Watching videos
03/04/22 02:12
One of the indulgences of my semi-retired lifestyle is that I watch quite a few YouTube videos. We don’t have a television, although we are able to watch some television and movies on a television-sized computer monitor. I find, however, that I often don’t want to invest even the length of time a network television show takes. I prefer shorter videos, and there are plenty of 10- to 15-minute videos on the social media platform. I don’t bother with subscribing to videos. I have no fear of missing one of the videos, but I do follow several channels that provide regular content. I’m attracted to channels where people are helping others. There are a couple of channels about off road recovery, where the content providers operate specialty vehicles, mostly homemade ones, that can go to remote places and help those who are stuck or broken down in places where normal tow trucks cannot reach. I enjoy seeing how they rig up kinetic tow ropes or winch lines in order to get vehicles out of precarious situations.
One of the channels that I have been watching fairly regularly in recent weeks has really invested in video storytelling. They have multiple cameras, including one mounted on a drone, and employ video editors to put together the stories, including background music, time-lapse and other effects and special techniques. I’m pretty sure that this particular channel has about the same number of people who are involved in making videos as those involved in the rest of the work of the business. I don’t know, but I suspect that the business earns as much from YouTube as it does from being paid by those who become stuck or broken down.
I’ve also watched individual and families who appear to be pursuing their hobbies while making videos for income. I know that YouTube is an advertising platform, like commercial television, but with a little practice it is easy to fast forward through the advertisements. I don’t pay for any of the premium features, so I don’t see how the phenomenon produces income, but somehow people who have enough viewers do receive ad income.
My niece recently commented that all of the people who are pursuing social media as a career is part of the problem with the shortage of workers experienced by many businesses. It is a bit of a sore point with me, because I am a fan of free markets and I don’t see the situation as a shortage of workers at all. I see it as a shortage of jobs that pay reasonable salaries. Just the threat of a shortage recently caused a 40% increase in the cost of gasoline at the pump. However, over two years of shortages of workers has not produced even enough raises in wages to cover the cost of inflation. In a free market, a shortage of labor should result in more jobs that allow workers to earn enough for rent and groceries.
Anyway, my niece may have a valid point. If people enjoy making videos and telling stories with their art and if they are able to earn a living by pursuing their hobbies, they aren’t going to give up that lifestyle for a minimum wage job in the service sector. It isn’t just that there are too many people producing social media content, it is that at least some of them are earning enough that employers are not competing well in the market for their time and energy.
However I look at it, I don’t really understand the economy of social media. It surprises me that people can earn a living simply by documenting their daily lives. I understand that producing the kind of quality video that I watch is hard work. I can accept that those people don’t just spend their time pursuing their hobbies, but also invest a lot of hours editing video and preparing the clips to be uploaded to the Internet. I’m not practiced as a video editor, but I produced short videos, posted on YouTube of daily prayer during the last three months of my time as a full-time pastor before my retirement. I know that it takes a considerable amount of time and energy to produce a 5-minute video. Still it is hard for me to understand how there can be enough demand for amateur-created video that people are able to go with out income from typical jobs.
One channel that I have watched features a man who had a full-time job working for a utility company, but made videos about car repairs on the side. Now, a few months later, that person has quit his day job and is making videos and car repairs full-time. He even has added a cameraperson to his channel, meaning I assume, that he is paying wages to another person to help him make videos. It appears to me that there aren’t fewer people working, but that there are a lot of people working at jobs that didn’t exist until recently. Our economy is shifting from service to entertainment. Small businesses are struggling to make payroll and compete in a market that is short of labor. The competition for workers, however, isn’t coming from big companies, but rather from social media entrepreneurs. I can understand a bit of the problem. I just don’t understand how making videos for YouTube translates into living wages for people.
Frankly, it is easy for me to become bored with YouTube. I watch a particular creator for a while, but am easily distracted. There are channels with videos that I watched a few months ago that I don’t bother to watch any more. I feel like I’ve seen enough of those particular lives and that their stories are repetitive. I don’t miss them. I wonder if those creators have enough of an audience of loyal fans to keep the income coming. Is social media success as fleeting as it seems to be? If it is, you’d think that it would begin to regular contribute workers to the market as people leave social media for more predictable incomes.
