Growing up, we were asked what we wanted to be when we were older. Such a simple question, yet it follows with two decades in the making.

Some of the most common things that children want to be are teachers, doctors, firefighters, ballerinas and veterinarians. As we grow up, the majority of us usually fall into other categories that they never even thought existed. For example: sales representative, engineer, crime statistics analysis and many other career pathways.

Something that has become very prominent in our society today are careers in social media. Today, many kids are dreaming of becoming an Instagram model, social media influencer and the most popular, a YouTuber.

I think that a lot of the time people fail to realize that it is not practical to be a YouTube star and move to Los Angeles as a teenager. It isn’t something that the major ity of teenagers do. If everybody did this, it would become the norm. Really dangerous things could result from YouTubers trying to capture the viewers attentions.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” – Bob Fitzsimmons

This quote perfectly pertains to this situation, the bigger you are, the more potential there is for scandals, beef with other YouTubers and people that want to take you down. It is hard getting to the top, but even harder staying there. Then there’s question if you are interesting enough to stay at the top and earn more AdSense and get all the sponsorships? More likely than not, it is a no. 

Being an avid YouTube watcher, I can say that having your whole life on screen doesn’t sound appealing to me. Not just to yourself but your loved ones and potential partners. Relationships become more of a business tactic than an actual loving partnership, and if those relationships fail, which is more than likely, then it too will be publicized and commented and poked and prodded at. They would always have to face being criticized and obsessed that their favorite OTP (One True Pair) has broken up.

A big problem that comes with this type of career is the constant immediate gratification of likes and views. Currently social media is at its peak, but I don’t think it is going to last forever. There are going to be newer and more interesting people that are going to replace the spot that you might have once held.

I want to mention that there are some people who are meant to thrive in this sort of community. However, I also feel that education is not just something good to have, but a vital safety net because of the fact that not all kids and teens are going to make a living from doing slime reviews and whatever the most popular “challenge” is at that time.

Education is not only important, but being academically honest is critical as well. It does a disservice to our youth when the social media community demonstrates “life hacks” to show ways to cheat on tests. It does not advance our society when YouTubers make money by showing their impressionable audiences (kids 11-14 years old) ways to “fool” teachers and showing kids that being a YouTuber is all fun and games with no rules or responsibilities. In fact, it promotes dishonesty and discourages hard work. 

I want to stress the fact that a college education may not be for everyone, because if you can do something that is fulfilling to your life and gives you an opportunity to support yourself and potential loved ones, then I say go ahead and do it.