Who Gets to Be an Influencer? (2024)

tiktok June 6, 2024

By Asia Milia Ware, a writer for the Cut who covers fashion and beauty. She also writes the column “Why Is Your Skin So Good.” She has covered fashion and beauty for seven years with bylines in InStyle, Teen Vogue, Paper, and Essence.

Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images

We’re living in the age of the influencer, and platforms like TikTok have only increased the number of them we see daily. But recently an influencer-versus-content-creator discussion was sparked, leaving us wondering who in today’s world really gets to be an influencer. It started with a creator, Fannita Leggett, who asked the question about a pay gap between white and Black creators.

So who is Fannita Leggett?

Fannita Legett is a 25-year-old podcaster for Bottoms Up With Fannita and a TikTok creator known for hot takes that she spills to her 2.1 million followers. Most of her videos average significantly more than 1 million views and are pretty … well, chaotic. They tend to open with her greeting her followers as “hoes” or “whor*s,” which seems to be an endearing approach for her and her community. She made her first foray into TikTok drama when women of color called Tarte Cosmetics out for its mistreatment at the F1 races last year. Leggett was one of the Black creators who days later accepted an invite from it to F1 and defended the brand and her decision to join the trip as a Black woman amid the controversy. Lately, she’s the epicenter of a TikTok debate that has spiraled out of control and been a topic of discussion. The debate? What makes an influencer versus what makes a content creator.

How did the question “Who gets to be an influencer?” come up?

On May 1, Leggett posted a video about the pay gap between white and Black creators. “You’re the beauty standard; you get paid more,” Leggett said, speaking about white woman creators. “I’m getting f*cked over every day. I have to have a personality, I have to be respectful, I also have to be pretty, and I have to be put together to get a fraction of what the white girls get.” A few days later, she got a lot more specific. “I’m not trying to read you, but Alix Earle, come to the podium,” Leggett continued. “Alix Earle has the luxury of being able to have white f*cking privilege. Imagine a Black girl comes online and says she has a dress with throw up in it — she’s nasty af.”

Did Alix Earle respond?

She did not. But she did acknowledge comments on her page about Fannita, saying, “Did something happen? these comments always stress me out hahah.” A TikTok user responded, “She so unbothered I love that for you Alix.”

Is there a pay gap between Black and white creators?

According to a 2021 report, there is in fact a 35 percent wage gap between white and Black influencers. “These are stark numbers by any measure. Compare the 35% gap between white and Black influencers to the pay gaps in other industries — education 8%, business and financial 16%, construction 19%, media sports and entertainment 16%. The gap this study uncovered in influencer marketing vastly overshadows the gaps in any other industry,” D’Anthony Jackson, a digital and influencer strategist at MSL, said in the report.

So what is an influencer?

Leggett, who compared herself to Earle in her original video, opened a discussion that TikTok could not shy away from: Who is an influencer and who is a content creator? From here, the conversation blossomed, defending Earle as an influencer and defining that as someone with an audience who buys into everything they do. An influencer often leads trends and has an influence that goes beyond the internet. Remember Earle selling out the Mielle hair oil? People suggested that Leggett, who may also have millions of followers and views, is more of a content creator: someone who makes videos and may get likes, views, and an audience, but is not moving products off the shelves. She’s cultivated a community that thrives off of her chaotic style videos and enjoys the entertainment, but that doesn’t always equate to impact.

Longtime influencer Denzel Dion was among the TikTok people who decided to rally behind the debate, taking the side of influencers. “There are millions of content creators here on TikTok, not influencers. For you to be an influencer, the girls have to look to you for what’s next. Are the girls doing that? Are you inspirational, aspirational?” he said in his video. His comments filled up with people naming those they deem influencers, with Alix Earle, Monet McMichael, Allyiah’s Face, Jackie Aina, Nara Smith, and Keith Lee being a handful of consistently mentioned people.

Another influencer, Dre Brown, joined the conversation in defense of influencers like Earle: “When we look at the Get Ready With Me stuff, Alix Earle, Monet McMichael, and Clarke Peoples are the ones who spearheaded that, and the people who do it now that are making a bag off of it are the content creators.”

Can both influencers and content creators exist? Certainly! But the internet needed to make a distinction between those who entertain and those who have actual influence. Ultimately, does it matter to the people making videos? Sure, if their livelihood and income are tied to it. But as a TikTok user myself, I am just sitting back and enjoying the debate.