Spring is here. There are plenty of things to do outside. I have a list of farm chores I’m planning to do at our son’s place. I think I’ll cut back on my watching videos on the computer. It frees up my time for more meaningful projects. Apparently, however, my viewing patterns don’t have enough impact to stop people from leaving their day jobs to pursue a career in making videos.
One of the channels that I have been watching fairly regularly in recent weeks has really invested in video storytelling. They have multiple cameras, including one mounted on a drone, and employ video editors to put together the stories, including background music, time-lapse and other effects and special techniques. I’m pretty sure that this particular channel has about the same number of people who are involved in making videos as those involved in the rest of the work of the business. I don’t know, but I suspect that the business earns as much from YouTube as it does from being paid by those who become stuck or broken down.
I’ve also watched individual and families who appear to be pursuing their hobbies while making videos for income. I know that YouTube is an advertising platform, like commercial television, but with a little practice it is easy to fast forward through the advertisements. I don’t pay for any of the premium features, so I don’t see how the phenomenon produces income, but somehow people who have enough viewers do receive ad income.
My niece recently commented that all of the people who are pursuing social media as a career is part of the problem with the shortage of workers experienced by many businesses. It is a bit of a sore point with me, because I am a fan of free markets and I don’t see the situation as a shortage of workers at all. I see it as a shortage of jobs that pay reasonable salaries. Just the threat of a shortage recently caused a 40% increase in the cost of gasoline at the pump. However, over two years of shortages of workers has not produced even enough raises in wages to cover the cost of inflation. In a free market, a shortage of labor should result in more jobs that allow workers to earn enough for rent and groceries.
Anyway, my niece may have a valid point. If people enjoy making videos and telling stories with their art and if they are able to earn a living by pursuing their hobbies, they aren’t going to give up that lifestyle for a minimum wage job in the service sector. It isn’t just that there are too many people producing social media content, it is that at least some of them are earning enough that employers are not competing well in the market for their time and energy.
However I look at it, I don’t really understand the economy of social media. It surprises me that people can earn a living simply by documenting their daily lives. I understand that producing the kind of quality video that I watch is hard work. I can accept that those people don’t just spend their time pursuing their hobbies, but also invest a lot of hours editing video and preparing the clips to be uploaded to the Internet. I’m not practiced as a video editor, but I produced short videos, posted on YouTube of daily prayer during the last three months of my time as a full-time pastor before my retirement. I know that it takes a considerable amount of time and energy to produce a 5-minute video. Still it is hard for me to understand how there can be enough demand for amateur-created video that people are able to go with out income from typical jobs.
One channel that I have watched features a man who had a full-time job working for a utility company, but made videos about car repairs on the side. Now, a few months later, that person has quit his day job and is making videos and car repairs full-time. He even has added a cameraperson to his channel, meaning I assume, that he is paying wages to another person to help him make videos. It appears to me that there aren’t fewer people working, but that there are a lot of people working at jobs that didn’t exist until recently. Our economy is shifting from service to entertainment. Small businesses are struggling to make payroll and compete in a market that is short of labor. The competition for workers, however, isn’t coming from big companies, but rather from social media entrepreneurs. I can understand a bit of the problem. I just don’t understand how making videos for YouTube translates into living wages for people.
Frankly, it is easy for me to become bored with YouTube. I watch a particular creator for a while, but am easily distracted. There are channels with videos that I watched a few months ago that I don’t bother to watch any more. I feel like I’ve seen enough of those particular lives and that their stories are repetitive. I don’t miss them. I wonder if those creators have enough of an audience of loyal fans to keep the income coming. Is social media success as fleeting as it seems to be? If it is, you’d think that it would begin to regular contribute workers to the market as people leave social media for more predictable incomes.
Spring is here. There are plenty of things to do outside. I have a list of farm chores I’m planning to do at our son’s place. I think I’ll cut back on my watching videos on the computer. It frees up my time for more meaningful projects. Apparently, however, my viewing patterns don’t have enough impact to stop people from leaving their day jobs to pursue a career in making videos.
