A Look at the Dark Side of the Lives of Some Prominent YouTubers, Who Are Increasingly Saying They're Stressed, Depressed, Lonely, and Exhausted (theguardian.com)

Many YouTubers are finding themselves stressed, lonely and exhausted. The Guardian: For years, YouTubers have believed that they are loved most by their audience when they project a chirpy, grateful image. But what happens when the mask slips? This year there has been a wave of videos by prominent YouTubers talking about their burnout, chronic fatigue and depression. "This is all I ever wanted," said Elle Mills, a 20-year-old Filipino-Canadian YouTuber in a (monetised) video entitled Burnt Out At 19, posted in May. "And why the fuck am I so unfucking unhappy? It doesn't make any sense. You know what I mean? Because, like, this is literally my fucking dream. And I'm fucking so un-fucking-happy."

[...] The anxieties are tied up with the relentless nature of their work. Tyler Blevins, AKA Ninja, makes an estimated $500,000 every month via live broadcasts of him playing the video game Fortnite on Twitch, a service for livestreaming video games that is owned by Amazon. Most of Blevins' revenue comes from Twitch subscribers or viewers who provide one-off donations (often in the hope that he will thank them by name "on air"). Blevins recently took to Twitter to complain that he didn't feel he could stop streaming. "Wanna know the struggles of streaming over other jobs?" he wrote, perhaps ill-advisedly for someone with such a stratospheric income. "I left for less than 48 hours and lost 40,000 subscribers on Twitch. I'll be back today... grinding again." There was little sympathy on Twitter for the millionaire. But the pressure he described is felt at every level of success, from the titans of the content landscape all the way down to the people with channels with just a few thousand subscribers, all of whom feel they must be constantly creating, always available and responding to their fans.

"Constant releases build audience loyalty," says Austin Hourigan, who runs ShoddyCast, a YouTube channel with 1.2 million subscribers. "The more loyalty you build, the more likely your viewers are to come back, which gives you the closest thing to a financial safety net in what is otherwise a capricious space." When a YouTuber passes the 1 million subscribers mark, they are presented with a gold plaque to mark the event. Many of these plaques can be seen on shelves and walls in the background of presenters' rooms. In this way, the size of viewership and quantity of uploads become the main markers of value.

Comments

No sympathy

[mschuyler]

You realize how much money a YouTuber with 1 million subscribers makes? It is mind boggling. Yeah, more than IT. Sure, it's "stressful" because you have to film, edit, and upload. Poor babies. Then there's all the "merch" to sell. It's just like a real business! I say, good for you. You did it. Now stop whining, you dumb fuck.

Re:No sympathy

[Quirkz]

Eh, I've got *some* sympathy. I mean, I'd still trade places with most of them if I could. But every job and every life has problems. Even if they seem minor to others, the human mind is a problem-seeking machine, and it will dig up issues if it's not seeing enough. A little mindful practice might go a long way for some of these folks, but it's also just a fundamental part of life.

Other things that *might* help, not just here, but everywhere:
- setting realistic goals and being satisfied with them
- figuring out how you want to define success for yourself
- putting effort into time management and efficiency
- figuring out how to take time off without having it become a mess
- knowing when to stop entirely or move on
- learn as much as possible about investing and living reasonably, maybe even frugally, for your income, so that taking a break or moving on becomes an easier choice
- cultivating interests and activities outside of the primary job
- getting adequate rest and addressing other health issues

Re:No sympathy

[93 Escort Wagon]

These are people in their late teens and early 20s... not really known for having a sense of perspective.

And, if that isn't enough, these folks are going to skew strongly towards the narcissistic end of the spectrum. What they're experiencing is all that matters.

Re:No sympathy

[Darinbob]

$500,000 per month sounds like a good remedy for stress. Not a problem there, those making that much money should either retire or suck it up.

Now for those not making much money, just enough to get by without getting a second job, I can understand the stress. Or even those where this is a secondary job. There does seem to be pressure to release new videos on a regular and predictable schedule, and there are profuse apologies after returning from vacation.

