Blending lifestyle content creation, activism and education with community-building and a fiercely unapologetic voice, 25-year-old Texan creator Kay Poyer both fosters and leads conversation online.

Based in Dallas, Poyer began on TikTok in 2020 and has since built an almost-million-strong audience on the platform, speaking on literally everything, from her signature cultural commentary (dubbed "ethical hating") to unpacking threats to trans rights and voting rights, to sharing personal experiences including her HIV diagnosis, to thoughts about dating red flags.

However, Poyer's influence reaches beyond TikTok, with 250,000 Instagram followers. Fans also follow her fiercely beloved and mourned podcast Meat Bus, various creative Patreon projects, and her popular and superbly written Substack, The Quiet Part, which reaches over 36,000 subscribers.

From YouTubers and TikTok stars to streamers and podcasters, Mashable talks to creators about how they built their platforms, the gear they swear by, and the trends they see coming next. Read more of our creator coverage or see more of this year’s Mashable 101 to discover the internet's most exciting voices.