Are we all simply employees of social media platforms?

Let me explain

Me as a wannabe influencer

OK, hear me out: we tend to enjoy watching social media content and some of us either make content for friends and family or to get paid for doing so and earn a living.

Even when we are just spectators, we need to follow the rules included in social media platforms’ terms and conditions. In fact, our profiles could get deleted and we could get kicked out if we don’t follow these rules, even without malice.

Just recently I filled out a survey from YouTube aimed at content creators to seek feedback and suggestions for improvement. One of the questions/statements was about YouTube being a fun platform to be on: my answer was an immediate “strongly disagree”.

I think when you are an actual content creator, some of the fun of the creative process gets sucked out once you need to churn out something new on a regular basis. You are supposed to study your analytics and industry trends to not only cater for your existing audience but also for people who may stumble upon your content in the future, bearing in mind that people grow out of what they had liked before, taste changes over time and so do algorithms.

Being a content creator in the UK

When I lived in the UK it was relatively easier to be a content creator and potentially earn from it.

Before YouTube changed its video monetisation policy, you could be paid a small percentage from the advertisements displayed on your videos. While I only managed to meet the minimum payment threshold every few months, that extra money did make a difference, because at the time I still had a mortgage to pay.

This all ground to a halt in 2018 when YouTube decided to make it more difficult to earn money from the platform and I haven’t managed to meet the monetisation requirements since.

From 2018 YouTube decided that, if you wanted to earn by monetising your videos you needed to reach 4,000 hours of watch time on videos, plus have at least 1,000 subscribers to your channel.

Having said that, if you are on TikTok, for example, you can earn money from your videos, again as long as you meet certain criteria such as having at least 10,000 followers. This is not the case in Ireland where there is no monetisation available for content creators.

Being a content creator in Ireland

As I mentioned, if you are a TikTok content creator in Ireland you simply don’t earn money unless companies approach you with a sponsorship deal.

With my YouTube channel I haven’t managed to get the kind of traffic and following required to earn money from advertising, with many topics going in and out of fashion and unpredictable algorithms chasing people away from your content.