SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS

,nflXHnWiaO \HW XnUHaOiVWiF Career as social media star may seem intriguing, but improbable

Fletcher Haltom haltofle000@hsestudents.org

Online influencers such as Selena /omeb, +ameron ,allas and Kylie 2enner have become prominent figures in society, both online and in the real world. They even occasionally make careers out of their online fame, utilibing social media, advertisements and business partnerships to earn revenue. However, a career as an influencer is not nearly as viable an option as it may seem. Simply having a career as an online influencer is not a bad thing. If someone can support themselves financially by using their online fame, they absolutely should. The problem arises when influencer careers are advertised as completely practical, get-rich-Yuick career options for any ordinary person. In reality, becoming an online influencer is, in many cases, not at all an achievable career option. Therefore, it should stop being marketed as such. 7ne of the main issues with becoming an influencer is that the chances of successfully becoming a full-time online influencer, a user who can fully support themselves financially by using their online presence, are exceedingly low. AouTube reports over  hours of content uploads to the site every minute. This makes it very difficult for aspiring influencers to succeed, due to the high levels of competition. 8rofessional athletic careers rarely get treated as legitimately viable career options for children, so influencer careers should not be treated differently. +hildren can dream of being an online influencer, and it can actually be beneficial for children to experiment with trying to become one. 6onetheless, it must be recognibed that their dream has a low probability of working out. Every month, over a billion people use the Instagram app. +lickB reports that only  , Instagram users have over 1, followers, the mark that traditionally defines a user as a micro-influencer. This means that only . of Instagram users Yualify as micro-influencers. These users typically earn between 2 and  per Instagram post, according to Mediakix. ?hile this is no small sum, a living cannot be made off of it. +onsidering that influencers do not always post freYuently, and their posts are not always sponsored, it would be very difficult to live off of. Mega-influencers, users with over a million followers, make around 1, to 1, per sponsored post, which one can make a living off of, but very few people have even close to enough followers to make that much money. )dditionally, many online influencers use their social media platforms as extensions of their career, and not Rust as their sole career. .or example, )riana /rande, one of the most followed Instagram users, does not Rust influence online. She originally rose to fame as a singer and actress, and she gained enough popularity to also become a social media star. She did not Rust pursue that career, she pursued another career and became an influencer because of it. However, many aspiring influencers choose to take a different path. They only try to become a popular influencer, which they are unlikely to succeed in doing. It is possible to rise to online fame without previously being a celebrity, as social media star Bach King has shown, but King is an exception to the overall trend. Influencers’ careers mainly rely on sponsored advertisements, where businesses pay them to advertise their product or service. ,espite this, many businesses are beginning to use their own accounts to advertise themselves on social media. *rands such as 6etflix, ?endy’s and Target all have millions of followers on social media, meaning they have a large audience that they can advertise to, and may not need to invest as much in influencer advertising. This trend could cause influencers to make less money off of sponsored posts and cause their career to become even less profitable. Similar to how we do not treat professional athletic careers as realistic career options for children, we should do the same with influencer careers. *eing a social media star is unrealistic, unsustainable, and not all that profitable. Therefore, the influencer career should stop being marketed and promoted as a completely viable career option for an ordinary person.

Need for creativity

STAFF

Editor-in-Chief: Ellie Albin Web/News Editor: John Yun Features Editor: Ben McHenry Arts & Culture Editor: Kristen Rummel Sports Editor: Nate Albin Assistant Web/News Editor: Ben Grantonic Social Media Editor/Unity Director: Rebekah Shultz

Reporters Hayley Brown, Riley Gearhart, Meg Gibson, Fletcher Haltom, Carter Hanefeld, Andrew Haughey, Ben Rosen, Sydney Territo, Lily Thomas, Emma Tomlinson

Principal Jason Urban Photographers Mya Ball, Elissa Mitchell, Nya Thornton, Kathleen Tran

Advisers Kristine Brown Jordan MacMillan Associations IHSPA CSPA NSPA Quill and Scroll Printer: AIM Media

Arts allow for students to express themselves, build imagination

Artistic expression, in all of its forms, is an important part of education. With the No Left Child Left Behind Act making the arts a primary subject back in 2001, its importance has only increased. Yet the availability of extracurricular activities that supply individualistic expression are few and far between, with the only ones coming to mind being the art club and one other, “The Montage.”

