Nearly two decades after the founding of Facebook, social media influencers dominate the modern internet, consume our attention and shape our daily lives.
But the multibillion-dollar business that’s grown from their work, known as the creator economy, has often been laughed off as silly or self-absorbed, even as millions of Americans have skipped traditional career paths and fought to achieve top creators’ fame and financial success.
The Washington Post traveled the country and interviewed dozens of influencers — as well as their fans, managers, neighbors and employees — to understand how this booming creator class is changing American society, from how children grow up to how politicians get elected to how we understand the world.
Here’s what we learned: