Over half of Gen Zers think they 'can easily make a career in influencing': brand expert

Published

2 years ago

September 28, 2023

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A new survey found that 57% of Gen Zers said they would quit their day job to become an influencer if given the chance, which a brand expert translated to mean that more than half of the coming-of-age respondents “believe people can easily make a career in influencing.”

Decision intelligence company Morning Consult released its September 2023 brand report, which, after surveying over 2,200 US adults and Gen Zers aged 13 to 26 who are active on social media, concluded that “consumer behaviors and attitudes may be constantly evolving, but the allure of influencers and the draw of becoming one! remains notable.”

Nearly 60% of respondents in Generation Z — who were born between 1997 and 2012 — said they would take the job of social media influencer over their current gig, while 41% of adults would opt for the role, which sees people earning money to post photos and videos endorsing a product or service.

Of those Gen Zers, 53% believe being an influencer is a reputable career choice, and three in 10 teens and young adults even said they would pay to become an influencer.

For Gen Zers who would become influencers, 22% said they would post about gaming, while 10% fantasize about endorsing beauty and skincare products.

Young people said they’d be least interested in being an influencer with a niche in drinking, home design, politics or social causes, the Morning Consult survey found.

Most adults, meanwhile, don’t know what they would post about, followed by 13% that said they would create food content and 8% who would share posts on music.

Ellyn Briggs, a brands analyst at Morning Consult, told CNBC that TikTok makes influencing seem like a more plausible career than ever thanks to its “no-frills, direct-to-cam and low-editing content.”

TikTok has “broadened the amount of people who feel influencing is accessible to them,” Briggs added, who said the survey results show Gen Zers “believe people can easily make a career in influencing.”

Briggs attributed young people’s desire to influence to the ability to make money, work flexible hours and do fun tasks.

And as an interest in becoming an influencer has grown, so has social media users’ trust in the online endorsers.

A staggering 61% of Gen Z and millennial survey respondents said they trust social media influencers — an increase from the 51% that trusted these highly-followed users in 2019.

Gen Zers don’t appear deterred by the “not insignificant amount of content creator controversies” that have gone viral or gotten users cancelled in recent years, Briggs said.

Among the most prominent influencers to fall victim to cancel culture include James Charles, Jeffree Star and Jenna Marbles.

Charles, and ultra-popular beauty YouTuber, was temporarily blocked from monetizing his content on the video-sharing site back in 2021 after it was alleged that he, then 21, used his status on the site to bait and groom minors, including two 16-year-old boys who say they engaged in direct message conversations.

Star — who started his social media career out on MySpace before launching a YouTube channel in 2006 to post makeup tutorials — was cancelled in 2020whenInsiderinvestigated claims that Star drugged men.

And Jenna Marbles, formally known as Jenna Mourey, peaked at over 20 million YouTube subscribers before yanking her channel from the platform following allegations of blackface in 2020.

Politics

Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

Published

2 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

US

Donald Trump praises Liberian president’s English – the country’s official language

Published

2 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Donald Trump praises Liberian president's English - the country's official language

Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.

The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.

After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”

Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.

The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.

“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”

Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.

The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.

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Mr Trump promised the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau a pivot from aid to trade at the surprise meeting.

He described the countries as “all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people”.

Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”

But he added that he’d “have to see what the schedule looks like”.

Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023, but only fulfilled the commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.

US

Gaza permanent ceasefire ‘questionable’, says Israeli government

Published

2 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Gaza permanent ceasefire 'questionable', says Israeli government

The Israeli government believes the chances of achieving a permanent ceasefire in Gaza are “questionable”.

The pessimistic assessment, in a top-level Israeli government briefing given to Sky News, comes as the Israeli Prime Minister prepares to leave Washington DC after a four-day visit which had begun with the expectation of a ceasefire announcement.

Benjamin Netanyahu will leave the US later today with the prospect of even a temporary 60-day ceasefire looking extremely unlikely this week.

Within “a week, two weeks – not a day” is how it was framed in the background briefing late on Wednesday.

Crucially, though, on the chances of the ceasefire lasting beyond 60 days, the framing from the briefing was even less optimistic: “We will begin negotiations on a permanent settlement. But we achieve it? It’s questionable, but Hamas will not be there.”

Sky News has spoken to several Israeli officials at the top level of the government. None will be drawn on any of the details of the negotiations over concerns that public disclosure could jeopardise their chances of success.

But I have been given a very clear understanding of Mr Netanyahu’s thinking.

The Israeli position is that a permanent ceasefire (beyond the initial 60 days, which itself is yet to be agreed) is only possible if Hamas lays down its arms. “If they don’t, we’ll proceed [with the war],” said a source.

The major sticking point in the talks between Hamas and Israel is the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

The latest Israeli proposal, passed to Hamas last week, included a map showing the proposed IDF presence inside Gaza during the ceasefire.

This was rejected by Hamas and by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who reportedly told the Israelis that the redeployment map “looks like a Smotrich plan”, a reference to the extreme-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

My briefing of Mr Netanyahu’s position is that he has not shifted in terms of Israel’s central stated war aims. The return of the hostages and eliminating Hamas are the key objectives.

But in a hint of how hard it will be to reconcile the differences, it was clear from my briefing that no permanent ceasefire is possible in the Israeli government’s view without the complete removal of Hamas as a political and military entity.

Hamas is not likely to negotiate its way to oblivion.

On the status of the Israeli military inside Gaza, a senior Israeli official told Sky News: “We would want IDF in every square metre of Gaza, and then hand it over to someone.”

It was clear to me that Mr Netanyahu wants his stated position to be that his government has no territorial ambition for Gaza.

One quote to come from my briefing, which I am only able to attribute to a senior Israeli official, says: “[We] don’t want to govern Gaza… don’t want to govern, but the first thing is, you have to defeat Hamas.”

Another clear indication of Mr Netanyahu’s position – a quote from the briefing, attributable only to a senior Israeli official: “You cannot have victory if you don’t clear out all the fighting forces.

“You have to go into every square inch unless you are not serious about victory. I am. We are going to defeat them. Those who do not disarm will die. Those who disarm will have a life.”

On the future of Gaza, it’s clear from my briefings that Mr Netanyahu continues to rule out the possibility of a two-state solution “for the foreseeable future”.

The Israeli government assessment is that the Palestinians are not going to have a state “as long as they cling to that idea of destroying our state”.

On the most controversial aspect of the Gaza conflict – the movement of the population – the briefing revealed that Mr Netanyahu’s view is that 60% of Palestinians would “choose to leave” but that Israel would allow them to return once Hamas had been eliminated.

“It’s not forcible eviction, it’s not permanent eviction,” a senior Israeli official said.

Critics of Israel’s war in Gaza say that any removal of Palestinians from Gaza, even if given the appearance of being “voluntary”, is in fact anything but, because the strip has been so comprehensively flattened.

Reacting to Israeli Defence Minister Katz’s recent statement revealing a plan to move Palestinians into a “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza, and not let them out of that area, the official wouldn’t be drawn, except to say: “As a permanent arrangement? Of course not.”