Lights, digital camera, curls: Mia Belmont, CC ’24, amasses TikTok fame and explores the impacts of social media

Mia Belmont, CC ’24, grooves to the latest SZA songs, expressively plays audio clips from the TV show “Victorious” and skilfully styles her hair with playful clips and hair ties. Belmont seems like your average teenager, apart from the fact that she has over a million likes on TikTok.

Belmont uses the curls.by.mia handle on Instagram and TikTok, where she directs, edits, and stars in short videos that focus on curly hair care. Belmont now has over 11,000 followers on Instagram and 65,000 followers on TikTok. Curls.by.mia was created to share a newfound appreciation and understanding of how to style your natural hair.

Belmont grew up in New York State and struggled to find confidence in hair that she couldn’t style. Receiving home tuition in eighth grade provided Belmont with the perfect opportunity to learn how to manage her curls.

“My hair was kind of just there,” said Belmont. “I didn’t necessarily use it to express myself. However, I was always a little insecure because I didn’t love the hairstyles my mother made on me. I definitely didn’t feel really safe. “

Instead of turning to local salons or family members, Belmont found a safe haven on the internet. YouTube turned out to be an essential tool for understanding her curly hair.

“As far as I can remember, it was always a place where I could learn more about myself because my mom didn’t necessarily know how to do her hair either,” Belmont said. “It was always something really big for me that I needed, especially when I grew up in an area where there are no other blacks.”

After the coronavirus pandemic closed schools around the world, Belmont launched its Instagram page in June 2020. In their first video from June 1, Belmont features a simple set of braids adorned with pink and yellow butterfly clips while Frank Ocean plays whimsy “pink + white” in the background. Her debut video now has over 17,000 views.

As her Instagram followers grew, Belmont learned how to use Final Cut Pro editing software to stitch together footage and add eye-catching graphics to her videos. Just three weeks later, on June 22nd, she posted her first video on TikTok. Belmont said it was easier to reach a wider audience through TikTok’s “For You” page than through Instagram’s “Explore” page

Curls.by.mia presents viewers with hairstyles, hair care routines, user-interactive challenges, and relatable humor that are aligned with TikTok’s most viral sound clips. Belmont’s first truly viral video, viewed 1.5 million times, was released on July 18th. In the video, Belmont uses “adult hair for edges” to play discussions about non-blacks using the popular baby haircare technique – a process of using gel to deposit baby hair along the hairline.

Belmont is a source of inspiration for its diverse content, particularly a series of hairstyle videos based on the popular online game Among Us. Reporting pop culture references and hair art gives Belmont a niche in the online hair community.

Working with other developers is an integral part of the Belmont content creation process. By following, liking, commenting on, reposting, and collaborating with other hair accounts, Belmont was able to reach more users in their newfound social media community. She eventually received offers of recognition and cooperation from companies such as Ula Hair and Designer Edges. Working in an industry dominated by women also had a positive impact on Belmont’s growth.

“I definitely felt very comfortable and confident,” said Belmont. “Most of my followers are women too. So it’s like you’re not dealing with men who keep looking at you like an award. It’s only women who raise other women, which is really nice. “

However, not all of Belmont’s experiences as a content creator have been positive. Even as she basks at the success of her first viral video, Belmont recalls her first hateful comment and the impact it had on her.

“I republished this video on a larger platform [than mine]. At that point, I had 500 followers. The person in the comments said, “She has a big forehead,” Belmont said. “It made me a little confident. But then I realized it was Instagram. People love to hate other people here. “

The growing fan base also had an impact on Belmont’s creative process. Soon every video set expectations and pressure to higher levels – a numbers game that is difficult to control against the unstable algorithms and fast trends of social media platforms.

Belmont also worried about her younger audience, whose exposure to social media such as TikTok and Instagram is almost unprecedented. The beauty expectations for young women advertised using these apps are proving to be particularly damaging. TikTok was recently investigated for dealing with videos that promote eating disorders.

“On TikTok I would like to have eight year olds follow me … and it’s so crazy because social media sets a lot of standards, both physically and in terms of personality, that these young girls feel like they have to uphold them,” said Belmont. “And of course there are accounts and the hair community … that are super supportive and empowering. But there are other things that can really harm these children as well. “

As a content creator and personal consumer, Belmont experiences both sides of social media. She deleted both TikTok and Instagram from her phone in late 2020 and no longer uses her personal accounts.

“My platform has made me more confident and physical who I am and made me much more free to be myself,” said Belmont. “My personal experience with social media worries me a lot.”

However, Belmont plans to return to social media in the near future and create more content for curls.by.mia. She sees opportunities to expand outside of her regular videos and promote her musical talents or a future hair care line.

Regardless of whether or not new videos are uploaded, curls.by.mia remains gratifying proof of the power of curly hair on the internet. For Belmont, this is where the reward lies.

“Knowing that I’m helping people really motivates me,” said Belmont. “Knowing that people are watching my content and making it their day, or they’re just excited to see someone with their hair type or someone who looks like they’re making videos and doing weird things with their hair. I do it with pleasure. “

The employee Emma Schartz can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow Spectator on Twitter @ColumbiaSpec.

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