DOES A SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING MATTER FOR ACTORS & PERFORMERS?

Yes. Although not in the way you think.

The numbers themselves don't automatically make a social media content creator more attractive to a casting director. But a higher follower count can signify several things about a performer. Many performers have taken their talents to platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and quite a handful of them have ended up in movies and West End productions. Did a large following get them there? Perhaps. But ultimately, there are some major caveats to note. In this article, I would like to talk about how my TikTok and my following have helped shape my career.

Brian Maitland (Scottish Brian on TikTok).

FOLLOWING IS NOT JUST A NUMBER

Many critics of contemporary social media are eager to dismiss performers with large followings. Some claim that a personality with a big number in the hundreds of thousands (or millions!) should not automatically get seen for roles or even cast purely based on their stats. Most people would agree! However, many people forget what a large following actually means in practical terms.

When someone has 500,000 followers on TikTok, most of the time that isn't just an arbitrary figure. What that means is up to 500,000 individual and unique people have enjoyed their content and have willingly subscribed to receiving more of their content when they publish again in the future. We can think of these follows as 'endorsements'. These people have endorsed this creator.

If we can measure a restaurant's quality in its reviews on Yelp or Tripadvisor, we could equally measure a performer's quality in their endorsements.

ENDORSEMENTS?

Of course someone pressing 'follow' on a profile adds +1 to that sacred number. But people in our industry need to remember that one follower can be active in endorsing the quality of a content creator. 160,000 people have endorsed my content in my time on TikTok, some of them don't interact with me as often as I would like - however, many of them do, and they advocate for me in public spaces.

Communities form around large creators, and these communities are also paying audiences. They make suggestions on public forums as to who they would like to see in certain productions, tv shows and venues. A number of my followers have requested me at Glasgow's Hydro Arena...this is yet to happen though!

COMMUNITY AND LEGITIMACY

Followers who interact daily with creators become the community of that creator. They are living, breathing and free-thinking people with their own ideas, likes and dislikes. When they join together under the banner of a social media creator that they enjoy, they become one of the most powerful tools of communication for that person. This brings in the idea of legitimacy.

Now, this does NOT mean that any performer without social media is not a legitimate performer. When I say legitimacy, I talk about it in terms of the strength of the profile. When an actor expresses to a director that they are interested in working with them, it's a request. But when thousands of people say that they want to see their favourite creator perform live, it becomes an industrial demand that is hard to ignore.

At the time of writing, I am releasing a new song on Spotify and plenty of my community have reportedly approached venues on my behalf to get me to perform! As much as I appreciate it, only my agent and producer can do this for me. Sorry guys.

WILL A LARGE SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING GET YOU CALLED IN FOR AUDITIONS?

Maybe. Some creators would believe that a large following gives them a mandate for automatic entry to audition rooms. However, even with my following I sometimes don't get called in to some rooms. Following can never replace the quality of my CV, showreels or how I look. An early 30's Scottish-Asian man with a big following will still never get to play Harry Potter. Dammit.

At Actors and Social Media, we will always say talent comes first. Your talent will be what gets you over the line. Social Media following will help drive up your demand and be your hype. But you have to be ready to back up that hype.

DO PRODUCERS THINK FOLLOWING = TICKET MONEY?

Not all of them do. Usually, a lot of lower-budget productions do. I was at a Les Miserables casting workshop a while back, and one of the creatives from the Les Mis team picked up on my follower count on my Spotlight. Whilst impressed, another workshop attendee asked nervously "will follower count be considered in casting choices". His response was that for Cameron Mackintosh, it doesn't have as much of an effect as other companies - but that it was due to Les Mis and Phantom already having large cult followings already.

Les Mis and Phantom are both tried and tested productions, they don't necessarily need big personalities to sell their shows. But new productions, that don't yet have audience followings? That can be a different story. Different producers have different preferences, much in the same way that some will fill an ensemble with only Tenors or they want to set The Mikado in Scotland.

A 'pull factor' can only serve to help you. It may not be what a producer needs. But it's always better to have it than to not.

ACTORS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

'Actors and Social Media' is an education group led by actors who have utilised their social media following to gain traction in their performing arts careers. We currently offer our workshops to Drama Schools and Further Education Colleges in the UK.

I have coached people (Actors and Non-Actors) into realigning their social media strategy into ways that can benefit their careers as performance artists. If you are an Actor/Performer interested in improving your social media, then feel free to send me an email at brianantonimaitland@gmail.com.