TikTok star Issey Moloney talks getting her own place at 17

There aren’t many teenagers who can afford their own place at the age of 17.

However, TikTok star Issey Moloney has been able to do just that after becoming a social media star during lockdown.

The teen admits she’s been on social media since the age of nine – when she first used the app Musical.ly.

However, she says things only really took off for her when the Musical.ly merged into TikTok.

Issey then pretty much found overnight fame when she gained 3million followers on her @isseypovs account in lockdown when Covid hit – and she hasn’t looked back since.

The teen has now chatted exclusively to Daily Star about how she’s coping with internet fame at such a young age.

Talking about how she gained so many TikTok followers, Issey said: “I knew what was doing well at the time, so kind of followed that.

“I started a brand new account and began posting POVs, where you make up a story and match it to a song.

“I also made sure I mixed up my content quite a lot.”

Describing her content, Issey explained: “I post a lot of relatable content that other teens can identify with.

“That’s why most people follow me I think.

“I share things about mental health, stuff at home, and just talk about stuff a lot of teens go through.”

And how has she coped with her new-found fame?

“Because I got a lot of followers in lockdown, I wasn’t really aware of how many people were seeing my videos,” she admitted.

“People didn’t come up and ask for a photo, they’d just say hi, like a friend would.”

The youngster confessed some of her pals have found her new popularity a bit difficult though.

“Some of my friends were confused about it.

“I also couldn’t see them as much as I didn’t have as much free time, so that was a big change.”

Issey says her dad has been great about her social media stardom though, describing him as “really supportive”.

When it comes to her online followers, Issey admits she’s had her fair share of “hate” although she thinks it may be because of her age.

“I do get quite a lot of hate,” she added.

“But it’s not because I’m actually doing anything wrong.

“I think it’s because of my age. People often treat me like they’d treat a friend in school.

“They often think they know more about my life than they do, so they give opinions on my life that I’m not necessarily asking for, which can come across a bit aggressive.

“They forget they’re not my friend in real life.”

She says she never blocks anyone though as she thinks “everyone is valid to their own opinions”.

Issey admits she does have a “bad habit” of answering back to trolls sometimes though.

“If they say a video is boring, I just tell them that they don’t have to watch it,” she revealed.

When it comes to earnings from her social media accounts, Issey, who also boasts 228,000 on Instagram, says she doesn’t actually make any money from her TikTok.

“I don’t get money for getting a certain number of views or anything,” she added.

“I would feel wrong for it.

“I don’t like getting gifts online too as it makes me feel guilty.”

Issey instead says she gets money from brand deals. However, she says she only works with companies she actually likes or thinks her followers will like.

She said: “You can definitely make a living wage from it, depending on your lifestyle.

“You can 100% you can live off it. I’ve already moved out at 17.”

With such success, we asked Issey if she would recommend the social media lifestyle to other people her age.

She admits she would have probably waited until she was older in hindsight.

The star explained: “I did start quite early on.

“If I’d have got to choose when I started, I would have started a little bit older.

“You can’t make mistakes on social media, so you have to mature a lot more than you would at that age.

“I wouldn’t recommend the lifestyle to other people my age, just because of how much it can affect some people mentally.

“You really need to separate the what people you don’t know say to you from what people who do know you say.”

Despite social media being Issey’s main job right now, she’s hoping it can open more doors to other opportunities when it comes to her career down the line.

Her dream job would be a runway model, which she has “just started looking in to.”

“I’ve always really wanted to do it since a young age, but I know it’s quite hard to get into it,” she said.

Considering what she’s achieved already, we’re sure we’ll see her grace the catwalk any day now!

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