Woes of Content Creation
Content creation can be difficult.
I’m not saying it’s the hardest thing in the world. There are plenty of activities that require much more time and effort than making YouTube videos or Instagram Reels.
To be able to pursue content creation is a very first world privilege. It’s not something a lot of people get to do in their free time, let alone as a career.
To be complaining about it is also very first world. People tend to frown upon others who complain about something they’re choosing to do. If you complain about the issues you face when making content, you’ll probably be told to just stop doing it. Which makes complete sense—who’s forcing you to make this stuff?
Now, if you rely upon it as a source of income, or you’re part of an organization whose entire purpose is to make content, they can’t really ask you that. When it becomes a job, you have a slew of issues to face: appeasing the algorithm, chasing trends, keeping up a schedule.… At some point, you have to wonder: is it still something you want to pursue?
But even if you only make content for fun, there’s still an array of issues you’ll have to deal with.
People don’t always give the best feedback. Even in a sea of positive comments, you’re going to focus on the one negative comment, and it’s going to demotivate you.
But sometimes that’s the only feedback you get. And you have to accept it, because it’s better than nothing.
That’s especially an issue when you make content designed to be responded to. If no one responds to it, why are you making it?
Because it’s fun.
It is one thing to start making content. It is another thing to keep making it.
When it starts to take a toll on you, you have to consider some things. First, are you still enjoying yourself? If you’re not, then don’t do it (if you’re not contractually obligated to). But if you are, are you enjoying yourself enough that you can ignore the issues it causes you? By extension, are those issues minor enough to not be worth considering?
I’ve made a lot of content over the years. I never did it to become famous. I never wanted fans or any sort of following. I did it because I enjoyed it. It can be easy to lose sight of that. So when you do, always remember that it was your decision to go down this path. Whether you want to continue down it is up to you.
Never make content because you have to. Do it because you want to.
Do it for fun.
The following section was written separately and adds context to the thoughts shared above.
For some background, this is a slightly edited version of something I wrote at around 4 or 5 AM on August 24th, two days before the beginning of the semester. I had posted a few entries in my “Late Night Rants” videos at that point, a series of Instagram Reels where I would rant about various topics—from whether to “give a mouse a cookie” to my opinions on relationships—very late at night, typically between 1-3 AM. Go figure.
Considering how late at night I wrote this (I had to have been awake for upwards of 15 hours that night), you can understand why it sounds so intense. It is largely me telling myself these things, but I thought they were applicable to enough people that I figured it’d be a good idea to share them.
In the Late Night Rants, I typically ask viewers a series of questions relating to the topic of each rant. My hope was that this would lead to some sort of intellectual discussion regarding these topics. And to a certain extent, this did happen on a few of them, and I’m very glad it did, but it didn’t invoke as big of a reaction from me as some other comments.
One person told me to get a job (funny, since I have one). Another told me to “go viral so you can go live again” (Instagram requires 1000 followers for you to go live now, before that requirement I used to go live every so often and this person would usually watch me). Sure, it’s feedback. But not exactly the most constructive feedback. As far as I can tell, those aren’t exactly responses to my questions.
I was disappointed. I suppose my biggest mistake was believing Instagram was a place of intellectual discussion. My thought process was that with how much people are on their phones nowadays, I’d reach more people on Instagram than I would on places like YouTube or Twitter.
But I didn’t want to give up on making them. I enjoy doing these. Speaking my mind. Recording myself. Doing multiple takes to make each line understandable and coherent. Editing them to put all the takes together, add some background music, make sure it fit within the 3-minute time limit for Reels, among other things. And I would do all of this stuff in one night. As weird as it sounds, it was sort of thrilling. More importantly, I was having fun. Which is what compelled to write that first half.
Perseverance is key when it comes to content creation. When it comes to the feedback you receive, don’t pay attention to anything that won’t help you improve your content. And like any other activity, make sure you enjoy doing it.