The Road to One Million: An Interview With Nicholas Viatte-Smith
- Yvette Yardley
- Jan 29, 2022
- 7 min read
Tiktok creator Nicholas Viatte-Smith, the man behind the popular Roblox themed videos on his account @itsjustnicholas, has just hit 1 million followers. His videos have reached a colossal 84.7 million likes in total, and having known Nicholas throughout his journey to fame, I decided to contact him to ask about his personal experience in entering this new level of fame. Nicholas was kind enough to agree to an interview, and has given some great insight into his life as an influencer.
1. When you first joined Tiktok, were you intending to gain such a large platform
I joined tiktok around the start of the first lockdown (so about March/April 2020). I’d had TikTok for about 4 months before I actually started filming videos and when I did I’d always had the dream of becoming ‘tiktok famous’ and my ultimate goal was originally 15k (but I never intended on getting THIS BIG)
2. Did anyone or anything inspire you to create an account on Tiktok?
At first I definitely think it was the more well known tiktokers on the app, like Charli D’Amelio and the whole of the old Hype House, which is why I started off making dancing videos!
3. How has your content changed throughout your time on the app?
So I started off my account by making short dancing videos like other big creators at the time. Then at about 3000 followers I started making my videos that were more comedy themed, like little skits and videos about viral memes and stuff at the time (like the whole Noah Neck trend). I cant really remember at what point I started making content about Miraculous Ladybug, but I think it was at about 150k (I might be wrong). I then started doing Roblox game recommendations because I had been playing Roblox even before I started tiktok, but the idea to make content about it never really popped into my head until much later on. And now I mainly just post videos about Roblox!
4. 1 million followers is an incredible number - do you ever feel pressure to keep up appearances or create content?
Yes definitely. The pressure to post three videos a day at specific times is all consuming and there are days were I literally force myself to film even if I have zero motivation. I think that one of the massive issues on tiktok is the pressure to keep on producing content regularly, as otherwise your account will start doing badly and it’s really hard to get back to where you once were before hand. I remember that there was a week where I was on holiday and didn’t post at all, and when I got back home and started posting again my account was absolutely dead and it took about 2-3 weeks to gain my engagement back, making me feel like I could never even take a break, although now I think I know how to control it a bit better.
5. What are your goals for the future?
I’m not very sure at the moment to be honest because I don’t really think I would love a career that’s completely reliant on my Tiktok as it’s so unpredictable and I never know what’s going to happen. I’ve always wanted to start a Youtube channel but at the moment with school I have no time to, but i think it’s definitely a goal for the future! I’ve also always loved helping other people and I care a lot about current issues going on in the world, so I’d love to use my platform to spread more awareness about climate change, world poverty, and other important global issues.
6. Do the demands of social media ever affect your mental health?
Ye, I think that’s definitely been one of the hardest things that’s come with Tiktok. The pressure of having to create content and also the uncertainty of it all is so stressful and I’m still not very good at handling it. It’s a really big cause of unnecessary anxiety and it’s in my head almost all day long, even when I’m supposed to be concentrating on other more important things like school work or just having fun.
7. Do you ever get any negative reactions to what you post, and if so, how does it make you feel?
I’ve definitely received a lot of hate from the stuff I post and my personality online (and in real life) but most of it doesn’t really get to me because I’m not bothered by what I post, so why should I feel embarrassed about what other people think about it?
8. Do you think your popularity online has changed your personality or attitude in any way?
I think it’s definitely made me feel way more comfortable in terms of expressing myself and my opinion in different situations, but it’s also made me more self conscious when it comes to things to do with appearance like my looks etc, but I think that’s also just a major factor when growing up. I also think TikTok has changed my humour and personality in tons of ways that I don’t even realise, but I think (kind of sadly) that a lot of my sense of humour among lots of other things come from the app.
9. What is one thing your followers don’t know about you?
I’m 1/4 Swiss.