Re:No sympathy

[Solandri]

Eh, I've got *some* sympathy.

No sympathy for YouTubers with this problem. If you're making a mint posting videos on YouTube, the solution is simple: Hire people to help you make the videos. Yeah it means you won't get to keep as much of that YouTube revenue. But we're talking like a 20% decrease in marginal income (i.e. you still get to keep 80%) for a 500% increase in quality of life (5x as many free hours because the people you've hired are editing the videos, maintaining the equipment, etc. instead of you).

I can kinda sympathize with the guy in TFA because he's streaming, so he kinda has to play every day to keep his revenue stream up. But (1) he makes more in 6 months than the average American makes in a lifetime. So he could quit and retire after a year, and still be ahead of the pack if he's smart about saving and investing. And (2) he needs to evaluate if live-streaming as he plays a game for 8 hours/day is more stressful than working a regular job for 8 hours/day. I would wager he'd find holding a regular job more stressful, and he's only complaining because he's incorrectly comparing making money via streaming to making money while doing nothing.

Re:No sympathy

[serviscope_minor]

These are people in their late teens and early 20s... not really known for having a sense of perspective.

What amazes me is how much the old farts here love to shit on other people. These people have poured passion into something they love and have made at any rate initially a good living out of it.

But they get stress and burnout, which is exactly what all the cube-slaves complain about the relentless death marches and offshoring. But now somehow it's milennials fault for feeling stress.

Re:No sympathy

[bickerdyke]

Other things that *might* help, not just here, but everywhere:
- setting realistic goals and being satisfied with them
- figuring out how you want to define success for yourself

What's wrong with making more and more money? Why do you hate capitalism? Why do you hate America?

Cause that's the all same, isn't it?

Re:No sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

Shut up kid. Old farts shit on kids like you for one simple reason: They know better. It's called life experience.

Maybe someday you'll grow up and get it. People like me have poured their hearts and souls into creating a world for our children where you are free from polio, oppression, famine and bloodshed, a world where you are free to waste your miserable, worthless, empty lives on your fucking phones taking selfies all day while walking into telephone poles.

Had we known in advance what kind of selfish, entitled, narcissistic little brats we were busting our nuts day after day, year after year for, we would have all gone under the knife, kept all our money to ourselves and enjoyed in our fourties the kind of life you can now enjoy in your twenties.

Ungrateful little shitfucks.

Re:No sympathy

[Miser]

Exactly. If I'm making $500,000 a month before taxes, I'd wait until I have (after taxes) maybe $4-5M saved, and then live off the interest.

There. Solved your stress problem. I have no sympathy either when you're raking in that kind of cash. Sure, it's work constantly creating content, but you're making BANK.

Re:No sympathy

[thepigwanker]

Had we known in advance what kind of selfish, entitled, narcissistic little brats we were busting our nuts day after day, year after year for, we would have all gone under the knife, kept all our money to ourselves and enjoyed in our fourties the kind of life you can now enjoy in your twenties.

I think you meant "busting our asses", otherwise I have absolutely no idea what you're complaining about.

Re:No sympathy

[DCFusor]

"if you're making a mint" are the key words. Most are just struggling along not making rent which many somehow think they're entitled to. Or like me, not monetizing, so I don't get to play the angst game - and don't care. I'm just glad google is willing to store and stream my bits, more or less free, under what we know are the conditions - they have all my info anyway.

Re:No sympathy

[LordWabbit2]

I think that the original comment might have been more along the lines of that these young youtubers don't have a full understanding of what being burnt out is. They have only worked a couple of years and are complaining about being "burnt out". Sure they may work long hours, who hasn't? But they have only been doing it for a couple years. Try working in IT, where you work long hours FOR DECADES, try being an emergency medical doctor where you work long hours FOR DECADES. Being "burnt out" after working long hours for a couple years is pathetic.

