It is not because social networks occupy a central place in the life of teens today, that they necessarily want to work in this area. Most have other ambitions and they are very different.
Contrary to what one might think, all young people today do not dream of becoming influencers or content creators and of making it their job. Even if Instagram, Tiktok or Snapchat are an integral part of their daily life, spending hours on it, these social networks do not necessarily represent a career objective for them. A recent study shows that many still favor more traditional trades or meaningful. Indeed, in 2024, the Odaxa Institute surveyed more than 1000 young people, aged 11 to 17, on behalf of Acadomia, the school support course platform. They tried to find out precisely “What are our children dream of?”. And what they discovered should reassure more than one parent.
Indeed, when questioning young people about their dream profession, careers linked to social networks are not those that come in the lead, quite the contrary. The sciences stand out from the lot, with the profession of veterinarian (8 %), doctor (6 %) and engineer (5 %) who come at the top of the ranking. In a way, it shows that young people are looking for stable, rewarding and useful professions to society above all, far from the image of a generation fascinated by online celebrity.
In detail, most young girls interviewed dream of becoming a veterinarian, doctor or teacher, while boys project more as engineers, professional footballers or doctors. Astonishing fact (or not), the profession of influencer arrives only in the eleventh position of the classification. Which is far from the case on the other side of the Atlantic …
Another study, this time conducted in the United States by the WHOP platform from around 900 adolescents aged 12 to 15, looked into the same subject. Result: one in five young people aspire to create video content, especially on Tiktok. The developer professions of mobile applications or video games also arouse a strong interest. Like what the dreams of the youngest are very different on both sides in the world!