The Creator Economy Is a Passport to Riches for a Few, a Pipe Dream for the Rest
Why Wannabe Influencers and Creators Need a Reality Check on Social Media
The rise of the Creator Economy in recent years has made some social media influencers very rich. Attracted by their successes, Millions of so-called Creators, who create everything from YouTube/TikTok videos, to Instagram reels, and LinkedIn articles, not to leave out Facebook and Twitter posts and tweets, have flocked to these channels to try their luck.
Indeed, the Creator Economy and its successes in minting Millionaires have made it into a Billion Dollar Industry, rivaling or even overtaking traditional forms of content creation. However, the question that one must ask is whether the riches of the influencers, who number in thousands or at best, tens of thousands, should induce the Millions more to “give it all” on social media.
In other words, is the Creator Economy worth it for all, or it is a pipe dream? As we shall explain subsequently, the evidence points to the latter as data reveal the “skewed” distribution of rewards from creating content. What this means is that either social media or LinkedIn should spread the net of money wide or wannabe creators need a healthy reality check.
Why We Must Welcome the Creator Economy and Embrace the Emerging Web 3.0
Having said that, it is not that we are belittling the Creator Economy. This portal on which you are reading this article has been enabled mainly due to the rise of the Internet Economy. Given the successes of this and other portals, the Internet remains a viable and more importantly, an eve field for earning money.
In addition, the Creator Economy is the “bridge” between the old era of traditional work and the emerging Digital Age. So, we should all celebrate the rise of the Creator Economy and do our bit to promote our peers, family members, friends, and colleagues and conversely take their help to promote ourselves in the Creator Economy.
Moreover, the rise of the Web 3.0 heralds a new paradigm of decentralized and distributed Creator Economy where the power lies in the hands of individuals, instead of a few platforms that would further democratize the money making aspects of the Creator Economy.
Indeed Web 3.0 and the Metaverse represent the culmination of years of hard work by creators who had always wanted a more deregulated channel for earning and sharing wealth. Given these reasons, we are all for participating in the Creator Economy to earn a living.
The Creator Economy, In Its Present Form, Benefits the Few, and the Rest Languish
However, what our main argument is that the present form in which the Creator Economy rests on is not something desirable for equitable distribution of wealth.
For instance, how many YouTube and TikTok influencers make money that can earn a living from out of the Millions of members who make and share videos?
Further, how many LinkedIn posts and articles go viral and help the creators unlock wealth and value, when compared to the volumes of such content that is created and shared each day? So, our point is that unless we change the underlying model that mimics traditional forms of wealth creation, the Creator Economy would continue to be an unequal playing field.
Of course, we do not endorse just about everyone becoming an Influencer as then the principles of merit and competencies are violated. However, we advocate “flattening” the effort return curve rather than making it exclusive.
So, the next time you see a post on social media going viral; think of the Millions of equally good posts that languish for want of attention. In addition, the next time you see click bait content, do not be dismissive and instead, think of the time and effort behind it.
The Creator Economy Needs a Reboot and an Overhaul of Its Present Model
As we have repeatedly pointed out, the Creator Economy needs a reboot and perhaps, Web 3.0 is the answer. Until then, our advice to content creators is to continue posting good stuff and not simply hanker over virality and likes and comments.
Sometimes, posts go viral even when they lack substance and oftentimes, posts languish at the bottom even when they are well researched and composed. Nobody knows how social media algorithms work and this is the other argument that we are making.
Unless social media giants tweak their algorithms towards more even distribution of the rewards, the Creator Economy would remain like a Pyramid as far as the returns are concerned. This brings us to the point that we do not advocate “gaming” the algorithms by Creators or, trying to second guess what the algos want. Of course, to be honest, this is the sure and best way to earn money in the Creator Economy and we can recount personal experiences in the way we employed all kinds of tactics to make content go viral. The best approach would be to stick to basics through ranking best practices and create noteworthy content instead of beating and gaming the algorithm.
We Need the Creator Economy to Become More Equitable
Last, sometimes we feel as though the Creator Economy has become too crowded and there is a need for more filtering and winnowing of the creators, based on the factors that we discussed. However, this is unlikely to happen as the Gig/Creator Economy is the backbone of the Digital Economy and so, in the future, we would see an explosion of creators, rather than a reduction. Moreover, Web 3.0 promises to make creators out of all humans on Earth.
To conclude, what we propose is the Creator Economy becoming a more socially just place rather than being an Oligarchic Monopoly.
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