I do concede one point though, having your income directly attributable to the fickle whims of people on the internet must put a different type of stress on people. Something akin to actors, comedians or other performance type jobs, who also work FOR DECADES without getting "burnt out". This seems the perfect time to say this common quote. "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Whining about it just shows how immature you are and that you don't really have a fucking clue about how stressed out everyone gets at times. I know plenty of people who have changed careers for lower pay just so that they don't have to deal with the stress. If they are feeling "burnt out" go flip burgers for a while, less stress, less pay. I will bet that they will suddenly feel "fully restored" when they get that first paycheck compared to how much they are getting paid now.

Re: No sympathy

[edris90]

If you have more a million dollars, then if you bye conservatively sized piece of land and end of development it for gridless living then you could remove most of the need for additional income and never have to work on anything that doesn't interest you again.

Re:No sympathy

[serviscope_minor]

kids like you

That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me today :')

Zero sympathy is right

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're making 500k a month. Suck it up. Bank that money for a bit. Quit. And go enjoy a nice life off the properly invested money.

Jesus. What whiners.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[Guspaz]

My perspective would be "I don't like doing this, but I'm making a mint, so I'm going to just keep doing it for as long as I can stand it and then retire on the tens of millions of dollars that I banked."

I think the idea of "I can just quit and retire in luxury any time I want" would help a lot with dealing with the stress of doing a job that I didn't like... And playing Fortnite on Twitch every day isn't exactly a soul crushing job.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[Anonymous Coward]

How-to Basic has it figured out, man.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[hey!]

About a decade ago it actually occurred to researchers to try to measure the marginal hedonic value of income at various levels. What they found is that the marginal value of individual income is essentially nil beyond $75,000 (at the time).

So why do people sacrifice so much for a big income? Well, it should come as a surprise to nobody that people are crap at figuring out what will make them happy. At above a minimum threshold for comfort and security lies a hedonic treadmill, because it's not about your needs, which are finite, but your wants, which expand to consume all available resources.

So there's nothing particularly surprising about someone making $200,000, a million or even a billion dollars being unhappy. In part this is the human condition; happiness as an emotion exists to motivate us by its absence. The one factor that does affect our baseline happiness is the strength of our social connections, but for some reason social media doesn't seem to count.

Performing antics for the amusement YouTube randos probably doesn't count as enriching your social network.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[hey!]

You know, I'm almost sixty, and in my entire life I've only known three people who actually did the kind of thing you're suggesting -- all coincidentally MIT electrical engineering grads. One worked for a defense contractor, living modestly until his mid 30s when he fulfilled the object of his plan: retired to live on his investments and start a new career as a photographer. Another worked in the early computer industry and then quick to get a liberal arts degree -- again the plan all along. The third went back to school become an elementary school teacher; that was more a late realization he wanted to do something else.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[El Cubano]

Still, it is sad that so many people waste their money while the getting is good instead of being prudent and investing for the long term. Imagine if you graduated college and got a job where the first year salary was about $450k with a guaranteed 15% raise each year for 4 years. Because that is the minimum guaranteed to every rookie drafted into the NFL last year. You might think, "gee, I could bank most of that and retire comfortably before age 30."

And yet, odds are that most of those athletes will end up living in poverty in their later years.

It seems like sound financial management is not something most parents teach their kids (maybe because they themselves don't know/understand it). Neither do the schools teach it. Then of course, there is the marketing and advertising which permeates our society today. Then there is the lifestyle that people who into these high profile occupations a) think that they should be entitled to live, and b) think others expect them to live.

Ironically, rather than being a very liberating thing the deck is stacked pretty heavily against young people who get handed bags full of cash early in life.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[The-Ixian]

And playing Fortnite on Twitch every day isn't exactly a soul crushing job.

Apparently you have never played Fortnite....

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[edi_guy]

This clip about simple money management from the movie "The Gambler" is finding new life on the Internet. Would be a worthwhile lesson for these young millionaires. https://twitter.com/LebogangMo...

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[Cmdln Daco]

Unfortunately, to be a YouTube Star, you need to be a burning star. To be a burning star, you have to burn.

That rarefied life experience has been long proven and it isn't anything new.

