viral sensations: jovan hill

You may recognize them from a meme saved in your camera roll or their content shared on your timeline. This month, we’re highlighting some of our fave viral sensations killing it on social media. These are the Black creatives breaking, curating, and shaping viral culture today.

Name: Jovan Miguel Hill
Pronouns: He/Him
Follow @: Instagram
Star sign: A Scorpio sun, Scorpio rising, Pisces moon

How do you describe what you do?
I mostly discuss my personal experiences with mental health, rant about boy problems, and make an extreme amount of commentary on whatever crosses my path. I talk to my followers often, I usually go live once or twice a day. Try and respond to as many DMs as I can and talk people through their problems using whatever life has taught me. I’m not really sure what I’d call myself exactly, a content creator is the easiest description I think.

How has life changed since you’ve gone viral?
I went from being a broke college student to a slightly less broke content creator. But in all seriousness I moved from Texas to New York to California and I’ve been able to live a lot more comfortably than the NYC basement I started in. I’ve had the privilege to work with musicians and entertainers that know who I am, which is an insane feeling, because if you told me two years ago I’d be able to FaceTime Kehlani I’d ask if you needed my help finding a licensed psychiatrist. I’ve been able to use my platform to advocate for things I care about, and when a crisis happens, for example in Sudan, I was able to mobilize my followers and spread awareness as well as get some of my favorite celebrities involved. I’m making a positive difference which is all I ever wanted to do, regardless of where I ended up in life.

Do you feel like your content has been copied by mainstream influencers or social platforms?
I try and be humble and continue doing my own thing but I can’t pretend it hasn’t been something I’ve noticed. I see my posts and content regurgitated from YouTubers to even writing rooms every month at this point. It used to be cool, like “wow a network thought my tweet was script-worthy!” but now that I have student loan payments it’s pretty lame having your thoughts monetized with no permission or payment. A lot of my peers tell me it’s because I overshare too much for free, but I didn’t start using social media for fame or money so it’s a challenge shifting from how I normally enjoy using it. It’s not going to stop me or anything as I believe it is unavoidable, and unoriginal people always fade away eventually. However, I’ve been able to work with music labels on social media strategy and online marketing, so I’m getting to share my ideas on my own terms slowly but steadily.

What advice would you give to a young Black creative, that you wish you were given while on the come up?
I’d tell them to know their worth. I was making Twitter money, a billion impressions is a billion impressions, your content is making someone money so don’t be afraid to find your own way to monetize it. Stop entertaining, educating, whatever it is you do for people for free; unless you have the means to do it free without struggling. And, never compare yourself to where others are at, life happens, and life sucks. Just keep progressing towards your goals and do what feels right, regardless of what other people think.

Do you have a message for everyone that misses you on Twitter?
I miss them all, too!! So much, I’ve been loving my new Instagram life but I don’t think I’ll ever be back on Twitter how I was mid-2018. I’m permanently suspended and that isn’t changing. Hopefully sooner than later maybe I’ll be involved in things outside the social media sphere and we can all reconnect there. I haven’t given up on meeting Beyoncé so I’ll still be around until then.
 

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i cant believe its come to this

A post shared by jovan hill (@ehjovan) on Aug 12, 2019 at 7:45pm PDT