Boo hoo, losers. Your device has a power switch. Influencers have a warped and inflated sense of the value they create. They can stop at any time and use their skills in other ways.
Making good content is hard, but ‘good’ content doesn’t have an expiration date. Shallow brain-rot content does and that’s what the algorithms reward.
The entitlement that influencers have is nauseating. There are many creators out there laboring in near obscurity and producing useful content all the time for little or no compensation.
They are tools for Zuck and fools for propping his platforms up. It sounds like a hard slog, but they can stop any time.
You’re making enemies of your own team. These people are creatives, doing a job they love, and a corporate algorithm forces them to destroy their work life balance to keep doing what they love. And you’re belittling them. You need a reality check, these people are not your enemy.
Nah, if you are feeding the Zuck, not my team. The principled creatives aren’t there.
It sucks to try to make a living as a creative. But giving your efforts to support social media platforms controlled by the worst people is inexcusable. Zuck literally and provably helped the fascists gain power.
The creatives I can respect create because they are compelled to. They work jobs and create when they can. They share their work on less shitty platforms and in actual real life.
Facebook isn’t the only site these people use…
Zuck owns more than Facebook, too. ANY big social media platform is similarly toxic.
These people have co-opted our social discourse for evil causes. And they aren’t the only way to share work online.
Creative people do not have a right to my admiration if they provide fresh bait that the oligarchs use to degrade democracy and civil society
The question isn’t about admiration, it’s about considering them worthy of being respected as fellow human beings who are also struggling. You’re just shitting on them because the way they make their living is more directly linkable to sources you don’t like.
Every job is going to be that way, one way or another. Even many charities will have shady ties somewhere, that most of the volunteers and employees don’t know shit about. Shitting on these people because you don’t respect the things they’re linked to, and ultimately have no control over, is petty and meaningless. It devalues them as humans, and as much as I’m sure you don’t think so, they’re still human. And deserve to be treated as such.
If they’re like the Pauls or something, I can see criticizing them for being shitty people… but that’s not what you’re doing, you’re shitting on them for being part of a system that exists whether they make use of it or not. And will continue to exist whether they use it or not.
Curious who signs your paychecks?
Do creative people have viable paths to income that aren’t social media?
How does one survive as an artist or a small film maker, when there is no patronage, government funding for museums is constantly on the chopping block, and any form of art you make is going to be uploaded whether you like it or not?
Our society essentially has no paths to success for creative types other than social media - especially with C-suites deciding that they’d rather use the plagiarism machine to make slop than hire actual content makers and artists?
Making things like clip art used to be a job. You used to be able to paint signs. There was work for mid level artists. Now, your options are trying to go viral on social media/hunt for commissions.
Yeah sheez. You know what you can’t pause? The flow of customers into the drive through. Internet influencers work on their own clock.
Let’s get an article about fast food worker burnout please.
My lord the amount of “I have a REAL job” in here is too damn high. I work 8 hours a night, 40+ hours a week, in an automotive plant. My job can be very stressful, and physically demanding. So what?
I don’t sit here and whine about people that stare at their screens (IT, developers, etc) all day. Are they really doing any work? After all, they are not performing physical labor.
How is it that different for people who create content? I’d argue that they do more work, as they have to set up, film, edit and market their work.
See how silly this sounds? A job is a job. Unless you own your own business, you are making money for someone else.
It’s easy to try on that pair of shoes. Those ignorants should go ahead and try building a community, try creating a video with some genuine effort regarding its content and - especially - edit it in an appealing way.
Heck, I was doing some Blender rendering for fun as a hobby and am occasionally recording some demo videos of a project I am working at for my supervisor. Sometimes it takes about two hours to edit a fucking 10 minute video. This is just a huge amount of work. No wonder any creator, who has reached a sufficient level of income, hires editors.
I also think a big part of content creator burnout is the ‘everything is content’ mindset. If you work in a factory or an office usually you can go home and not be at work any more. When hanging out with your friends or being with your family also becomes content and therefore part of your job, the mental toll clearly becomes unbearable.
Yeah man, that shit can be hard and time consuming.
