"Twinfluencers" multiply on social media
Watch the new CBSN Originals documentary, "Kid Influencers: Few Rules, Big Money," in the video player above.
Being a twin can be a big plus for social media influencers of all ages. At the 2019 VidCon convention for video creators, there was an entire entire panel devoted to creating twin content.
"There's definitely a fascination with twin creators," said Adam Wescott, a partner at Select Management Group in Los Angeles, whose clients include the popular YouTube twins Brooklyn and Bailey McKnight. "I think because you get a little bit of that twin magic — like can they actually read each others' minds?"
For 9-year-old "twinfluencers" Ava and Leah Clements, the appeal seems simple. "I think we're influencers because some people our age or under our age look up to us," Ava told CBSN Originals.
"Yeah, I also think the same thing," Leah agreed, sitting beside her sister at their home in Orange County, California. In photo shoots, the two often appear in matching or color-coordinated outfits sent by fashion companies eager for the exposure.
"It's very fun being a twin because sometimes we say stuff at the same time. And if you ever have a photo shoot, you always have a playmate," Ava said.
The Clements, who have 1.4 million followers on Instagram, are friends with another set of influencer twins, 6-year-old Alexis and Ava McClure. The McClures are vloggers as well as Instagram stars, and together with their parents have a following of over 5.5 million across YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
"Have you ever seen identical twins?" Alexis McClure recently asked, stating proudly that she and her sister were identical.
The McClures initially gained a fanbase after a video of the girls, then aged 3, went viral, in which they recognized they looked alike.
"Before even social media really became a big thing for the girls and us, just walking around, people are just infatuated with, 'Oh these two little humans look alike, look how cute!'," said Ami McClure, the twins' mom. "If you think in entertainment like, you know, the Olsen twins, the Tia and Tameras … people can just gravitate towards it."
Her husband, Justin McClure, said lots of families with twins aspiring to be influencers reach out to them for advice.
"The biggest interest in twins isn't a new interest — it's a newer availability," said Kyle Hjelmeseth, founder and president of the influencer marketing and management agency God and Beauty. "Everyone is interested in twins, because how many twins did you know growing up? Now that casual curiosity can be explored, and how twins express themselves as individuals becomes easier for us to examine."
"Anywhere on the internet you go, you'll run into big viral twins today," said Taylor Lorenz, who wrote about the phenomenon for The Atlantic. "There are today than there have ever been in history. And so not only are twins making more content, but twin fans are consuming more content."
Other popular influencer twins include Los Angeles based 3-year-olds Taytum and Oakley Fisher, who have over 3 million Instagram followers and are the stars of their family YouTube channel.
"They really are best friends. They do everything together," their mom, Madison Fisher, told CBSN Originals. "We haven't separated them ever, except maybe twice in their whole life." Now, as they get a little older, "I think they're struggling with forming their own identity, and we need to let them do that more," she added.
Asked if they knew how popular they were, the twins chewed on their candy bracelets, meowed, and replied with pure 3-year-old logic: "We're cats!"
The twins' channels and accounts are run by their respective parents. Both YouTube and Instagram prohibit accounts by individuals younger than 13.
