YouTube burnout (interesting media article)

Crown

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Very interesting article in The Guardian about YouTube burnout: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/08/youtube-stars-burnout-fun-bleak-stressed

Here's a sample:


The YouTube stars heading for burnout: ‘The most fun job imaginable became deeply bleak’



When Matt Lees became a full-time YouTuber, he felt as if he had won the lottery. As a young, ambitious writer, director and presenter, he was able to create low-budget, high-impact films that could reach a worldwide audience, in a way that would have been impossible without the blessing of television’s gatekeepers just a few years earlier. In February 2013, he had his first viral hit, an abridged version of Sony’s announcement of its PlayStation 4 video game console, dubbed with a cheerily acerbic commentary. Within days the video had been watched millions of times. “It hardly seems viral at all, by today’s standards,” Lees says, yet it was one of the most viewed videos on YouTube that month. The boost to Lees’ ego was nothing compared with the effect it had on his career. When YouTube’s algorithm notices this sort of success, it starts directing viewers to the uploader’s other videos, earning the channel more subscribers and, via the snippety advertisements that play before each one, higher income. Overnight, Lees had what seemed like the first shoots of a sustainable career.

Excitement soon gave way to anxiety. Even in 2013, Lees was aware that his success depended not so much on smash hits as on day-by-day reliability. “It’s not enough to simply create great things,” he says. “The audience expect consistency. They expect frequency. Without these, it’s incredibly easy to slip off the radar and lose favour with the algorithm that gave you your wings.” By the end of the year Lees had grown his channel from 1,000 subscribers to 90,000, and caught the attention of one of his influences, Charlie Brooker, who invited Lees to collaborate on writing a Channel 4 special. For a month Lees worked 20-hour days, dividing his time between the TV script work and, ever conscious that missing a day’s upload could cause his videos to tumble down the search rankings, his YouTube channel.


At the end of the month he was pale, gaunt and tired in a way that, he recalls, seemed “impervious to rest”. His work, he noticed, had become increasingly rushed and harsh in tone. Yet the angry, provocative quality of his videos seemed only to be making them more popular. “Divisive content is the king of online media today, and YouTube heavily boosts anything that riles people up,” he says. “It’s one of the most toxic things: the point at which you’re breaking down is the point at which the algorithm loves you the most.”

Lees began to feel a knock-on effect on his health. “Human brains really aren’t designed to be interacting with hundreds of people every day,” he says. “When you’ve got thousands of people giving you direct feedback on your work, you really get the sense that something in your mind just snaps. We just aren’t built to handle empathy and sympathy on that scale.” Lees developed a thyroid problem, and began to experience more frequent and persistent stretches of depression. “What started out as being the most fun job imaginable quickly slid into something that felt deeply bleak and lonely,” he says.

I advise you to read the full with other stories from other Youtubers: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/08/youtube-stars-burnout-fun-bleak-stressed

________________________________

How about you? Any of you experienced this? Thoughts ?
 

Conso1727

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Another creator that I follow, Lazy Game Reviews, shared similar content about balancing work life and Youtube life, I guess as the platform evolved and became competitive, so did the fight to remain "on top". I'm glad at the end it's become just a hobby for me and not something to try and get on top.
 

babyteeth4

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I'm glad I have my children to keep me in check because if I had a channel where it was just me, I would probably work myself to an early grave. I'm not willing to push my children, if it's not fun for everyone we don't do it.
 

PictureFIT

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Burnout is real. Can't say I've experienced "full" burnout but I never thought I'd dislike talking about fitness until I started YouTube. It's more so the process, the demand by people acting like I owe them something because they watched my videos. Feeling like nothing is ever good enough. Not enough videos, not enough research in videos, not good enough voiceover, etc. It's overwhelming. I love fitness with all my heart, but I completely dislike the idea of having to produce so much over and over again yet still people expect more.
 

Xynudu

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Yes, burn out is real. Keeping up volume and quality is tough. I've had a bit of it lately, so you just do the sensible thing and take a break, throttle back.

If your fans are loyal and like what you do, they won't abandon you any time soon.

The trouble also is that YT production becomes addictive, and you also feel a responsibility towards your fans (and sponsors) expectations.

But health is more important, so just cool it for a while.

Cheers Rob
 

Gaijillionaire

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In the time before YouTube was invented I worked at a tv station and 16-20 hour work days 50-60 days in a row was common. And that was for $11 an hour!

I think the right audience (caveat: one that is mature) would understand taking a break to continue on versus quitting altogether. And if not, make you’re money while you can I say!!

Edit: after leaving the page to read the whole story, yea it’s hard but this is written like no one in history has ever done hard work before. For 500000$ a month I’d ply video games 12 hours a day and never complain! These people are millionaire!! If they lived modestly, they’d never have to actually work again!! I don’t want to hear it!! Want burnout? Try being in your 40s with 3 kids in a house that’s falling apart, having 2 jobs and knowing when you’re forced into retirement you’ll have zero saved up when it’s all said and done. But you HAVE to wake up and head out the door at 6 am regardless for the next 20 years to just hope it all stays together
 
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Looped Fruit

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Yes, burn out is real. Keeping up volume and quality is tough. I've had a bit of it lately, so you just do the sensible thing and take a break, throttle back.

If your fans are loyal and like what you do, they won't abandon you any time soon.

The trouble also is that YT production becomes addictive, and you also feel a responsibility towards your fans (and sponsors) expectations.

But health is more important, so just cool it for a while.

Cheers Rob
Cheers Rob.

Health first. It can be stressful and it's a gift and a curse, once you figured out balance in life it will be much easier to cope with.
 

EVO

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I have experianced burnout with work - Although not with Youtube yet - I have been close and it feels similar to another life experiance I had about 10 years ago.
I was a travelling sales rep and had a great job / well paid / was only ever praised by the bosses. Daily I tried to come up with reasons why I couldnt go in. Id sit indoors with my suit on and the curtains drawn.
My relationship broke down, I lost weight, I didnt even attend my Grandfather funeral during that time. All through work burnout. Having to perform daily, taking criticism from one person, then praise from the next. 'Keeping up appearances' when you just want to hide away. I get same abuse from viewers today but I am more mature and ignore it all.
 

KatyAdelson

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I've experienced burnout before, but not with YouTube. It's a dark place that nobody should have to experience. x_x It's so important to remember to take breaks, find something meaningful to work on, and make sure you have the necessary resources needed for what you work on every day! Once the burnout cycle starts, it's a constant spiral downward with what feels to be a lost battle and no way to stand back up again. We all have the occasional bad day, but if bad days start to become a trend, I really encourage you to try to make small changes in what you do every day to help to turn those bad days into better days. :eek: Even getting to the gym for a 30 minute workout might turn a bad day into a better day. :)
 
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