Social media usage rises with pandemic and TikTok creates social media

influencers overnight
Chloe Houser
May 3, 2021

You may think being a college student is a full time job, but what if you had a second job
entertaining an audience online of over 300k? Anna Lamos is a WSU student who, like many
others, downloaded the app TikTok when COVID-19 started to hit the U.S. The app, blowing up
over the past year, has given normal people large followings; whether they wanted it or not.

Anna posted a video in January 2020 of her high school prom dress. The video went viral
overnight with 1.2 million views. After that, her life changed and she was gaining followers by
the second, currently sitting at around 345k.

Anna explained she didn’t plan on becoming an influencer. With TikTok, the algorithm
of the app sets users up so anyone can get on the “for you page” if enough people like their
content, therefore giving them more followers. With the pandemic, many people turned to social
media as a source of entertainment. Anna said the app felt so casual, and it was easy to make
content of her everyday life.

“I started making them for my own enjoyment during quarantine, not really expecting
anything, it was just for fun. Then people started to like what I posted,” Anna said.

Anna originally started by creating content based one what she liked. Her goal wasn’t to
get famous- she just was bored during quarantine. However once she hit that mark of 100k, her
position on the platform started to switch.

“I stopped looking at it as something I wanted to do or got to do, and started to look at it

as something I was obligated to do,” Anna said.

Over time, her opinion has changed, inspired by other influencers. TikTok users have
taught her how to have fun and post what she likes. Anna started to realize the superficialness of
it all and reminds herself not to get caught up in the online world.

With COVID-19, it has been appearing that the online world might be all we have. WSU
student Kenzie Potter, a social media influencer with around 30k on TikTok, explained that the
rise of TikTok during COVID affects people’s mental health in quarantine, when there is nothing
else to relate to.
 “With TikTok, you see people that you don't even know who are your age, and you can’t
really help but compare yourself to them,” Kenzie said.

Kenzie said younger kids growing up in the years with TikTok will probably feel a lot
more pressure on them involving appearance stemming from social media.

WSU student Angie Griggs said TikTok influencer status comes with the negatives of the
hate being spewed via the comment section.

“People will always try to find something wrong with you,” said Angie. “There is always
someone that will hate what you are doing.”

The entertainment industry continues to keep changing, negative and positive parts both
included. With the pandemic, TikTok has become the primary source of entertainment for many.
Some people attribute this to the fact that in quarantine- these people were the only ones coming
out with new content that we could entertain ourselves with.

As movie and TV show production shut down and celebrities could no longer work in
person, people turned to a new form of celebrity, the ones that were making content from their
own bedrooms. Out of boredom, people have a certain infatuation with this new entertainment
industry. The old celebrities are out- and TikTok stars like Addison Rae, and The Hype House
are in. These teens are now getting movie deals, reality show features, and paparazzi following
them around.

WSU freshman Cara Wehl has always wanted to be a social media star. When TikTok
became popular, Cara switched her focus from YouTube content to TikTok content. TikTok is
now the app she has her most following on.

TikTok has had such an influence on users, people start to mold their life around what the
app or “for you page” tells them to do, Cara said.

Social media usage has gone up since the pandemic, and Cara said based on analytics
with social media platforms, you can tell there is a large spike in engagement.

“Social media is becoming a lot of people’s full time jobs during the pandemic, so the
content has gotten a lot better,” Cara said. “The pandemic and unemployment has brought a lot
more people to social media to watch that content.”

Sources
Angie Griggs
Phone Number: (360)-918-6424
Email: angela.griggs@wsu.edu

Kenzie Potter
Phone Number: (407)-330-8060
Email: kenzieepotter@gmail.com

Anna Lamos
Phone Number: (206)-334-4611
Email: anna.lamos@wsu.edu

Cara Wehl
Phone Number: (425)-931-0205
Email: cara.wehl@wsu.edu