Zoe Gonzales / Daily Nexus

One year ago, UC Santa Barbara student Liam Ereneta became an internet sensation — kind of. Known as @liam.oce on social media, Ereneta had recently broken out in the TikTok content creation scene in 2023 with his video series “This week in 20-something,” an aesthetic expression of artistry combining scenes of bike rides, sunsets and Isla Vista with his spoken reflections and observations, all relating to the ups and downs of early adulthood.

His content was warmly received by UCSB students and I.V. residents, with many similarly-aged people drawn to his poeticism and finding solace in his vulnerability. Ereneta’s videos were also just starting to reach viewers outside of Santa Barbara, landing on multiple For You pages and touching the hearts of 20-somethings across the world.

But despite his rising fame, Ereneta wasn’t exactly an influencer. He was sitting comfortably at 14,000 followers and 225,900 likes on TikTok — still impressive, but a relatively small feat in influencer terms. He could walk about his day-to-day life without being recognized from his videos.

One year later, Ereneta’s 20-something-hood looks a little different. For starters, he graduated from UCSB with a Bachelor of Arts in geography and environmental science in June 2024. He’s still local to Santa Barbara, but now lives in Goleta, a stark difference from his Isla Vista duplex apartment. Instead of spending his days biking past Storke Tower or playing ultimate frisbee on the Recreation Center Fields, he’s digging hiking trails by hand with a local trail maintenance crew and searching for a post-grad job on the side.

Ereneta’s social media life also underwent major transformation. On Nov. 17, 2023, Ereneta made his personal Instagram account public and began uploading his videos to Instagram Reels, a move that altered the trajectory of his creator career. His account (@liam.oce) completely blew up on this new platform — skyrocketing to 117,000 followers on Instagram and amassing millions of views and likes.

Now, he gets recognized. A lot.

“People on campus, like in the library or the Arbor,” Ereneta said. “Honestly, a lot of people at Trader Joe’s. [Trader Joe’s] is a guaranteed place to see everybody.”

Most interactions are brief and non conversational, a quick “I love your videos” before running the other way. Others are a bit bolder. “This girl stopped me in the library and was like, ‘Oh my God, are you Liam? You’re my campus crush,’” Ereneta said, chuckling.

Over the span of one year, Ereneta’s content creation journey has grown to unfathomable heights, racking up brand deals and reaching a significantly larger audience as he continues to upload videos. It makes my original article from November 2024, when he had just hit 14,000 TikTok followers, look sheepish in comparison to the platform he has now.

“It was so funny to read that article and see how many followers I was at a year ago. It really, really took off on Instagram,” Ereneta said.

Ereneta graduated from UCSB in June 2024 and has continued his content creation journey since. (Courtesy of Liam Ereneta)

I’ve kept up with Ereneta over the past year — sort of. He knows nothing about me, other than that I’m a writer for the Daily Nexus who likes Taylor Swift (we briefly fangirled about Swift in our last conversation: “I didn’t get tickets to the Eras Tour, but I’m definitely planning on seeing ‘The Eras Tour’ movie,” Ereneta said in 2023).

But I, like his 117,000 followers on Instagram, know almost everything about him. Through his videos, I watched him pack up his Isla Vista apartment and leave Isla Vista, taking graduation pictures with his friends and tossing their caps in the air. I’ve learned that he still keeps in touch with fellow content creator and mentor Blake Kasemeier, often interacting in the comments of each other’s videos. I’ve met his girlfriend — Ruth Holcomb, a fellow UCSB alum and avid biker who shares Ereneta’s taste for adventure — while listening to Ereneta narrate their love story to Swift’s “invisible string.”

I’ve learned his deepest fears and insecurities about graduating, life, love and growing up. I’ve learned that he sometimes wears white crew socks with a penguin on them.

“It was so funny to read that article and see how many followers I was at a year ago.”  

That’s the life of an influencer. It’s rarely a reciprocal relationship. What Ereneta does is bold — offering intimate aspects of his life to an entirely faceless audience. And with his newer, larger platform, his audience has expanded beyond the confines of 20-somethings, reaching the algorithms of people looking to understand the trials and tribulations of early adulthood, regardless of age.

