DS 17, who's deluded- me or him??

[Whosaidthattt]

DS, 17, is going to be rich via his Tik Tok posts apparently. 🤔 He hated school, just passed his GCSEs with 4s and 5s. Started college and dropped out after 2 months. We always told him to work hard to give himself choices, which he ignored.
He is now working part time in a supermarket and looks down his nose at his colleagues. He can't believe that this is their life!
He genuinely believes that he is going to earn a living from his Tik Tok posts, and has been posting for 2 years. He has earned approximately £50 per month doing this.
Obviously I am 'old' so don't understand. Is it just me who thinks that at almost 18 he needs a reality check? Or will he really be the next Tik Tok sensation? Anyone else's 'almost adult' this immature?? I have no clue how to direct him. Please don't tell me to kick him out- I wouldn't do that.

I agree with the other comments, encourage him to a digital marketing apprenticeship, media studies etc.

Oh God, this old chestnut.
I have several friends who have experienced similar with their DC.
One has actually "made it" and is quite well known, (gets stopped in the street, makes a lot of money).
One is a big thing in the niche world of Pokémon.
The others have ended up with depression and I know one who committed suicide and another who had a failed attempt.

The thing that I find most concerning re your DS is his superiority complex. He despises the people who are on his level? That is not an attitude I could tolerate. Have you called him out on this?
One day he is going to wake up to the fact that he is one of the people he loathes and I expect his mental health will take a hit then.

He is young, I'd tolerate a bit of nonsense on the careers front (maybe give him another year) but make it clear that after that you expect him to put in the hours in a proper job. He would also have to lose his snotty attitude.

My DP and his business partner run a channel on a different platform, that connects to the work they do. They do make a lot of money now, but have been doing it for nearly 15 years, all content is around an actual skill set, there's 2 of them, they have daily content public and patreon as well as the actual work they do in the business too. Between them they work 18 hours a day and don't have regular days off.

He can't be half arsed about things to make money and he needs some kind of skill that people want to watch/buy/invest in.

He's deluded.

Of course there are people both older and younger with him that gained popularity and are making money out of their Tiktok videos, but given the amount of content creators I'd say they are the exception. I don't even think a degree in digital marketing or excellent skills would help him much, because trends change very fast and people tend to like all kinds of stuff, you can't predict if the video is going to go viral or not.

If he likes making videos, fine. Supporting his hobby would be nice of you, you can even get him a good ring lamp or a subscription to a PRO version of the video editing software (like Clipify or similar). However, I'd make it clear to him that Tiktok videos should be treated as just that, a hobby, something that brings him joy and he likes doing. Treating it seriously would be a slippery slope: he may waste a lot of time trying to achieve something only to never get it, or his hopes may be crushed dramatically.

You are enabling his entitled lazy attitude by not expecting much from him. Stop providing free board and lodging. Set him a basic requirement that he works full time whilst under your roof, and pays for his keep.

This was DSS 13 years ago.

Left school with no qualifications, got an apprenticeship on the trowel , hated it. I convinced him to go to college get his exams - all good - done well - but couldn't cope with university and dropped out. Then lay around the house working up get rich quick online schemes and online gambling. Robbing peter to pay paul.

Then one day out of the blue he says hes off to Oz back packing. We gave him a few bob and expected to see him home within the month. Sure enough we got a phone call within 72hrs saying he had been robbed and could we wire him some money.............

Nowadays he spends his life flying around the world BC, working with coffee growers in Colombia, Brazil, Cuba etc . Has a riverside penthouse in Sydney another house in Melbourne. He became a citizen about 4 years ago. He married last year in Italy to a lovely young lady who is a very prominent barrister out there

He always had big dreams of attaining the good life and he got there

Some kids do make it. Caused us a lot of strife over the years but he got there

I have a friend who made it and it was luck initially that got their big surge of followers. It's really hard work to keep it going, thinking of new content etc. They also know it won't last forever so are looking at how they can then go work for other brands using thier experience and have done some courses. They do consulting stuff which is growing. They don't look down in supermarket workers! Remind him that ordinary people are the people who follow tik tokkers.

I agree with apprentiships in a similar area. But I also think that actual content that replaces an annual salary, is very time consuming so it can be hard to hold down a full time job.

I’m sure you are not alone in this OP.
Sadly, it’s a generation where some kids just do not yet understand life in the real world and even worse think people who work in it are idiots.
I hated working in a supermarket part time as a student. I absolutely loathed it. So I can understand his lack of enthusiasm.
However, if you have a hobby you love and can somehow turn it into a job then it should be encouraged. There are so many avenues in digital marketing now in terms of studying I would see what is available in the local area.
In terms of being a social media ‘star’ though if you earnings aren’t increasing, it’s probably not going to happen. I have also been a part of that world, and even the influencers you think are earning a fortune, aren’t.
It’s very competitive and grabby, the pressure to produce output is immense, too.
But the behind-the-scenes stuff is actually really interesting whether it’s the production of films, creating social media posts and reels, it’s actually great work as long as you understand you are not the star of the show.
I think the solution here is time - your DS sounds young and if you can afford to encourage him then do so as long as he keeps working. His attitude isn’t helpful but I can remember mates who were in bands who thought 9-5 workers were idiots. Most of them are accountants and solicitors now and can only look back with affection at the time they thought they were going to make it big.
It is really common to feel that, it usually passes when the young person in question wants a bit more money, for a car, for example.
That is when it’s good to step away and let him work out how to buy his own and get a slice of the real world.
You sound like a fantastic mum, so don’t lose heart.

