These Kids Are Skipping College to Be TikTok Famous

okay play the audio play your audio last time time right go ahead go ahead let me see it let's go let's go they probably just made $15 million during I was like like what do you'all do and he was like I'm influencer I mean I'm he actually answered I'm an influencer yes right left I said how do you make money I've never understood it he was like you know how there's like Beyonce and Jay-Z famous people for music he's like well we're famous for social media I'm like so people follow yall just to watch your life and then he was like yeah I was like okay sign me [Music] up so we're in West Hollywood going to a Tik tock house called the vault in in which uh six people produce content of some sort for 1. 5 million followers now I don't know what Tik Tok is or if I download it I suspect it'd be an amber alert because I'm too old for this sort of thing but I need to find out what these people are doing and how they're making money they're for going college and they're for going high school to move to LA and make a ton of money by dancing on Tik Tok it was just before noon when I arrived at Vault house that is good that'll be good content and its young occupants had only just peeled themselves from bed assembling for the day's writers room which featured no writers and took place on a couch let's start morning meeting now hello Focus hello we have hella heads today what are do yeah but we're going to have Ballo and swag boy covers we should do this I think Kier should do a kiss or slap I'm not doing that they are sick of be kissing people no they're not they ask for it every time Kieran Trey kissing one can be don't bring a girl home or a boy home oh yes and then one can be don't lose the group can you write these down cuz you're going to forget and I'm going to be very upset escalating girl I don't have any idea what's happening what's poing chicken nugget wake up wake up wake up I didn't want to go to the party to party I wanted to go to the party to scare for the past few years Tik Tok has been the fastest growing social media platform in the world it currently boasts around a billion active users and its astonishing growth was facilitated by crisis during those long months of compelled Co hibernation Tik Tok was the most downloaded app in the world a platform famous for its ubiquitous dance Trends became a sort of gateway drug for Gen Z and younger Millennials those disinclined to flailing on camera sought notoriety on different terms is to give me that money back Tik Tok became a vast repository of makeup tutorials unlicensed Psychotherapy questionable Financial advice and borish humor potato salad having a more female-based audience makes you more money can you explain to me what I was watching Tik Tok is all run by like our age range who's the youngest person how old are you can I 18 you're 18 oh that's the youngest none of you are from La is that right how do you get here uh an old member that used to live here invited me just to come like stay and hang out and that's somebody you knew through Tik Tok right right somebody on Tik Tok they offered to trial me like to see if I would be a fit for the house I mean does everybody remember that first time that somebody was like I want to pay you for the that you do I thought people were just doing videos for fun just go like viral I had people asking to duet me to duet their videos and they'll pay me I'm like like $250 and I was working what were you doing at the time I was working at uh FedEx it's SL better than working at FedEx isn't it oh way better so on your own Tik Tok account before you came here like how many followers did you have uh before I came out here I had like 700,000 well now I have 1. 3 Mill but you guys all have your own individual accounts still and are you posting to those too yes we just have to figure out how to keep keep everyone in their content everyone's Niche is completely different what's your Niche I just stand in front of the camera and I just blink I really do you're good at standing yeah pretty much sometimes they like me to stand in front of the camera with Spence or sometimes they request I stand in front of the camera with my leg and so if I they want that I'm like okay well here's us who's they the people watching who has the biggest following how big is your falling right now I have 4.

