School holidays, time to kill and a phone close at hand. The story behind Alex’s TikTok account creation is the same as that of millions of teens around the world. The only difference with most other kids his age is that he has managed to generate excitement with over a million people.
However, the one who became known under the pseudo of Yesmonga admit it to 20 minutes : “My content is quite basic”. Reactions duets, mini-sketches, vlogs, this is the type of videos offered by the 18-year-old, which sometimes reaches ten million views. On the other hand, unlike the others, we will rarely see Alex lend himself to the game of dance challenges. “I’m not going to hide that I tried, but it’s a disaster, I absolutely do not know how to dance,” he confesses.
Diplomas before subscribers
Listening to him, we tell ourselves that Yesmonga takes things as they come, without really thinking about what’s next. The videographer posts the content that makes him laugh, devotes a small part of his afternoons to it, then resumes his normal activities. One thing’s for sure: he doesn’t rely on TikTok to launch a career on social media. “I know it doesn’t last forever. If it stops overnight, never mind, I don’t care. I’m not too attached to that, ”he explains as he starts a bachelor’s degree in economics and management at the start of the school year.
Living off this new passion is therefore not part of Alex’s life plans. “I know very well that my studies will bring me the most in life. I would rather have diplomas than have nothing at all, ”he says, while he now has 1.1 million subscribers and that product placements are now part of his daily life.
From TikTok to YouTube?
Besides his photos on Instagram and his videos on TikTok, Alex still tries to export himself to YouTube even if “it’s really complicated to develop”. The young man had tried a first breakthrough almost a year ago, before leaving his chain abandoned. But since June, he has been trying to resume a more regular activity. “After that, it’s not like TikTok at all. On YouTube, you have to sit down, do your video, edit, thumbnails too, it takes you more time. It’s more complicated, ”he notes.
To achieve success, Alex is inspired by those who trust the first places of trends on the platform: Michou, Inoxtag, Amixem… The videographer does even like the big ones by delegating the editing of his videos to an outside person. But there is still a long way to go before convincing its TikTok subscribers to move to YouTube. A difficult challenge since for the moment, Yesmonga has less than 40,000 subscribers.
Sometimes it ticks …
Having over a million subscribers on TikTok has its advantages. Occupying your free time is part of it, meeting new people as well. This is what happened when Alex joined the French House, a collective of tiktokers. ” It was a good experience. Afterwards, some things did not suit me so I separated from this project, ”he confides.
But exposing yourself to the public on social media also has its drawbacks. Even though he doesn’t qualify as an influencer – “I’m just a video maker and having fun” – Alex has to recognize that this new activity doesn’t appeal to everyone. “Since I have been in the influence, I have lost a lot of friends, he regrets. It’s a bit tricky to make real life friends when you’re in this business. “
On the networks, all is not rosy either. Alex was never afraid to mess with his phone’s lens and knew he should come under some criticism. “It was complicated but I ignored it. I do TikTok for myself, for my subscribers and if others don’t like it, too bad for them ”, he philosophizes.