WATCH — Want to be an influencer? What you should know | Video

How much money do influencers actually make?

Every week, CBC Kids News takes a deep dive into a topic that’s been making headlines. Click the video above or below for this week’s KN Explains.

Imagine making money by posting gameplay videos on YouTube. Or by making TikTok videos about your favourite clothing brand.

If that sounds like a dream job to you, we totally get it.

One in four Gen-Zers said they plan to be a social media influencer, according to a survey done last year by a digital marketing agency called Higher Visibility.

Of those, 27 per cent said they want to be an influencer as a career.

Being an influencer can be tons of fun and eventually bring on all sorts of popularity and glamour.

But hold up. Before you tell MrBeast and Charli D’Amelio to step aside, we have to ask: Is influencing a reliable long-term job?

Content creator Emma Chamberlain, 21, found fame through YouTube, but she’s been posting less consistently lately and now says she’s “pulling back.”

“You can’t do YouTube forever,” Chamberlain said this month in an interview with the New York Times.

“My whole life was on the internet,” she said. “I felt so exposed. I felt so much pressure, and I was scared.”

Taking a step back from YouTube doesn’t mean Chamberlain’s career is over. Instead, she has focused on other business opportunities, like her podcast Anything Goes and her coffee brand, Chamberlain Coffee. She also recently partnered up with luxury cosmetics brand Lancôme for a marketing campaign.

CBC Kids News contributor Isabelle MacNeil asked an influencer and marketing experts how influencers can find long-term success, and about the good and the bad sides of the job.

From advice to encouragement to warnings — they had lots to say. Watch the video below to find out what they told us.

KN Explains: Influencing as a career ⬇️⬇️⬇️

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh2rttvSu60

Have Your Say

This week’s question is all about being an influencer. Share your opinions in the form below.

You can read the answer to last week’s question here:

Have more questions? Want to tell us how we’re doing? Use the “send us feedback” link below. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

TOP IMAGE: Markiplier, Marie Stella and Dylan Mulvaney are just some online personalities who have talked about some difficult parts of their jobs. (Image credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images, Marie Stella, Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images; graphic design by Philip Street/CBC)