I used to do a podcast. Each episode was around 12 minutes. I’d spend a good eight hours a week on those 12 minutes, around my actual job, and would get about ten people listening. And you know that within half an hour of hearing it, they’ve forgotten it and moved on to the next thing in their queue. It’s hard to maintain enthusiasm for that.
At least in some cases, it might just be wholesome advice. The fact that you have “a job” and a whole different persona from that and they’re two separate things that sometimes intertwine probably brings you closer to us in administrative tasks (in the end, IT is by definition always something administrative rather than actually productive) than me as in an IT guy with an influencer. Because ultimately, your actual identity is your job, and by conclusion, your whole life is performative, which sounds REALLY exhausting
in the end, IT is by definition always something administrative rather than actually productive
Lol, what?
Might as well say mechanics are administrative too
With administrative, I meant that IT is a about information flow - defining rules how data is consumed, transformed and ultimately output. These by definition of a classic business I’d see as administrative.
I agree the wording isn’t good, and I didn’t mean it as in “anyone working in IT is just performing administrative tasks”, but rather that the field of IT is traditionally more of an enabler of other businesses.
The mechanic is usually the actual worker - you run a repair shop - but his spare parts management is an administrative task, and nowadays usually implemented by an IT solution.
The mechanic is usually the actual worker - you run a repair shop
But what is being repaired? A machine of some kind? And the machine is operated in pursuit of another actual productive activity, right?
Machines are just about the application of mechanical force in some way, and that in itself isn’t an end goal. Instead, we want that machine to move stuff from one place to another, to separate things that are apart or smush/mix separate things together, to apply heat or cooling to stuff, to transmit radiation or light in particular patterns.
Everything in the economy is just enabling other parts of the economy (including the informal parts of the economy). Physical movement of objects isn’t special, compared to anything else: kicking a ball on TV, singing into a microphone, authorizing a wire transfer, entering a purchase order, answering a phone, etc.
I’m not seeing a real distinction between an IT consulting business and a heavy equipment maintenance/repair business. The business itself is there to provide services to other businesses.
My point was not only that aspect, but also about the fact that input and output of the task is information. And while information itself can be a “product” or be provided as a service, in most cases, it’s not.
But anyhow, I feel like I’m overexplaining myself over a term I said wasn’t good.
And while information itself can be a “product” or be provided as a service, in most cases, it’s not.
Sure, but my point is that the same is true of physical machines. People don’t want working machines for the sake of working machines. They want working machines to actually do something else, to output a “product” of that machine’s operation.
And viewed in that way, information services are as much a standalone “product” as maintenance/repair services. Information services account for trillions of dollars of economic activity for a reason.
I’m not sure I understand where you are going with that. Performative? Exhausting? The hell are you trying to say?
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This is the most boomer take I’ve ever seen on this website. And that includes what few conservatives have filtered in.
yeah I’m pretty shocked that a socialist website would value labor over entertainment like that
That entertainment is labor. What are you talking about?
Socialism is about more than unions, that’s just the most obvious aspect in a heavily capitalist society. It’s about the sharing of burdens, which includes more than physical labor.
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By that metric do authors or poets or actors create a physical product? Do computer programers? Since the death of physical media, books and art are now far more frequently digital than paper or canvas. Applications and software is 100% digital. Newspapers are dead, so journalists don’t create a physical product. Is your argument that only physical labor producing physical things is “real” work?
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Why won’t you feel sympathy for someone who’s hurting? Why do you feel that someone needs to fall into a very narrow category to be “worth your time”?
Just because someone doesn’t fall into your narrow view of what’s worthwhile doesn’t mean they’re not worth basic human compassion.
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I just don’t understand their desire to be the center of attention
There is that aspect of it, but there’s also the aspect of writing your own destiny, about creating something you care about instead of just being a nameless cog in an industrial machine putting out consumerist crap day in and day out. Why is the latter more admirable to you than the former?
It doesn’t come across as you appreciating value in artistic expression and other intangibles when you say “suck it up and get a real job”. That may not have been your intention, but it can definitely be read that way. I think that is the “boomer” people have commented on.
I don’t think there are really that many people who think social media creators or better than farmers or essential services personnel, and those that do are completely out of touch, but there are plenty of people who see alternative media creators as less than any other job. I personally think A-list actors, celebrities and sports professionals are no better than grocery store worker or warehouse person, but I won’t deny they work just as hard in different ways.
