So You Wanna Be an Influencer?

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question to guide discussion: Why are platforms like TikTok and YouTube so popular?

2. List Vocabulary
Share with students some of the challenging vocabulary words in this article. Encourage them to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• embedded (p. 10)
• threshold (p. 10)
• diversify (p. 10)
• monetization (p. 10)
• engaged (p. 11)
• proportion (p. 11)

3. Engage
Do you have a favorite YouTube or TikTok influencer? What types of content do they make? How do you think they became successful? Revisit this discussion after the lesson, having students share any new insights they’ve gained.

4. Read 
Have students read the article, marking the text to note key ideas or questions.

5. Discuss
Distribute or project Up Close: So You Wanna Be an Influencer?, a close-reading activity for students to work on in small groups. (Note: The questions on the PDF also appear below, with possible responses.) Follow up with a class discussion. If you’re short on time, have each group tackle one or two of the questions. Collect students’ work or have each group report its findings to the class.

• What is the authors’ main purpose in writing the article? What ideas are conveyed by the article’s title? (Author’s purpose, text structure) (The authors’ main purpose is to explain the work that goes into creating online content, what influencers on average earn, and how they make their money. The title conveys the ideas that the reader might want to be an influencer and that the article will educate the reader on what that would entail.)

• What is the central idea conveyed by the graph on the bottom of page 9? What details from the text further expand the idea conveyed by the graph? (Central idea, visual analysis)(The idea conveyed by the graph is that the majority of influencers don’t make very much money. The text notes that “a single adult needs to make at least $45,000 annually.” With this information, the reader understands that the majority of influencers cannot survive on content creation alone. Moreover, the authors explain that of YouTube’s 114 million active channels, only about 3 million of them are eligible to earn any money. From this, the reader can infer that the majority of the 48 percent in the graph who make less than $15,000 probably earn nothing for their work.)

• What are the central ideas conveyed in the section “All About Ads”? How do the ideas of this section connect with the ideas of the next section, “Brands and Sponsorships”? (Central ideas, integrate information)(The first central idea conveyed in the section “All About Ads” is that YouTube makes a lot of money as a platform from ad revenue. The next central idea is how little of that revenue is paid to content creators. As a result, creators make most of their money by relying on brands and sponsorships, which is the subject of the next section.)

• In the section “The Cost of Success,” Jimmy Donaldson (also known as MrBeast) describes the “pressure to top himself” as “a never-ending treadmill.” What does he mean? What details in this section support his claim? (Word meaning, integrate information) (Donaldson is referring to the amount of time and effort it takes to continue making new content to keep users engaged. The article supports his claim by noting that it takes 12,000 hours of footage and a team of 300 people to make one 15-minute clip, and that former employees have said that creating his videos has led to “unsafe and unhappy working conditions.”) 

• How does the last section, “Always Evolving,” connect to the rest of the article? How would you describe the tone of this section? (Text structure, analyze tone) (The last section discusses the difficulty of predicting what kind of content will go viral in the future and how keeping up with changing trends and technology, such as A.I., have made content creation an unpredictable career path. This section related to the rest of the article’s ideas about how difficult it can be for new creators to begin careers in this field. However, the tone can be described as reassuring because the article ends by noting that there are options for those who still want to work in content creation.) 

• Based on the details of the article, would you want to be an online content creator? Why or why not? (Cite details) (Students’ responses will vary, but they should support their opinions and ideas with evidence from the text.)

6. Writing Prompt
Based on the article, do you think people should become influencers while still in their teens? Why or why not? Explain in a brief opinion essay. Support your ideas with details from the article.

7. Video
Watch the video about influencers. What does it add to your understanding?

8. Classroom Debate
Should parents be allowed to monetize videos of their children on YouTube and other social media sites?

9. Quiz & Skills
Use the quiz to assess comprehension and the Analyze the Graph skill sheet to practice data analysis.