When Haven Lough made his first viral video at 14 years old, he had no idea he would end up with 1.9 million followers on TikTok.
After filming a “thirst trap” in his high school’s bathroom, Lough posted the video and went back to class, thinking nothing of it. That was until he saw a notification for 10,000 views within the hour. And another for 10,000 followers.
“I was just watching views go up,” he said. “I remember going to lunch, and I'm freaking out to show my friends, refreshing my page.”
Lough and Gibson Ardoline live their days as social media influencers on the UF campus, bringing their following along with them. With hundreds of thousands of followers across TikTok and Instagram, they face criticism and support, saying there are misconceptions about content creation.
Before gaining a large following on TikTok and Instagram, Lough, an 18-year-old UF health sciences freshman, made Musical.ly videos in elementary school.
“It’s always been fun, and now that I can monetize, why not?” he said. “It’s something I’m really good at, and I can make use of this.”
Though his last two years on TikTok and Instagram have been the most successful, Lough has always been interested in making videos, regardless of fame or money.
As a UF student, Lough has to manage classes with content creation. Lough said he prefers to take his classes online, making time to travel and promote his social media.
He is often absent from Gainesville on the weekends, traveling to concerts, social media collaborations and brand events. He also spends time making or brainstorming videos for TikTok, he said.
Lough said his passion for making videos is helpful, as the TikTok algorithm rewards consistent content creators by offering increased access to views, often placing videos on users’ For You page.
According to the Influencer Marketing Hub, through the TikTok Creator Fund, TikTok creators can be paid $0.02 to $0.04 for every 1,000 views. On one video that received 2.5 million views, Lough would have been paid around $50 to $100.
Despite receiving support from students on campus, some social media users have made offensive comments or jokes about Lough’s social media career. But Lough believes as social media evolves, more people understand his motives.
“I feel like when people do social media now, there’s a lot more, ‘Get your bag,’” he said, “but back then it was just, ‘Dude, you’re cringy.’”
Since moving to Gainesville and becoming a UF student, Lough said students have used YikYak to discuss his TikToks. The rumors began the moment he got accepted to the university, with students making up outlandish claims. One particular commenter told YikYak they saw Gibson beating up a homeless person, which Lough remembers with a laugh.
The lies and negative comments do not affect Lough, who loves the attention, he said. As a pre-med student looking to pursue a career in dermatology, he is thankful to have a widely viewed platform to share his projects.
Lough is working toward releasing a skincare brand in the next few months and hopes to create a show similar to Dr. Pimple Popper. He credits his TikTok success to his opportunities for current and future projects, like his skincare brand. Although his motivation is to have fun, he said there’s no reason not to take advantage of the ability to monetize.
Gibson Ardoline, Lough’s friend from high school and a fellow TikToker, feels differently. The TikTok creator, who has about 837,500 TikTok followers and 2.15 million followers across his platforms, finds content creation to be a job more focused on monetization.
After witnessing Lough's financial success, the 18-year-old UF business freshman was inspired to start his own TikTok, Instagram and YouTube channel.
“It always was and always will be kind of like a job for me,” Ardoline said. “I do it for the money.”
Ardoline began his TikTok career in March 2023, posting mainly track and field-related content. His first viral video was a skit, which he recorded in his high school, about the different types of track athletes.
Making sport-related TikTok videos was fun, he said, but it quickly made him realize that the topic was too small to support the growth he was looking for.
Ardoline switched his content to focus more on his target demographic — middle school and high school-aged viewers. He began to make dancing videos, posting funny or relatable content over a trendy song, and he increased his views and audience.
Ardoline declined to comment on his income from social media.
There are many misconceptions about how social media influencers profit off of content, he said.
His most valuable monetization is sound promos, where he partners with a record label to promote a song. In this arrangement, Ardoline promotes sounds in his videos and is paid for the exposure he creates. His agency, The Clementine Group, coordinates contracts to make videos with certain trending songs, which has become a huge success for him.
“They’ll be like, ‘Hey, this artist is dropping a new album this week,’ so I’ll do promotions for songs,” he said.
Although he monetizes his social media, Ardoline said he still lives normally, taking classes and meeting new people on campus. The brand deals are profitable but aren’t his main form of income, which is from sound promotions.
Lough and Ardoline said they believe sound promotions are an interesting form of monetization because they are low-profile. Although sound promotions aren’t a secret, they are discreet. These advertisements appear to be a trend among viewers, said Reuel Brown, a 20-year-old UF business junior.
Students on campus have begun to notice Ardoline’s affinity for posting TikToks with trending songs. The TikToker will often post multiple videos with the same sound, and his profile contains many videos with the same trend.
“They’re profiting from it, so I can’t blame them,” Brown said.
Ardoline said not every student is as understanding. Viewers on TikTok will comment hurtful phrases like, “You too old to be acting like this,” and, “This makes me so mad.”
On one occasion, the content creator awoke to find broken glass littering his balcony floor, a result of glass bottles being thrown at his window. Some students on campus will also approach him, seemingly excited to meet him, and make fun of him, calling him “cringey.”
To this, Ardoline says they are just jealous. Though the occasional in-person interaction bothers him, the online hate does not get to him. Hiding behind a screen is not brave, he said.
Ardoline said he’s happy he does social media and content creation, but to him, it’s just a job, to which fame is a side effect.
“People ask me, ‘If you could make all the money that you make without having all the attention, would you do it?’” he said. “And the answer is always yes.”
Contact Rachel Mish at rmisch@alligator.org. Follow her on X @mish_rache62827.
Rachel Mish is a junior English and business major and the Fall 2024 Food Reporter for The Avenue. In her free time, she enjoys playing pick-up basketball or sewing a gameday outfit.
