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Meet two Kansas City influencers finding success with viral videos

Brittney Null (left) has over 368,000 Youtube subscribers on her channel titled "Britt's Space."
Courtesy of Brittany Null
Brittany Null (left) has over 368,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel, "Britt's Space."

From TikToks to reels of family, food and friends, these local content creators use social media to influence followers.

Social media influencers have become important to brands and marketers. Influencer marketing can increase the visibility of brands and strengthen their images. Digital marketers are constantly on the lookout for popular social media influencers to collaborate with.

Brittany Null, a Kansas City content creator who focuses on lifestyle videos on her channel, "Britt's Space." Null said "influencer" has a negative connotation, and likes to consider herself and others as "content creators."

Most people know that influencers can earn money from blogs or social media accounts. Creating content isn’t just a hobby for influencers, but also a way to bring in an income. For some, it's a full-time job.

"It is my full time job, and it's funny because a lot of times people think like, 'Oh, social media influencer you just take a couple pics, you throw it up, it's fine,'" Null said. "But to curate your social media on multiple platforms, it actually takes up quite a bit of time."

These jobs won't be going anywhere any time soon. Nearly 75% of Gen Z and Millennials in the U.S. follow influencers on social media.

"I've been asked to speak at schools for, like, career day. And it used to be kind of laughable, like, 'Oh, this isn't a career, but it is a career, '" Null said.

Lisa Nguyen is a content creator from Wichita, and her focus is food. Her TikTok account has reached over 2.8 million followers, and she has over 3.75 million subscribers on YouTube. Nguyen said she feels she has a big responsibility to the younger audience.

"I always want to make sure I'm being authentic," she said, "but also it helps me be a better person to just implementing better morals and stuff into my life, just knowing that there is a younger generation out there watching."

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When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
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