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Right, so you wanna talk about “internet chickd,” eh? You wanna know what’s what with this whole digital circus? I’ve seen things, been at this desk long enough to watch the print turn digital, then disappear, then come back again in some weird form. It’s all a cycle, see. This “internet chickd” business, it’s just the latest flavour of the month, but it’s got teeth, I tell ya. Not going anywhere fast, least not the underlying bits of it.
Used to be, you wanted to be famous, you got on the telly, or you sang a song. Now? Little Nellie from down the road, she’s pulling in more cash than a whole newsroom because she’s showing off her latest haul from Shein or Sephora on her phone. Bonkers, isn’t it? It’s not about talent like it used to be. It’s about… relatability. Or something. I don’t know. It’s about being there, being seen. All day, every day. It’s a grind, make no mistake. People think it’s easy money. You stand there, you film yourself eating cereal. How hard can that be? Try it for ten hours straight with everyone on the planet telling you you’re doing it wrong, or your hair looks daft. See how you feel then.
The New Grind
See, these young ‘uns, they call ’em creators now. Back in my day, we called ’em amateurs. But the amateur hour’s over, son. This is big business. Folks queue up for hours just to get a glimpse of someone who got famous by making funny faces. My nephew, God love him, he asked me last week, “Uncle, what’s a newspaper?” Made me wanna kick him. But then he showed me his phone. He was watching some lass, maybe 19, reviewing what she bought at the grocery store. Ten million views. Ten million! I nearly choked on my coffee. How d’you compete with that? You don’t. You just… watch. And try to figure out where the money comes from.
It comes from eyes. From attention. Always has been that way, just the vehicle changed. Instead of the telly, it’s the pocket box.
The Big Players and Their Grasp
The platforms, they’re the real landlords in this game. You got Meta, still out there, Facebook, Instagram, trying to keep a hold on the new kids even though they’re all on TikTok now. They’re still pulling in the advertising dough. Then there’s Google, with YouTube. That’s where a lot of these “internet chickd” started, years ago. Long-form videos, tutorials, vlogs. It was the wild west, truly. Now it’s more… structured. More ads. More rules.
And then there’s TikTok. Chinese owned, right? That’s where the rapid fire, blink-and-you-miss-it fame happens. A few seconds of a dance, a lip-sync, and boom, you’re everywhere. For a day. Maybe two. Then it’s onto the next. Some of these kids, they get hooked. They’re chasing that viral hit like a dog after a rabbit. It ain’t healthy, I’ll tell you that much. What about mental health? Nobody talks about that much till it all goes wrong, do they? It’s all smiles and filters till someone cracks under the pressure.
The Talent Machine Kicks In
It’s not just the platforms anymore, see. There are agencies. Big ones. Names you’d recognise from Hollywood, believe it or not. They got wise. They saw the money flowing like a river. Creative Artists Agency (CAA), for instance. They ain’t just signing movie stars anymore. They’re signing your kid sister if she’s got a million followers for unboxing toys. It’s madness. Or genius, depending on where you sit. They manage the deals, the brand partnerships, the appearances. Take a cut, naturally. A big cut.
Then you got firms like United Talent Agency (UTA). Same deal. They’re in there, scouting, signing, selling. Turning these online personalities into, well, commodities. product. That’s what they are in the end. A product. And then there’s WME (William Morris Endeavor), another behemoth. They got their tentacles everywhere. You think a 16-year-old on her own is negotiating a multi-million dollar deal with Coca-Cola? Nah. It’s these big boys. They know the game. They play hardball.
You want to know where the power truly lies? It’s with these agencies. They got the connections. They got the lawyers. They got the clout. Some of these “internet chickd” are barely out of school, suddenly they’re worth a bundle, but they’re still just kids. Who’s looking out for them? The agency, they say. But they’re looking out for their bottom line, too, aren’t they? It’s a business, plain and simple.
Someone asked me the other day, “what happens if they just stop?” Good question, that. Most of ’em, they just fade away. The algorithm changes. A new face comes along. Poof. Gone. Like yesterday’s news. Others, they build a real empire. Diversify, they call it. Write a book, start a clothing line, open a coffee shop. Smart ones do. The dumb ones, they blow it all on fast cars and plastic surgery, then wonder why the well ran dry.
Behind the Filter: Reality Bites
You see ’em online, all perfect, right? Flawless skin, always laughing. Don’t you believe it for a second. It’s all a show. The stress behind that perfect smile? The constant need to be ‘on’? To create ‘content’? It’s exhausting. I’ve met a few. Some are sharp as a tack, good kids. Others? Lost. Blown away by the attention, then crushed by the hate. ‘Cause for every fan, there’s a dozen trolls out there waiting to tear you down. They got nothing better to do.