Re: Zero sympathy is right

[cs668]

I think sometimes it's hard when you peak so young, you don't know what to do next because whatever it is will probably not be as successful.

Re: Zero sympathy is right

[c6gunner]

What they found is that the marginal value of individual income is essentially nil beyond $75,000 (at the time).

That's total horseshit. I would be a fuck of a lot happier making $75,000,000 in one year and then being able to relax and live a life of luxury for the rest of my life, than I would having to go to work every fucking day for 50 years just to bring home $75,000.

I think these researchers have been hitting the medical marijuana. Either that or you're misrepresenting their findings.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[DNS-and-BIND]

Eh, you're half right. What people desire above all, especially men, is status. More money = more things = more status. Show off in a car, look at your status. Show off with a real Rolex, look at your status. Show off with vacation pictures from a place well-known to be expensive, look at your status. But status is relative, and every time you go up, you compare yourself with peers and superiors. You don't compare yourself to where you used to be - high status people view low status people with contempt. Even being around them causes status loss, so stay far away from the deplorables, and you certainly don't gain happiness by comparing your situation to theirs.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[Tom]

And playing Fortnite on Twitch every day isn't exactly a soul crushing job.

A lot of things that are fun when you do them as a hobby stop being fun when you do them as a job.

But for the kind of money the guy is raking in. Let's just say that there are actual soul crushing jobs that pay orders of magnitude less.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[bickerdyke]

If you're making 500k a month. Suck it up. Bank that money for a bit. Quit. And go enjoy a nice life off the properly invested money.

I don't think that's the point. That's what any sane person with a well paid, but unpleaseant job would do.

I guess their main problem is the insight, that their biggest dream turned out to be nothing but a grinding job. I loved programming and did it for fun. I'm not doing that anymore since I do it for a living. Yes! Even fun stuff like gaming turn into work if you HAVE TO do it.

That's plain old dissapointment.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[bickerdyke]

And playing Fortnite on Twitch every day isn't exactly a soul crushing job.

A lot of things that are fun when you do them as a hobby stop being fun when you do them as a job.

But for the kind of money the guy is raking in. Let's just say that there are actual soul crushing jobs that pay orders of magnitude less.

But they miss the surprise of finding out that they are soul crushing jobs, too....

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[Translation Error]

From what I've seen, it seems that most of the big YouTube stars started out loving what they were doing, appreciating and connecting to their followers as they became popular. When they start to burn out, it's not a question of quitting a lousy job, it's giving up on what they used to love, 'letting down' all the people who made them successful, and cutting themselves off from what's probably been their biggest form of social interaction for years.

Re: Zero sympathy is right

[Kielistic]

You aren't saying much different. You want enough in the bank to live off of X dollars a year. Now what would the lowest value of X be to keep you happy? Perhaps around $75000 (adjusted for inflation)? Now how many people can manage to make that much in one year? Not very many so it is not a very useful metric.

Re: Zero sympathy is right

[cayenne8]

I think sometimes it's hard when you peak so young, you don't know what to do next because whatever it is will probably not be as successful.

I dunno, I don't think going to bed with young, beautiful women, or driving fast exotic cars, traveling and generally partying and enjoying yourself and any hobbies you have every gets old.....

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[cayenne8]

Eh, you're half right. What people desire above all, especially men, is status.

Actually, I think status is as important or even maybe more important to most women than it is to men.

Women seem to compare themselves to all other women MUCH more than men compare themselves to other men.

Most guys don't even notice what another guy is wearing....women look at everything other women wear, and what their men wear.

I mean, virtually NO man looks to see what another man is wearing on their feet....women seem to notice shoes on every other women (and know the price)......etc.

The old saying that women don't dress for men, they dress of other women is largely true....and that is purely status.

Sure guys have it some, but not nearly as bad as women. I've often liked nice cars...sports cars. But I don't buy them for what other people think, I buy them because they're damned fun for me.

If someone looks or gives a thumbs up, that's nice....

But I don't really care....and if I see someone in a Porsche or such, I'm not jealous, I'm happy for them.

