This is the same reason that Team 10 acquired its viral success.

Phases 3: Get in a Scandal

Once you have even an inkling of internet fame, everyone is jealous of you. Other creators will realize that they can also get views and fame from using your name. However, if they can’t be friends with you, they will try to cancel you.

The #1 reason why I think cancel culture has risen is because it’s the fastest way to grab the attention of someone else. Commentary videos/content require minimal effort, and for this reason, drama and “tea” channels have grown so fast because the content only requires a narrator to destroy a trend/ topic.

You could be absolutely doing nothing in regards to a scandal, but because someone else wants to steal your spotlight, they will wait for the right time to bring you down.

Phase 4: Survive or Die

Once you have been in a scandal, it’s time to bounce back. When a creator receives initial criticism, they have two choices.

You could let it stop you or keep going.

I honestly think this is the hardest part of putting yourself out there. You need to have the ability to turn your blinders on and focus on the things that matter the most. People will be out there to bring you down, but you need to focus on the ones that support you. The only way to come back is to act like it never happened in the first place.

Final Verdict:

This 4 step cycle is pretty accurate. Take any famous influencer and plug their journey into this equation. What you’re going to find out is that the ones that are successful are the ones that are able to keep going even when they face resistance.

I honestly think people need to give Charlie and Emma more credit. It’s not easy to keep going. And who knows, with the speed at which trends happen, then next Emma Chamberlain might just be a month away.