That anxiety of the influencer generation harpers article tugged on a very weird part of me.
Like freshman year of college I’d consider myself a mildly successful youtuber or at least in a position to pivot to one. I had ~100k subs and 2 videos above 2mil ish views. I had a ‘brand’ sort of. I also knew I had the base springboard to be successful if I started generating more content, like to some extent I’d hit a lucky jackpot of visibility a lot of people try really hard to hit.
And then art college burnt me out of animating and making things and I didn’t make anything of substance there for two years, for one reason or another. I spent a lot of time doing commissions and projects that I was happy with and paid, but wasn’t #original #content for my #brand so my channel #died
Then I just kind of decided I liked the idea of an annual salary, health benefits, a 9-5 kinda thing, and I still do! And I have that now, I love my job. But in the ~~creator economy~~ I am so adjacent to still, it gives so much fomo not throwing everything away for five minutes of fame.
like. Our entire media culture is contained in these little screens and now the vast majority of it is presented by creators who are Just Like You and so much of social media incentivizes joining with the promise of vitality. It’s hard to not feel like I threw away an opportunity, even if I know I made a choice I’m happy with.
I guess it’s survivorship bias you never hear about almost successful content creators who just decided not to do it.
you literally aren't equipped to care about every possible opinion on this planet. your mother telling you you're beautiful isn't a lie, your friend telling you your art is cool isn't biased. the fact you have people around you to tell you you're doing great means you've been socialized properly. the douche on instagram or tumblr ain't cooking your dinner, bringing you your pjs to the hospital or giving you a lift home. you aren't psychologically equipped to give a shit about as many opinions as social media expose you to. we have never been more exposed to other ppl's opinions and that's what's making us depressed. you care, and that's natural, we have been programmed to care what other people think. but no one is lying when they say they think you're great, they do think that. remember that, repeat that and embrace that.
Just realised that if Donald Trump wins the presidential elections, it’ll be 5 years before we can even think about a canon Destiel.. Dammit America, what are you doing!