The Sunday Read: ‘The Beauty of 78.5 Million Followers’

<p>During the pandemic, cheerleader-ish girls performing slithery hip-hop dances to rap music on TikTok has been the height of entertainment — enjoyed both genuinely and for laughs.</p><p>Addison Rae, one such TikToker, is the second-most-popular human being on the platform, having amassed a following larger than the population of the United Kingdom.</p><p>In seeking to monetize this popularity, she has followed a path forged by many social media stars and A-list celebrities like Rihanna and Kylie Jenner: She has started her own beauty brand.</p><p>On today’s Sunday Read, a look at how beauty has entered a phase of total pop-culture domination and how influencers are changing the way the sell works by mining the intimate relationships they have with their fans.</p><p><i>This story was written by <strong>Vanessa Grigoriadis</strong> and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, </i><a href="https://www.audm.com/?utm_source=nytmag&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=face_time_grigoriadis" target="_blank"><i>download Audm for iPhone or Android.</i></a></p>