1 mil I'm sorry about that 4 . 1 you know that's the size of Ireland it's about 4 million the population of Ireland how would you explain your appeal on Tik Tok I'm just known as a scary chick on Tik Tok she's actually talented let's rip this off the most successful video I have right now is like at 68 million views right now I'm sorry 68 million views yeah I'm sorry what is it it's just me like transforming like turning into like a monster us crush them how is that monetized the 68 million even if it's fractions of a penny that's a ton of money I actually didn't get paid for that video I didn't get paid for that video can you leave the number of your manager here so I can fire them for you how do you make money a lot of promo a lot of promo wait wait so you're not promo your own stuff you're promo no that's all yeah people's songs People songs products I have this one like inexclusive manager who um gives me sound promos like songs so like he's probably my biggest like income is that se taken that's my LA and as a manager they take a cut and they take like 15% 50 I'd be like 50 really agencies will sucker these kids that come from Nebraska or Ohio or like wait isn't someone here from Nebraska him that's why I said so there's like a lot of exploitation in this world right because most of the people are pretty young yeah and don't have a ton of experience it's like a pretty fertile ground for ripping people off right but you got make pretty good money right M yeah for the most just so you're not identifying yourself and what you make what's like a range honestly depend it depends on the person and what your content is a lot of money it all depends on engagement at the end of the day cuz I know people that have 5 mil followers but I know people with 200k that still have better views than them yeah and they get paid more they get paid more like if I had like 2 mil and Spence has 1 mil and my engagement is like 200,000 of but his engagement a million of VI he's going to get more Rand than me because he's going to get pushed out more I me it's kind of exhausting though isn't it do you guys ever feel like I don't want to through this anymore no cuz I know it's two answers right next to each other no yes I know if I'm not doing this I'm in Nebraska bored off my ass working at 95 okay so what's today what's the what's the rest of the day look like we have some guests coming over some other creators is is that normal that you have like cross pollination between other houses and things like that yes what's a secret you never told your ex um the world of influencers is competitive and incestuous reality shows spread across dozens of Southern California ZIP codes in my first day sequestered in a Tik Tok has featured an impromptu Gathering of La based Tik Tok celebrities okay then we're going to just go let's go I don't have time for this I'm not waiting for them none of whom sparked even the faintest recognition it was like being present for the recording of a Teenage We are the world but with more bling and no charity Billy just tell you guys make sure you're eating drinking water staying hydrated yeah my thing is just like ideas that's the hardest thing just coming up with ideas that like no one else does just make ital okay one more time for the outfit guys but even their real life social engagements are for the benefit of social media when I forever trained on follower counts lot of work okay so you increased 15 million in the past year what on Earth did you do to do that and can you write it down and a small note card for me to do basically like there's like a married couple or a couple or it doesn't matter and I'll be like hey like I'll pay you $10,000 if you let me kiss your girl right now can I give a girl a kiss for $10,000 all in cash no bro stop we're not doing that huh we're not do do you actually them I mean nine times 10 went through on it so look I got this guy right here on Instagram do you know who this is that's that's my boyfriend a lot of guys don't sell their girls for money last and final offer I got $50,000 this my last time telling you just for a kiss on the lips on the lips okay yo yo chill 50k or me I mean kissing is not that's not that big of a deal it's for 10 grand like 10 grand that's like the that I would do for 10 grand I mean good Lord crazy [Music] right whether your Talent is paying women to make out with you or just being moderately attractive on camera the influencer is always thinking about posting once you build a following the key to retaining it is a steady stream of content yes the dog has to be a n in our short attention span age and on a short attention span app a lull in production and you'll quickly be overtaken and forgotten those seemingly candid moments are often artfully choreographed and countless takes are performed in order to get the videos Just Right hey one more time much of what they film never makes it to their feed but the feed must be constantly fed all right take 10 the life of the influencer might look like one big vacation but I'm repeatedly told successful Tik Tok personalities take no time off vacations are only possible it's sponsored by a brand all right let's rock and roll go ahead Spencer Spence Spence SP it's only 8 seconds poy get it we want to get the logo in the shot first Michelle vanas is the brains behind volz it's vanas who recruits the talent signs them to her Tik Tok agency and moves them into one of her half dozen Tik Tok houses good