Connor Flannery talks about being a social influencer in the digital age

Connor Flannery. Photo Courtesy of Connor Flannery.

YouTube content creator and social influencer Connor Flannery, also known as Connor Pugs, chatted about being a part of the digital age.

The digital age

On being a social influencer in the digital age, Flannery said, “As a kid, I’ve always watched YouTube, and for the longest time, I’ve made videos. I’ve been posting videos since March of 2016. It took a long time before I saw any meaningful success behind it.”

“In August of 2020, my YouTube channel had 10,000 followers but it really didn’t have an audience,” he said. “I really started from scratch and it started going higher and higher from there. Then, it was doubling every month for a little while.”

“Fast forward to today, I’ve been doing YouTube consistently for the last year. I’ve had nearly one million followers on there,” he said

“Also, I’ve been a part of other social platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Twitter (X), and Spotify. I have a good relationship with those platforms. Social media is a great opportunity to do some projects that will wind up being really cool or zero,” he explained.

Flannery noted that he feels that social media is moving towards an interesting place.

In addition, he enjoys doing consulting for businesses. “I come on as an advisor and I give my strategic social advice,” he said. “Businesses need to have a media presence. They can have an amazing product, but if nobody sees it, then who cares?”

AI on the future of the industry

Flannery shared his thoughts on AI (artificial intelligence) on the future of the industry. “There is a good and a bad side to it,” he noted. “It’s interesting. If AI can make something entertaining, then I don’t see the issue with it to that extent, especially if it can produce something that people fully enjoy.”

“Also, creators can use AI to enhance their process,” he said. “Some tools can help make really good videos, and they can help creators.”

“On the other side of the spectrum, we are seeing these massive content farms that are posting at an insane rate and are flooding the ecosystem with really low-quality high-stimulation content,” he elaborated.

“I think platforms are going to make a choice about what they allow and what they don’t allow,” he added.

Future plans

On his future plans, he revealed, “I will up on my socials since it is going great. Also, I will continue to do some marketing consulting. I will try to find more projects with tech startups that are really cool.”

Johnny Valentine

Flannery praised musician and social influencer Johnny Valentine for being a “true artist” with his short-form videos, as well as a “creative director.” “It was really cool to see his process and how he works,” Flannery said.

“Johnny has such cool ideas; I don’t know how he comes up with those sometimes,” he admitted.

Advice for young and aspiring social influencers

For young and aspiring influencers, he offered the following advice: “The one thing I say the most is just ‘to have consistency.’ Social media platforms really care about promoting consistent people.”

“I would encourage people to post every single day,” he said. “If you are doing shorts, post at least twice a day; there is no reason why you can’t. It’s not that hard, it’s really easy. Get the feedback on that, and also study your competition.”

“In the social media world, the people that do really well are the ones that are studying the game, looking at everyone else but also posting consistently enough,” he added.

Career-defining moments

Flannery acknowledged that it has been the adverse moments in his life and career that have helped define him. “The times where I seriously fell off helped mold me,” he said.

“That will probably happen multiple more times but I’ve been able to get back up again due to my persistence,” he added.

Stage of his life

On the title of the current chapter of his life, Flannery said, “I’m in the transitioning and redefining stage.” “I think I’m in the calm before the storm,” he said. “I wake up each day and I am excited.”

Success

Flannery equates the word success with the four pillars of “health, wealth, love, and happiness.” “If you have your health in check, you are waking up feeling good, and if your wealth is good or not, then work on being a problem solver. Love your relationships with people.”

“If you have the first three in check, that will lead to happiness and you are pretty successful.” he noted.