There is no doubt that social media is a part of people’s day-to-day lives. On that note, many college students enjoy watching creators who incorporate lifestyle tips into their content.
Platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, make accessing lifestyle content easy and accessible.
Kelsey Crane, a junior marketing and management major who watches The Arnold Sisters, likes to see the beauty products they use and keeps an eye out for recipes they make.
“I do this because it looks like I will enjoy the products or foods based on watching their videos,” Crane said.
Crane finds it to be a great way to get inspiration for cooking, especially when it can be difficult to master recipes as a college student.
Freshman family science major Alice Kelly said a similar thing. Even making little changes in something as simple as her skin care routine is often based on the content she watches.
While Kelly has no specific creators she enjoys best, Crane also watches Emma Chamberlain and Jess & Gabriel Conte. She finds influencers she likes based on reliability and entertainment. She also finds it important that the creators are honest in order to see that they are real people too.
Even though Kelly has no favorite influencers, she believes creators should be realistic and genuine. Looking for these qualities in a creator may make it easier to find one that can be related to.
19-year-old content creator Katie Feeneyuses platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to document her journey in college at Penn State and offer up lifestyle advice.
She used to upload on TikTok for most of her content, but has recently been posting more on YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels.
Feeney began her career by making content in middle school while filming for fun with her friends. This activity soon led to her gaining a following of 6.8 million followers on TikTok, 881k on Instagram, and 2.25 million subscribers on YouTube. Flash forward to the present day, when she will soon represent the Washington Commanders as their social media correspondent. She plans to continue posting on her platforms throughout college, while also pursuing her dream of becoming a sports broadcaster.
A lot of Feeney’s content recently has surrounded the athletic teams at Penn State. She gets a glimpse into what it is like to play certain sports and how they train while documenting all of it.
Feeney herself watches a multitude of lifestyle accounts, but her current favorite is Abbie Herbert who posts about her family as well as her modeling career.
For those interested in making a career out of a lifestyle account, Jen Golbeck, a professor for UMD course INST151- Becoming a Social Media Influencer, says it is doable, but not as easy as most think.
Some ways to make income according to Golbeck are: “promoting products, usually with an affiliate-like agreement where you get a percentage of sales, creating subscriber specific content, and doing personal content creation.”
By posting you can also make money, but not all platforms are reliable with pay; Youtube is the most dependable, she said.
Lifestyle accounts across a variety of platforms can help promote healthy habits and increase motivation. Influencers can provide tips on all areas of life including exercise, food, skin care and so much more.