Zero Followers to Fame: Three Newbies Dive Into the Influencer World!

Can anyone become an influencer? This question was put to the test by three people who started with zero followers and no social media experience. Social media is a complicated world where people compete for likes, attention, and sometimes even a career. While a few lucky individuals manage to turn their online presence into a profitable job, most find it confusing and tough. Algorithms decide who gets noticed and who remains invisible. To see how difficult it is to break through, three passionate individuals with no social media accounts tried to build an audience in just three months. Emily, a potter and stroke survivor, Alun, a historian, and Danyah, a theatre performer, documented their journey as they tried to find followers and deal with the emotional ups and downs of chasing online fame.

Emily had always wanted to perform on stage, but after suffering a stroke at age 26, her life changed. Pottery became her new passion and a way to heal. She rarely used social media, but decided to create a TikTok account to reach and inspire people who had similar experiences. Her first video only got two views, and her other posts about pottery and her cat did not do much better. Emily felt discouraged and doubted herself. However, when she posted a video about how pottery saved her life, it reached thousands of people. Other stroke survivors messaged her to thank her for her content. Emily was proud of the impact she made, saying, 'That comment meant more than a thousand likes. ' But the success also brought stress, as she felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of replying to comments. She struggled to make her content feel real and worried about saying something wrong, especially when talking about sensitive topics like recovery. Near the end of the experiment, personal issues made it hard for Emily to keep posting, so she decided to take a break from social media, though she might return later.

Alun is a senior lecturer in history who specializes in early modern medicine and the cultural history of beards. He noticed that this topic was missing from social media and wanted to educate people. His first video about his love for history got a few hundred views, which encouraged him to keep posting every few days. His videos did well, but none got more than 1,000 views, which became frustrating. Chasing views started to affect his self-esteem. He said, 'If you don't get the views, you start thinking you're doing something wrong and people don't like you. ' Eventually, one of his videos got over 10,000 views, but he did not feel as happy as he expected. He felt he had oversimplified his content and lost some of his academic integrity. Alun also faced mean comments about his appearance due to alopecia. He found these comments hard to deal with and made a video explaining his condition. His university began sharing his videos, which increased his reach. He said, 'I've had 350,000 views in total, while my academic articles are read a couple hundred times a year. ' Creating content will not replace his career, but it has amplified it, and Alun plans to keep posting.

Danyah, a theatre performer and producer, faced a different challenge. She was used to performing live, not online. She joined the experiment because she wanted to help people connect, worried that too much time online was making people lose real-life connections. Danyah started posting on YouTube, and her videos were longer and slower than Emily and Alun's. Her first video was eight minutes long, and she posted regularly, sharing meditation guides and poems. The views were slow to come, but she enjoyed the process at first. Soon, though, she became obsessed with understanding the technical side of social media and even bought a book on how to get a million followers. In one month, she posted 50 videos and found it mentally exhausting. She said, 'It's taking up a massive amount of my time - it feels like an addiction. ' By the third month, her views and followers were slowly increasing, and she received many kind comments. Her increased online presence helped her sell more tickets for her shows and workshops. Danyah tries not to take the number of views too personally and, despite the challenges, hopes to continue posting beyond the experiment.

The experiences of Emily, Alun, and Danyah show that becoming an influencer is not easy. It takes hard work, patience, and emotional strength. While social media can help you reach more people and even boost your career, it can also be stressful and overwhelming. These three individuals discovered new ways to share their talents and connect with others, but they also learned that online fame comes with its own set of challenges.