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MELBOURNE: Like any eight-year-old, Ryan Kaji loves to play with toys. But when Ryan plays, millions watch.

Since the age of four hes been the star of his own YouTube channel. All up his videos have gained more than 35 billion views. This helped make him YouTubes highest-earning star in 2018, earning US$22 million, according to Forbes.

Thats more than actor Jake Paul (US$21 million), the trick-shot sports crew Dude Perfect (US$20 million), Minecraft player DanTDM (US$18.5 million) and make-up artist Jeffree Star (US$18 million).

Ryan is apparently living the dream of many kids and adults.

According to a Harris Poll/LEGO survey covering the United States, Britain and China, 29 per cent of children aged eight to 12 want to be a YouTuber. Thats three times as many as those who want to be astronauts.

Other polls suggest an even higher percentage of teenagers aspire to fame and fortune via YouTube or another social media platform. An eye-grabbing news report out this month suggested a whopping 54 per centof Americans aged 13 to 38 would become an influencer given the chance, with 12 per cent already considering themselves influencers.

These numbers might be questioned, but given the apparent fortunes to be made by goofing around, playing games, applying makeup or unboxing toys, its no surprise so many are besotted with the influencer dream.

But theres a stark divide between the glossy faade and reality of this new industry. The fact is most wannabe influencers have as much a chance of walking on the Moon as they do of emulating Ryan Kaji.

Theyll be lucky, in fact, to earn as much as someone working at fast-food joint.

MARKETINGS NEW FOOT SOLDIERS

Marketing literature defines an influencer as someone with a large following on a social media platform, primarily YouTube and Instagram.

As people consume less traditional media and spend more time on social platforms, advertisers are increasingly using these influencers to spruik their products.

A mega-influencer like Kylie Jenner, with 139 million followers on Instagram, can reportedly charge more than US$1 milllion for a single promotional post.

In 2017 an estimated US$570 million was spent globally on influencer marketing. In 2020, according to the World Advertising Research Center, it will be between US$5 billion and US$10 billion.

A key driver of this booming market is that about half of consumers use ad-blocking technology, which limits the reach of traditional advertising.

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

One company to really embrace the social influencer trend is cosmetics giant Estee Lauder. In August the companys chief executive, Fabrizio Freda, said 75 per cent of its advertising budget was now going to social media influencers, and theyre revealing to be highly productive.

But while part of the companys budget is going to micro-influencers those with fewer than 10,000 followers its likely the bulk is still wrapped up in deals with big-name spokesmodels and brand ambassadors like Karlie Kloss, Grace Elizabeth, Fei Fei Sun, Anok Yai and Kendall Jenner.

In a sense these celebrity deals arent much different to what the cosmetics company has done for decades with the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Elisabeth Hurley and Karen Graham.

UNPAID INTERNSHIPS

So far most of the indications are that the new economics of influencer marketing are not too different to the old economics of marketing.

As in the acting, modelling or music industry, theres a tiny A-list of superstar influencers making millions.

Then theres a somewhat larger B-list making a handsome living. But the vast bulk of influencers would be better off getting an ordinary job.

In 2018 a professor at the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany, Mathias Brtl, published a statistical analysis of YouTube channels, uploads and views over a decade.

His results showed that 85 per cent of traffic went to just 3 per cent of channels, and that 96.5 per cent of YouTubers wouldnt make enough money to reach the US federal poverty line (US$12,140).

Cornell University associate professor Brooke Erin Duffy suggests the lure of being a social influencer is part of a larger myth about the digital economy providing the opportunity for fulfilment, fame and fortune in doing what you love through developing your personal brand.

This is a particularly problematic illusion for young women, Duffy writes in her 2017 book (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love.

The tales of achievement, she says, should not obscure the reality.

Rather than a satisfying career, what most have is an unpaid internship.

Natalya Saldanha is an academic at RMIT University. This commentary first appeared in The Conversation.

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Commentary: It looks glamorous and fun, but most social media influencers are like unpaid interns - CNA