Most young people today see social media influencing as a viable career, and they'd be willing to quit their current jobs for the chance to chase it.
Some 57% of Gen Zers said they would like to become an influencer if given the chance, according to a new report from Morning Consult, a decision intelligence company. That's a notch higher than the 41% of adults overall who'd opt for the emerging career path.
The explosion of TikTok makes it all seem more possible, says Ellyn Briggs, brands analyst at Morning Consult: "No-frills, direct-to-cam and low-editing content does well on TikTok, so it's broadened the amount of people who feel influencing is accessible to them."
Put another way, more than half of Gen Zers "believe people can easily make a career in influencing," she adds.
The Morning Consult data comes from one survey of 2,204 U.S. adults and one survey of Gen Zers ages 13 to 26 who use Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, or YouTube.
Most Gen Zers think it's easy to make a career in influencing
Some 53% of Gen Zers believe becoming an influencer is a reputable career choice, and a similar share would quit their current jobs if they could become an influencer if it was enough to pay for their lifestyle. Three in 10 young people would even pay to become an influencer.
The numbers are in line with a similar 2019 report from Morning Consult, showing the appetite for influencing holds strong for young social-media users even as controversial platform changes, and a "not insignificant amount of content creator controversies," have come into public view in the last four years, Briggs says.
Young people are savvy to the ease of making money on their own time and doing something fun, Briggs says. The No. 1 thing driving Gen Z's interest in influencing as a career is the ability to make money, followed closely by being able to work flexibly and doing fun work.
Consumer trust in influencers is growing while trust in friends, family and reviews sites dip
More young people say their dream job is to become an online celebrity. One 2021 YouGov poll found becoming a vlogger, YouTuber or professional streamer was the top dream job among teens 13- to 17-years old, above doctor or nurse, professional athlete, musician or actor.
The top two platforms users flock to for influencer content are YouTube (which is slightly more popular among millennials and men) followed by TikTok (which skews Gen Z and among women). Content-wise, users are most interested in influencers who post food and music content.
Young consumers say their trust in celebrities, athletes and social media influencers has grown in recent years — they're the only categories of people that saw an increase in trust between 2019 and 2023. Gen Zers and millennials say their friends and family, followed by Amazon reviews, are their most trusted sources of information when making a purchasing decision, but those shares slid in recent years.
If they were to become influencers, 22% of Gen Zers said they would post about gaming, followed by 10% who would focus on beauty and skin care. Young people are least interested in creating posts about drinking, home design, or politics and social causes.
Among all adults, 20% said they don't know what their niche would be, followed by 13% who would create food content and 8% who'd focus on music.
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