JEFF CAPLAN'S MY MINUTE OF NEWS
Jeff Caplan’s Minute of News: Blue-collar influencers are making BANK on TikTok
Jun 18, 2024, 4:00 PM
TikTok: LextheElectrician
Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.
SALT LAKE CITY — When you want to DIY something you’ve never done before here’s what you do. Say your car’s electronics have gone insane. How do you reset the dash? You hop on YouTube and some auto mechanic will show you how. Press the start button for 10 seconds while you stand on one leg, whatever.
YouTube’s great. But Instagram is turning the expert video on its head. Over the past year, there’s been a surge in the number of blue-collar influencers on TikTok and Instagram. Construction workers, plumbers, carpenters and auto mechanics. The Daily Mail reports some of them are earning money in the high six figures. The difference is that on YouTube they teach you stuff. On TikTok, their job is to look hot while they work.
These macho men in white skin-tight T’s and beautiful blue-collar babes don’t teach you a thing. In most cases, they don’t even talk. Music rolls and these working-class heroes flex and sweat, giving you 15 titillating seconds of excitement as they string electric cable through walls, saw 2x4s, or fix a toilet.
For them, there are hundreds of thousands of dollars to be made. The theory is, that blue-collar videos are exploding because more young people want to skip the expense of college and learn a trade. But judging from the videos I’ve seen of Lexi the Electrician, Emilio the Carpenter and others — it seems like they’re not really teaching anyone how to replace bathroom tile or turn on a broken light fixture. It’s more like they’re trying to turn on the viewer — and make a ton of money doing it.
Jeff Caplan is the host of Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News on KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on Facebook and X.
