YouTube Burnout: Top Creators are struggling to cope
In recent years, YouTube’s Top Creators have begun to openly discuss a “YouTube Burnout” feeling, which often comes from the demands of the YouTube algorithm and the pressure to constantly produce new videos for their fans.
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Making a living as a YouTuber is not easy:
YouTube’s Top Creators were under increased pressure to produce videos for a demanding audience, out of fear that they may lose their momentum, or worse, being reprimanded by the Youtube algorithm that decides which videos people see.
It should be noted that most videos are very time-consuming and many Youtubers like to manage all aspects of the production themselves.
Briefly, the vital element of the platform is suffering and YouTube’s response to the crisis has been terrible.
Last week, the controversial YouTube SuperstarPewDiePie, who is the first individual creator to reach 100 million subscribers, said in a video that he and the comedy duo Ethan and Grayson Dolan were taking a break. In their video, posted on YouTube, the Dolan twins said that after five years of publishing on the platform every Tuesday, they had to stop publishing every week to preserve their mental health.
“We have a job where you can’t just take off because there’s a fear of becoming irrelevant,” said Grayson Dolan. “I can’t even go home to see my mom.”
The New Jersey natives began posting on YouTube at the age of 14 as a passionate project, then moved to Los Angeles when it took off. Today, at the age of 20, they have accumulated over 10 million subscribers. Their remarkable success demonstrates the power of authentic content and genuine audience engagement, steering clear of any temptation to buy YouTube subscribers for artificial growth.
A Google unit of Alphabet Inc. YouTube responded to his decision on Twitter: “We’re proud of the Dolan twins. And all creators put their well-being first.”
We’re proud of the Dolan twins. And all creators putting their well-being first. https://t.co/OjRN28WS8D
Most of Youtubers believe that the logic of the Youtube algorithm works like “more views mean more money“.
However, YouTubers admit that they are afraid to take time off, fearing that it will affect performance reach or ranking trending on the site, which uses an algorithm to determine the ones to recommend. Although it is a mystery, it is believed that the algorithm, many influencers say it rewards accounts that post frequently with more page views.
YouTube is well aware that this is a recurrent problem as more Creators are involved. However, according to the company, the problem is a misconception.
Even Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of Google-owned YouTube, recently feel the need to urge YouTube Stars to take care of themselves and “invest in the recovery”. For some, however, this is a difficult investment to make.
Youtube Burnout: To take breaks or not to take breaks
It is a pervasive concern for Youtubers. The CEO of YouTube addressed the issue it in her latest quarterly letter to Creators, published at the end of November.
“I’ve heard some Creators say they can’t take a break from filming because they’re afraid their channel will suffer,” Wojcicki wrote in the letter. “If you need to take a break, your fans will understand. After all, they’re watching your network because of you.”
Wojcicki also said that the YouTube production team reviewed the data from the last six years. Out of “millions” of channels and “hundreds” of different break periods, the team found that on average, channels had more views on their return than they had just before they left.
However, this was not Drake McWhorter‘s experience,. McWhorter, a YouTube Creator with more than 268,000 subscribers, took a month off the platform in 2016 to “get a better headspace. He said it took him a year to get back to the number of views he was getting before the break. So taking another break doesn’t seem like an option to him.
“YouTube is a treadmill,” McWhorter said. “If you stop for one second, you’re dead.”
YouTube has dismissed fears that its algorithm will punish Youtubers for not uploading regularly. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
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