As a YouTuber and content creator myself, this article rings all too true to me. Lots of good points here for anyone looking to get into this game.
> It’s still a chore!
Yup. People often underestimate the amount of work it takes to run a blog or YouTube channel in general, and how much of that work doesn't involve the content itself. It's no surprise everyone wants to monetise these things; doing them for free can feel like a second unpaid full-time job in of itself.
> There are weirdos on the internet
Unfortunately. Which makes for a deadly combination alongside sudden fame and psychological instability. So much drama can basically be summed up as "assholes discover mentally unstable content creator" or "mentally unstable content creator hits the big time and becomes a worldwide celebrity".
The end result can be an internet car crash that basically destroys any hope of a normal life.
And the more popular you become online, the more likely it is you'll encounter the rare person wanting to make your life a living hell.
> Indifference is the real killer
100%. Being hated sucks, but seeing something you worked so hard on go completely ignored... well, that's arguably even worse. Nothing kills motivation faster than the feeling you're not getting anywhere, and platforms like YouTube and Twitch only rub that aspect in your face even more.
> Follower counts are a lie
Definitely. YouTube is probably the best example, since it seems the majority of users find content via the recommended videos list and home page feed rather than subscriptions now. But just about everywhere is the same, and it only makes it feel worse when only about 1% of your 10,000 followers seem to actually give a toss about your work.
> Money is the root of only some evil
This is an interesting point, though I'm not sure I agree with the example given. Generally I gain followers when I post videos, with the only difference between posting more and less stuff being whether the number grows gradually or slightly more quickly.
Nah, in my opinion, the real root of all evil is that these platforms expect their users to be machines. They expect non stop, consistently posted content on a daily/weekly/hourly basis without fail.
And they also usually don't want you to leave your lane either. If you get popular posting about any one topic (whether a game or series, framework or programming language, sport, band, etc) then they only want you to post about that topic until the day you die.
That's the big problem with content creation and social media right there. And it's the cause of every issue these platforms face.
Why do we get people making meaningless polls about every random topic under the sun? Why has AI generated garbage run rampant? Why is there so much plagiarism from large creators? How have content mills taken over everything?
Because that's how you get things done on the ludicrous schedules expected by these platforms. By giving up your humanity and becoming nothing more than a faceless machine attempting to please the algorithm.
> It’s still a chore!
Yup. People often underestimate the amount of work it takes to run a blog or YouTube channel in general, and how much of that work doesn't involve the content itself. It's no surprise everyone wants to monetise these things; doing them for free can feel like a second unpaid full-time job in of itself.
> There are weirdos on the internet
Unfortunately. Which makes for a deadly combination alongside sudden fame and psychological instability. So much drama can basically be summed up as "assholes discover mentally unstable content creator" or "mentally unstable content creator hits the big time and becomes a worldwide celebrity".
The end result can be an internet car crash that basically destroys any hope of a normal life.
And the more popular you become online, the more likely it is you'll encounter the rare person wanting to make your life a living hell.
> Indifference is the real killer
100%. Being hated sucks, but seeing something you worked so hard on go completely ignored... well, that's arguably even worse. Nothing kills motivation faster than the feeling you're not getting anywhere, and platforms like YouTube and Twitch only rub that aspect in your face even more.
> Follower counts are a lie
Definitely. YouTube is probably the best example, since it seems the majority of users find content via the recommended videos list and home page feed rather than subscriptions now. But just about everywhere is the same, and it only makes it feel worse when only about 1% of your 10,000 followers seem to actually give a toss about your work.
> Money is the root of only some evil
This is an interesting point, though I'm not sure I agree with the example given. Generally I gain followers when I post videos, with the only difference between posting more and less stuff being whether the number grows gradually or slightly more quickly.
Nah, in my opinion, the real root of all evil is that these platforms expect their users to be machines. They expect non stop, consistently posted content on a daily/weekly/hourly basis without fail.
And they also usually don't want you to leave your lane either. If you get popular posting about any one topic (whether a game or series, framework or programming language, sport, band, etc) then they only want you to post about that topic until the day you die.
That's the big problem with content creation and social media right there. And it's the cause of every issue these platforms face.
Why do we get people making meaningless polls about every random topic under the sun? Why has AI generated garbage run rampant? Why is there so much plagiarism from large creators? How have content mills taken over everything?
Because that's how you get things done on the ludicrous schedules expected by these platforms. By giving up your humanity and becoming nothing more than a faceless machine attempting to please the algorithm.