Monday, October 04, 2021

On Being a Content Creator

 Have you ever asked a teenager what they want to do with their life? I'll put this another way: When you were a teenager, what did you want to do with your life?

I had a solid career goal myself. I wanted to be on "The Partridge Family." 

This year a new career goal has surfaced among the students at my school. More than one student, both genders, report wanting to be a "content creator" or an "influencer."

The ready availability of uncensored social media platforms has made many teens long to be influential through posting something on TikTok or YouTube. They are now listing "content creator" as career goals.

I really think it's a shame that people think of Tide pod-eating when the words "content creator" get flung out there. In its basic concept, "content creating" is making something that didn't exist before. The idea of content creation casts a wide net, and that's why I am proud to say I am a content creator for "The Gods Are Bored!"

The difference between me and my students is that they want millions of followers, while I'm completely and blissfully satisfied with 225. Well, ahem, I would love for the Smithsonian Institution to accept my petition for immortality, but hey. You can't win them all.

Sometimes I'm frivolous. On rare occasions I'm serious. But funny or not, I'm fine with the appellation of  "content creator." For 20 happy years I created content for reference books (and wrote a few books myself), but I think "content creator" actually fits me better than "author." Certainly fits me better than "thinker" or "sage" or some such.

Now, let's move on to this whole "influencer" thing. I definitely want to be an Internet influencer, and my cat is not pulling his weight in this regard.


I put up salacious content like this all the time, and he just doesn't get any traction! Three hundred likes here, 65 likes there, it doesn't amount to the millions and millions I need to get that lucrative contract from Fancy Feast and Royal Canin.

This is in every way akin to how bored deities feel. All you want is a few disciples, a few faithful to light up a shrine or something on your behalf. But the field is crowded. So many content creators, so many influencers! No wonder perfectly sound Goddesses wind up selling funnel cakes at the flea market. It's a cold, hard world out there.

Boost my cat, will you? And poor Sedna ... will you boost Her too? So grateful!

6 comments:

Bob said...

Oh go ahead, people, be a "content creator" or an "influencer," but I wonder if you realize that there will be another one along real soon who is better than you and faster than you and younger than you, and then where exactly will you be?

Debra She Who Seeks said...

A lot of the time, I'm not so much a "content creator" at She Who Seeks blog as I am a "content thief," swiping and compiling memes and LOLs stolen from across the interwebs! Nor has my dead cat, Her Royal Highness, made me a gazillion bucks either, that ungrateful feline. She desperately wants to be an influencer though, and bitterly blames me for not forking over the big bucks to buy millions of "followers" like people do on Instagram.

Ol'Buzzard said...

I must have about twenty followers and a very few people that comment, but for me, blogging is about the writing process - I need to write. I do appreciate the people that read and comment; at least I know I am not yelling in the dark.
the Ol'Buzzard

e said...

Your content is top notch, Anne. I'm not sure how one attracts the legions of followers, nor do I care. Maybe, as She Who Seeks says, they are purchased. I still think that the Smithsonian has made a critical error in not including your blog in their project. Hmph! Short sighted idiots!

pam nash said...

As I grow older I think immortality isn't as much fun as it's cracked up to be. Still, continue to apply. Weirder things happen every day. I shared your kitty's photo with the Demon Duo. They looked impressed so there are two fans here in TX.

Bohemian said...

Content Creator or Influencer, I doubt that I am proficient at either, but I do try on my little slice of cyberspace here in The Land Of Blog. It's about all I could handle, if I had Millions of Devotees the pressure would just be too much. Sometimes responding to a hand full of Comments is something I fall behind in. Kiddos do have different Goals now, but I like it when any Generation has some Visionaries... no telling what they will be able to Influence, Create and Master... their Potentials are limitless.