Social media is definitely over glamorized… As someone who quit there 9-5 & started working full time as a content creator who makes roughly 4-6k a month

Definitely changed my life & gives me so much more free time but also ruined my life. Its been 2 years & im slowly starting to hate it , especially as somebody who runs everything by themselves with no help. It’s a lot more than people think and actually having control over everything and choosing your own schedule is much harder than some people think you have to push yourself more to make the content to engage to produce to push yourself to a new extreme and much more, I will say I’ve learned a lot, but I’ve also lost a lot , my brain chemistry will never be the same again after this job, which I’m OK with that, but there’s a lot more to it than what people say, especially in the industry that I work in

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GrillinFool•16 days ago•37

My kids wanted to be YouTubers when they were little. I asked them “you want to make a living on social media?” They said yes. I said., “you realize that this is what I do for a living, right?” They looked confused and one said, “that’s not right. You work all the time dad. I just want to get paid to make video game videos and put them on YouTube.”

It’s a grind. And it’s maddening. Checks come when they come. But the mortgage is due the same day every month. Good luck calling the brand and yelling at them for sending a check 4 months late despite the contract they wrote and signed saying payment 30 days after delivery. You could do that. But they will never hire you again.

I will say this. I stopped looking for the viral moment. I’m more about authenticity now. I do food content. I don’t age a prime rib in Pappy Van Winkle for 6 months. I make a semi simple prime rib and teach people how to cook it at home. This has helped my sanity a great deal.

I’m cooking what I want to cook rather than chasing trends. Be real and F all the rest.

NetrusCreates•17 days ago•26

appreciate you being honest about this, people only ever post the income screenshot and never the part where you're doing everything yourself

I'm nowhere near full time but even running a few channels solo, the stuff around the content eats so much of the week. editing, posting to every platform, replying, checking numbers. and when you set your own schedule there's never really an "off" moment

curious what's helped you the most so far, setting hard work hours, batching content, or outsourcing any of it? feels like the "runs everything by themselves" part is what burns people out

Upbeat-Taro-5300•17 days ago•10

The part nobody warns you about is the invisible labor, replying to DMs, keeping up with comments, maintaining the relationship side while also producing. That stuff doesn't show up in a content calendar but it's easily half the workday. What's the one task eating most of your time right now?

LVLSquare-Admin•17 days ago•6

I totally get it. I'm just getting into the repetitive grind of being active on multiple platforms. Beyond the slog of it all I feel like all the additional time being online is just not good for my mental health.

SoloDaKid•16 days ago•5

I started making content and at first only got a few dozen views per video, then 200-300. I studied and got a video with 5k after a few weeks but it really felt like work. I feel like I lost myself in the process.

Now I'm focusing on content that I enjoy making but still trying to provide people value.

It's a fun hobby to keep busy while focusing on trying to save money with my day job but I wouldn't want to do this full time

SoSuccessful•16 days ago•4

Thanks for sharing. Can OP or someone who relates explain the mental health issues that stem from this world? Like what causes you to have a mental break? Is it the constant work? The "fakeness" of it all? The bots?

MaleficentError2447•15 days ago•3

Well, theoretically, that’s why a lot of people when they get the money to help out in these situations they hire people to do certain jobs so it takes off some of the stress in your life, but yeah, everything is the grass is greener on the other side kind of thing, but trust me, the grass is pretty green as a content creator myself

Dali0119•16 days ago•3

I tried it and was burnt out , crying and hysterical by day 3

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islandposh•16 days ago•1

I hear you, I feel the same way

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