|
This is a topic that's been bothering/needling away at me for a while so I've started this post a few times now. Youth Entrepeneurs: love 'em or hate 'em, they're not going away. But are they truly a modern phenomenon, or do they have precursors? And if they are to be ubiquitous, how are we to explain their existence or success to our kids, most of whom are toiling away at traditional schooling? Does anyone need a real 'career' anymore?
If you've watched the Vine on the left a few times now, you're not alone, it has been watched, at the time of writing, over 28 million times. This is Jordan Paul, one of the internet's newly minted millionaires: more on him later. |
But towards the end of my time as a teacher (that's 10 years or so back now) the dialogue shifted more to seeking a performing arts career to chase Fame. As Drama students they had had some taste of it; they had experienced applause, notoriety or adulation (albeit short-lived), respect from their peers, a small town snapshot of the life of a celebrity.
For some, the allure was so strong, and in some cases their natural or trained ability so advanced, that they spoke of putting everything else aside, family expectations, other studies, allied skills and achievements, for the draw of the spotlight. In almost every case, I advised restraint. Or at least the application of reason. Because they most likely weren't going to make it.
Heartless, you say, don't stamp on their dreams, you cry, anyone can be whatever they want, you assert. Statistics say this is not the case. I went to Drama school myself in the 80s - there were about 100 of us across four years at any given time. Back then, and even now, from that large group of talented people (entry was by audition) a sum total of 0 students 'made it' in the traditional sense. Some became TV writers, or got some work on ads, became academics, or teachers. Most undertook completely different careers. None are now household names.
This experience taught me the application of that reason I mentioned earlier. From my own peregrinations, and speaking with other graduates over the years, it became clear that this elusive Fame was dependent only slightly on talent; the true criteria were far more nebulous: luck, timing, possession of a certain look, the 'X Factor'. Connections, money, and hard work are also obvious factors. I used these life experiences to advise my students of the gritty reality of seeking Fame. Hardly anyone ever makes it. Those who do are sometimes surprised themselves. Everyone who makes it has usually been at it a long, long time. Nobody who makes it can offer a foolproof formula.
The overwhelming sense is that if you can come up with the right idea at the right time, there will be an audience for that idea. Kickstarter and Indiegogo and their fraternal crowdsourcing services are proof of this, but the youth entrepreneurs go even further, their idea may be as simple as promoting the right party at the right time. Comfortability with technology is a given, along with a big personality, and some ideas, but not necessarily world-shaking ones.
YouTube personalities create their audience one video at a time, relying on followers and reposts to create a buzz around them. And these are no befuddled hipsters or lazy weekenders, they work at it - maintain multiple social media presences, produce t-shirts and other merchandising, make media appearances, plan and execute their ideas. Vine is creating the new millionaires in 6-second grabs, this article about Logan Paul (one of his Vine examples is above) underlining both a hedonistic spirit of fun and a shrewd consciousness of trying to 'make it' by whichever way possible.
Making it has always required cash, and big money can be made from Vine and YouTube through 'monetization' (pardon the Americanism, but it seems to fit), which involves advertisers forwarding percentages to video creators each time a link is clicked. The percentages may be small, but with top Youtuber PewDiePie's 37.5 million followers and Viner KingBach's 11.5 million each are earning millions in income per year.
But what will these youth entrepreneurs offer back to society once they are richer, more famous? We know little about their political or social concerns, their opinions or positions. If they are influential, and they are, but unmanaged by media advisers like a rock star or an actor, are they making our kids vulnerable to whatever strikes their fancy? Are they providing a blueprint for an alternative life which eschews education, traditional expectations, even the development of standard life skills and habits?
We don't need to shake our heads at Miley Cyrus's style malfunctions or the bad behaviour of footballers on tour anymore; the icons of the new youth are DIY filmmakers and internet identities, whose statements and actions exist way outside the oversight of parents and lawmakers. And this quiet revolution is just starting, but the revolutionaries have no manifesto, just buckets of cash.