“Get Ready With Me”(GRWM), reviews, and hauls have taken over the app and website, Tiktok. There are countless examples of young women who make subsidiary funds from social media apps such as Tiktok and Instagram. University of Miami senior Alix Earle currently claims over five million followers on Tiktok and Instagram. Earle gained her following by filming and posting makeup routines on tik tok and “Get ready with me” videos. The 22-year-old model racked up fans thanks to her no-holds-barred, unfiltered GRWM videos on TikTok, where she goes through her makeup routine while candidly talking about everything from work trips, partying with her friends, to her breast augmentation. Her social media growth is truly astounding, and she has real power when it comes to selling out products—for better or for worse. Due to Earle’s seemingly flawless makeup, as soon as the products she used were released, the products began to be impossible to find.

While influencing can be great for companies, it can be a tough hobby mentally, and is not for the sensitive souls.

“People always ask, ‘Like, aren’t you afraid to get mean comments?’ I don’t know if this is weird, but I really like them. Because they’re true! If you can’t take a good self-roast, then come on.” Earle says in a Tiktok embracing the haters.

Cancel culture is a negative effect of attempting to pursue Tiktok as a job, but the destruction of people and their lives is not going away anytime soon.

“Cancel culture is so random that you could say one word and your career’s over and no one will hire you because of social media,” junior Emily Lane said.

Although putting you, your friends, and your interests online can be risky, it can also be rewarding. Many influencers can agree that their followers are more devoted to their lives than people they know in real life.

“There is some people that it helps them be more outgoing, and that is good parts of it but there is also parts where people let the fame get to their heads and ruin society,” Lane said.

While Tiktok does pay influencers a sum of money, it can be debated whether this really is a large enough amount to cause women to be comfortable enough to quit their jobs. Being a tik tok influencer is what specifically Gen Z females dream of because of how much they are exposed to the hobby.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to become an influencer but I do think other people are maybe just kinda lazy and look for the easy way out and go for trends. Unless you’re really good at it and can get a lot of followers which not all of these people can, you’re not gonna make too much money off of it or it’s gonna take you a while to make money,” sports and entertainment marketing teacher Jordan Beighle said.

Does interest in influencing mean young individuals should no longer attend college?

“It’s a numbers game. Personally, I look at life by percentages. I don’t think it’s a career, I think it’s a hobby but it could turn into a career or a job but my biggest question is how sustainable is that, how long is this [gonna] last,” business education teacher Kash Knight said.

An abundance of ideas must be taken into consideration when determining a career or job, the decision comes down to each individual person to decide if influencing is the right fit for them.