As a teacher I see this from Y7 when I ask them "what are you going to be?".

You used to get the 'I'm going to be a professional footballer' answer but nowadays a lot (5 or 6 in a class) tell me they're going to be a famous TikToker.

I just remind them that all successful footballers/Tiktok/YouTube people had a good back up career until they made it, as the better the back up career, the more money you have to improve your chances of success on Tiktok/football.

@Whosaidthattt your sons attitude sucks towards his co workers. Very arrogant. But don't forget the teenage brain doesn't fully develop until early 20s.

Just keep encouraging the back up career.

You could show him the videos of the man who sands floors. These have become very popular. It might encourage your son to find work that lends itself to such videos so could be a double win. It sounds as though your son's self confidence will stand him in good stead anyway.
PS I always remember the story about the man who had a security company selling burglar alarms called Big Brother. The company failed, but when the TV series started the now defunct website got loads of clicks - and loads of advertising, so the guy made a lot of money from advertising revenues.

Wow! Good for him. Sounds like he's built himself a really interesting life. He's definitely got determination.

I despair of todays youth.

But if he’s good with social media, there are jobs as social media marketers and managers that he might like to get in to.

Would he go to college to see what courses they have for video editing/marketing etc.

I work in digital and brand marketing and we are crying out for people like your son who have a good working knowledge of TikTok content creation. We are an agency tasked with creating content on behalf of brands we work with thst will actually gain traction on the platform, and nothing we know works on other platforms is applicable on TikTok. It’s completely alien to traditional marketeers. So, We’ve just hired 3 full time TikTok content creators, I think the oldest of them is 20 and we’re paying them £38k in the north of England as a starting salary because they’re so in demand up here. Every creative agency is scrambling for them. Not one of them has a degree and for 2 of them, this is their first actual job. Me and my £14k starting salary in 2014 are incredibly jealous obviously

He doesn’t need a digital marketing degree (in truth, no one does), just look at job ads for ‘digital content creators’, there are hundreds in almost all corners of the country. You can even search ‘TikTok content creator’ if he wants to be more specific. It will likely be a traditional 9-5 role, around which he will be actively encouraged to work on his own platform and he’ll probably learn a hell of a lot about trend analysis and performance analytics from the agency too.

He isn’t deluded, as a few do become very successful doing this. The fact he earns £50/mo isn’t a bad start. I’d support him with the warning that it’s a bit like athlete going for the Olympics…by around 25 you have to admit it’s not going to happen if it hasn’t already.

If he’s not famous by 25, then he needs a Plan B. So I’d encourage him to spend a bit of time on Plan B.

I think I would let him run with this whilst secretly rolling my eyes.

At some point a part time job in the supermarket at such a young age isn’t going to be enough for him or pay enough for him to have independence from you and something will have to happen. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility he could make money from tik tok but he’s got to put the work in aim for more than £50 a week. I think I would let it run its course.

It is possible, but highly unlikely he will make it big on Tim Tok, and even if he does, its a shirt lived "career" for most.

His attitude towards his co workers is very sad - when I was a student I worked for M&S, at the same time Calvin Harris (DJ, Musician etc..) was a trainee manager at another M&S store and was just breaking through.

We all followed his progress, and he spoke fondly of his time at M&S (it was in fairness a superb employer back then), we felt proud of his achievements and happy for him.

As he’s not happy about working in a supermarket he needs a trade skill. What can he do? He shouldn’t look down on people working in jobs that support us all. He might earn money from social media as his job but he isn’t earning at the moment. He needs a skill and that’s through training. I’d advise a college course in a trade. He could apply now. He could look at website design as well as traditional trades.

He’s got a job, which is good and he’ll have to learn the hard way that unless he’s the next viral sensation tik tok is just a side hustle. I understand- from a relative who is an Instagram influencer that in the US you get paid megabucks but here it’s not as lucrative. Relative also has a ‘basic’ job here similar to your ds.
Im waiting for my eldest to realise their degree will be pretty useless in terms of income generation unless they really push and ‘sell out’ - but they have to learn these things.

If he doesn't have a strong work ethic, as implied by your OP, and he already has a judgemental snooty attitude on people making on honest living I would say he is deluded thinking he'll be a tiktok sensation.

Successful content creators are extremely dedicated and many of whom base their content on specific skills they've honed. I too am curious as to the type of videos he's making?

Looking down his nose at his colleagues. did ge forget he works there too?

What does he make videos about?

Maybe look into apprenticeships around media and marketing!

Get him to a careers advisor so he has professional input.

Maybe a BTEC in media production might be of more interest then A levels or supermarket work.

Yes or apprenticeships in media

Was it his choice to do A levels or yours?

Where do you go to see available apprenticeships pls? Thanks