I have just recently started watching The Bachelor/Bachelorette on ABC and it has sort of been my guilty pleasure lately. After watching the first few episodes, I was made aware of the job title “social media influencer,” which multiple contestants had listed as their career before coming onto the show. I didn’t really know what this meant at the time, but my initial thought was that whatever it is, they’re probably not making much money doing it. My second thought was that they probably have another job that they just decided not to list or maybe they are making enough money off the show itself to support themselves. Now, after watching the documentary Generation Like, I argue that in fact, being a social media influencer can be a smart career choice and can lead to many other opportunities and perks along the way. For example, in the documentary, we see famous youtuber Tyler Oakley who started out posting random videos of himself with only a few viewers ten years ago, and today, he has a following of nearly 8 million subscribers! Now, he gets paid to make his videos. He also receives a lot of free merchandise, which he gets paid on top of to advertise, and he even got to host the red carpet at the Oscars last year! If you watch either The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, you will see examples of this too with the many contestants on the show that are considered social media influencers. These social media influencers have somehow gained enough followers on their social media accounts in order to get noticed and paid by posting pictures of the items they are given and also mentioning the brands that they are promoting. Amongst the social media influencers on the show, you will also see some prestigious positions such as, lawyers, doctors, actors, personal trainers, and a few others. I think that this sends a message that you’re not going to be casted just by chance and given the opportunity to find love on the show if you have not accumulated enough cultural capital, whether its through your job title, your appearance, or the amount of likes that you have on your Instagram posts. If you are not casted in the show, it can take away the opportunity to advance your career as a social media influencer and gain more cultural capital simply by making an appearance on television. Once you make it on the show, you are almost set in your career. For example, after bachelor Nick Viall, who is also a social media influencer, finished his season on the show, he was then called to do Dancing with the Stars, and still makes appearances on talk shows and celebrity award ceremonies today. These opportunities help to expand his following even more in the same way that Tyler Oakley’s subscribers grew. For them, social media platforms are their platforms for networking and becoming even more influential amongst the generation of social media enthusiasts. These influencers drive those who utilize social media to want to be just like them and to do this they must consume the same things in order to feel associated with the influencer. If they continue to consume, post, and tag, then they may become a social media influencer themselves too, leading them on their path to fame.