It’s a peculiar thing, this fame. Used to be you had to actually do something. Sing a song, act in a play, win a race. Now, you just… exist online. And people watch. And brands pay. My mate from Glasgow, he said it best: “It’s like they’re getting paid for breathing, eh?” Not far off, really. It ain’t breathing, but it’s close. It’s living a version of your life, 24/7, for the world to see and judge.
The Money Flow and Brand Partnerships
So, these “internet chickd,” they make their money a few ways. First, ads on the platforms. YouTube pays ’em. TikTok has creator funds. Then there’s the brand deals. This is where the real cash is. Amazon wants ’em to review a new gadget. Nike wants ’em to show off their trainers. They get paid to talk about stuff. Sometimes they genuinely like it, sometimes they don’t. Doesn’t matter. They get paid.
These brand deals are managed by their agents, firms like Digital Brand Architects (DBA). They specialize in this. They know how to pitch their talent, how to negotiate the fees. It’s a whole ecosystem. The old ways of advertising, full-page spreads in magazines, TV commercials, still happen, but a lot of that budget is now flowing to these online personalities. Why? Because they’ve got an audience that trusts them, supposedly. A connection. Folks buy what their favorite “internet chickd” says to buy. It’s a powerful thing, that trust. And a fragile one.
The Pressure Cooker of Performance
Imagine, you got to be new, always. Innovative. Fresh. Every single day. If you don’t post, you disappear. If you do post, but it’s not good enough, you get roasted. It’s a never-ending treadmill. And it’s not just about what you show, it’s about what you don’t show. The carefully curated life. The bits edited out. The fights with family, the bad days, the crushing loneliness. None of that makes it onto the feed, does it?
Someone asked me just last week, “Are these young people making a real living, or is it all smoke and mirrors?” I’d say it’s both, mate. Some are absolutely pulling in millions. Others? They’re barely scraping by, chasing the dream, posting endlessly, hoping to catch a break. It’s like the music industry, but faster. More brutal, maybe. The barriers to entry are so low, anyone can start. But the barriers to staying relevant? That’s where it gets tough.
Future Shock and the Unseen Hand
Where’s this all headed? More of the same, I reckon. Just faster, slicker. AI will probably start making these “internet chickd” themselves soon enough. Think about it. An AI-generated influencer who never sleeps, never complains, always looks perfect, and can review ten thousand products a day. We’re already seeing it, aren’t we? Virtual influencers, paid by big brands, like Amazon Fashion using digital models. It’s unsettling. You won’t know if you’re watching a real person or a bunch of pixels.
What about privacy? That’s a joke, isn’t it? These “internet chickd” grew up with no concept of it. Their entire lives are online. Every thought, every mistake. It’s out there. For the whole world to gawp at. And once it’s out there, it’s out there for good. You can delete a post, but someone’s always got a screenshot, haven’t they? That’s the real kicker. They’re building their entire careers on a foundation of sand. One wrong move, one old tweet, one bad video from years ago, and it can all come crashing down.
The Question of Worth and Longevity
So, someone’s always asking me, “Is it a bubble? Will it burst?” My answer is usually, “Did the television bubble burst?” Did the radio bubble burst? Nah. It just changed. It mutated. This “internet chickd” phenomenon, it’ll morph into something else. They’ll find new platforms, new ways to get eyeballs. The core thing, people wanting to watch other people, that ain’t going anywhere. It’s human nature, innit? We’re nosey creatures.
You ever think about the actual skills involved? You need to be a videographer, an editor, a marketer, a social media manager, a scriptwriter, a performer, a business person. All rolled into one. And if you’re not all of those, you gotta pay someone who is. Which takes a big chunk out of your earnings. My God, it’s a lot for a kid, isn’t it? Some of these people, they don’t even finish school. They drop out, chasing the dream. Some make it, sure. But how many don’t? And what then? What’s your fallback? Got none, do ya?
No, it’s not some fad. It’s a whole shift. Like when printing presses first came along, or when radio hit the airwaves. It changes everything. For good and for bad. The power dynamic changed. Used to be the gatekeepers, the big studios, the publishers, they decided who got famous. Now? Now it’s the audience. It’s the clicks. It’s the likes. It’s the comments. And it’s messy. And it’s exhausting. And it’s the future, whether we like it or not.
I guess the big question, the one nobody really answers is, what’s it for? All this attention. All this noise. What does it actually achieve? Besides selling more plastic crap you don’t need? Maybe that’s too cynical. Probably. But then again, I’ve been in this game too long not to be. You learn a thing or two about what’s real and what’s just smoke. And a lot of this online stuff? Plenty of smoke, some mirrors, and a few kids who just got lucky. And some others who worked their socks off. And good on ’em, I say. Long as they don’t forget where they came from. That’s the main thing.
