For most teenagers, social media is a way to share selfies, watch funny videos and connect with friends. For Mattituck High School senior Tanner Zagarino, it’s been the source of a six-figure income.
Zagarino, 17, has been building his social media empire for three years. The young mogul says the whole thing “kind of fell into my lap.”
“I had done a couple videos on YouTube, just messing around. I had a shoot with this guy who had 50,000 followers,” Tanner explained. “He posted me on Instagram and I think I got like a thousand followers in one minute, and it all just kind of snowballed from there.”
That was three years ago. Today, Tanner’s Instagram boasts more than 630,000 followers. It is his most popular social media platform, with Twitter coming in second at more than 100,000 followers and a YouTube follower count of 40,000.
“I also have a Vine account. I don’t think I’ve ever posted anything, but I have like 20,000 followers just from my name alone… It’s pretty surreal,” Tanner said.
Zagarino makes part of his impressive income by using his Instagram to promote products. His first branding offer came a few years ago from Kiel James Patrick, a company that sells handcrafted bracelets.
“I was only around 50,000 when I got my first offer. They sent me a whole bunch of bracelets, and I really liked them a lot,” Tanner said, explaining that companies will either pay him a fee or compensate him with clothing and merchandise.
From there, the offers never stopped coming in. He recently spent a few weeks on the road promoting HP computers.
Zagarino’s Instagram posts quickly climb in both likes and comments. When he posts a photo, the response is almost instantaneous.
“It’s a little overwhelming,” he said. “I try to stay away from the comments, I try not to get involved. I’ve always felt like once you get involved you forget about the real world. You start reading comments, seeing the hate, and that becomes your focus. I respond to positive fans but negative messages are not worth even entertaining.”
Tanner also models, though he describes himself as “not a high fashion guy — I just don’t have that look.” Instead, he views himself as “an all-American,” striking poses for the likes of Hollister and Abercrombie.
He travels to Los Angeles during the summer to do modeling work before returning home for school.
“I had to grow up pretty fast,” he said. “I remember the first time I travelled, checking into the hotel I had to lie about my age because I wasn’t old enough.”
His lifestyle may seem a little daunting to some, especially all before reaching legal adulthood, but Tanner enjoys the spotlight.
“It 100 percent interferes with my school and personal life — sometimes I can’t hang out and do normal kid things because I’m busy working — but it also betters it too,” he said. “I have a really huge, great variety of friends — from LA, from the industry, and of course my day-one friends back home.”
The one thing Tanner always makes time for, though, is sports.
“I’ve been wrestling since I was two years old,” Tanner said with a laugh. “Last year I took third in New York State, eighth in the nation — this year, I’ll be a state and national champion, I hope.”
After his high-ranking season last year, Tanner says the offers started flowing from Division 1 schools.
“I’m really trying to narrow it down at this point, visiting some schools,” Tanner said. “Wrestling is opening doors for me… but my passion is film, and that’s what I’m going to pursue in college.”
Tanner loves being both behind and in front of the camera. He enjoys writing, and just recently produced a few short films with friends that he says will be promoting soon on his YouTube channel.
“It’s a tough industry to break into. Social media is hard in and of itself. It’s grown into an industry now where you’ve got a lot of people trying to make it, and I was blessed enough to have it happen to me.”
Zagarino is a hard worker, but a humble one. He says internet fame grew organically, and he’s hoping to take that same approach with his film career.
“My main focus right now is acting and film — thats my passion, I’d say, it’s what I want to do most with my life. I’d like to go to school, major in film, work on my craft, and hopefully the rest will just sort of take care of itself.”
