Even in a world full of fleeting TikTok trends and Twitter trolls, social media has become an essential part of everyday life. It is used for entertainment, education and brand-building in the professional world. Social media has become so popular that 54% of Gen-Zers, according to a Morning Consult study, have aspirations to become influencers.
Student content creators have to balance their work, academics and social life. This may seem impossible to some, but creators Nevaeh Palmer and Rosella Cruz seem to have it figured out.
Palmer, a junior at Florida A&M University, has been creating lifestyle, modeling and college content since her freshman year and has 28.6K Instagram followers.
At first, she found it difficult to balance everything, but she no longer has that issue.
“I leave Saturday or Sunday as designated content days or I’ll pick my least busiest days out the week to [make content],” Palmer said.
She is making sure she stays on top of her academics by spending a few hours on campus dedicated to completing assignments. Palmer said she keeps her grades up by keeping track of upcoming assignments.
“Honestly, the only way I can keep a good balance with my grades is by planning ahead,” she said. “I create a schedule from all of my classes and make sure I know what assignments are coming next.”
Cruz, a sophomore at Florida State University, started her content creation journey on YouTube and has since transitioned to TikTok, where she has 72.1K followers. Similar to Palmer, she struggled to find a balance at first, but has found a schedule that works for her. Cruz said her content was hard to manage on YouTube and finds this less difficult with TikTok.
“I definitely feel that when I was doing YouTube, it was really hard to balance,” she said.
This was due to having to consistently post long, attention-grabbing videos. According to Cruz, getting an audience’s attention on TikTok is simpler.
“Videos are 15 seconds to three minutes and it’s a lot easier to come up with entertaining videos fast,” she said.
As a straight A student, Cruz makes sure academics remain a priority. She said she finds it easy to balance her content and academics because TikTok is low-maintenance.
“Keeping up with grades is a. must,” she said. “The content I make is fast, easy and enjoyable for me so it doesn’t interfere with my day-to-day life.”
Palmer and Cruz are continuing to make a name for themselves in the influencer world by making content that is true to them. These creators have shown that managing content creation while in college is all about setting a time for everything and keeping track of what’s next.