10. Is there another influencer that you would wish to collaborate with?
SO MANY omg there’s so many different creators on TikTok that I would love to meet and collab with, but also just talk with and see how they manage there TikTok and other socials, and don’t let it impact on there mental health and well-being (It’s my dream to become friends with Charli D’Amelio I KNOW ITS BASIC BUT)
11. What advice would you give to budding social media influencers?
Firstly I would say that you HAVE to scrap the idea of ‘what other people will think about your content’. When I started TikTok, the first type of videos I did where dancing ones (they were actually horrific, I’m grimacing while writing about it), and I know that there were probably SO MANY people at my school saying how embarrassing it was behind my back, and a few to my face, but back then I had learnt not to care. I had a goal to reach 15,000 followers and I was so determined to reach it that I didn’t really think about what other people thought, I just did what I wanted to do and it worked.
Secondly I would say that you should find something to base your platform on and stick to it. I’ve changed ‘niches’ a lot on TikTok, from dancing, to just light comedy, to making videos about a literal children’s TV show, and now creating content about a video game aimed towards young kids- its been really diverse but I’ve stuck to making videos about Roblox recently, and that’s helped me gain a following of people I know will be interested in my content as they’ve followed my account for that reason!
12. Can you tell me a bit about your childhood?
It’s not very interesting: I’ve lived in the UK my whole life but I’m half french so I always went (and still go) to France really regularly to see my grandparents and my french family. I’ve always been really dramatic and loved acting, singing and dancing even as a kid so I did a few different clubs and classes and some plays and musicals like Oliver during The Fringe festival in Edinburgh. I’ve also always been super loud and found it really easy to get distracted by the most stupid things, but I think some people (sometimes) appreciate my enthusiasm.
13. What do you do in your spare time when you switch off from Tiktok?
I actually find it super hard to just completely switch off from TikTok because it’s almost constantly on my mind, but I’ve always really loved reading even though I don’t at all do as much of it as I used to, I still find it a really good way to relax and escape from reality for a few minutes or hours. I also love gaming but I wouldn’t at all call myself ‘a gamer’ as the main video game I’ve played until recently is Roblox, although I’ve started playing Valorant in this last month and even though I’m completely terrible at it I find it super fun and I think im (really slowly) improving.
14. What sets you apart from other influencers?
I’m not super sure but I think that one thing that I love doing the most is talking and being as interactive as I can with the people who follow me. I always try and reply to comments and DM’s and even though I cant respond to everyone, I try my best! I also don’t really consider myself an influencer even though I am I just can’t really get my head around it I just like to think of myself as a person who likes something and likes showing that to other people if that makes sense? I guess that’s what an influencer is though!
15. Who is your celebrity crush, if you have one?
Dylan O’Brien. My official husband even though he doesn’t know.
16. Do you have any pets?
YESSS! I have a really cute cat called Noisette (which means hazelnut in french) but I don’t really thinks she likes me to much, I love her with my whole heart though.
17. Who is your favourite Tiktoker to watch?
One of my fave accounts on tiktok is probably @midnightvisi0n i always go to there profile if im feeling stressed or anxious and there videos are so relaxing to watch. I ALSO LOVE @irenedoll SHES SO FUNNY
18. If you could live in any country, where would you go?
I think I’ve always dreamed of living in NYC or LA in the US just cos it seems so cool, but I also really want to visit places like Iceland, Bora Bora and the whole of Asia (I’ve already been to Japan when I was younger and I want to revisit it so badly)
19. Do you see yourself ever having a job that is not related to social media?
Yes definitely, even though I love TikTok and it’s becoming more and more of a career I’m not sure if I would want it to be my job forever, and plus the online world is changing and evolving so fast who knows how long TikTok will last... I’ve always been really interested in the sea and marine life so maybe something to do with that?
20. Do your family support your Tiktok career?
Yes and no I think that my parents find it incredible that I have such a large following but they also understand (sometimes annoyingly even more than me) how harmful and draining the online world can be so I think they would completely understand if I had a break from it and tried something new!
Thank you Nicholas, for allowing your fans, and new readers, a look into your life!
To watch Nicholas’ videos, click the links below!
Tiktok:
Instagram:
Youtube:
by Yvette Yardley
29/01/2022
this was a great article, well done :>