job that looks good how did you land on the Tik Tok influencer beat so I was a little familiar having come doing social media web development my daughter started a YouTube at like 13 I recognized very quickly that this was just B basically celebrity endorsements but on a different level and I saw how much money it was we decided to focus on jenz we had already been doing brand campaigns on Tik Tok since 2018 way before anyone was even paying attention to that platform and then Co hit we were able to double the agency during Co in 2020 I mean you're much more captive audience in those times I mean literally captive in a lot of they were growing fast you know it was still cheaper than Instagram and YouTube and we started a content house in April everybody can post but no one has four walls who do traditional product placement like we do so you might have a roster of influencers but I got influencers in a house M you just sounded like a prison Warden I've got them on you have them captured in this one house it was Co you can't go anywhere original authentic I'm so authentic hwood authentic you're so authentic original authentic authentic I come to you and I want to be one of your clients who do you need me to be I need this not to be a hobby okay I need this to be your priority and because we invest in the younger generation because we know how 10 times their revenue will income will be generated when they start getting married and start having kids then they can work with the Home Depot and the target which is where the real money is if I can maintain your production our investment in the Gen Z is going to pay full 10 times when they become adults we want influencers who want to be great yeah not just influencers who want a number right you pay them well they get paid well so you don't pay them we are not employers yes is this some kind of uber thing like a contract thing I know what's going on no we're we're helping to manage their careers right Brands pay them what's the average person making a year the smallest SP sponsorship we've done for a house is 20,000 20,000 a month for a three-month commitment we'll get you some piece of content or something out of the housemates in that house twin flames where we are today they're just launching but they've already made money for House deals before we even launched the house inviting dysfunction with a coup's house aren't you no this is the reality this is what these kids are already [Music] doing this house twin flames is for couples babe oh hey you can imagine in an era of ubiquitous reality television why such an arrangement would appeal to Nichelle Josh and star just moved into twin flames what do you mean yeah that's awful bro so you're a tick tock couple yeah how many followers do you have I have like 10. 4 million why how do why you guys over he taught me how to like make a video blow up and we kind of just learned the she was never familiar with Tik Tok she wasn't even on the platform well I always wanted to blow up anyway so I probably would have figured it out but I probably wouldn't have been a 10 mil right now did you make any money from that a lot of money comes from Grand deals for me like social media is maybe 20% of what I do like I also do website businesses e-commerce I do real estate you couldn't do that without the money from social media right oh yeah social media will literally what provided all of that for me so it was essentially for you it was like seed Capital started a company right yes I think social media helps me get signed to a management and get my music career like started why did you choose to move into this house when we like first were dating um I had a place in Glendale and that place cost like 4,000 a month so I'm like you know what instead of like paying 4,000 month I rather come here save 50 grand for year yeah yeah yeah exactly and and do you know the other people that have moved into the house or there people moving in right yeah not everyone's moved in yeah we have a new couple moving in Danny and Lynn because our other couple left and they were no good the guy was just like what is it like living in a house that's not only with just two other couples but under the microscope all the time always having to perform I love it you love it I love it more you want more people like wanting to know about your life mhm I want I want to see them just like flood the DMS so that's you want fame yeah I think it's refreshing that you admit it well I'm not going to lie what is it about Fame that makes you want it so badly I think it's like making money just being yourself in a way I don't like working like to be honest I don't like working like like hardworking stuff I'm going to be honest I like entertaining I like singing I like dancing in front of the camera to be myself to an extent even though you kind have to take it I'm a Christian guy like I love God because like he's allowed this all to happen for me and I'll talk about all these different opportunities and try to get people into any opportunity that's available what happens if it disappears what do you do probably devote my life to cats to cats I really thought you were going to say God but you said cat predictably teenagers having fun and making money provoke the usual moral Panic with breathless headlines about the app precipitating a mental health crisis among teens pundits and politicians called for regulation listen I mean Tik Tok is a platform that is basically a trojan