It’s that time of year again! The SUVs and U-Hauls are packed, Target shelves are cleared and parents everywhere are preparing for teary-eyed goodbyes: college kids are going back to school.
But while much of the process has stayed the same, Gen Z has a new way of getting ready. Many incoming college students are turning to content creators on social media for advice on everything from living with a roommate to not failing their classes.
College orientations provide students with logistics and essential information, but YouTubers fill in the gaps by documenting their own experiences at schools across the country. Collectively, these influencers have amassed millions of views as teens and young adults get a glimpse into their daily lives.
They’re not just giving you packing lists, they’re shedding light on all aspects of the college process and experience that might not otherwise be available.
What are college influencers?
College-related content composes of a popular genre on social media platforms, particularly YouTube. The video-sharing platform has over 800,000 videos tagged with #college and thousands more tagged with #dorm, #backtoschool and #movein.
Nearly all influencers are current college students vlogging common college experiences, such as moving into a dorm or starting the first day of classes, or advising their followers on what to buy for their dorms (in videos known as hauls), what to wear to go out or how to handle academic stress.
Mia Aston, a rising junior at New York University, loved watching college videos on YouTube while she was in high school. She always dreamed of going to NYU and wanted to get an idea of what day-to-day life at the school looked like.
“I remember the ones that stuck out the most were the ones where people were showing move-in days and dorm tours or kind of weeks in their lives,” she said. “Those give me a good idea of what the living situation looks like and what how I might set up my room or what I…
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