Lucky Gilmore @feelingluckyyy

Asking students on campus questions ranging from serious to lighthearted, she’s on the hunt for the hottest take. 

Lucky Gilmore, a senior political science major from North Little Rock, started a TikTok series “Hot Takes” with Harrison Warren, an Arkansas State University alumnus. 

Gilmore started “Hot Takes” because she loved the “Billy on the Street” videos. She used that style of video to quiz students about local government to get extra credit in a class, which led to it becoming a regular series. 

“We would just walk around campus and speak to students that we came across and we would ask them very random questions. Every episode had a theme,” Gilmore said. “It blows my mind how honest people will be.”

The reach of these videos has extended past the A-State community. Gilmore said college students in other states know who she is. 

“We reached pretty far, which is what I wanted to do since my demographic was college students,” Gilmore said. “I’m glad that other people got to watch it.”

While she is no longer making videos due to focusing on her senior year, Gilmore said she has seen other people doing the same style of video around campus and would love it if someone else picked it up. 

“I would reckon just do it. If you’re worried about people being rude to you, out of the year that I was doing it I had maybe one or two people actually be rude to my face,” Gilmore said. “I promise, it’s so rewarding.”

Social media is her passion project. She makes fashion content to share what she is wearing, relatable relationship content and her take on online trends. 

Kayla “Kay” Lindsey @kayalyselindsey

Kayla “Kay” Lindsey, a senior creative media production major from Ozark, Missouri, said to keep her friends updated on her life, she used to make daily vlogs. These got her interested in social media. 

“I really love social media but I love more of the business side of it, which is kind of what I want to do post-college. I kind of want to do social media management,” Lindsey said. 

Her relationship content has gained the most popularity. One video of Lindsey’s, a meme of the bird from “Rio,” amassed 5.8 million views on TikTok. 

“I went to sleep and I had like four likes, I woke up at 100,000 likes and then I woke up the next day and it was at like a million views,” Lindsey said. “To this day, I still get likes for that.”

Putting a unique spin on a TikTok trend is the best way to garner views, Lindsey said. 

“I like creating more long-form content on TikTok, something that’s more like a minute or longer just because I like those kinds of videos. I know for some people, keeping it short and engaging is more their style,” Lindsey said 

Lindsey works with Least of These, a charity food pantry in her hometown, helping them with their branding and creating content for social media. 

“Someone told me if you are on social media to make money then you’re in it for the wrong reasons,” Lindsey said. “It’s more just kind of putting out what you want to do passionately.” 

Makenzie Pitts @howdyitsmak

She’s the girl behind the A-State Admissions and Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA) social media accounts. On top of that, she makes her own TikTok and Instagram content and is starting a YouTube channel. 

“The audience that I’m creating content towards is people who like the same things as me, people who love colorful, eccentric, more just kind of preppy teenage college-age girls,” Makenzie Pitts said. 

Pitts, a first-year strategic communications major from West Memphis, Arkansas, said she’s starting a YouTube channel to document her life in college. Pitts has one video up, a vlog of her birthday weekend.

In 2021, Pitts started working at Caldwell Home Medical and Gifts, creating content to advertise different products in the store. She said that transferred to her doing social media for ZTA and herself. 

On top of that, Pitts runs the social media for A-State admissions and her painting business, Only Aesthetically.

“Managing social media for so many different outlets has really pushed me more into knowing I do want to influence,” Pitts said. “It’s definitely given me more experience I need to continue.”

Pitts said there is pressure on social media to go viral and it’s hard not to get discouraged when you don’t see growth. 

“Everybody has to start somewhere,” Pitts said. “I feel like the time is now to put yourself out there and see if it’s something you like because there’s more opportunities for people, brand ambassadors and social networking and different career opportunities in it.”

Categories: Arts & Entertainment