The University of Miami has gone viral for the number of influencers attending the institution. More recently, attention has been focused on how these influencers responded to the controversy.
Two weeks ago, The Miami Hurricane published its latest print edition, featuring three freshmen influencers, Colette Coulliard, Nikki Pindor and Julia Thomas, on the cover. On the same day, freshman influencer Sienna Long, who was also interviewed for a feature, posted a vulnerable TikTok video reacting to not being included in the print edition, particularly on the front cover.
In the post, she shared the realities and struggles of trying to grow her online following in the competitive environment of social media.
Long’s video has received 1.3 million views, has been shared 11.4 thousand times and has gained the attention of other well-known creators including @SohoBrody and @skysolomon_, another UM influencer, on TikTok. Because of the post’s virality, Long received negative feedback, body shaming comments and death threats.
“It was never supposed to be that deep,” Long said in an interview with The Hurricane. “The point of the video was that it was a wake up call for me to focus or not focus on it, to care or not care about my TikTok.”
Nikki Pindor, one of the creators featured on the cover of The Hurricane’s latest print edition, is one of the many creators who made a video reacting to Long’s.
Pindor’s video gained 859.4 thousand views. It was followed by a post alleging that Pindor received a message from Long about Pindor’s reaction.
Pindor then posted another video claiming she was issued a no contact order by the school and was asked to meet with Deputy Dean of Students Steven Priepke.
Mutual no contact orders are one of the resources used by the school to support students.
According to the University’s Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, “No Contact Orders are not considered disciplinary related measures but they can result in student conduct charges if they are not adhered to.”
As influencer drama intensifies, it leads to tangible consequences for those involved.
According to the National Library of Medicine, 58.7% of the global population uses social media. Additionally, 68% of college students report using social media for six or more hours a day.
This large amount of consumption can distort people’s perception of what is real and not real on social media.
A survey conducted by BBB National Programs concluded that 74% of surveyed U.S. consumers trust or somewhat trust influencer content.
“Social media is not reality. That should be focused on a lot,” said Long. “I can say one thing and it will get blown out of proportion, but it doesn’t make it true.”
Long is seeing the effects of what is being said on social media in her day-to-day life.
“There’s whispers and there’s photos,” she said. “And so I kind of just put my headphones on, I block it out, and I just walk to class, and I get back, and just live my normal life, ’cause what else are you gonna do?”
Long is not the only influencer that has experienced real life consequences due to posts on social media.
In an interview with The Miami Hurricane’s podcast, Eye of the Hurricane, Pindor shared that she received backlash after making the cover of the latest print edition.
“I saw a lot of people doing a lot of things with my face,” Pindor said. “I saw someone kill a spider with it, I saw someone just rip it up.”
Pindor has adopted sobriety out of fear of being recorded and reported to the dean.
“A lot of people at the school would record me if I was drinking. If they are sending my TikToks to the dean they are going to send videos of me drinking obviously,” Pindor said. “If I get caught consuming alcohol or any illegal substance I can get expelled.”
Pindor noted that the concern of being recorded or photographed in public has affected her day to day life. She has not been to the dining hall in four weeks.
“Everytime I go [to the dining hall], I go on YikYak and see either a photo of me or a couple posts saying ‘I just saw Nikki Pindor eating ice cream and brownies and cake.’”
Pindor is not the only influencer on campus to be criticized by posters on YikYak. Senior Sienna Sacco shared her experience with YikYak and being an influencer in her episode of Eye of the Hurricane.
“I feel like I have always been posted on Yik Yak for so much, and I deleted Yik Yak for like a while,” Sacco said.
Her advice to get over the hate, “You just genuinely cannot let it bother you at all.”
Sacco expressed that the pros that have come from her social media presence outweigh the cons. She shared that her social media presence helped to propel her modeling career.
“Social media definitely helped with modeling. It boosted me up,” Sacco said.
While the realities of social media may seem daunting, it is the people that surround these influencers that help them to keep going.
Long said that her family and friends have been amazing in supporting her through this difficult experience of public backlash. When asked about particular advice she has received, she read a text message from her mom’s boyfriend, who Long said has been incredibly helpful while she navigated the past weeks.
“Sometimes you have to stand alone just to prove you can still stand, promise it’s going to make you stronger,” Long said.