ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — “I’m just a well-known friend, I guess.”
That is how Stephen Hooper, a St. John’s-based beauty influencer, sums up his job as a social media influencer (SMI).
Social media influencers are people with a large number of followers on their social media platforms who — through tweets, blog posts and YouTube videos — shape their audience’s attitudes toward certain products and ideas.
They earn their pay through ad revenue, brand deals and sponsorships from businesses who benefit from exposure to the SMI’s followers.
Free products, internet fame and unbelievable experiences are just another day at the office (or not) for these Newfoundland natives — who collectively have more than three times the population of their province following them on social media.
@MattShea
2.1M followers
Fogo Island
Matt Shea is a Fogo Island native who lives in Vancouver and works full time on YouTube.
“I mostly make video game let’s plays,” Shea said. “What I do is play video games, make some silly jokes, poke fun at myself … and videotape myself while doing it.
“I started it up when I was in university for my neuroscience degree and over the next couple of years it just started to snowball, and getting that support online pushed me to keep making my videos. Eventually I got to the point where it became my full-time job and I could support myself,” Shea said.
“I think there is a big psychological component … knowing what people want to see and what’s entertaining to people.
“When it comes to getting views — you have your clickbait. Obviously, you want to show people the most interesting thing in your video. If you don’t deliver on what’s in your thumbnails and titles, people are going to shy away from you because they don’t like being lied to.”
Although Shea lives in Vancouver, he thanks Newfoundland for some of his popularity.
“I speak in a unique way, even though I tone down my accent. I think it’s a fair advantage in some way. It probably stands out to some people. I’ve had comments saying I sound like a weird mix of Irish and English, and I had someone tell me I sounded like an Australian trying to speak like an American.”
Shea’s career on YouTube has brought him face to face with one of the most subscribed YouTubers and his millions of fans through meet and greets.
“Some of the highlights of my career … I played pool with (Pewdiepie) and took tequila shots with him. That was a life-changing experience for me,” Shea said. “Forza, or something, wanted to put me in a super car and have me race other people on a track or something like that. I also had an opportunity recently to play the new Jurassic World game. They flew me down to Los
Angeles and got me to play the game before it was released and to make a video on it.”
@CaptainSauce
1.2M Followers
St. John’s
“Captain is a persona. The reason I initially did it was for professional and personal safety,” Captain said. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes on with having fans and being seen as an idol or a celebrity.
“I started making videos initially because I wanted a way to be creative that actually felt like it mattered. I would put all this effort into something … with nobody to see it or appreciate it. …
I’ve been doing it seven days a week, 365 days a year, for the last four years now.”
Captain supports himself through his videos on YouTube, where he also does video game let’s plays, like Shea.
“So, instead of selling makeup on Instagram, which I guess is probably a much more popularly known one, I might have a gaming company come to me and say, ‘We would love to fund a video and you can let your fans know that if they want to buy the game they can buy it at the link we provide.’
“My job is not all that different from somebody who is editing a commercial or TV show,” Captain said. “I also have to produce the entertainment — be an expert in lighting, sound and video capture, on top of being an editor.
“I always had a job and was always educated. I never quit my job or dropped out of school, or anything like that, to become a YouTuber, and I spent probably about as much time learning to be a YouTuber as I did actually making videos,” Captain said. “When you start off you don’t have people telling you how to record a game or record your face, edit your face or anything like that. You are entirely self-taught, so you have to spend a lot more time learning to be a YouTuber than actually being a YouTuber.”
One of the most common questions Captain gets asked is, “Why do people watch someone play video games?”
“I always compare it to watching hockey,” Captain said. “You may be really passionate about this sport but never actually play it, just because you don’t know how, or can’t afford to. … People love watching entertainment even if they don’t necessarily play themselves.
“Social media influencers are definitely something that nobody has a firm grasp on yet, because it’s so new.”
@stephen_hooper
25K Followers
Chance Cove
Stephen Hooper got his foot in the door of influencing through his childhood modelling years.
“I reached 18 and got out of modelling, but I grew quite an audience from that because you meet so many people on the road while modelling,” Hooper said. “I had a lot of brand connections already, so they would offer me to do, say, like a post here or there or review something on a video.”
Hooper has done brand deals with companies such as Chatters and DermaE. He also works as a national brand ambassador for Kids Help Phone.
“I thought, I have this large audience now and I can start speaking about things that actually matter,” Hooper said. “Most of my audience is usually a teen … so I can talk about things that are beneficial to them, and that’s where Kids Help Phone came into it.
“I got to meet the founder of Kids Help Phone a few weeks ago, and hearing why they started it was fun,” Hooper said. “I would never have gotten to do that if I didn’t do what I do.”
Having thousands of people know what you do on a daily basis is fun, Hooper says, but there are some negatives to the job.
“I like getting criticism, but some people will forget that we do read those comments and those inbox messages,” Hooper said. “I have a manager and there’s been times where he’s been like, ‘You probably shouldn’t read that.’
“Influencing, it is a job. These posts, it’s a source of income,” Hooper said. “People think it’s so funny to see me out just living on my cellphone taking photos. I have had people come over to me saying, ‘You get paid to post a selfie.’ But that’s not what it is. It’s not just a selfie. You have to look a certain way or wear certain clothes.
“With influencing, you can really do it everywhere. If you have a computer, you are good to go. I’ve posted on an airplane, at a cabin.”
One of the perks for Hooper is having a basket full of products he had sent to him for free in his front porch, which he gives to his friends who stop by.
When asked if he considers himself a celebrity, Hooper humbly says no.
“I’m just a well-known friend, I guess. Everybody has that friend that everyone knows, especially in Newfoundland, where we know everybody.”
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Twitter: @JasmineBurtNL
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