The Male Influencer Narrative
Exploring Stereotypes, Standards, and the Effects of Social Media on a Grand Scale
The influencer industry is a highly diverse community of people who share the world as they see it through their eyes. With creative fluidity at the core of social media, the influencer industry is constantly evolving to meet the increasing demand for ultra authentic content.
Over the last few months here at Bloglovin’, we’ve been speaking with some of the industry’s top male influencers to understand their perspective in an industry that is heavily female-centric. Taking a deeper look into the stereotypes, standards and overall effects that come along with being an influencer, it’s become clear just how metamorphic the social media landscape has become.
With perspectives ranging from all different backgrounds including age, race, sexuality, and location, these men and their stories have helped to craft an all encompassing narrative of male influencers.
Part I: Getting the job (without a resumé)
To craft a narrative that is truly all encompassing, it’s important to understand where these men were in comparison to where they are today.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Starting out, we spoke with Justin Livingston of ScoutSixteen. “My last job was working at Amazon on their social media team to promote Amazon Fashion, while I was there they were going through a lot of changes and everything felt super sterile. I stuck around for a while but felt really creatively bored. My friend Christina, who has a blog called TropRouge, was like ‘oh you should start a blog’ and at the time not a lot of other guys had blogs. So I was like fuck it, I’ll do it.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Later that week, we spoke with Eric Wertz, NYC based dad blogger and founder of BlueCollarPrep. “I started as a blogger after my wife suggested it to me. She works with mommy bloggers at her job and figured since I’m into fashion it would be a perfect fit. Don’t get me wrong, it definitely gets stressful trying to balance my job, blogging full-time, and keeping family life a priority, but we make it work! My wife (also my photographer) always has her camera with her, so we’ve kind of just made blogging and shooting part of our everyday family lifestyle.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — —While on a brief trip visiting NYC, we caught up with Nathan McCallum, Australian fitness fanatic and co-founder of MileStone. “I’ve actually had [my blog] for about 6 years. It just started as a creative outlet so it was actually a source of inspiration for myself. Once Instagram started growing, I was kind of already doing that. I never tried to make this a job, the way it is now — I’m really blessed to be able to do this as my full time job because it was originally something I started doing for fun.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Shortly after chatting with Nathan, we grabbed coffee with Nigerian fashion guru Steven Onoja. “I started blogging back in 2011, which at the time was just for fun. Back when I was a kid, I was a painter. I used to draw, paint, sculpt — I was very artistically inclined. After I turned 18 and left Nigeria to study accounting in Europe, I realized I wasn’t happy with what I was doing. About two years into that I decided to start studying fashion. At the time I felt like I was escaping my roots, and what I mean by that is that I didn’t have time to paint, so I saw myself as the canvas, a way to experiment with different fabrics and textures.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Twins Aaron and Austin Rhodes of The Rhodes Bros started posting at a pivotal time in their lives. “We started our YouTube channel after we moved to LA. Moving here was kind of [a] leap of faith for us, we had friends that were [posting videos] but we didn’t start until after we moved here. We were 18 years old and had nothing. We both packed a bag, sold our cars, and moved here on a whim. We slept on peoples couches for like six months so it was pretty intense at first but definitely worth it. After we posted our coming out video, our channel really took off and ever since then we’ve really held ourselves to a standard to be good role models for young kids in the LGBT community.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — After chatting with Aaron and Austin, we caught up with Chris and Brock from YummerTime. “One year we received a camera for Christmas and started playing around with that by photographing one another before we went to work so things started very naturally. We launched YummerTime almost exactly 3 years ago after really lacking any sort of creative outlet in our professional lives as well as not really taking so much time for our personal lives to do something creative together. [Later,] Brock switched full time to working on Yummertime around six months in as we saw the potential to make this into a business.”
Part II: Work Life Balance
When your job is your life, and your life is your job — Where do you draw the line?
At first mention, the idea of being famous on social media sounds enticing. Something few consider is that this is the complete opposite of your typical 9–5 job. You might be thinking, ‘Uhh, yeah duh. That’s exactly the point’ but think about it: maintaining a constant flow of content on the ‘gram isn’t easy.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Justin’s response helped to shed light on this topic: “The sad thing is, I really don’t get to do that. I want people to know exactly the type of person they’re getting when they see me online or when they see me in person. The biggest insult to me would be if someone came up to me and was like “Oh wow, you’re so different from the person that you are online!”. It’s hard, I mean my life is my job and my job is my life.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Sharing similar remarks, Brock and Chris explained the unique dynamic that is being influencers in a relationship. “We actually have this conversation a lot together, asking ourselves, how can we step away away from our job even though it is our life so I think there are moments when we both set our phones in another room or completely turn them off for several hours where we just have moments between us or where we just have something that completely takes us away.”
Contrasting with that, Nathan said “I think because it’s never been a business thing for me, it’s always been fun and I don’t take myself too seriously. I just have fun with it, it is work and there’s times where I have to remind myself not to let anything stress me too much because at the end of the day I’m still getting paid to wear anything that I like and go to the gym whenever I like — so I never really feel like I have to ‘log off’ too much.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Eric’s situation on the other hand is unique in that he’s working with his son, Nate. “My son is usually the reminder that we need to take a moment and get away from it all, so we always make sure to do that and give him our full attention with no phones or cameras…and I have to tell you it feels really good when we do disconnect, even if just for an hour or 2.”
