What makes Gen Z influencer houses so viral?

What makes an influencer house so appealing?

A few reasons for wanting to move into an influencer house are fairly obvious. Like anyone wanting to go to university or move out of their parent’s home, it’s fun to be with those your age and to live with friends. Plus, influencer houses tend to be on the nicer side, looking more like mansions or big estates than the traditional homes you or I might move into.

They also make producing new videos far, far easier than it otherwise would be. No longer do you need to arrange to meet up with your fellow TikTok famous friend – now they’re just in the other room! These setups lend themselves to prank videos (waking up your housemate with a pie to the face or loud music is a common one, for example) and big group projects, as it’s far easier to get everyone in one room when you’re all sharing the same space.

Just like the high budget reality TV shows such as Love Island and Big Brother, viewers can also familiarise themselves with the location itself and become attached to certain members of the group. Influencer houses give us a way to live vicariously through content creators, allowing a little extra insight and escapism away from our own situations.

What is the TikTok house?

It’s a single property in London that’s now home to six big influencer stars from TikTok, including two couples and exes who are now ‘friends’, though I suspect that may have been orchestrated to provide drama and explosive videos further down the line. The youngest of the members is 17, while the oldest is 22, and all are big names on the TikTok app.

The setup is the work of 25-year-old Timothy Armoo, who is the CEO of the talent and production agency Fanbytes. Speaking to The Guardian, Armoo succinctly explained that ‘this is a show for Gen Z made by Gen Z’. Everyone here is making content organically and although Fanbytes may have some hand in moving things to the next level production wise, each creator still has the freedom to post what they like, when they like.

Other, slightly more glamorous versions of this house setup have proven to be smash hits over in the US. Team 10, for all its cringe worthy and headache inducing ‘trap’ anthems, was a huge social media success, boasting insane engagement numbers that any television company would lap up if given the chance.

It’s clear that agencies such as Fanbyte are hoping to tap into this same demographic with TikTok houses, and it wouldn’t be absurd to expect more of them popping up as the years roll on and quick video content continues to reign supreme. The future isn’t in big reality TV shows – it’s in mini influencer houses. Anyone fancy signing me up for one of these, while we’re at it?