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This is an interesting story, definitely worth a click, but isn't it sort of also just the fundamental issues humans face in all pursuits that are based on inte

This is an interesting story, definitely worth a click, but isn't it sort of also just the fundamental issues humans face in all pursuits that are based on interest? I feel like you'd get the same spirit of complaint from a disenchanted musician, actor, chef, or even entrepreneur. "It's a lot harder than I thought. The market's tastes are fickle, I've got to make stuff to please them instead of things that creatively satisfy me. If I stop relentlessly competing I can't pay my bills" I'm older than the average youtube star, but I don't begrudge their success or view them as trivial people like a lot of my peers. That said, perhaps it's the _initial_ grand slam success and money that is the aberration (like app store hits at their peak), and the "bad side" is simply a sort of market correction where you've got to do unenjoyable things roughly commensurate with the payoff.

pandapower2 8y ago
The story of these youtubers certainly has strong echoes of other show business type careers. >creators feel disposable ... in the knowledge that there are younger, fresher people waiting in the wings to replace them. That sounds a lot like actors in particular. Today's hot new star is tomorrow's has been.
pdimitar 8y ago
Over the last several years I gradually changed from being very salty and grumpy -- "FFS, these goofy kids get to squeal on air and get rich and buy a house I won't likely have at 50, WTF is that!!!" -- to basically accepting how most of our current world's economy works and I moved to the milder attitude of "hey, if you can make it work then more power to you, and good job!". I think the only bad thing in this picture is their initial huge success, like you seem to believe as well. This produces very unrealistic future expectations and the cognitive dissonance becomes nigh-impossible to face in the aftermath. This leads to articles such as this one. In my eyes everybody should learn to work hard and the value of money but some are skipping these steps with a big initial success and when reality finally kicks in, they are much less prepared to face it. Sad, but it's part of one's own personal development. Can't be avoided.
- projektir 8y ago
  But what is reality, for whom? For what amount of people? What of those who never hit this "reality" at all? They exist, and a comment like yours is mysteriously never addressed to them, and it's not clear where this personal development would occur or why. I see this as a good thing. It makes people expect more, demand more, raise issues. Because the issue in the blog is worth raising. Otherwise, they'll just settle for what is. And the is has never been very good. The cognitive dissonance was from assuming that the world was fair, but you make this mistake as well. Reality is malleable and changes constantly, one day your core skill is learning how to throw a spear the next it's how to manage computers; it's all rather unreliable and it differs very strongly depending on where you ended up...
  - pdimitar 8y ago
    By "reality" I mostly meant "what is statistically often found almost everywhere" -- sorry for not clarifying. By saying "when reality sets in" I mean to say "when one day nobody can carry you through life anymore, including your luck from previous phases, and you actually have to work really hard for a fraction of what you barely worked for before". And yes, reality is maleable. That's both very good and very bad. As for me assuming the world is fair, definitely not! The world is anything but fair...

pandapower2 8y ago

The story of these youtubers certainly has strong echoes of other show business type careers. >creators feel disposable ... in the knowledge that there are younger, fresher people waiting in the wings to replace them. That sounds a lot like actors in particular. Today's hot new star is tomorrow's has been.

pdimitar 8y ago

Over the last several years I gradually changed from being very salty and grumpy -- "FFS, these goofy kids get to squeal on air and get rich and buy a house I won't likely have at 50, WTF is that!!!" -- to basically accepting how most of our current world's economy works and I moved to the milder attitude of "hey, if you can make it work then more power to you, and good job!". I think the only bad thing in this picture is their initial huge success, like you seem to believe as well. This produces very unrealistic future expectations and the cognitive dissonance becomes nigh-impossible to face in the aftermath. This leads to articles such as this one. In my eyes everybody should learn to work hard and the value of money but some are skipping these steps with a big initial success and when reality finally kicks in, they are much less prepared to face it. Sad, but it's part of one's own personal development. Can't be avoided.

projektir 8y ago
But what is reality, for whom? For what amount of people? What of those who never hit this "reality" at all? They exist, and a comment like yours is mysteriously never addressed to them, and it's not clear where this personal development would occur or why. I see this as a good thing. It makes people expect more, demand more, raise issues. Because the issue in the blog is worth raising. Otherwise, they'll just settle for what is. And the is has never been very good. The cognitive dissonance was from assuming that the world was fair, but you make this mistake as well. Reality is malleable and changes constantly, one day your core skill is learning how to throw a spear the next it's how to manage computers; it's all rather unreliable and it differs very strongly depending on where you ended up...
- pdimitar 8y ago
  By "reality" I mostly meant "what is statistically often found almost everywhere" -- sorry for not clarifying. By saying "when reality sets in" I mean to say "when one day nobody can carry you through life anymore, including your luck from previous phases, and you actually have to work really hard for a fraction of what you barely worked for before". And yes, reality is maleable. That's both very good and very bad. As for me assuming the world is fair, definitely not! The world is anything but fair...