Bretman Rock’s Rise To Stardom

Carissa Geske
Sep 9, 2018 · 5 min read

I am going to be looking at the life of Bretman Rock through the lens of cummincation theory over these next eight weeks because he is a prominent figure within internet culture and I personally am just a fan. He has become extremely successful on social media due to his humor, “I don’t care what people think of me” attitude and for simply being his real self infront of the camera.

Bretman Rock is a social media sensation. The twenty-year old posted his first YouTube video in 2015, but has grown to become the most followed Instagram user from Hawaii with 10.5 Million followers. Bretman Rock is in fact his real name as his father loved wrestling and combined the names of his two favorite wrestlers Bret Hart and The Rock. Rock is Pilipino and was born in the Philippines, but was raised in Hawaii. Rock started posting videos on vine, snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram when he was only in eighth grade.

Rock was interviewed by Maria Sherman, who is a writer for Paper (magazine). Sherman asked Rock a series of questions and I chose to put six of her questions into my blog as I believe these specific questions give good insight into a little bit about who Bretman Rock is, what he does and how he rose to stardom.

The first question, “Did you have a YouTube video or a Vine that did particularly well that launched you into super fame? Or was it more of a slow build? Like, did you have a viral moment?”

“I had a Vine video that went viral my freshman year. It was me dancing to “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX and I guess ever since then I was making videos on Vine and Snapchat.”

The second question, “I know the “How to Contour” video exploded. Why do you think it was so successful?”

“I think that video was super successful because contouring was still a new a thing. People loved it because I was not your average beauty guru teaching you how to contour with a sweet voice, sounding like a robot. No — I was a teenage boy with colorful language, putting on makeup.”

The third question, “You’re also incredibly popular on Instagram. When did you start building that fanbase? Did most of your followers already know you from other platforms?”

“Instagram is where it gets interesting for me, because I was only Snapping and Vining. Since Snapchat only allows you to post something for 24 hours, I decided to save them and post them on my Instagram where only my friends and family could see them — I was private at that time. My “fanbase” began when my friend told me that he was trying to show my videos to his uncle, but he couldn’t because I was private. Let me tell you, once I hit “make profile public” my life did a whole 360.”

The fourth question, “It also seems like you’ve always been more vocal about the value of schoolwork than a lot of social media famous teens.”

“Education is forever, but fame is not. I think a lot of teen influencers forget that. I’ve seen other influencers drop out of high school just because they have a few hundred followers and I’m like girl…really? I just want people to know you don’t die with your money and followers, you die with knowledge. Stay in school, kids!”

The fifth question, “I’m sure fans ask you for advice all the time. What do you usually tell them? What would you tell someone who wants to do what you do?”

“They usually ask me about confidence and the simple answer is, as long as you’re happy with the person that you are and love yourself, the opinions of other people are not going to matter. Focus on yourself and the people that love you and you’ll be okay.”

The sixth question, “Since this is a series dedicated to young people, we have to ask — whenever you get a free moment, what do you like to do? When you have downtime, where can you be found?”

“A lot of people don’t know this about me, but I’m actually on my school’s track team. I run the 300m hurdles and I’m in the 4x100m team as well. I’m also on my school’s student council. Most of my time I’m either in school, running around the school or helping run the school. When I do have downtime I usually go shopping in Ala Moana or hit the gym, minding my own business.”

I chose Bretman Rock’s Instagram as my niche in culture to study because he defies all the “norms” of culture. He’s different. He’s funny. He’s extra. He’s a straight up a diva on camera. He’s genuine. He values learning in school and in life. Rock is a lover of people and of life, but uses his haters as his motivators and encourages others to do the same.

He is not afraid to go against the grain or against all the “norms” of culture. I think his rise to stardom is solely due to his very apparent “I do not care about what other people think of me” attitude. I think this reflects how this generation appreciates and values when a person is crazy and over the top on social media not because they are trying too hard, but because they are genuinely being their true authentic self, free from the judgment and expectations of other people and social norms.

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