Part III: Expectation vs Reality
In an industry based on aesthetic and fueled by likes and comments, what is the standard? And Is there one that applies exclusively to men?
When we think of someone who is Instagram, Snapchat, or Youtube famous, often the first thing that comes to mind is their aesthetic. Each person’s aesthetic is their own, it’s something that’s crafted with the utmost consideration to give followers a sense of authenticity and individuality. One thing that does remain true for all influencers is the need to maintain this persona.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Sharing a similar stance on the topic, Steven offered his remarks. “Anybody can jump in front of the camera, shoot, and call themselves an influencer. But at the same time you set a standard for yourself, that’s what sets you apart from others. Because at the end of the day it’s like, I’m no different from you and you’re no different from me — everybody is just the same. So how will you make your work different from everybody else? That’s all that matters now.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Picking up where Steven left off, Aaron said, “In some ways, yes, there are expectations. I think where I find the most growth is when I just start posting whatever and I keep it as realistic as possible. I think it all depends on what avenue you’re going down, and I think that online the difference between Austin and I in comparison to [others] would be that we’re most known for sharing our lives as opposed to making it more fashion based.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Eric felt differently when posed with the question. “I really don’t feel like there’s an expectation. And if there is, I’m oblivious to it! Like I said, I’m just going to be me and hopefully people dig it, but if not, my family will always get me. I think people are free to express themselves in any way they’re comfortable with, as long as it’s not hurting anyone. Every male blogger is different. Some play up their masculinity and some may come across as a little more vulnerable, so I definitely don’t think there’s one specific way men in general are representing themselves.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Blogging for over six years now, Justin has seen the industry take a surprising shift.“I don’t buy into it too much but I know there’s been certain times where even some of my best friends in the beginning would be like ‘what’re you doing . . . this is so weird . . .’ after I’d post photos wearing this or that. In the beginning it was a lot harder because people would sit behind their computer screens and easily mock you because they think what you’re doing is weird. There are times where I feel like there’s pressure to ride in the middle of the road and be very neutral.”
Part IV: Golden Handcuffs
How do you handle having something so valuable that you’re bound to it? What’re the pros and cons of being an influencer?
With the tap of a button influencers can reach hundreds of thousands or even millions of people around the world. Their influence has no boarders, the content they share organically makes its way from screen to screen. With that being said, it’s become clear how increased transparency results in a lack of privacy.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Rather than viewing the lack of privacy as a negative aspect, Nathan sees it as an opportunity to help people. “I’m pretty open about who I am and what I’m about to the point where there’s not much that’s hidden, so my life is very public. I went through a really big breakup last year and people were there for that and even six months later there were people who wanted to know more and who were really there for me. It was a pretty shitty time to go through, I wanted to empower people and inspire people and I couldn’t be the sad sack I felt like. I had to push forward. But I chose to be like that, I wanted to be a positive influence. I’m not sure if that’s a sacrifice but rather a choice I had to make.”
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Steven on the other hand views the lack of privacy as a reminder to uphold a uniform image. “Whatever you do online, you need to be the same person you are in real life. You might be this super cool guy online and then see people in person and have them be like “oh he’s this” or “oh he’s that”. It’s your job to make sure you’re the same person online and offline. There’s no trying to fit a certain mold. I feel like I go through that a lot, I see people from online who are telling a totally different story than who they actually are.”
— — — — — — — — — — — — — Shedding light on the fact that this is a 24/7 job, Brock and Chris have said that, “Something we often talk about is the lack of normalcy, not having the ability to turn off at a certain time. It’s been super rewarding to be our own bosses, but that also comes with it’s own costs and benefits. On the flip side, we have the ability to travel and do a lot more than we could before. Even if we were taking a vacation, we can turn off our phones but we can’t turn off our minds — we’re still thinking about what kind of content we can create, there’s always gears turning. The cost is that you’re never really not working.”
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Part V: The Male Narrative — Fluid, Open & Ever Evolving.
At the core of social media lies creativity and innovation. The nature of digital content is dictated by the movers and the shakers of social media, also known as, influencers. It’s clear that these men are innovating simply by doing what comes naturally. Their ability to inspire, create, and influence has allowed for creativity to flourish.
After months of speaking with each influencer, it’s become clear that the story of male influencers is multifaceted. When it comes to work and play, there is a balance to be found. When your job is your life, and your life is your job, it’s crucial to strike a medium where you’re able to turn the spotlight off at a moments notice. Furthermore, it seems that all feel there is a standard to be met. What’s unique about this standard is that it isn’t indicative of your aesthetic. In other words, you’re able to represent yourself however you choose, but you should do so in a way that is in line with a high quality standard.
The story of male influencers is ever evolving, it’s something that has no direct trajectory due to the lack of social constraints on social media. Being anomalous is encouraged, being different and stepping away from the heard mentality allows people to rise above and be heard for who they are.
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