For this week’s Spotlight On feature, we spoke to Molly Roberts.
The Irish social media star, known by her handle @mollerina_, starting creating content in 2016 – and her platform has grown massively since.
The 24-year-old often shares fashion hauls and beauty tips with her 18.5k Instagram followers, her 7.3k YouTube subscribers and her 138.3k TikTok followers.
The Irish star has also won praise for opening up about her ADHD diagnosis and mental health online.
Molly chatted exclusively with Goss.ie about the positives and negatives of having a large social media following, her inspirations and why she feels it’s important to stay true to herself.
View this post on Instagram
How did you get into YouTube and TikTok?
In my first year of college, I had my tonsils out and I was recovering for two weeks and I wanted to start something that was just for me that I would get enjoyment out of and pour my creativity into so I started my blog. From there, I started my YouTube channel in the summer and then when TikTok came around it just looked like so much fun. Even though everybody at the start thought it was a bit cringe, I still jumped on it because it was really funny.
How did you start creating content for your audience?
The great thing about my audience has been that they’ve kind of grown with me. My audience started out just being like-minded college students because when I was in college that was the content I was producing. I was showing what I was wearing everyday to my lectures and nights out and then as I’ve grown up and as I’ve gone through different life chapters, so have my audience.
I’ve always just created the content that I like and shared what I’m going through and luckily that’s what my audience really enjoys. Overtime, you figure out what kind of content you prefer to produce and also what kind of content your audience responds to the best.Â
View this post on Instagram
Who is your biggest inspiration when you’re creating content?
I literally could not choose one and they’ve definitely changed throughout the years so I have a couple of big inspirations. Like I have different inspos for different parts of creating content for instance, I love Lisa Onuoha on YouTube for her work ethic surrounding creating content. I find the way that she’s grown her social media to be her full-time thing very inspirational. Over on Instagram, I love the likes of Barbara Kristofferson for her aesthetics and outfits.Â
What is 3 things you would tell anyone wanting to start out making content on social media?
There are three demons you constantly have to keep an eye on:Â
- Not being consistent with your uploads. People will only follow if they’re going to get regular, consistent, good quality content out of you.
- Comparing yourself to other content creators. It’s completely pointless. You don’t want to be a copy of somebody else anyway because if people wanted that they would follow them you need to be you so people can follow you for you.
- The numbers that you see will fluctuate more than likely. It doesn’t define you as person, doesn’t define you’re worth as a person and you probably won’t skyrocket very quickly it will more than likely take a couple of years to build something solid for yourself. So making sure you actually enjoy the process is key!Â
View this post on Instagram
Would you have done anything differently about starting your YouTube or TikTok career if you were starting now?
I don’t think so because I’ve made a lot of mistakes but I’ve learnt so much from those mistakes that I wouldn’t have known now if I didn’t make them. I’ve made nearly every mistake you can make! I think maybe I would not spend as much on equipment for YouTube that I didn’t need.
Has being an influencer online helped with your confidence?
100% it’s helped to build my confidence! I feel like sometimes I’m more myself online than I can be in person with people. The fact that people have said so many nice things to me about who I am and follow me for me just being me has definitely helped build my inner confidence. But also, the fact that people think that just because you’re putting yourself out there on social media that they can openly critique you has also given me some new insecurities I didn’t have before.Â
Who is your favourite YouTuber and why?
This changes all the time but I love Olivia Neill at the moment. I’m so thrilled for her and all of her success that she’s had in the short amount of time that she’s been creating. She’s doing absolutely amazing for herself I love to see it! An Irish queen.Â
View this post on Instagram
Have you received any online trolling and what do you think needs to be done to stop it happening?
Overall I’ve been lucky, but I’ve definitely received some nasty comments on my looks on videos that have gone viral where the videos reaches an audience that wouldn’t typically follow me.
I like the idea of having to register with your ID when you make an account so that everything that you said can be linked back to you. You’d have to think more about what you said then as you would be forced to put your name to it. That would help stop the trolling a lot because people make fake accounts and such. That way if you report them, it would have more of a consequence than just a warning or taking down their account.Â
Have you had any big moments with brands or celebrities that have gotten in contact with you or shared your stuff?
OMG! Coco Rocha the supermodel DMd me on Instagram because I tried to copy one of her poses and it was a complete fail so she invited me to her Model Camp! Technically I’m taking that as she sees potential in me so really I think that’s a win. *adds model to CV*
View this post on Instagram
You’ve openly spoken about your ADHD diagnosis online, what inspired you to speak out about it?
Well it’s part of me so there’s no point really hiding it when it affects my life so much everyday. Also it’s so under-diagnosed in girls and women and so stigmatised, so I really like sharing more info about it and opening up conversations about it.
What can we expect to see from you in the future?
More cute outfits, more sassy attitude and lots more content! You’re not getting rid of me any time soon.Â
