Ryan Weitz is a sophomore at the University of Maryland who has established herself on TikTok. She posts lifestyle content to an audience of over 4,300 followers and has amassed over 660,000 likes. As a student, communications major and member of the Kappa Delta sorority, Ryan posts a variety of content including “get ready with me” videos, sit down conversations about mental health and product reviews. I had the opportunity to chat with Ryan about life in Maryland and the world of social media.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are your goals here at Maryland and for the future?
“I want to take everything day by day and really take it all in, because I’m the kind of person that’s a very big planner and has kind of everything aligned, except I feel like I change what I want to do every two weeks, so I’m going to really try to be in the moment and take every opportunity that I get. There’s not really going to be another time in my life where I have this many opportunities, like living with 50 girls in my sorority house. So I think for college just making sure I take every opportunity I can socially or academically. And I think for the future, definitely something in marketing or PR, just something to do with communications. My ultimate dream job would be to be an influencer, so maybe one day that’ll happen, but if not definitely something in that field. I feel like it’s very relevant in today’s life and social media is emerging very quickly. But again, it could change next week.”
How did you decide to get involved in social media?
“It was in eighth grade probably. I did YouTube a lot because I really liked editing videos and vlogging and things like that. My parents were always like, you should have kept it up, something could have happened with that. And then for me, I’m the kind of person that likes to do 10 things at once, and I always see people on social media doing all this stuff. I feel like I have a lot to share and a lot to say, so I thought doing social media would be a good way to do that. I feel like a lot of people on social media don’t really show everything that goes on in their lives or everything in a certain situation, so I wanted to show more of the real side and make it more relatable. I also felt like not that many people do that here at Maryland. I know when I was a freshman there were so many questions that I had and there was so much I wanted to see that I couldn’t really find, like I wanted to see pictures of the dorms and ask questions about them and I didn’t really get any of that. So I kind of wanted to be an outlet for it, which is hopefully what I’m doing and I plan to keep on doing it.”
How are you balancing academic life and social media?
“Honestly, school comes first, but I feel like I do have enough downtime to post stuff. I think it’s easy because I am just showing my life and relatable things, so I can make content while I’m doing other stuff. If I have to go to class, I’ll make a ‘get ready with me to go to classes’ video. My content aligns with my life, so it’s not too hard.”
What is one thing about you that people don’t see through social media?
“One thing people say to me a lot is how put together my life looks. But there are also a lot of other things they don’t see; for example, I struggle with anxiety. But learning about things like that is so important because it can be so bad. I feel like a lot of people always say how are you doing all of these things? And I feel like I try to show it as much as I can on social media, but it’s not like I’m 100% all of the time, and some days there will be really bad days. But I feel like one thing that always gets me through it is having a positive attitude towards everything and trying to see the good in everything, like if something bad happens not staying on it too much. And kind of knowing that everything happens for a reason and learning from it and making sure that if something affects me that day, it doesn’t carry onto the next day.”
Let’s talk about brand deals. Is that something you would like to do more of in the future?
“I definitely would like to do more of it. I’ll do brand deals for things I already use, but a lot of the time brands will reach out to me with random things that I’ve never used or that don’t align with my niche on TikTok. I don’t think I’d ever post something just to make a few hundred dollars; it has no purpose since I’ve never actually used the product in my life. So I have definitely tried to not do that with my platform, because I want it to be very real and true to what I actually do. For example, I work with Samsung. Even though I had never used their products before, now I use [their tablet] a lot and I love it, so that is why I post about it.
How has your life changed since getting more involved in social media?
“I wouldn’t say it’s changed too much, but social media definitely has boosted my confidence. During COVID, I got a lot more shy and reserved because I wasn’t seeing anyone or going anywhere. I feel like it’s forcing me to be in a lot of people’s faces, and know what I’m doing. So I think it’s helped me to be able to feel more comfortable with myself or feel more comfortable with what I’m doing. Especially because a lot of the time I’ll be doing a “day in the life” and I’ll have to pull out my phone on campus or in class and record. People will say stuff and I guess it’s a conversation starter, but it’s also forcing me out of my comfort zone. It’s definitely boosted my confidence; and not only is my content helping other people, but it’s also helping me know that there are people out there like me.
What is one piece of advice you would give your freshman self?
“One of the things I struggled with freshman year a lot was loving myself. Whether it was issues with friends or just getting back into the swing of being on campus instead of being in quarantine, I always put a lot of pressure on myself. And I always thought that I was the problem. I think that’s where a lot of my anxiety stems from, and my shyness, and this year, I’ve definitely been better about putting less pressure on myself, knowing that everyone goes through the same thing. I think another piece of advice I would give myself is, just because everyone doesn’t show what they’re going through doesn’t mean that they’re not going through anything. I feel like on social media people can put up a front and act a certain way other than what they’re actually feeling, and sometimes I really believed it more than I should and that made me more insecure. Definitely that, and everything happens for a reason; it’ll all work out. I know it’s very cliche, but I definitely have followed that and I know that having a positive attitude can get you really far in life.”
Follow Ryan on TikTok @ryweitzz and on Instagram @ryannweitz to see all of the great things she has to come!