Are social media influencers really celebrities?

Who knew a messaging faux pas on TikTok could trigger this level of attention? Yapper and beauty influencer Jools Lebron went viral in a post about struggling to pay for dental needs. She used her platform to ask her community for help, but the message didn’t resonate as she’d hoped.

In theory, a creator should be able to draw from the community they’ve built creatively. Building a brand online allows an influencer to develop brand trust, credibility, and equity. In this case, brand trust and equity took a hit because of the rhetoric.

Jools said “I am internet celebrity and can not get a regular job.”

Jools continued to double down on that narrative, and it fueled two very different sides of the app. Users claimed that folks unjustly attacked her for asking, and others said an inflated ego ruined the ask. What stood out to me was celebrity. In this case, I mean public recognition that extends beyond the app. Are we mistaking visibility for fame?

We may have collapsed too many kinds of fame into one word. Influencer-fame is platform-bound, algorithm-dependent, and often temporary. That can create a chaotic financial situation and fuel a daily fight for continued relevancy among peers. When I think of celebrity, I think of someone repeatedly exposed across multiple traditional and digital channels and someone who has shifted the culture. This person flows naturally through different spaces, gaining more recognition.

A great example of an influencer-turned megastar is Cardi B. Cardi used her social currency and charisma to attract followers on Instagram. She used her real life and comedy as an anchor to maintain her target audience. She then leveraged that to land a role on Love and Hip Hop, which took her from micro-screen to the small screen.

Cardi became the breakout star and took a chance on herself with her music. She created three successful mixtapes, then the breakout hit Bodak Yellow. That song took her places she never thought she would go and turned her into a cultural celebrity. These canon events created a crossover artist.

Social media platforms have blurred the line through followers, engagement, and viral moments. This combination can make content creators feel like they are the same kind of celebrity. In reality, the recognition doesn’t extend that far beyond the app. By platform fame, I mean attention that stays within the platform.

The algorithm rewards creators with visibility, which validates their perception of online status. Inside the feedback loop, platform fame can begin to feel identical to cultural celebrity. This mindset starts to dictate what someone believes they can or cannot do in real life. Social media influencers promote the idea that true success comes from living off your art. By cultural celebrity, I mean recognition that carries beyond the platform.

Returning to a regular job as a content creator may feel like a demotion or signal failure in the brain. Choosing to work after going viral can bring up feelings of imposter syndrome.

Paying your dues or being resourceful in a human way can feel like falling off. How can you work a regular job when Meg Thee Stallion is following you? Something about that feels off to me. So many entertainers past and present have continued to work 9-to-5s for stability.

These jobs were part of their origin stories. Those stories signaled resilience and dedication to their dreams. Seeking or having employment was quite normal. There should be no shame in working to build or sustain a creative career online. So what changed? Social media is all about presentation or the illusion of success. For content creators, success is where credibility lives.

That makes knowing how and when to communicate vulnerability even more important. Jools wasn’t wrong for asking her community for help. She has built enough brand equity to make the ask. The problem was the message most people received.

Maybe the lesson here isn’t that influencers shouldn’t ask for help or even debate who gets to call themselves a celebrity. Instead, it’s that visibility changes the stakes of communication. The larger the platform, the less room there is to speak without considering how the message will land if it fails.

Sometimes you don’t need another million followers. You need a good comms person and a stronger strategy.