Creator burnout is being spoken about more openly & companies have to act fast

A 2019 poll found that children in the U.K would rather be YouTubers than astronauts. Certainly the creator life seems glamorous. On the surface, it’s a career where you’re able to work for yourself, get approached by brands you love and of course, the fame and adoration from your fans as you grow. However, underneath the glossy exterior lies some serious issues. There’s unreliable income, pay inequality based on sex, race and disability and mental health issues. There’s an immense pressure to continually create content because if you don’t your relevance will disappear. When creators have tried to speak out on being bullied or burned out or not being treated as human, their comments will usually all say something to the effect of: “You’re an influencer, get over it.’” 

It’s not a new phenomenon. Burnout has affected generations of social media creators. In 2017, Instagram influencers began leaving the platform, saying they were feeling depressed and discouraged. However, what is important is that no one has benefited from the creator boom more than the technology industry. After over a decade of largely snubbing influencers, high-profile investors have done a 360.  Venture capitalists in Silicon Valley are now pouring money into creator-focused start-ups, and platforms themselves have begun to compete for talent. Whilst content creators have become more open about their struggles and mental health is becoming less of a stigma, platforms have had to evolve to ensure they are creating support for their users, albeit with mixed feelings on how impactful they’ll really be.  Expect to see more of these programs coming out on the big social media apps in the near future.

Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/style/creator-burnout-social-media.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/youtube-vlogger-career-job-children-astronaut-space-china-poll-a9010086.html
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220713-the-dark-side-of-being-a-content-creator
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2021/5/25/22451987/influencer-burnout-tiktok-clubhouse
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/06/08/how-creators-can-avoid-social-media-burnout/?sh=5e8e9f175a19
https://morningconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/The-Influencer-Report-Engaging-Gen-Z-and-Millennials.pdf

The evolving consumer landscape: are we heading towards overstimulation?

According to a recent report by Meta & GWI, Gen X and baby boomers in the U.K
and Ireland now spend around 2 hours on their mobiles per day – an increase from around 30 mins in 2012, with no signs of slowing down. Mobile’s reach has also has increased by 48% during this time for this group. Across both younger and older generations, time spent on mobile similarly continues to tick upward since 2021 – reinforcing the idea that mobile’s accelerated growth during the pandemic wasn’t just a lockdown fad. Because of this, the need to capture consumer attention has had to also continually evolve.

People don’t just use social media to find content – as we know – Gen Z and Millenials see it as a place for discovery and making connections. All these touchpoints are a key opportunity for social advertising too – as consumers become more savvy, so to will the ads produced. However, experts predict that we are moving towards what WGSN coins ‘the great acceleration loop’. People are more connected than ever, with the rise in digitalisation and social media usage, e-commerce, entertainment, gaming and video-streaming technologies.

By 2024, sensory regulation will be the recognised antidote to overstimulation.
For example, people may adopt having a slow-technology morning routine (only
using one device at a time) or no-sound working sessions (turning off notifications and icons).

With this in mind, it’ll be interesting to see how ads evolve as people are hyper-aware when they are being sold to and more might make the conscious effort to limit their media consumption.

(Above) The complete number of global internet users grew by 500 million in 2021,
a roughly 11% jump from 4.5 billion users in 2020.
Credit: World Economic Forum

Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/05/05/deloitte-report-digital-media-activities-vary-by-generation-age-group/?sh=5509884c204b
Mind the Gap, GWI x Meta, 2022
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/TikTok-Launches-Automated-Smart-Performance-Campaigns/634429/
The Future Consumer 2024, WGSN