The Pressures—and Rewards—of Being an Influencer 网红的压力与回报

凯瑟琳·凯特 译/王宁

Michelle Phan says she had to quit making her popular makeup and beauty YouTube videos because she was burned out.

“It became harder and harder for me to pretend to be happy，” she says. “And [as a result] I had become toxic with my relationships and friendships. I had my threshold.”

Ms Phan， 34， is looking back on the period from 2017 to 2019 when she took a break from uploading her tutorial videos.

A so-called social media influencer or creator， she says she needed time off from the constant pressure to upload ever more content， and chase more and more views and likes.

Today her eponymous YouTube channel has 8.84 million subscribers around the world， and Los Angeles-based Ms Phan mentors and supports other people who are making and uploading videos.

She says that many feel stressed about running out of ideas， and compelled to make new content multiple times per day.

But what exactly is a social media influencer？

There is no hard and fast definition， but in essence it is someone who has enough followers on social media， and typically YouTube， Instagram or TikTok， that they can monetise it.

The income comes from two main sources—a share of the advertising revenue， and deals with companies to promote their brands.

Regarding the former， on YouTube you can apply to start getting a share of the revenues from adverts placed on your videos， if you have more than 1，000 subscribers and 4，000 watched hours.

YouTube is tight-lipped about how much you can earn， but according to one report it is typically between $3 to $5 （£2 to £3.60） per 1，000 views of one of your videos.

And， when it comes to deals with brands， it varies according to how many followers you have. On Instagram， if you have more than one million followers， one report says that if a company wants you to promote something， you can earn more than $10，000 for just one post.

We spoke to Ms Phan and four other influencers about their experiences.

While there is potentially big money to be made， Ms Phan says that creators “need to know when to draw the line， and take care of themselves” rather than post all the time.

This concern is echoed by media analyst Rebecca McGrath， of research firm Mintel1， who says that some influencers are chasing revenues so much that they post “even if they don’t have anything new to create or say”.

Ms Phan also cautions that you have to be able to deal with online trolls2 writing horrible things below your    videos. “You’re also exposed to hateful comments， which I think people aren’t prepared for”.

This issue was raised back in July by UK social media influencer Em Sheldon， when she spoke before MPs at the House of Commons. A committee of MPs is now continuing to investigate the growth of influencer culture.

TikTok is the most recent new kid on the block among the big social media sites—having only been available outside China since 2018. It now has more than one billion global users， and people are spending more time watching it than YouTube.

Brothers Colin and Dylan McFarland， and their father Dan， have been uploading comedy skits and dances to the video app since 2019.

Known as The McFarlands， the trio from Louisville， Kentucky， now have 2.6 million TikTok followers.

“Influencers are a new wave of people you can trust on the internet，” says Colin， 27. “If you’re selling a product， or giving advice， people are going to trust the people they see on their phone every day.”

Dylan， 25， adds that their humour made brands like Colgate and Gillette “want to work with us， and see what we could do， because we are genuinely acting how we are with our family”.

Over the past two years their earnings allowed both brothers to ditch their day jobs， buy homes， and even invest in other properties.

“I wholeheartedly believe anyone can do this，” says Colin， who started out editing the videos on his iPhone. “Just find your niche， and stick to it.”

Toronto-based YouTube creator， Kevin Parry enjoys a good living making stop-motion animation videos for his 936，000 subscribers and other viewers.

In 2018， his first year alone， he says he made revenues of more than 100，000 Canadian dollars （$79，000; £57，000）.

The 32-year-old， who has worked with Disney， Apple， Amazon and Lego， says that 90% of his income comes from brand deals. The remaining 10% comes from advertising， and an agency that claims revenues from people stealing and monetising his content.

He cautions would-be influencers to not share too much of their personal life.

“If people don’t like a video that I made then at least that’s just creative work， and I can try to get better at that skill， versus sharing my life and people don’t like it，” he says.

“How do you compensate and fix that？ You can’t.”

Mr Parry advises creators to hone a specific skill set， such as filmmaking or carpentry， and share that passion， instead of talking about their day-to-day life.

Despite the downsides to being an influencer—the need to always put up more videos or posts， and the likely online abuse—a great many people would like to be one. It can be a fun and lucrative way to earn a living.

Yet psychologist Stuart Duff of Pearn Kandola3 cautions that you need a certain personality to hope to be successful at it.

“Clearly there are a huge diversity of successful influencers， in terms of style and personality， but to be really successful the influencer will use a great deal of psychology to influence their followers，” he says.

“They will be highly relatable， tell great stories， have a strong， unique brand， and stick to the message. They will be clearly passionate about what they want to say， and always seem to know what their audience wants to hear.”

Ms Phan first started putting videos on YouTube in 2007， and thanks in a large part to her success she has gone to now own and run her own multi-million dollar company—EM Cosmetics.

“If you are a good storyteller then you can grow an immense audience and change your life，” she says.

