“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”: Clarke’s Third Law it is one of those quotations that remain, that go beyond the confines within which they were conceived. And that they can be used in almost any situation, especially in these years of digital transformation.
According to Angelica Siciliani Fendi, who under the name of Angie Tutorials he tells more than 700,000 followers on social networks about consumer technology, the secret to reaching so many people is precisely to show the illusion: “The key – he told us – is reveal the trick of magic, in the simplest possible way”.
A formula that works: Angie is one of the best known and most popular creators on TikTok, with over 500,000 followers. Creator, not influencer: “This word – you explained to us – usually identifies those characters who relate to users through their personality and their life. I prefer to do it through the contents I propose”.
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Astronauts, physicists, writers and illustrators: TikTok’s 2022 reflects the passions of Italians
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Who is Angie Tutorials, the Tiktok Girl?
Contents, those of Angelica, ranging from iPhone tricks, perhaps her most famous series, to updates on latest news from social networks, up to the tutorials for creating content: “I define myself as an educational creator”. A sort of Salvatore Aranzulla of Generation Z, in TikTok sauce: “It is among the comments I receive most often and it is a comparison that flatters me. And I think it’s true that the platform can be a bit an alternative to Google (we talked about it here, ed). Among other things, it has in common with the search engine the attention that creators must have for keywords, in the description of videos, which are increasingly important to gain visibility”.
Angelica knows it well, because in life she’s not really a creator. Better: Use your TikTok presence to promote entrepreneurial activity to support companies and organizations in content creation. He told us that “I collaborate with Italian and European brands: I can produce videos myself or train personnel within the company so that they can become independent”. A journey that began in London, with a degree in business management and a master’s degree in strategic marketing. Then the coronavirus and a setback that led her to experience the way of TikTok: “I understood that it was becoming something serious when I had the opportunity to interview Chiara Ferragni, who I have always seen as a point of reference”.
Neither trolls nor influencers: the moment of BeReal
by Riccarlo Luna
Stress, competition, algorithm: the work of a creator
Angelica isn’t the only one who looks to influencers and creators as inspirations, role models in choosing a life path. A US data analysis company, Morning Consult, conducted a survey which tells how almost one in two Americans, between 13 and 38 years old, would be an influencer if given the chance. Among the reasons behind this aspiration are, among others, the timetables flexible, the ability to make a difference in the world and, predictably, i earnings expected.
After all, that of influencers and creators is a market that, in our country alone, is worth almost 300 million euros, according to Buzzoole’s latest estimates. But getting a slice of this pie isn’t always easy: the difference between profession and hobby is linked to a number of factors often beyond your control. First of all, the algorithm: “Working for an automatic system – was Angie’s reflection – can be complicated, because it naturally introduces a variable that is beyond the control of the content creator. But I believe in the algorithm: on TikTok, if the content speaks the right language then it will reach the right people. It is stressful, but always in the awareness that it is likely that a moment of less distribution will correspond to one in which you will reach more users”.
It’s not difficult to understand Angelica’s faith in the algorithm: her success, like that of almost all the creators on TikTok, is the result of the contents on the one hand and the Chinese platform’s distribution system on the other. A system that, according to The Information, it’s a follower factory, precisely because of the ability to connect those who publish videos to potentially interested users, regardless of the number of followers. The point is that the algorithm has its rules and its unexpected consequences: “Stress is certainly a variable, even if I consider it more of an engine, which allows me to be constant in publishing content. Stopping would cause me anxiety.” Again: “Another source of stress is the competition. You are in front of an audience of people who not only look at you, but have the opportunity to reply what you do. And that ends up being more successful than your original content, which can be frustrating. It is not easy to continue without being conditioned by the context”.
A series of considerations that lead to a conclusion: net of public perception, work on social networks it is a real profession, with specificities, strengths and weaknesses including: “The one about influencers who do nothing is an ancient commonplace, outdated by time. And not only because I know how much effort it takes to function and live as a creator, but also because we all see how much this work moves money, attention and visibility all over the world“.