SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – While TikTok servers are back up for now, the future of the social media phenomenon is still up in the air. Western Mass News got a chance to speak with a local influencer who explained why the app’s impact is farther reaching than you might think.
“I have a full-time job because of TikTok, I’ve got to meet some of my heroes because of TikTok,”
It was a weekend of ups and downs for hundreds of millions of TikTok users. From a pitch for an extension, to a Supreme Court verdict, to silence, and then a revival credited to President Donald Trump.
Influencer and UMass Alumni Xander Favazza learned firsthand that while servers are still running, you can create content, or you can create opportunity.
“I got actual things I could put on my resume, professional bullet points on my resume, through TikTok,” he told us. “I have a full-time job because of TikTok, I’ve got to meet some of my heroes because of TikTok,”
Better known as Xandus17, with nearly 200,000 followers and almost 20 million likes, every time he opened his camera, he opened a new door.
“Because of what I did on TikTok, I ended up getting a job at Barstool to help run ‘ZooMass,’ and because I was working at Barstool and had that TikTok following, brands and companies would reach out,” he explained.
Now a creative director for clothing company Birddogs, Favazza was on a wildly different trajectory just a few years ago.
“I would’ve been a computer science major, definitely, because that’s what I went into school as, and then as I did more TikTok stuff, I had always wanted to comedy and, like, video production, and TV, and editing, and I just thought it wasn’t viable,” he claimed.
A different major, a different home, a different life; and Xander’s story is far from the only one.
“Content creators are getting interviews at like, SNL and things like that which is just insane, and it’s because of TikTok,” he emphasized,” getting them exposure to maybe be seen by someone else, seen by a real agency or a manager, or an agent or production company.”
With an opportunity for millions to write their own chapters, at least for now.
“Literally there’s no chance in the world that I would have gotten this job and been able to move to New York City to do what I actually wanted to do, which is comedy, sketches, and standup, if I didn’t have this opportunity of getting it.”
With Trump’s inauguration and promised executive order, it remains to be seen just how much time is left on the clock, for TikTok. Western Mass News will keep you updated online and on-air as we learn more.
To check out more of Xander’s content, you can find him on social media at Xandus17, or on the Birddogs Instagram account.
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