Community Recommendation: Internet Creators Guild (Not just about YouTube!)
In my last post I wrote about getting paid on social media- Making money on social platforms: First order and second order benefits. Go back and read it. I don't want you to read it for rewards, I just want you to able to see a spreadsheet that's probably of interest to ya.
In it, I wrote that YouTube is kind of the go-to example of being able to get paid on a social platform natively.
This is not me cheerleading YouTube. Just respecting the fact that there's been a long era where if you wanted to make money on social, you had to make arrangements on your own or through third parties. YouTube, at least in the United States, has been the biggest platform to enable creators to make money right through the system.
As result of YouTube's business model/creator relationship leadership, its been the testing ground for figuring out a whole bunch stuff. Both good stuff (making money! getting discovered by Hollywood! Getting your big break in music!) and bad stuff (bullying! shady under the table undisclosed endorsements! legal vulnerabilities!).
It follows that some of the most insightful thinking on the economics of Internet creativity has come from the YouTube community. Among these thinkers is Hank Green. (I won't list his whole bio here. But he has the cred on the both sides for making stuff for an audience AND for creators). Recently he helped found an organization (Internet Creators Guild) dedicated to figuring out more of this stuff. Their mission, in their words, "to connect, inform, and support the tens of thousands of people working as creators on the internet." (Their number might be a little low there, heh.)
I'm suggesting you follow their work. They seem to have both paid services for its members, and free content. As an outside observer who just follows along without paying, I've gotten plenty of value from just reading their twitter and blog.
Among the nice things they've done? Clear up all the drama about the YouTube demonetization notices. (TL;DR, the communication system changed, not the policy.)
Anyway, that's a mini-endorsement. This community seems very interested in world of economics of social platforms. You could do worse than studying YouTube, and following The Internet Creators Guild.
Further reading:
- Introducing the Internet Creators Guild(Medium)
- Making money on social platforms: First order and second order benefits (Steem)
- DIY steem profile page: @bluechoochoo
- more on social platforms: @casualsheets (twitter)
The most insidious thing about trickle-down economics is not the claim that if the rich get richer, everyone is better off. It is the claim made by those who oppose any increase in the minimum wage that if the poor get richer, that will be bad for the economy. This is nonsense.