Social media is a part of our lives more than ever now, and the pandemic has given us more free time than we ever had. As a result, it’s inevitable that some people spend many hours creating content, and some people scroll through their applications looking at said content. Believe me, you would not want to see my screen time; and I know it is the same for a lot of people.
This rising focus on social media and online platforms gave rise to content creators monetizing their content and sharing it with a greater audience. In this article, we will begin with talking about what a content creator is. Then we will move onto how the Content Creator Economy became such an important part of the internet today. Finally, we will talk about different types of content and which platforms they are on.
What is a Content Creator?
Let’s begin with: What is content? To simplify it to a great extent, think about everything you see on the internet. Everything? Yes, pretty much everything! Content creation often refers to digital content. This is such a big part of our lives that sometimes we don’t even realize it. Let’s look at some examples of content:
Memes, videos, vlogs, lives, courses, photographs, comics, games, infographics, applications, ebooks, music and more! All of these fall under content. It is just a matter of monetizing it that turns content creation into a full-time (or a part-time) job.
Depending on the type of content, the internet has given creators various titles. Some of these are simple and can go without saying: someone who writes content is a content writer (hiya!). Someone who publishes their songs on platforms such as Spotify is a music creator.
Some of these creators are named by the platform themselves. Youtuber, TikToker, Instagrammer (or Instagram Influencer), Twitch Streamer are some of them.
A good portion of them are named after the form of content they create. Vlogger, podcaster, game creator, blog writer etc, which are pretty straightforward. These contents can be hosted on a variety of platforms, as we will be talking about later in this article.
Another aspect of content creation is undeniably its ties to marketing for companies. Companies hire content creators to market their product, reach a wider audience and spread brand awareness about what they do. This quickly ties us to the Content Creator Economy, which we will be talking about next.
The Rise of the Content Creator Economy
Did you know that there are over 50 million content creators today? Most of them consider themselves to be amateurs, which means it’s not their primary means of earning money. However, over 2 million of them classify themselves as professionals. Half of these self-proclaimed professionals use Youtube to share their content, one quarter of them use Instagram, and a fifth of them uses Twitch.
Overall, 30 million people make money from Instagram and over 12 million people make money from Youtube.
From these staggering statistics alone, it’s easy to see that content creation has become a popular profession. A lot of people either earn their primary or secondary income through creating such content.
Now, you might be wondering what sudden change brought on so many people both creating and enjoying these works vigorously. It’s particularly impressive since these platforms are barely a decade old. After all, Youtube was created in 2005, Instagram in 2010, Twitch in 2011 and TikTok in 2016.
There are two main reasons we will be talking about when it comes to why the Content Creator Economy is booming:
Reason One: Technology
The first reason is the rise of technology. Can you imagine making movies in the early 2000s without having the necessary equipment? It would cost hundreds of dollars to buy them, and even if you could loan the necessary cameras and sound equipment, you would need different people to operate them, which still means spending a lot of money. Even from a physical standpoint, carrying these equipment from location to location would be a hassle.
With the spread of smartphones, however, all of us can make movies and share videos with only one device. You don’t need to worry about having different people operating the sound, the camera and the lighting. You can be your own director, actor, sound engineer and much more with just a phone in your hand.
Similarly, with other forms of creation too, it has become increasingly easier to produce content. Writers can use their laptops anywhere they want, Instagrammers can use online applications to edit their photographs, even Game creators can use pre-made programs to ease their creation process.
With technology making the process of creation smoother from its rocky path, it makes sense that so many people can create whatever they want much easier. It does not necessarily mean they will quit their jobs and devote their time to content creation full-time, but they can spend their leisure time doing what they enjoy.
Reason Two: The Pandemic and Social Media
To quote Bo Burnham from his stand-up comedy Inside: “But look, I made you some content / – made you your favorite / Open wide / Here comes the content / It’s a beautiful day / To stay inside!”
It is unarguable that the pandemic has changed our lives drastically. A lot of people were forced to work from home or they have lost their jobs entirely. Many of us suddenly found ourselves with more free time than we ever had with no idea what to do with it.
It is during this time that many found solace in content creation, and many began using their phones and TVs more than ever before. A study done by Int J Environ Res Public Health states that over “50% of adults have increased their screen time during the pandemic.” Which directly correlates with the amount of time spent on social media, watching, reading and listening to content creators.
The equation is simple: social media makes it easier and cheaper to market content, and all of us have more free time than we ever had. Even if the effects of the pandemic are steadily declining in many countries, our screen time habits are sticking with us, and we are continuing to consume content at great rates every single day.
Now, let’s shift to which platforms we are consuming these types of contents, and where do the content creators flock.
Where to Market Your Content? Which Platforms are the Best?
Now that we know what a content creator is and how the content creator economy is rising rapidly, the question comes to monetizing said content.
As we have said before, some of these content creators simply stick to the platforms they are creating their content. For example, TikTokers stick to TikTok, and Youtubers stick to Youtube. However, it should be noted that they also promote and market their content on various social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and so on.
Where to market these types of contents is initially easy to figure out, but there are other types of content that don’t come with a label on it. For example, if you’re a blog writer, which platform should you use? Simply using a WordPress blog and hoping people will magically find you won’t work. Similarly, if you want to share your knowledge digitally through online courses and monetize your content, you probably don’t have a clear cut answer.
This is where business platforms come to the scene. There are various programs online that you can use to share your content, monetize it, and share it accordingly. You can create membership tiers and share different types of content with different people. You can create various types of courses and update regularly. Moreover, you can create online events and talk to your members to get feedback and enhance your content.
What you need from an all-in-one platform is directly related to the content creator and what they want to do. There are various ways to monetize digital content, and these come from subscriptions, membership tiers, paid events, streams and so on.
Using Raklet to Share Your Content
If you’re someone looking to launch your content online, or if you are a seasoned content creator and aren’t pleased with your reach, I’d like to tell you a bit about Raklet.
With Raklet, you can do all that I have mentioned above and more! You can create dedicated paid membership tiers for different types of content and share it accordingly. You can collect different amounts of payments through Raklet, such as subscriptions, one-time payments, or tickets to online events.
Of course, you can directly share your content on Raklet, such as videos, music, writing and so much more. Moreover, you can lock whichever content you like to different membership tiers.
If you have any questions in your mind or would like to learn more about Raklet, you can also schedule a demo! We would love to explain more about how you can launch your content on Raklet, our platform and what we do to help creators all around the world.
