Videos of kids saying they want 1 million followers more than $1 million are splitting opinion on TikTok. Their creator says it makes perfect sense.
- Chaymae Samir asked kids whether they would prefer 1 million followers or £1 million in cash.
- All three said followers, and the video has gone viral.
Entrepreneur Chaymae Samir asked kids whether they would prefer 1 million followers or £1 million ($1.2 million) in cash in a recent TikTok, and all three said followers.
The video, filmed in London, went viral as people piled in with their own views. Many were in disbelief that a social-media following could be seen as more desirable than a life-changing sum of money.
But, in an interview with Insider, Samir said their reasoning makes total sense.
Samir said she's always wanted to interview kids about their views on things because they are "just so candid and straight to the point." Their answers can also be "really really telling" about the current culture, she said.
Samir was initially surprised so many young people answered "followers," both in the most popular video, which received 3.8 million views, and others.
But she said it makes sense for a generation growing up on the internet idolizing creators such as MrBeast, the biggest YouTuber in the world, whose content centers on using his huge following for fame, wealth, and exciting success.
For starters, the value of money has changed for kids growing up now, Samir said, with $1 million no longer being an impressively huge sum of money.
"Because kids have access to so many of their millionaire gamers and influencers on their TikTok, they're like, whoa, £1 million is not that much," Samir said. "It's very entrepreneurial, even how they thought about it, they were like, OK, if I have 1 million followers then I can turn it into maybe more than £1 million."
Kids are also more in tune to the value of followers. Young people often use TikTok and Instagram now rather than Google when they want to search something, like a recipe for a lasagna, or how much a car costs. They are turning to individuals to get their information, often judging their usefulness by follower count.
A social media following is also valuable for whatever career path they want, not just becoming an influencer. Young people aspire to be actors, singers, athletes, journalists, and countless other careers — all of which can benefit from reaching more people.
"Their favorite athletes have social media, they have shows on Netflix, they have brand deals," Samir said. "So it goes hand in hand now."
Samir said that, if asked, she would probably take the money, as she is a business owner and knows how she could use it to turn a profit (she also has around 260,000 followers already).
But she was impressed by how critically the young people she asked were thinking about their answers. It was quite different to some of the polarizing comments.
"I hope my son is not out here saying 1m followers," one comment reads, for example. Another says, "School is teaching nothing really."
"What really surprised me out of everything is how people are really diehard going to defend their point of view," Samir said. "Especially on TikTok when you've got adults being like, these kids are stupid, blah, blah, blah, and they're super into their views and there's no middle ground anymore."
In contrast, she said, the kids she asked gave their opinion and formulated an argument. "That's more than what some adults can do."