Reflecting on VidCon, it's clear that influencers' command of social media foreshadows future power in politics and elsewhere
As social media expands its cultural dominance, the people who can steer the online conversation will have an upper hand. — ANAHEIM, Calif. … Tweets: @nytimesbusiness , @joshspero , @nytimesbusiness , @nytimesbusiness , @davezatz , @buzzfeednews , @hshaban , @kevinroose , @bafeldman , and @backlon Tweets: @nytimesbusiness : “The way to think of influencers or creators is as entrepreneurs,” said Chris Stokel-Walker, the author of “YouTubers.” “These people are setting up businesses, hiring staff, managing budgets. These are massively transferable skills.” https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Josh Spero / @joshspero : The idea that influencers are the first generation to understand how to use the attention economy for their own benefit is belied by the current occupant of the White House (and indeed his predecessors) https://www.nytimes.com/... @nytimesbusiness : Just as the 20th century groomed a generation of children steeped in the ethos of TV culture, the 21st century will produce a generation who grew up chasing clout online and who understand how to operate in the attention economy. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... @nytimesbusiness : It's increasingly obvious to our columnist that the teenagers and 20-somethings who have mastered social media platforms are going to dominate not just internet culture or the entertainment industry but society as a whole. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Dave Zatz / @davezatz : Please be sure to leave a comment below and subscribe to my senate campaign! https://twitter.com/... @buzzfeednews : At VidCon's 10-year anniversary, influencers, fans, and brands all seem ready to leave YouTube behind https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... Hamza Shaban / @hshaban : “In truth, influencers have been running the world for years. We just haven't called them that. Instead, we called them ‘movie stars’ or ‘talk-radio hosts’ or ‘Davos attendees’ On the business smarts of society's youngest attention-grabbers https://www.nytimes.com/... by @kevinroose Kevin Roose / @kevinroose : New: I went to VidCon and saw the future, in which there is no “influencer culture” or “social media clout” but just “culture” and “clout.” https://www.nytimes.com/... Brian Feldman / @bafeldman : we're in, what, year 6? of people offering oracular dispatches from vidcon. we get it https://www.nytimes.com/... Dieter Bohn / @backlon : TikTok was everywhere at Vidcon, but as @loudmouthjulia writes — they may all just end up on YouTube, because YouTube is still where the money is. https://www.theverge.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
VidCon 2019 was the moment TikTok announced itself: its stars' popularity there, less than a year after the app's US launch, signaled it was poised to dominate the American social media landscape. The NYT's take from Anaheim frames the creator class not as entertainers but as operators — Chris Stokel-Walker calls them entrepreneurs setting up businesses, hiring staff, and managing budgets, skills he calls massively transferable.
The piece's thesis — that whoever steers the online conversation gains power in politics and society — has since been tested by the coverage that followed: news accounts like Mo News and Jessica Yellin building audiences on Instagram even as the platform de-emphasizes political content, while the "Bootleg Ratio" problem shows how clout-chasing accounts can crowd out platform-native creators.
First-order effects
- The influencers at VidCon are running real businesses — hiring staff, managing budgets — with monetization still concentrated on YouTube even as TikTok's stars rise, making platform choice a business decision, not just a creative one.
Second-order effects
- Platforms now compete for creator loyalty as much as viewers: TikTok's rapid ascent forces YouTube and Instagram to defend the monetization and distribution advantages that keep entrepreneur-influencers from migrating.
Third-order effects
- If influence keeps consolidating in individuals who command platform audiences, political and media power shifts from institutions to creator-operators — a shift already visible in news personalities bypassing traditional outlets on Instagram, and a structural risk when platforms can de-emphasize the content those operators depend on.
The trend: Cultural and political influence is migrating from institutions to individual creators whose platform-native businesses make them the new gatekeepers of public attention.