OWEN MCDONNELL: Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of In The Know, a podcast dedicated to the University of Minnesota.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “Hey, I should ditch this Kinesiology major and just become a full time social media influencer”? Well, the question hasn’t particularly popped into my head as of late, but the idea of a social media influencer is definitely something of a new career.
Charli D’Amelio, Zach King, Alix Earle — these are all people who have climbed the social media ladder and come out on top, simply by being influential. Charli dances, Zach makes optical illusion videos, and Alix Earle is…well, alright I’m not really sure what she does.
But there are many others like these influencers who are still actively climbing that ladder. Some might have 1,000 followers, and others might have 100,000. But all of them are working hard at presenting their social media personalities in a meaningful way. These aspiring, or established, influencers are everywhere. Even right here at the University of Minnesota.
I spoke to freshman influencer Sierra Skogan about her day-to-day life as a social media influencer. She’s sponsored by both Bubblr energy drinks and Hollister.
SIERRA SKOGAN: For Bubblr, you only have to send in one picture or one video. So whenever I need a restock on my Bubblr, I go out, take a picture with a Bubblr in my hand, and I send it in.
And then they have the rights to my picture to use it wherever they want. And I have actually, they’ve used my picture on their Instagram, so that’s good. But yeah, I send it in and then they sent me eight cases of Bubblr and then, like, they’ll give me, they sent me like a little Christmas present.
Bubblr did, that was just because they did, or like, I got posted on their Instagram and they said, “Congrats on being posted, you can pick out any of these like merch items,” and then I got to pick up a sweatshirt.
MCDONNELL: You said, you posted a picture, they sent you eight cases? Wow, that’s a good deal.
SKOGAN: I know, it’s a great deal, actually. Like, I recommend it to all my friends. Like, it’s so nice.
MCDONNELL: As you can see, with Skogan’s Bubblr partnership, she has complete control over how often she wants to post and when she needs a restock on the product. With her Hollister sponsorship, the guidelines are a little different.
SKOGAN: Hollister, right away, or, there’s different levels you reach. So, it’s, like, level one, you have to, they give you a little prompt. So, let’s say you have to reach 50 points for level one. So, 25 points for posting an Instagram story.
And, or like, 15 points for going and commenting on another Hollister Partners. Stuff like that. And then you reach different levels to get different, like, codes, or links, or a gift card, or stuff like that. Hollister is more time consuming to reach those new levels than Bubblr is.
MCDONNELL: After hearing about this point system and Bubblr’s one post equals eight cases deal, I had to ask if there was a limit on the amount of pictures you could post in a day. Apparently there isn’t a limit as long as the pictures are approved! Maybe I should get in on this gig.
Skogan also says that the reason she sought these specific partnerships out was because they were already in her life.
SKOGAN: I just, I’ve been drinking Bubblr for five years. Like, it’s my favorite drink. I got off kind of the pop to go to Bubblr. And one of my friend’s sisters said that they were doing a partnership with Bubblr.
I don’t know, it just works out perfectly with me. They give Bubblr, I give them content, so it’s like, I have fun doing it, and I get free Bubblr out of it, so it’s great.
MCDONNELL: Free Bubblr, free content! Sounds like a good deal. What about Hollister?
SKOGAN: So the reason I did choose Hollister as, to be a part of their brand is because I have been wearing Hollister for years and their clothes just fit me right. Like I feel like their clothes fit and like hug the right places or loosen the right places. They just fit my body type really well. So that’s why I really like their clothing and they’re always like up with the trends.
So that’s something I really like. So yeah, but I’ve been wearing Hollister for probably the same amount of time I’ve been drinking Bubblr.
MCDONNELL: Sometimes when I’m on social media, I wonder if the influencer I’m watching is really like that in person. Skogan says how she presents herself online is really her.
SKOGAN: Yeah, so the way I present myself on social media is really my true self. I feel like I’m not big enough. I’m not like a huge influencer to even be close to that. But anyways, I present myself in a positive way.
Like I like vibrant colors and water and earth and stuff like that. So, when I’m posting for these brands, I like to keep in line with the content that I post personally and I think it like a lot of the content that I post just reflects like I try and put a positive spin on like small things in life and regular things cuz we’re all doing this. Like, Bubblr, I drink Bubblr on campus, like, or, I’m a college student, I can’t afford to buy Bubblr all the time, you know like. But yeah, I feel like the things I post also reflect my personal self.
MCDONNELL: It’s important to note that Skogan is still a student. She says balancing working with her partnerships and her school life is easier than most.
SKOGAN: Yeah so as a student, I always put my school first, so I get my school done. And honestly, throughout the day, if I have like a little hour here, a little hour there, I take a quick picture with my Bubblr. Cause I’m, I drink Bubblr every morning or “I’m wearing a Hollister shirt today. Let’s take a picture quick” or, you know, things like that.
