How social media stars are reacting to COVID-19

As we’re learning to live in a world swept up by pandemic, you might have noticed that your favorite social media accounts look a little different lately.

The Instagram and YouTube pages where influencers and celebrities shared their latest travels and the events they attended are now dominated by throwback photos and updates on what they’re doing at home.

We talked to several influencers who live and work in the metro Phoenix area about how the new coronavirus is affecting their work. They say they’re seeing changes in how their thousands of followers engage with their content. Some think their fans now have more time to watch videos and read posts. One said her fans are buying more of the products she promotes.

Here’s how coronavirus is affecting the ways Phoenix-area influencers connect with their followers.

‘It is an actual paying career’

Influencers earn money by attending sponsored events, selling their own merchandise, promoting others’ products and running advertisements on their YouTube videos.

“It is an actual paying career,” said Brianna Traynor, who posts about motherhood and her daily life to more than 50,000 followers combined on Instagram and YouTube. “I’ve been working at this for over 10 years and have just recently been able to make a living off of it.”

Her daily routine includes working “very early mornings, later evenings and sporadically throughout the day,” during which she negotiates contracts, sends invoices, edits videos, shoots photos and interacts with her audiences.

Traynor has observed that her audience seems to have more time to watch YouTube videos, so she has been focusing on that platform as several of her planned promotion campaigns with brands have been postponed.

“My organization and cleaning content have been getting more views, probably because people are focusing more on home projects and spring cleaning,” Traynor said.

“I’m just rolling with the punches,” she said.

Some content is being postponed

Caitlin Neier is a self-described fulltime “lifestyle YouTuber” who shares her daily life with her daughter and earns money by working with brands to promote their products.

“I’m grateful to not be as impacted as I thought I would be, but I’m not getting as many jobs,” she said.

She said her existing contracts with brands are “secure,” but her plans to post promotional content are being pushed to May because of coronavirus uncertainty. That means schedule changes and delayed payments to her. Neier’s main platforms are Instagram and YouTube, where she has 78,000 subscribers.

With schools closed, Neier is juggling entertaining her 3-year-old daughter while maintaining her social media presence. She ends up working in front of her child now and “the mom guilt sets in,” she said.

“People definitely underestimate how much work (this job) is.”

‘It makes you feel unsettled’

Jodie Filogomo, a fashionista with 20,000 followers whose blog and Instagram accounts repeat the mantra “It’s never too late to look great,” is a retired cosmetic dentist and earns ad revenue through her blog.

“I was thinking with people staying home that they would be reading blogs more,” Filogomo said. Though she doesn’t know exactly why, “last week seemed slow on the blog,” and her followers weren’t as engaged as usual on her Instagram account.

Her followers aren’t making as many online purchases right now, she said. When people use her affiliate links, she makes a commission off their purchases.

“A lot of people have been challenged by the changes” brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Filogomo said. “It could be due to the difference in people’s routines.”

Thankfully, she said, sponsored posts — in which businesses pay an influencer to feature their products or services — that were planned more than a month in advance went up last week without any cancellations.

But some photoshoots that involved going outdoors have been canceled. Filogomo now needs to check in with companies with whom she has sponsorships to make sure their agreements will still go forward.

“It makes you feel unsettled,” she said.

‘I can make it work’

Other influencers in the Valley have noticed their followers spending more time with their content.

“Now that everyone’s at home, my (Instagram Story) views have gone up,” said Kimberly Burke, a model and fashion blogger. The biggest demographic among her more than 20,000 Instagram followers are women 18-35 years old.

Because people either can’t or choose not to go to brick-and-mortar stores right now, she has been earning more commissions recently.

The long-term impact of the new coronavirus on her job is uncertain. Burke and others are paid to attend events hosted by brands, and these have been postponed for the foreseeable future. But she isn’t too worried for now.

“I feel like I would be kind of selfish if I said I was in any way impacted,” she said. What’s been hard, she said, is seeing the local boutiques for which she models suffering financially.

“I can think outside the box; I can make it work. I try not to stress because I’ll figure it out,” Burke said.

Getting creative while self-quarantined

Ashley Pimentel’s Instagram content relies on her ability to travel. The braiding expert and hat enthusiast, who has made a full-time job out of posting about travel and fashion, frequently travels to places like Southern California to pose in luscious fields and in front of colorful walls.

Pimentel, who makes money through collaborations with brands, has found it difficult to do photography these days; because of her weak immune system, she mostly stays at home in Chandler. She has to figure out how to get creative in her backyard rather than looking for photogenic destinations.

Since she’s not traveling, she has more time to experiment with making videos such as braiding tutorials, which she thinks will do well with her audience.

Followers’ engagement with her content increases every summer when school is out, she said, and her current numbers are reflecting a similar boost.

Trying to be sensitive to the message

Given their reach, the local influencers we talked to are concerned with putting the right message out in the world.

“It’s been hard to find your place online,” Caitlin Neier said. She has to be careful with when sharing her opinion about what’s going on, she said, to avoid conflict.

“I’ve been trying to share ways to still move on with life even with a crisis like this but also being respectful and doing (my) duty as a citizen,” Neier said. “Influencers can really step up and make a difference.”

Kimberly Burke said she is trying to be sensitive as well.

Some of her posts promote buying products or using certain apps to purchase clothing.

“Am I going to talk about this dress or this shirt when someone is going through something?” she said.

Reach the reporter at kimi.robin son@gannett.com or at 602-4444968. Follow her on Twitter @kimiro bin.