Re: Zero sympathy is right

[Cederic]

What you're missing is that he's talking about wealth not income. Income to create wealth is different from income funding expenditure.

I know that earning more than around 4 times the national average wage is all I need, and that going to 5 times will make fuck all difference to my happiness.

I also know that not having to earn a fucking penny and still having the lifestyle a salary 4 times the average wage would fund would be bloody fantastic. So yes, earning $15m in the next year and retiring is to me infinitely better than earning $75k/year for the next 20 years.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[LordWabbit2]

I would play the fucking SIMS everyday if someone paid me that much money, fuck I would play any fucking game you wanted me to, and I wouldn't whine like a bitch about it. The problem with these twats is they are NOT saving the money. I bet they are living the high life, flying all over the place, buying shit they don't need.

Brad Pitt quote time - "We buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like."

Anyways, not entirely relevant (they have the money) but you get the idea. Fuck, now I feel like watching that movie again. The point being is if that it was so soul crushing to play the same game everyday, then save up some money, invest it in property or buy up a business or twelve and fucking stop playing the game. When you are getting paid that well to play a game the whole day, and then whine about it, I don't feel ANY empathy for you, I feel like you landed with your pimply ass in the butter and are complaining that's its a tad cold.

Mark my words, the internet is a fickle place (actually the whole fucking planet, but the internet is a concentrator of fickle) save that money now, all it takes is one stupid comment about something that is taken out of context or simply a silly thing to say and all your monthly income is going to evaporate. I am sure your CV will look super attractive when all you have on it is "I played games all day". Also fortnite might be shit hot now, but new games come out all the time, when the next big hit comes out and the public all get interested in that instead of fortnite your revenue stream is going to drop drastically, and then it's a question of whether you can keep your fan base while you transition to the next big hit of the year.

Re:Zero sympathy is right

[LordWabbit2]

Exactly, I would happily change places with a insert soul crushing job here to get paid that much money. I think I can survive long enough to retire early (and live modestly). More time with my family, more time with my myriad hobbies, where do I sign up?

Re: Zero sympathy is right

[edris90]

Which all are solved by basic leap of faith buttressed by curiosity to see what happens next. If You Can't adapt your already dead, it's just waiting for things to play out, so you might as well jump into something new and see what happens

Who isn't?

[The Evil Atheist]

If you earn in a month 6 times more than what professionals in other industries earn in a year, how about just quit after a few months? Learn some financial managment (ie, don't spend more than you have) and be set for life.

Re:Who isn't?

[subk]

I tell you what, they had better be saving that money! Cause you can only be king-ding-a-ling in the gamer community for so long. Once someone else's shit sparkles more than yours, the herd is off to munch on new grass.

Re:Who isn't?

[Koby77]

It sounds like these Youtube stars are being put into a situation similar to a movie celebrity or a sports athlete. Their most profitable time will likely be measured in months. It probably won't last past 5 years. My advice to them would be, 1.) Quit your day job and make as much money as possible now, because you will probably never do it again in your lifetime, 2.) As mentioned above, get a financial planner who can spread that money out over a lifetime of stability, and 3.) If you feel stressed out because you're making a ton of money, but you can't quit because you'll lose all your viewers, too bad. This is the market trying to tell you something. Apparently there's plenty of "starving artists" willing to step up and take your spot if your content drops off.

Re:Who isn't?

[Koby77]

And after thinking about it for a little while, if you are truly some kind of Youtube star making $50k per month, that's $600k per year, and people earning far lower salaries have assistants. So 4.) Hire workers to take the burden off of you. Hire that video editor for $15k per month = $360k per year = nothing to sneeze at even in California. You'll probably be a lot less burnt-out if you have the other stuff handled by someone else. Would it be nice to keep all the money for yourself? Sure. But it you don't get burnt-out and you can keep your dream job for longer, while still making a ton of money, it could be a nice balance for you.

Re:Who isn't?