horse for the Chinese government the Trump Administration throwing constitutional concerns to the wind threatened to ban the app we are looking at a lot of Alternatives with respect to Tik Tok and for the tens of thousands of newly minted Tik Tok professionals who montiz skill sets that most people didn't even know were considered skill sets the moral Panic became an existential Panic there was this funny moment it didn't look like it was actually happen where Donald Trump's like I'm going to ban Tik Tok remember that like pretend that happened what Would You Do Well personally I want to get into real estate and I want to start a few of my own businesses so this was never like my main focus but for some people for some people I'm concerned for them I'm honestly concerned for those that group Molly's Parksley because of the age group it allows them to be like really immature there's no parents everyone's just kind of like living like adults but like no one's actually an adult there's never a moment where you're like what the am I doing do you ever do that um I don't think I have the time to do that I just have to deal with it do you make money yeah for the work that you put in it's definitely worth it when you said the word work right I that Loosely it's yeah it's work it is yeah I mean it is though do you have a break from it no no never never yes they're pees but they're black and you you get to pick they're not white okay but Michelle shrugs off the concerns your your snake's a thief I will be getting a big one eventually and puts her money where her mouth is her kids are Tik Tok influencers Tik Tok is still new brands are still figuring it out the younger generation are the ones that set the trends for pop culture why is there so much contempt for them doing that though there was a feeling when it was relegated to the athletes the musicians the who could claim that s of influence now when you open it up and you say anybody and everybody can do it that puts a little more pressure on you to say why can't you do it previous generations including mine you needed a degree even if you didn't have a college degree you were going to have some sort of Technical Training now you're back to Amy who lives in Florida and Amy is making more money than her parents wearing a bikini that doesn't make everyone feel so good because then if Amy can do it why can't [Music] you for me I went to University of Pennsylvania I'm ivy league grad I'm expecting that my kids are going to go to top schools neither of my daughters decided to go to college how do you feel about that I know how much money this business makes they can make six figures at an age that would have taken them getting a master yeah but if she has a Yale degree at 60 years old she can make a ton of money at this at 60 years old what is it one or two things happens you do this you make a tons of money you have parents like my daughters have and they teach you about savings and investing and you created your own trust fund you've created generational wealth you will continue to make wealth if you continue to be an influencer and you haven't burned out or you can make money spend it all and be washed out right same way you could get a college degree and become addicted to something and you know wash out too or again are you talking about [Music] me this alien world with its often incomprehensible rituals and nomenclature exist to excite the neurons of teens and ultimately separate them from their parents hard-earned money but besides the rapid and often vapid content it's pretty traditional Attractive people with varying degrees of talent are lured to LA with dreams of Fame some make it and some don't and the ones who do are handsomely compensated and after all almost every influencer I spoke to dreamed of a career in traditional movies or on traditional television there's nothing new in that sense but there's one noticeable Paradigm shifting difference Gatekeepers still exist but there are fewer no one approves scripts no Executives offer notes no morons and Suits demand moronic rewrites while perhaps some of this stuff could use an editor's pen the content is perishable It's Quickly filmed and soon forgotten the content doesn't exist to fill some artistic need with financial compensation a flattering bonus the content exists almost exclusively to lure the money to achieve the fame for everyone to get paid Tik Tok has made celebrity more democratic but it also seems seems more aggressively commercial selling out is no longer an insult it's the goal if the content creators create pointless content the only thing left is the personality the influencer the transitory Fame of a human billboard what do you paying me what are you paying me quick quick $1,000 $10,000 kiss on mouth first you kissing first you owe me see this is really how ERS make money on aimless B $110,000 made thanks Mom there was a time when I had giant snake climbing on my body right now disgus give him a kiss no get away from me get away from me I'm Michael laremont editor and chief of Vice news too often traditional news outlets shy away from the real stories and experiences of those living through Global conflicts not Vice news our reporters are on the ground fearlessly covering the human stories that shape our world you and millions of others can continue to read watch and listen to Vice news for free but we hope you'll consider making a one-time or ongoing contribution of any size at vice.