On any given day, a creator could post a trailblazing piece of content to a social channel like YouTube or TikTok, somehow managing to stand out in a sea of comedy skits, magic tricks, beauty tutorials and music videos to earn a coveted spot as a newly minted digital star.
But capturing the zeitgeist is one thing. Parlaying that moment into a real career is quite another, according to speakers at the provocatively named VidCon panel Have We Reached Peak Creator?
The session, held Friday during the convention’s four-day annual Southern California showcase, wasted no time in addressing the central question about the jam-packed space. Spoiler alert: The bubble is not about to burst.
Identifying himself as “a giant optimist,” Sean Atkins, president of video distribution optimizer Jellysmack, said he expects to see continued growth and innovation given the interest from an unending flood of creatives and their seemingly insatiable audiences.
“I always ask, ‘Do you think there will ever be fewer people who want to be creators?’ No. ‘Do you think there will be less platform opportunities for creators?’ No,” Atkins said. “Will there ever be a world where people want to consume less content? No.”
Silver lining, black cloud
But both Atkins, whose company helps creators grow their communities and maximize their earnings, and fellow panelist Zach Kornfeld from The Try Guys noted several significant problems plaguing the industry.
Deep-pocketed investors aren’t as bullish as they once were, according to moderator KC Ifeanyi of Fast Company, with 2021’s $5 billion in venture capital money “cut by half” in 2022. There’s been no measurable rebound since, he said.
Creator burnout is real, with Kornfeld likening the gig to being “on a treadmill—it can feel somewhat relentless. Wait, somewhat? It’s fucking relentless.”
And there’s the robotic nature of the digital world, which Kornfeld called one of the biggest pain points for him personally and for creators broadly. Even if content is solid—or stellar—it may fall flat without the requisite “best title and thumbnail” and eye-catching first seconds.
“It’s an algorithmically driven art form,” Kornfeld said. “So much of what you do feels beholden to this mysterious box.”
An elite pursuit
There’s no real “middle class” in the space, Atkins said, with the “top 8-10% of creators controlling most of the money” while many struggle to turn their efforts into sustainable careers.
As for platforms, they tend to be territorial, which Atkins said works against them and fails to see creators “as business people” who will ultimately gravitate to the areas where they can earn “predictable, consistent revenue.”
Echoing a common gripe, Kornfeld said platforms are generally tight-fisted, which narrows the creator pool.
“Only certain people can take the economic risk to say, ‘I’m OK not being paid well for the next six to 12 months to see if I can give this digital media thing a go,’” said Kornfeld, who advised creators to diversify their income stream. “There are so many wonderful, untapped, talented, incredible artists who could make the platforms better, who could make all our lives better, if only they were given the path to monetization.”
Platforms have often put too much stock in follower numbers, which can seem impressive but don’t give the full engagement picture.
“We cannot confuse reach with passion,” Atkins said. “Having a million TikTok followers, which is an achievement, is not the same thing as having 100,000 YouTube subscribers.”
Be more like YouTube
Despite the hurdles, panelists said there are reasons to be hopeful about the creatorverse, including AI and other new tech that aims to lighten the burden on creatives and help them become true entrepreneurs.
Companies like Jellysmack are developing tools and infrastructure to help with back-end work, freeing creators to “focus on their superpowers,” Atkins said. At the same time, licensing and redistribution agreements are also adding revenue to creator coffers.
Less like a formal takeaway and more like a plea, both panelists had the following message for platforms: Be more like YouTube, with its favorable 55%/45% revenue split with creators, which Kornfeld called “wild and unprecedented.” (YouTube returned as the title sponsor for VidCon 2023, after having filled that role between 2013 and 2019).
Though YouTube’s system has its flaws, “you cannot deny that they have created a space that’s economically advantageous to them, to advertisers and to creators,” said Atkins, who noted that Facebook has matched the deal. “And over time, as it’s becoming a bigger industry and it matures, others will have to play the game.”