[Kjella]

If you earn in a month 6 times more than what professionals in other industries earn in a year, how about just quit after a few months? Learn some financial managment (ie, don't spend more than you have) and be set for life.

So.... you think he can work for two months, disappear for ten months and pick up where he left off? He took a weekend off and lost more subscribers than most people will ever have in total. For celebrities followers are their career, they accumulate them slowly and lose them quickly. And the money is always in the future, a million subscribers is not money in the bank it's the potential to make more money tomorrow. I can talk to my boss and take an unpaid day off with little problem, no work and no pay but I'll be back earning the same the day after. He takes a weekend off and on a $500k income then if 4% of his fan base permanently leaves that is $20k/year lost. And maybe you can say boo hoo you'll only have $480k/year, but I can understand how that seems like a helluva expensive break.

Maybe a useful comparison is an athlete, your body is your accumulated capital - you train and train to make it fit, if you say fuck it today I'll be a couch potato, eat junk food and go on a bender you're not just taking a day off - you're seriously damaging your chances to win any gold medals. It doesn't matter if you have a bad day and isn't very motivated right now, you have to remind yourself how hard you've worked to get here, the goal you're reaching for and kick yourself behind. Even if you're a very successful athlete and you make lots of money and whatever... god, I'd go nuts from the grind. And that's celebrities too, unless you want to commit career suicide you got to stay in the spotlight. You have to please the fans. Even on the days you'd like to just get away from everyone and everything.

Re:Who isn't?

[The Evil Atheist]

I used the word "quit". What definition of "quit" means "pick up where he left off"? READ.

Re: Who isn't?

[c6gunner]

At $500,000 a month you could spend 6 months working, quit, and spend the rest of your life living off the earnings. You won't have an extravagant lifestyle but for 6 months work? That's a fuck of a lot better than the vast majority of humans will ever achieve. A guy making $50,000 a year would have to work for 60 years to earn what you did in 6 months.

Anyone in that situation who has the audacity to whine should be dragged out into the streets and publicly flogged.

Re: Who isn't?

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude most are born into some kind of wealth hence can become teen yutubers. It's not the money - being famous was the goal. To replace the adulation of helicopter parents

They're complaining they still have to work

[JoeyRox]

Tyler Blevins, AKA Ninja, makes an estimated $500,000 every month via live broadcasts of him playing the video game Fortnite on Twitch, a service for livestreaming video games that is owned by Amazon. Most of Blevins' revenue comes from Twitch subscribers or viewers who provide one-off donations (often in the hope that he will thank them by name "on air"). Blevins recently took to Twitter to complain that he didn't feel he could stop streaming. "Wanna know the struggles of streaming over other jobs?" he wrote, perhaps ill-advisedly for someone with such a stratospheric income. "I left for less than 48 hours and lost 40,000 subscribers on Twitch. I'll be back today... grinding again."

So in essence he's complaining he has to work every day to earn his high salary. What did he think, that he could just stop working and continue to get paid to do nothing?

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[JoeyRox]

Exactly what I was going topost. This is no different than any single-man service operation like an HVAC tech or plumber - there's no such thing as paid time off.

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[stevent1965]

Wanna know the struggles of other jobs over streaming? If I'm absent from my real job for 48 hours (unexcused), I lose that job and get to collect unemployment. I'll probably have a hard time getting another job. If I'm absent from a streaming job for 48 hours, I lose some followers and my income drops a little bit until I return to the "grind" of playing video games. The horror, the horror! (google it, children, if you can spare the time).

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[Cmdln Daco]

Sadly, there's a whole generation out now who will defend the idea that it is entertainment to watch somebody else play video games.

It's just weird, but that's the deal.

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[Anonymous Coward]

people watching sports is normal but god forbid anyone watch a video game for fun. Get your head out of your ass and get your ass out of 1980.

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[stoborrobots]

Except there's a difference between not being paid for your time off, and your salary going down permanently due to taking time off. If you lose x% of your future salary (because you lose y% of your customer base) every time you took a couple of days off, then you're going to be in a very different place than someone who loses two days of pay for two days off.

