Age: 18.

Appearance: Social media phenomenon.

And what does that look like? Usually it looks like a cute cat. But in this case, like a teenage girl.

What's this girl got that the average cute cat doesn't have? 1.2m Twitter followers, 2.3m Instagram followers, and 5.1m YouTube subscribers.

Wow. What does she do? Does she sing? No.

Does she act? Dance? You're missing the point. Ms Mota is the undisputed star of a YouTube sub-genre known as the "haul video", which is basically someone sitting on their bed showing you a load of stuff they just bought.

That's a thing? It used to be a thing; now it's an industry. Bethany has legions of fans – also, by and large, teenage girls – called "motavators".

What do they see in her? Themselves, mainly: a highly successful version of ordinariness. "She's super famous and super pretty," as one fan put it.

And there's money in that, is there? It's estimated that Mota pulls in about $40k a month from YouTube advertising alone. Her videos have expanded in range to include makeup and craft demonstrations, alongside a separate channel (with 1.6m subscribers) devoted to all things Bethany.

It would be fair to say that I don't get it. If you're not a teenage girl, it's not for you to get. Mota, who says she started making videos of her own at 13 after being bullied online, radiates a squeaky-clean authenticity, engages tirelessly with her fanbase and displays unbridled enthusiasm for certain high street brands.

She sounds like a marketing opportunity waiting to be snapped up. She already has been. Mota has just launched her own line of clothing and jewellery with teen apparel chain Aeropostale and is currently on a nationwide tour (the "Motavatour") of their mall outlets that attracts hundreds, sometimes thousands, of fans at each stop.

So she's the poster girl for a generation of adolescent shopaholics? She's not a poster girl. She's their guru.

You're scaring me a little. Calm down. Breathe into this super cute bag I just bought at Target.

Do say: "I've seen the future of bubbleheaded consumerism, and it's fun!"

Don't say: "What happened to you, Bethany? You sold out!"