Don't Dream Of Being A Twisted Tajir As A Content Creator, This Job Is Vulnerable To Change

Finding income by relying on content is not as easy as many people imagine. (Unsplash / The Rigisti)

JAKARTA In the digital era like now, becoming a social media star or influencer may be everyone's dream, especially young people. Not only gaining popularity, being an influencer is also considered to be able to produce lucrative money.

Abroad, YouTuber MrBeast or TikToker Charli D'Amelio is among the most famous. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, for example, Raffi Ahmad, Arief Muhammad, Tasya Farasya, and Rachel Vennya can live adequately from the results of making content on social media.

But getting here, the world of content creators is not always beautiful. Now the number of influencers is countless, so the competition gets fiercer.

In addition, the platform is also reportedly no longer working on commissioning content creators. Seasoned brands are even more picky about collaborating with influencers.

This was revealed by The Wall Street Journal. Clint Brantley, a content creator since three years ago, told how now the money he got is no longer as much as he used to be.

Brantley is a content creator about a trend related to the mobileFortnite game. He shared it with TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch.

This 29-year-old man admitted that his income last year was smaller than the annual median salary of full-time workers in the US in 2023 of 58,084 US dollars or Rp950 million. In fact, he has 400 thousand followers with an average review of his content of more than 100 thousand.

His erratic income made Brantley not ready to commit to renting an apartment in Uncle Sam's country. He chose to live with his mother in Washington.

"I'm very vulnerable," Brantley told The Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal writes, earning a decent and reliable income as content creators is difficult and will be more difficult. This is because the platform is getting smaller to share money for popular posts. Plus, brands are also more specific in choosing agreements with influencers.

The issue that TikTok will be blocked in the US in 2025 exacerbated this issue. Now many content creators are wary of whether their kitchen will continue to grow by relying on social media if one of the money source channels is eliminated.

Although the trend of being an influencer seems promising, the journey to social media stars is full of challenges. Hundreds of millions of people around the world upload entertaining and educational content on social media, according to Goldman Sachs's report in 2023. Still the same report, about 50 million of them collect money from content created.

Goldman Sachs predicts the number of creators who generate income will grow at an annual rate of 10 percent to 20 percent in 2028. But at the same time, more and more people will fall into this industry, so the consequences are also getting smaller cakes' which must be divided.

Not only that, content creators also admit that this job is not as easy as imagined. Every day they have to think about what content the audience will like. It not only drains energy, but also mentally.

It took influencers days to plan content, produce, and go through an edit process to upload to social media. They also have to always interact with fans to maintain popularity.

"This is a very tough job compared to what most people think," said Jasmine Enberg, an eMarketer analyst, a company publishing data, analysis and insight into digital marketing, media and trade.

"Creators who can live as influencers have been doing this job for years. Most don't get big in a short time," the analyst said.

In the midst of inflation and uncertain economics, influencers face increasingly difficult pressure to secure finances.

Regarding the future of influencers, the Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, discussed this. The woman who was born in Bandar Lampung City reminded that the phenomenon of young people who dream of becoming YouTubers in order to get fame and money cannot be sustainable. According to him, this phenomenon is a surprising and worrying situation.

"Today if you ask them, they want to be a YouTuber, a content creator, maybe as they can see that this is enough to provide instant fame and maybe money too. This is really a worrying and shocking situation," Sri Mulyani said at the Indonesia-Europe Investment Summit 2023 event on November 30, 2023.

"I know that dreams, goals, like that will not last long," said Sri Mulyani again.

So, do you still dream of becoming a tajir twisting by profession as a content creator?