The school literary magazine, “The Montage,” is dedicated to sharing students’ creative work, from short stories to photography, until last year, when “The Montage” was not able to put out an issue. This was due to an administration problem and a lack of submissions. It was one of the few places where students could share their writing with the rest of the student body, and its absence left a bit of void in our academic ecosystem. The importance of literary magazines in schools is too great to be ignored.

The literary magazine has been part of the American academic tradition since the nation started. In “Charles Brackden Brown and the Literary Magazine: Cultural Journalism in the Early Republic” by Michael Cody, a professor who specializes in early American literature at East Tennessee State University, he talks about how the literary magazine (also called a literary journal) has been a part of American culture since the late 1s, influencing the politics and fashions of the early =.S.

Artistic expression, beyond its historic importance, has been shown to help student performance. Arts education has been shown to improve SAT scores. According to “SAT Scores of Students Who Study the Arts: What We Can and Cannot Conclude about the Association,” students who took four years of arts education scored 35 points high on verbal portions and 24 points on math portions over students with just two years of arts education.

The world is fueled upon the uniqueness of individuals, which the arts empower. Arts create conversation about issues as well as new ideas and movements, creating progress in all aspects of humanity. The arts move people to imagine and go through with new possibilities without the fear of failing because unlike core subjects such as math and sciences there is no right answer. A literary magazine gives students a safe space to share their ideas and emotions without expectations and this work can inspire viewers to start their own movements and art. Not only does the lit mag have the potential to represent the school as a whole, but it can help the school grow in more ways than restrictive subjects ever could.

Do not be mistaken; STEM and the qualitative world are incredibly important. But we need balance. The world cannot have qualitative without quantitative and vice versa. With every invention , there is the qualitative side that dreams up the idea and then there is the quantitative side that makes it happen.

The arts expand upon the education students get in class. They allow for students to express what they think and feel in a different way. In math, there is an answer. If the answer is 32, the answer is 32. In an art class, there is the opportunity for students to explore different avenues that are not otherwise available. In orchestra or band, there is the note that the player plays. But with that note, an artist can convey all sorts of emotions and feelings. )n ) flat can show sadness or hope. In a painting or drawing, the color red can convey anger or excitement. The arts allow creativity, and the world needs that.

Ultimately, lit mag needs help. It supplied the student body with an nondiscriminate place to serve as a creative outlet, and its absence from the school cannot continue. So please submit a photo, a short story, or a poem or two at the Dropbox on the FHS Library Canvas page.

EDITORIAL QUESTION Do you believe the school values arts equally to STEM?

Markers, crayons, scissors and more are all mediums in which artists can express themselves. Photo and graphic by Nate Albin.

EDITORIAL POLICY As the student-run newsmagazine of FHS, Tiger Topics N the Red is dedicated to providing the staff, students and community of FHS with a timely, entertaining and factual publication once a month by means of public forum. In publishing articles that students enjoy reading, we are furthering both the educational experience and the expansion of FHS culture. The staff works to create a sense of unity and awareness and to allow the students of FHS to have a better insight to the world around them. Tiger Topics N the RED is the offi cial monthly newsmagazine of Fishers High School. It is distributed free to 3,600 students and over 300 school personnel. It is designed, written and edited by students.

Opinions expressed in the newsmagazine do not necessarily represent those of the adviser, administration or staff.

Letters to the editor may be submitted to A218. Letters must contain the writer’s phone number for verifi cation. Letters to the editor will not be published anonymously.

If there is any incorrect information, corrections will be made in the next issue. MISSION STATEMENT