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Just keeping up with the boomer takes…
Something doesn’t need to be a physical product to hold tangible value.
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Also, you didn’t choose to share your profession with us. It makes me think that you’re attempting to create a social media presence of your own.
Either that or I don’t think value is only subjective to what you do for a living. That my opinion is somehow less valuable because I don’t fall into a specific field you perceive as valuable.
I’m just saying that without those who work in physical reality, creating tangibles with tangible things, make the mental edifices possible.
And often those non-tangible things help to give those who make the tangible things the willpower to go on. It’s not a one way street, where value is only created by those who create tangible goods and stolen by the intangible. That’s a very pessimistic, if not “holier-than-thou” perspective. As though anyone who doesn’t do what you respect isn’t worth as much as someone who does.
Like I said, a very boomer attitude.
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Who did you?
What business is it of yours who I voted for? I even voted for Musk, so what?
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You’re not like everyone else!
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I heard someone talking about a content creator they watch, and how that creator basically can’t take a vacation without losing tons of followers and potentially a major chunk of their income.
A lot of creators will have a number of videos created ahead of time, so they can go on holiday and still have a steady release schedule.
Doesn’t help if you’re a streamer, though. I guess that was a part I left out, whoops -_-
Yeah, that’s a whole different world.
Larger streamers post reruns.
Don’t they just take working vacations?
Yep, this exactly. They can never clock out at the end of the day. It isn’t 8 hours of work and you’re done. You’re having to constantly try to innovate. Make tons of content, spend so much time editing, constant filming, constant planning. And if you deviate in your schedule, or upload some content that isn’t interesting, the algorithm punishes you and you may even get people that unsubscribe.
Must be hell when you can’t afford to take a vacation from that content creator life. Can never really “switch off”. Plus the fact that less than 1% actually make it big, and it’s mostly based on luck plus years and years of determination.
It isn’t 8 hours of work and you’re done
That really depends on the type of content. Something like LTT is very much 8 hours and you’re done, except the handful of times when there’s a time crunch (e.g. new hardware launch). Even smaller creators plan out videos in advance and can create a working schedule.
The hardest part is starting out, followed by finding an audience. Once you get the audience, creating a consistent schedule is the easier part, especially once you can start hiring help.
I hear this all the time but I struggle to see how it is true. How many people regularly trawl through their feed looking for creators who haven’t posted in X days and unfollowing them? It would be a minuscule number. I’m pretty darn selective with my follows and I think I’d do this once a year, tops.
I think creators are conflating the everyday ups and downs of follower counts on their platform(s) as being something more. And I think the platforms themselves are encouraging this mentality because they need fresh content.
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OK, Santa.
Just because you do something a certain way doesn’t mean everyone does. A huge chunk of these peoples income comes from the random people who find their videos or streams because of the “algorithm”. Not from their regular viewers. Those regular viewers allow for a certain amount of steadiness, but they’re also more likely to watch videos at a later time rather than right when they’re uploaded. Which is a significant drop in revenue for each view.
As OP specified in another reply, they were talking about streamers specifically. And with them, big chunk of the income comes from Twitch subscribers, which is a monthly paid subscription. If you are willing to pay someone for it, you’ll notice pretty much immediately if they miss their scheduled stream and cancel it.
For many other platforms what you said is true, I’m way more likely to unsubscribe from someone when they post a video and remind me I’m still subbed than when they take a break and fade out of my feed.
I’m so glad I was young before this stupid reality happened. I have a regular job and no desire for internet fame.
you’re just old…
Yeah, and I feel like I’m winning. If you want to be an influencer, go do that.
You can’t turn off any job. We all are burning out in this bitch. At least you’re sitting at home making videos.
Okay, not sure how much this matters considering where the world is heading, but:
If they can’t get better working conditions because you’ll complain (it’s not fair, yadda yadda), how will you get better working conditions when they complain (it’s not fair, yadda yadda)?
I’m just saying, if you’re not willing to play ball, why should I care about your sick pay?
Medicaid is gonna burn up soon. Should I be concerned that you’ll be losing coverage, or are we just fully on board with this petty individualism?