And also social media has just been a part of my life for a long time. And I just, I really enjoy taking pictures and videos and stuff like that, so I’d be doing that in my free time anyways. So then doing it for other people or for other brands is pretty, it comes pretty easy to me.
MCDONNELL: Skogan says that both Bubblr and Hollister foster a good community for their partners, whether that be through incentivizing commenting on other partners’ posts or even Bubblr commenting on her posts! She says that is something that she didn’t expect to get from her sponsorships.
SKOGAN: It’s a really like it’s a good community with Bubblr. It’s like just talking with the like, Bubblr DMs me on Instagram, or they’ll comment on my page. It’s just it, it’s a really nice feeling, it’s a good community, and then something with Hollister that I didn’t expect is, I feel like the commenting on each other’s posts, like, having girls support girls, and like, having more people comment on my posts. It’s always nice, you know.
MCDONNELL: Community is something that seems to be very important within the influencer space, and that is also the case with influencer Rashid Skeik. Skeik, a biology, society and environment major, says how his TikTok account (@Rashooodyyy), which produces funny but informative videos about Arabic and Islamic culture, has helped the community as well.
RASHID SKEIK: I’ve had very, very nice interactions at, let’s say, like, Muslim events, conventions, where people just respectfully, you know, whether it’s asking for a picture, asking it to be an interview or just, you know, or any smaller promotion for a small business. I’d love to do as well.
Yeah, basically, most of them are, they’re for charities or small businesses like clothing companies. Usually they’re Arab or Muslim companies that I’d love to help out.
MCDONNELL: Skeik’s TikTok has amassed over 300,000 followers since he posted his first video in January of 2023. What started as a simple video he thought he’d make with his friend turned into a very large part of Skeik’s life with one video at 17.5 million views!
SKEIK: How I kind of got into social media, I would say it was about two years ago to be exact. I just made a video with my friend, just fooling around him acting as a Arab dad and just for fun, honestly. We were driving on the way home.
I said, “Let’s just film, you know, how it’s like to drive with an Arab dad,” and he cosplayed as my dad. And then I was the son basically. And that video, I was really, really excited because the next day we woke up at, it had like a thousand views at the time.
I was very, very like stoked about it. I was like, “Damn.” So I called up the same friend. I said, “Bro, let’s do this again with a different idea.” So I told them, “Let’s do like Arab dad takes son to get haircut.” This one actually did like 200,000 views in one day. And that’s when I found, you know, that, you know, me and him could make a bunch of videos and all that.
And then I started branching out to Islamic content, Muslim content, POVs, other, you know, stuff that people can relate to.
MCDONNELL: With a following like this, Skeik has dealt with his fair share of fans.
SKEIK: Yeah, I’ve definitely been recognized, on campus, off campus, at events, even overseas. I just came back from Saudi Arabia. I’ve been recognized there multiple, multiple times, even in Morocco, which I did not expect at all.
MCDONNELL: The videos Skeik posts, as I said earlier, are both funny and informative, something that is done intentionally. Skeik explains why his videos are the way they are and why they work so well.
SKEIK: I feel like that’s something I want to leave on this earth is just to teach people more about Islam because we’re telling us then I feel the more you share, the more Islamic knowledge you share out there, you get good deeds and rewards to it.
So as many people as I could teach about whether that’s our prophet or just basic Islamic knowledge, I feel like not only do I get good deeds out of it, but I just, I just love teaching people as well.
Just because honestly I feel like there’s a lot of people that could relate to it. Like if you’re Muslim, you can relate to my Muslim concept. If you’re Arab, you can relate to my Arab concept. If you’re both, you can relate to both.
Not necessarily taking advantage of who you are or the stuff that you identify as, but just basically being proud of it and putting it out there, honestly so other people, you know, who maybe are, maybe someone’s not as proud as being Arab or Muslim, it could be like, “Oh yeah, this guy’s, you know,” and they could be happy about who you are basically.
MCDONNELL: Skeik says he favorite part of doing TikTok is helping out others and contributing to causes he believes in.
SKEIK: Like knowing that I could help out small businesses or certain events of just promoting them, utilizing my social media presence to bring attention to smaller businesses that maybe don’t get the same attention.
Even if it’s just getting free clothes of, let’s say like Palestinian related and wearing a certain hoodie that, you know, says a message about Palestine or something in a hoodie and having a lot of eyes see that as well on my videos, I feel like it’s going to a good cause.
Just knowing that that’s an impact that I can make is, you know, something that I take pride in.
MCDONNELL: For these influencers, their social media content is only part of the job. The other part is connecting with the community, whether that be by commenting on other creator’s posts or building relationships with small businesses. And for both Skogan and Skeik, their platform is an opportunity to show who they are and what they believe in.
This episode was written by Owen McDonnell and produced by Kaylie Sirovy. Thanks so much for listening to this week’s podcast, and as always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can let us know at [email protected]. Again, thanks for tuning in, and this has been Owen McDonnell from In the Know.