米歇爾·潘表示，她感到精疲力竭，因此不得不停止制作其广受欢迎的化妆和美容优兔视频。

她说：“假装快乐对我来说越来越难了，（结果）与恋人和朋友相处时我变得很差劲，已经到达崩溃的临界点。”

34岁的潘女士回忆起2017年到2019年这段时间，当时她曾暂停上传美妆教学视频。

身为一名所谓的网红，她说自己需要从上传更多的视频、争取更多的播放量和点赞量所带来的持续压力中抽身。

如今，以她名字命名的优兔频道在全世界范围内拥有884万订阅用户。身处洛杉矶的潘女士还为其他的视频制作、上传者提供指导和帮助。

她表示，很多人不得不每天连续创作新的内容，因思路枯竭而备感压力。

但究竟该如何定义网红呢？

对此并没有明确的定义，但从本质上来说，网红是指在优兔、照片墙或TikTok等社交媒体平台上拥有足够数量的粉丝并将其变现的人。

网红的收入通常来源于两大渠道，其一是广告收入分成，其二是与公司达成品牌推广协议。

对于前者，只要博主在优兔上的粉丝数超过1000且视频播放时长超过4000小时，即可申请从植入视频的广告中获得收入分成。

优兔对于博主的收入秘而不宣，但一篇报道称，单个视频每点击1000次博主通常可以得到3—5美元（2—3.6英镑）的收入。

对于后者，博主收入的高低取决于粉丝的多少。一篇报道称，如果博主在照片墙上的粉丝超过100万，受托于某家公司进行其产品推广时，博主只需发送一个帖子即可赚到1万多美元。

我们采访了潘女士和其他4位网红，请他们讲述自己的经历。

尽管可能有大钱可赚，但潘女士表示，网红们“需要弄清什么时候应当适可而止，做好自我调整”，而不是一味地发帖子。

来自英敏特市场咨询研究公司的媒体分析师丽贝卡·麦格拉思对此也持同样的观点。她表示，某些网红太过追求收入，“即便所做所说毫无新意”他们也要发帖。

潘女士还警告说，博主还必须能够应对网络喷子在其发布的视频下发表恶意评论的行为。她说：“博主还会受到仇恨言论的影响，我认为对此人们尚未做好准备。”

2021年7月，英国网红埃姆·谢尔顿在下议院参会时曾向议员们提出了这个问题。目前，一个由议员组成的委员会正持续调查网红文化的发展。

TikTok是大型社交媒体网站中涌现出的新宠，直至2018年才在中国以外的地区上线运行。现在它在全球拥有超过10亿用户，人们在TikTok上刷视频所花时间已经超过了在优兔上。

自2019年起，科林·麦克法兰、迪伦·麦克法兰兄弟和他们的父亲丹·麦克法兰就开始在该视频应用上上传喜剧小品和舞蹈作品。

这个来自肯塔基州路易斯维尔的三人组合名为“麦克法兰一家”，目前在TikTok上拥有260万粉丝。

27岁的科林·麦克法兰说：“网红是互联网上新出现的一波受人信任的人。不论进行商品销售或是提供咨询，大家都会选择相信他们每天在手机上看到的人。”

25岁的迪伦·麦克法兰补充说，他们的诙谐幽默吸引了高露洁和吉列等品牌的注意，“希望与我们合作，看看我们可以做些什么，因为我们在表演中真实地还原了我们与家人相处的方式。”

在过去的两年中，兄弟俩的收入颇丰。他们不但辞去了正常工作，还购置了房产，甚至投资其他不动产。

在iPhone上编辑视频是科林·麦克法兰走向网红的第一步。他说：“只要找到适合你的定位，并持之以恒，我深信任何人都可以做到这一点。”

现居多伦多的优兔网红凯文·帕里通过制作定格动画视频在优兔上吸引了93.6万粉丝和其他用户，这让他过上了不错的生活。

据他所述，2018年是他开始制作视频的第一年，仅此一年，他的收入就超过了10万加元（约合7.9万美元或5.7万英镑）。

现年32岁的凯文·帕里曾与迪士尼、苹果、亚马逊和乐高合作过，他说自己90%的收入都来自品牌协议。此外，有一家专门机构向窃取他视频内容并从中获利的人索赔，赔款再加上广告收入占其总收入的另外10%。

他告诫那些想要成为网红的人不要过多曝光个人生活。

他说：“如果我创作的某个视频不受欢迎，那仅仅是个创意问题，我可以继续磨炼我的这一技能;这与分享我的私人生活却遭人白眼是两回事。”

“你的私生活不受人喜欢这种问题该如何纠正和解决呢？毫无办法。”

帕里建议网红们好好磨炼出一套特殊的技能，比如影片制作或是木工手艺，在社交平台上晒出创作的热情而不是分享日常生活。

尽管做一名网红也有其弊端——总是需要上传更多的视频或发布更多的帖子，还有可能遭受网络欺凌——但还是有很多人想成为网红。因为当网红可以是一种既有趣又赚钱的谋生方式。

然而，来自皮尔恩·坎多拉公司的心理学家斯图尔特·达夫则告诫说，当网红需要具备一定的性格特征才有望获得成功。

他说：“显然，取得成功的网红们风格与个性各异。但为获得真正的成功，他们都会运用大量心理学手段影响自己的粉丝。”

“成功的网红们能够引发高度共鸣，他们是精彩故事的讲述者，强大而独特品牌的拥有者，言论的践行者。对于自己想说的话他们明显充满热情，对于粉丝想听的话他们似乎总是心知肚明。”

潘女士于2007年开始在优兔上发布视频。现在，她当上了老板，经营着自己价值数百万美元的彩妆品牌公司EM Cosmetics，这在很大程度上得益于她作为网红的成功。

她说：“如果你擅长讲故事，那么你就能收获大量的听众，并改变自己的生活。”