The rise of Boulder influencers
By Gwen Strickland
CU Boulder junior Stevie Ott has a message for aspiring influencers:
“You have to find your niche before you actually want to start posting on social media,” he said.
Ott, 20, didn’t intentionally gain traction on his TikTok channel. He said he started posting for fun, and soon after, people began noticing. The California native has now amassed 17,000 followers and credits his success to his honesty.
“That’s how I got TikTok famous — just being myself and saying what was on my mind. People love me for it,” Ott said.
Ott has built a platform by posting videos of his experiences at the colleges he’s attended, first at Chapman University, then Arizona State University and ultimately at CU Boulder. Unlike other popular influencers, Ott said he doesn’t follow a formula for posting or engagement.
“It matters most to be unique and not repetitive,” he said. “Think about things nobody else would think to talk about online.”
His social media presence has shifted his career trajectory. Ott began studying real estate but has since switched his major to advertising and marketing.
Another CU student has also gained attention on social media, and she goes by the name Chicago Barbie. Her real name is Alexandra El-Amin, and so far, she has 5,000 followers on TikTok, compared to Ott’s 17,000. As her nickname suggests, Chicago Barbie is a Chicago native, and her videos focus on makeup and fashion while documenting her freshman experience.
“Having people who genuinely love you and support you and keep up with you is an amazing feeling,” she said.
But content creation comes with some downsides.
“It feels like you can’t make mistakes or do certain things that other college students can do because you’re being watched 24/7,” she said.
El-Amin emphasizes the importance of staying true to yourself, especially in the face of criticism.
“People are going to talk about you no matter what you do, so why not let them talk about you for doing what makes you happy,” she said.
Over the past decade, the global influencer market has grown from $1.6 billion in 2015, to an estimated $33 billion last year, according to Statista. The oversaturation of the social media market poses challenges for nano-influencers, those with fewer than 10-thousand followers.
Caleb Corson, 19, a CU student majoring in strategic communication, views content creation from a different angle.
“Since everyone’s doing it, it’s harder,” he said. “It’s unrealistic for college students to become successful trying to be influencers when it feels like everyone’s trying to do it.”
Research published by the National Library of Medicine suggests that the more open and honest creators are about their lives, the more followers perceive a sense of friendship with them.
“I think he actually has a really good personality,” Corson said about influencer Stevie Ott. “His personality is what makes him watchable.”
As social media continues to grow more competitive, Ott offers insight into what life as a content creator in Boulder really looks like.
“If you want to post on social media, post on social media, and don’t be afraid of what other people think,” he said. “Because there’s always going to be haters out there.”
Edited by Avery Kinnison