I imagine that being a content creator as a full-time job is much more difficult than most people realize. Also, the modern work environment is a hellscape, and I can’t blame people who want to avoid it. Still, it’s risky as hell - if the platform you rely on changes its compensation policies, you are screwed, and have even less legal protection/recourse than a McDonalds employee.
I wouldn’t expect a responsible person to take on that level of risk without a safety net. If you’re young and childless, then taking that risk is your call, and it’s unfair for me to judge you. If you’re relying on social media to pay the mortgage for your child’s home, though, you’d better have a backup plan and keep it ready.
The responses in this thread are sick. So much vitriol for members of your own class who are just trying to make a living doing what they love and creating things.
I dont give a fuck about their burnout lol. if they love it so much why are they whining about doing it?
I’m in health care, you think illness has a pause button? I chose this, they chose theirs.
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Yes, they do. Sitting alone in a room, creating video content creates a self-centered and narcissistic worldview. It doesn’t matter how many followers you have you are not really interacting with a single one of them. Get out of your house and meet people in your neighborhood, share your work with them then I’ll be impressed
Meanwhile, I work in a straining job where I come home, my knees feel weak, my right ankle is aching like fuck, I am mentally drained, I barely can even put together a thought process that tells me I should even have breakfast while fighting the urge to sleep while I try to have a fraction of what constitutes as a life. As well as work in a place, where I am almost always on threat of being fired for something petty because my management feels they have to have a bone to pick with me by fucking around with me and being snarky while doing it.
Why the fuck are you doing that to yourself? Get another job. It sounds highly unhealthy where you’re currently at.
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You’re spending a lot of effort complaining about your working conditions and then you see other people complain about their working conditions and your response is to get mad at THEM instead of the capitalist system and exploiting class that keeps them and you perilously employed and in your case seemingly while you’re sacrificing your body.
Pick the right targets for your invective. Instagram uploaders aren’t making your life worse.
I see. If moving to another country, where you don’t have to suffer such conditions, is also not an option then I hope you’re looking for something else while you’re at your current job. These are no conditions anyone should suffer.
Maybe you should stream about it? Passive income you fuckin twat.
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Gladly, the joys of a big dick.
Mate, humanity is not going to make it if we can’t learn to sympathize with and protect each other. I’m sorry your life is hard. It’s not a god damn contest.
What industry are you in, anyway? If you don’t mind me asking.
Firstly, let’s call them what they are, hucksters.
Secondly, I cannot think of anything I give a shit less about than their burnout at making internet videos of themselves.
If you’ve talked yourself into a world where you must be on social media, you are absolutely fucked. Get out. now.
More like discontent creators amiright?
I’ve taken to calling them effluencers.
effluencers
It perfectly describes their contribution to this reality. Thank you.
I’m hoping it catches on. Spread it around.
Get a better job.
You say that but i appreciate their efforts. And wile i will understand and expect creators to work at their own pace, if only the algorithm wasn’t 100% momentum driven AND/OR i could just get front page notification when my subs post something, and didn’t just unsub me for not watching a video for a wile. I am an adult and can manage my own feeds
Get a job*
Funny. I follow some creators, but if they don’t post I’ll just check back later, and the content will still be relevant.
If your followers just leave you if you don’t post, your content is probably shallow and doesn’t really add much value to the world.
The algorithm is also fucked, but you use it to your advantage when you can, so can you really complain about the downside? This is what you choose to work with.
That being said, making good content is hard and really time consuming. So I get that there is stress.
But I believe if you make good solid content that suits you and your style, you don’t need to get into a pissing contest with the algorithm. Upload when you want, make what you want and you will attract viewers. They are out there, and they will find you through searching.
Yeah most of the content I watch is still useful years later. Now it may not be super current since tech changes so fast, but still useful. If you have to stay in someone’s face all the time to stay memorable, you’re not memorable or relevant.
I think they should stop.
Cool, I have workplace stress and complete fatigue from sitting in an office dealing with bullshit all day and I don’t get paid millions fucking around on YouTube and tiktok. You can’t pause any job. Stfu
So they can’t keep selling their soul and dignity without consequences.
None of us can. It’s just a job, just they get even more shit on because they’re more public facing figures.
