Move over Hollywood, influencers are taking the stage now. Graphic by Harrison Pryor.

HARRISON PRYOR | STAFF REPORTER | hrpryor@butler.edu

Since its inception, the internet has been connected to the arts. Online spaces function as a platform for short films, comedy sketches, songs and drawings to thrive. As the methods of sharing this art have evolved, so too has the art itself — now to the point where influencers have gained more significant official recognition.

Where TikTok stars used to make catchy soundbites, they now make full songs and even studio albums. YouTubers who once recorded no-budget short films on their phones now act in and even direct theatrically released, feature-length movies. Between internet musicians like Madison Beer and YouTube filmmakers like Markiplier, influencer culture seems to have risen further than it was ever meant to go.

Musical influencers, influencers in music and the difference between them

Madison Beer shot to fame in her adolescence when Justin Bieber shared her cover of Etta James’s “At Last” to his followers. Since then, Beer has been an incredibly prolific musician and influencer, boasting an impressive discography of both covers and originals. After a string of popular singles and an appearance on the “F1: The Movie” soundtrack album, Beer released her third album, “locket“, on Jan. 26.

Addison Rae is perhaps the most emblematic figure in the realm of influencers turned musicians. Admittedly, she, like Tate McRae, has a background in dance, but her fame is significantly more rooted in social media trends. Rae went viral for her trendy TikTok dances, leading to her brief inclusion in the influencer group The Hype House and a weekly podcast titled “That Was Fun?”, all before she actually started making music.

Sophomore music industry studies major Susanna Hilleary believes that definitively separating influencers and musicians is more trouble than it is worth.

“It’s really hard these days to define what is considered good music because it’s changed so much in the last couple of decades,” Hilleary said. “There’s always going to be a group of people [who] want to separate music from an influencer versus music from an actual musician.”

All of the mentioned artists had at least some background in music, albeit mostly in dance. Many YouTubers with no prior experience have also dipped their toes into the field with outside help and varying results. Hilleary expressed that a continued music career is the sign of an artist meant to be taken seriously.

“There’s also a question of what you determine as an actual musician,” Hilleary said. “Do you just count influencers out of that altogether, or do you say ‘Addison Rae is a musician [because] she’s been successful with [with the music] she’s created … If you had no prior knowledge of her now, you’d still be able to think of her as pretty famous just through her music.”

YouTube, sketch comedy and filmmaking

Markiplier — whose given name is Mark Fischbach — is best known for his gaming videos, but he has turned YouTube into an art form. After his filmmaking expertise and passion were made apparent in his interactive series “In Space with Markiplier”, the door further opened for him to adapt the indie game “Iron Lung” into an upcoming movie.

To say the door opened is not entirely accurate — Markiplier created the door himself. “Iron Lung” is completely self-funded, written, directed and edited by Markiplier, further demonstrating his dedication to indie filmmaking.

Most influencers who turn to film stick to acting in larger-scale productions. Though many YouTubers have used their influence and connections to pursue passion projects, like Lilly Singh’s “Doin’ It” and Liza Koshy’s “Liza on Demand”, creators focused on short-form content like Instagram and TikTok have stuck closely to acting.

Jackson Hopkins, a sophomore chemistry and mathematics double major, expressed that social media may be a good launchpad for aspiring actors.

“This new social media start that a lot of [influencers] get can be a good way to vet new actors,” Hopkins said. “It might fall into [them having] success on their own — they’ve done Vine, they’ve done TikTok — and now they think that they’re ready to go into the actual industry … and then just fall flat because it’s not [a] transferable skill.” 

Rae notably starred in “He’s All That”, the genderbent remake of “She’s All That”, around the same time her music career took off, cementing herself as an industry influencer. Similarly, former Vine star King Bach — whose given name is Andrew Bachelor — has been taking roles of varying significance while continuing to create short-form comedy skits.

Sports, government and more

If online creators refuse to limit themselves to social media, why would they stop at music and movies? Some talents and passions lie elsewhere, and the world of entertainment is too broad to exclude influencers in any field.

Many internet stars stick to what they know best: being personalities. Jimmy Donaldson — better known as MrBeast — recently stuck his over-the-top persona onto the concept of “Squid Game” with Amazon Prime’s “Beast Games”. Through money and influence, MrBeast seems to have infiltrated reality television rather than worked his way into it.

Other notable reality stars include brothers Logan and Jake Paul, YouTube vlog stars who have turned their attention towards professional combat sports. While older brother Logan continues to post clickbait videos with catchy titles and thumbnails alongside WWE content, Jake’s recent YouTube content mostly consists of reports of his rocky boxing career.

Senior sports media major Gaby Whisler believes the Paul brothers may not be in it for the love of the game.

“I think [the Paul brothers went] into wrestling and boxing just for the money,” Whisler said. “The only fight I’ve really, truly watched of Jake Paul is the Mike Tyson fight, and to me, that was just like, ‘How many sponsors can we get for both of us to get the biggest payout?’”

Most recently, and perhaps most strikingly, Matthew Patrick — better known as MatPat — started a governmental caucus. The Congressional Creators Caucus was made to address the former Game Theory host’s long-held concerns about internet safety and content regulation, though there has been no significant news since its June 2025 launch. 

The entertainment industry is massive, and the internet is bigger. The gap between the two was always going to shrink, and it will continue to do so. Perhaps one day the greatest talents in the world will have all gotten their start with viral dances and let’s-plays.