Reese Hearon, who has over 12,000 followers on TikTok and over 6,000 followers on Instagram, said influencing has given her opportunities to meet people on campus, connect with brands and find jobs. Credit: Courtesy of Reese Hearon
Lauren Brown had the motivation to start making TikTok content in her junior year of high school. Drawing inspiration from successful content creator Demetra Diaz, she said she thought it wouldn’t hurt to try it out.
After six months of having her current TikTok account, Brown, a third-year in marketing, has over 6,000 followers with over 500,000 total likes.
“It has been one of the biggest blessings of my life,” Brown said.
At Ohio State, a growing number of students are turning their every-day college life into online content creation, resulting in recent popularity of influencers on campus.
According to Reese Hearon, a third-year in hospitality management, college students are making more social media content to showcase how students can relate to each other. Hearon has 12,600 followers on TikTok and about 6,500 followers on Instagram.
“Everyone is more similar than they think,” Hearon said. “In college, everyone’s stressed with school, homework, going to class and the weather being cold. I try to make it as authentic as possible when talking to the camera.”
Brown posts videos following her day as a college student at Ohio State and doing lifestyle reviews on fashion and makeup. Hearon uploads videos about pilates, experiences at Ohio State and branded clothing recommendations.?
Brown said that other students often engage with social media posts centered around campus life, altering what she decides to post.
“Since I’ve come to OSU, my account used to focus mostly on fashion and beauty, but it has now shifted to college lifestyle, fashion and beauty,” Brown said. “I’ve noticed videos that often perform well on my page are college lifestyle [videos] and different things going on in Columbus.”
Both Brown and Hearon post lifestyle videos about different experiences at Ohio State, fashion, pilates and following a day in their lives.
Connor Gartin, a third-year in political science, said that being both a college student and influencer does not drastically change his college experience.?
“During my sophomore year, I made it my mission to get to know every person that I can,” Gartin said. “It really boosted my motivation and discipline for posting, getting involved in everything on campus.”
Gartin said he is a part of the Buckeye Leadership Fellows program, became a secretary of Tri-Alpha, an honors society and is a resident advisor.
“This is all while making gym content, all while being a full time student,” Gartin said.
Gartin has almost 10,000 followers on Instagram and posts about working out, politics and his identity as a gay man.
Hearon said that she has had many opportunities and experiences since she started content creation on campus.?
“I’ve definitely noticed a lot more opportunities on campus, partnering with different brands and organizations,” Hearon said. “I’ve gotten job offers thanks to it as well. It’s given me all of these experiences and opportunities, and also forced me to go out on campus and talk to new people. There’s thousands of students here that I’ve never seen, and it gives me an opportunity to go meet new people and make new friends.”
Hearon has a partnership with Peppermayo, a clothing company, according to her TikTok account.
Gartin said that he views influencing as a daily journal of his authentic self.
“I encourage people to see a holistic aspect of social media,” Gartin said. “I do my best. Obviously, we can’t show 100 percent of everything going on in our lives, but I do my best to try to make it so it’s not just the best of the best, and try to show that it’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s okay to not always be at 100 percent every single day of your life.”
Brown said that contention creation has changed her life, making many connections and relating to her followers.?
“I’m honestly just so grateful for everything that social media has given me,” Brown said. “My advice would be to start posting. Post every day, post about your life. It doesn’t have to be anything glamorous or perfect. It doesn’t have to be specifically curated content that you think is aesthetic. People want to see what your life is like, and they want to feel like they can relate to it.”