“A good portion of my audience now on Instagram is parents of people my age who don’t get that much for their kids,” Ereneta revealed. “I think through comments and DMs, a lot of parents watch my videos as a window into their kid’s life. Not a perfect window, but similar enough just going through college,” he said.

However, Ereneta has made it abundantly clear that he is no expert on this volatile stage of life. “It’s funny to be only a few months out of college, and people DM me like, ‘What advice do you have for college? What college should I go to?’” he said.

“I don’t know everything, guys,” Ereneta confessed, laughing.

With his larger following also came a larger platform, making Ereneta the focus of multiple brands hoping for him to advertise their products. Interspersed throughout his Instagram feed are ads for the likes of outdoor brands Peak Design (which he is an ambassador for) and Dometic, promoting various products while maintaining the @liam.oce charm. He reflects about moving back home after college while showcasing an ice cooler, comments on the disposable attitude of modern society while showing off the durability of a backpack. 

Ereneta uploaded his first promotional video in March 2023 at just 20,000 followers. “Oh my gosh, it was so surreal,” Ereneta recounted. “I was like, ‘Really? You want me to advertise your product?’ I had never advertised anything before, so it was definitely a crazy moment.”

To Ereneta, being asked to promote products was an official marking of his influencer status. “It chips away at the imposter syndrome a little bit,” he said. “When I was only posting on TikTok and I wasn’t making money, I was very self-conscious and embarrassed about recording myself in public. It’s still hard, but at least now, if someone stops me like, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ I could say, ‘I get paid to do this.’”

His online presence and prominence continues to grow, increasing engagement every day. But no number of likes, views or followers can make a person immune to the post-grad blues. This is a theme Ereneta regularly explores in his videos, documenting the jarring transition from college life to full-fledged adulthood.

“It’s nice not to have homework,” Ereneta joked. “But it’s hard.”

In a video uploaded Oct. 11, he dives into the struggles of life after college, voicing his frustrations and disjunction with post-grad life. Set to clips from a bike ride, Ereneta narrates, “I really wanna go see the world and be uncomfortable again, but that costs money that I don’t have. And honestly, I’m uncomfortable enough that I don’t see my college roommates anymore.”

Ereneta’s words definitely struck a chord — that video in particular garnered over 1.2 million views, over 123,000 likes and 14,700 shares. The comments are full of praise for his candor and vulnerability, with Instagram user @aaronneddy commenting, “Why am I tearing up? You literally described how I feel so eloquently and beautifully.”

Zoe Gonzales / Daily Nexus

As of right now, Ereneta’s post-grad life has him working on a local trail crew, spending three to four days a week digging trails by hand. He also does freelance copywriting and marketing on the side, hoping to build up his resume as he pursues other opportunities in the professional world.

His internet prominence has had an unexpected perk: after voicing his frustrations with the job application process, opportunities came out of the woodwork. Through his online community, he has been able to form connections, commenters occasionally offering him a helping hand in networking and providing potential professional leads. “It’s definitely opened more doors for me than it’s closed,” he said.

Regardless of his job status, Ereneta still plans to make videos, sharing his life with the vast world of the internet and reaching the algorithms of countless viewers. “There’s so many days where you’re like, ‘Well, I don’t really feel like I have anything interesting to say.’ But it’s still pretty fun to make something creative every day.”

His videos also act as a public diary, allowing him to record, document and appreciate scenes from his life. “I think making videos helped me stop and look around every once in a while,” Ereneta said.

“I read every comment,” Ereneta revealed. “Even if I don’t interact with every comment, I read every comment.”

Though steep engagement growth and swanky brand partnerships have facilitated Ereneta’s transition from micro-influence to just influence, the core onus of his content remains the same: opening a window into his life in the hopes that those who see it might resonate.

In November 2023, Ereneta told me, “At the end of the day, I just hope that [my videos] help someone feel less alone.”

Now, in November 2024, with over 100,000 more Instagram followers than last year, it’s safe to say his wish came true. While watching Ereneta’s videos, it’s impossible to feel alone in a sea of similarly-situated 20-somethings, navigating the uncharted waters of 20-something-hood one Instagram reel at a time.

This appeared in the Nov. 14 print edition of the Daily Nexus.