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It's Sophia Franklin and you are listening to Sophia with an F, but I think I'm in the mood for a quickie. What do you think? I think that this industry is extremely hard because your success at work is a direct reflection of your success as a human being.
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Hi everybody. How are we feeling? There is something new. There is something special and it is happening right now and it is my very first mini episode that has been long overdue and I'm just ecstatic to finally be doing this. I rearranged all the furniture in my apartment and
To make it look cute, I'm recording from my orange chair, my furry one. That is my most prized possession until I have a kid and then it will be a tie. But I have a topic for you guys today that I can't wait to dive into because it's going to be a little bit like me. Controversial
call it how I see it, maybe self-deprecating, might be putting myself down, might be creating enemies, but I think it's for the greater good. And I think it's something that everyone has wondered before. And what it is, is this question of, are all influencers narcissists? Wee, okay, let's just let that sink in.
I want to talk about this because I oftentimes feel a little bit inadequate as an influencer and I don't feel like I keep up with the times or put out enough content or XYZ.
And I know the term narcissist is used a lot now and not always in an accurate way. And I am not a professional. I am just going to talk about this, my own interpretation of what narcissism is. I mean, not my own. It's not like I just decided what the hell I think it might be. I obviously have looked into it.
I've only researched it every day for a year at a certain point. And I only would get my information from credible sources, okay? And I would cross-reference them. I'm talking Reddit. I'm talking Urban Dictionary. I'm talking Wikipedia. So I think you can take what I'm saying pretty seriously. A little bit like the Bible, right?
So, well, actually, let's start with influencers. I think that's more important. And I think to really understand an influencer and their mental is to start with the origin story, how they got to where they are and where it started.
Unless you are a nepo baby, you probably started out as just a regular Joe who wanted to be influential and you used social media to get there. I think there's a very teeny tiny population who are like these accidental influencers. And I've seen people kind of call me that where they're
You started something that became successful and then the influencer thing was this byproduct of that. I'm going to call bullshit on the majority of the people who claim that they just happened to become an influencer because they were just posting something they were really passionate about and then it picked up traction. Oh my God, I became a celebrity out of nowhere.
I don't really buy that. I think there's, you know, a small percentage of people that that's accurate for. For me, you know what, we'll get into that. I will answer at the end of this mini episode if I think I fall into the accidental category that I'm basically saying doesn't really exist or if I think I'm a narcissist.
But to become a successful influencer, you have to really put yourself out there. And in order to do so, that means you have some cojones on you. You have to have this like unwavering belief in yourself and zero shame or embarrassment, right? I mean, like that's what we assume you have to be.
So we understand the basic makeup of an influencer. Now let's talk about what is the makeup of a narcissist.
I mean, there's a list of characteristics. There are two major ones that are common and show up in any definition in any textbook. And those two things that stood out to me are, number one, an unreasonably high sense of self-importance. And number two,
a constant need for attention and excessive admiration. If you don't think that someone who is a regular ass person does not have a following, doesn't have anything like that already happening in their lives, and this person puts out an excessive amount of content every single day,
not receiving a paycheck, there's no job security, there's no assurance that you will become an influencer.
I think that takes a certain level of delusions of grandeur. You can't be consistently putting yourself out there without having a little bit of not an accurate sense of self-importance. And I'm not even saying that's like a bad thing or it's wrong. I actually think it's incredible and amazing
I wish I had a lot more of that. Let me put it this way, okay? And let's use TikTok as an example because to be TikTok famous, you have to be putting out, they say like one to four TikToks a day. You need to be putting out millions
minimum three TikToks a day, at least in the very beginning, because there's no way you're going to gain traction. I mean, it's like it's a numbers game on there. And this is not me discrediting the creativity and the intelligence and all of those things that go into creating a TikTok and being an influencer. It is hard work.
And arguably for your mental well-being, I would say it's one of the harder jobs. At least if we're talking like blue collar first world type shit. It is kind of like mental warfare. And that's where this narcissist thing comes in.
Because you have to really fucking believe in yourself to be posting that amount of content that consistently with no security. I'm sure a lot of your friends and people you went to college with and talking shit behind your back.
And I think that's incredible. There's this other element to it that's like, think about a day in the life with me, TikTok. It is three minutes long.
Do you know how much you are filming to make a three minute TikTok that is spend the day with me? You are pulling out your phone and recording video every single time you take a shit. Basically, every single time you change a location or
oh, I was in my bathroom. Now I'm in front of my selfie mirror. Now I'm at the gym, but I also filmed in the car on my way to the gym. And then also at Starbucks. And then also that moment I was at the red light and like, it is an excessive amount. So when you see these like teeny tiny videos on TikTok that are just a couple of minutes long, and there's just three of them, they
Think about how much time and how much filming goes into that. And on top of that...
Influencers don't really just chill on one social media platform. They're keeping up with their Instagram story and Instagram feed post. They're curating it to some degree. They are marketing. They're then launching their YouTube. They are then posting 60, 70 Snapchats a day with the booty pic at the end. And it's a lot. And I sometimes think to myself, crazy.
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Your cash back really adds up. Now let's move on to the next one, which is need for constant attention and excessive admiration.
I think there are parts to me that would fall in the narcissist category, I guess. This one, however, that I think is imperative to the narcissistic personality is just so not me. And I kind of wish it was.
But if you are essentially living your life online, you are also living your life and basing your self-worth off of the amount of likes, comments, and followers that you got that day. And I don't think for, you know, just your average Joe, like,
that would be sustainable or something you would like to do or enjoy or stick with for long periods of time. It's not how I got started. I didn't get started by posting a bunch of content and hoping that it would take off one day. I moved to New York and launched a podcast that took off and I got, you know, a significant amount of followers from that. And
But I think that this industry is extremely hard because your success at work is a direct reflection of your success as a human being. And I think that can be very, very difficult. And I think in order to deal with that and keep up with it and keep going, you kind of have to like,
really need that attention and admiration to a level that not a lot of us are at. So I think it's just a really interesting concept. Do I think you have to be a narcissist to be an influencer or to be an influencer you need to be a narcissist? That's obviously a very grandiose statement and
But I think there's definitely a connection there in a lot of cases. I couldn't wrap up this little mini without talking about myself considering I'm in this situation.
I don't know. I don't think I have narcissistic traits. I mean, I'm sure I have like varying degrees of whatever. I don't care for a lot of attention or admiration. It feels nice. If anything, I think that kind of draws me away is because if you don't get it, that's very hurtful. And I think that shows like I don't want it that badly. I just...
think that I would like to become a narcissist. And so if there is a narcissist training camp, if there is a school, maybe an online course,
Please include me. I'm obviously being facetious and I have a very dark sense of humor. I have fallen in love with narcissists. I've had narcissists very close to me. I have narcissists in my family that have caused extreme turmoil so I don't actually want to be one. But I think it's just an interesting topic and thing to think about.
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