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[JoeyRox]

But a one-man company doesn't get paid for time off, so his salary does go down for taking time off, and he does lose a % of his future salary for the same reason these vloggers do (and he can get them back just like they can).

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[bferrell]

In olden times, before people worked for others... Guess what? There was no paid time off. If you stopped working the fields or in your shop... You got nothing.

The internet has re-created the pre-industrialized world.

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[guruevi]

If you've ever ran a small business: not really. You get a 9-5 job because it's safe, you don't take risks and you get some money. Want more money? Take more risk, work days, nights and weekends for a 50% chance you make it and a 1% chance you become a millionaire doing it.

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[justthinkit]

Back in 80s (and 70s) I was watching a ton of video games -- was supposed to be studying but I found something more interesting.

People not understanding the attraction of someone playing video (or pinball) games...probably suck at video (or pinball).

Re: They're complaining they still have to work

[c6gunner]

No, they're arguing that they can't even take a single day off (i.e weekends) without it hitting their bottom line

Big fucking deal. They "work" maybe 5-6 hours a day tops, and in exchange they never have to worry about the menial shit the rest of us do. No 2 hours spent commuting every day. No cleaning, doing maintenance on the house, or even cooking; with $500,000 per month they can easily hire someone else to do all of it. I'll bet you any money you want that even without "weekends" they have a hell of a lot more spare time than the average salary worker.

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[djinn6]

So in essence he's complaining he has to work every day to earn his high salary. What did he think, that he could just stop working and continue to get paid to do nothing?

If he invest it, then yes. He'll be paid to do nothing.

These guys are still way better than the people who are born into wealth.

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[sabbede]

Well, I'd be pretty shocked if taking the weekend off cost me 40,000 customers. That said, I think he's discovering why celebrities can be so desperate to remain in the public spotlight. The entertainment biz is rough. Fickle and demanding.

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[Quirkz]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around that part. There are customers who subscribe to a channel, but if there's nothing new in that channel for 2 days, rush to unsubscribe because it's not cutting it anymore? Does the subscription get in the way of their other stuff? Is there some sort of sad-face nag button saying "this guy's not cool anymore"? Or were they sitting there with beer and popcorn, a whole weekend of stream-watching planned, and got disappointed because their show wasn't on?

I know I'm an old fogey about this stuff, but for me, I subscribe as a way to remind myself to go catch up on stuff that happens. It's often months or longer before I actually get time to go track down some of this material. I assume younger audiences both have more free time and are tapped in at a faster pace, but I still don't see giving up on something that I used to like after just two days of silence.

Re:They're complaining they still have to work

[sabbede]

I know, right? "Fickle", despite being the word I've been using, really doesn't capture the absurdity of cancelling a subscription after two days. I can't wrap my head around that either. That's like cancelling an HBO subscription on Tuesday because there hasn't been a new Game of Thrones since Sunday (when in season of course). Or not wanting to watch next week's Simpsons because, well, it's been a whole week since the last one, who can remember what the show's about?

And I sure don't think it's because you or I don't understand how subscribing to things works.

Maybe this is something network programming execs have known for a long time and solved in a way streamers should take note of - reruns. Setup an automated "Best of" playlist and take a frikkin vacation.

Say it ain't so!

[Anonymous Coward]

Whaaaaaat? Achieving monetary success doesn't fill that gaping void in your soul? The adoration of strangers doesn't fill the same gap as true friends you hang out with every day? Money doesn't buy happiness? Capitalism isn't perfect?!

It's like nobody ever told us!

Thoughts

[DaMattster]

The internet life is a lonely, and sometimes boring, life. There is a known psychological correlation between loneliness, boredom, and stress. I think that is what the article is alluding to. Money is not a cure for depression and anxiety; simply ask the wealthy that are on antidepressants and seek out therapy and counseling.

Need help, maybe?

[magarity]

Does he really do it all himself? Seriously, hire a team and cut the stress level by a huge margin.

Re:Need help, maybe?

[guruevi]

He can outsource pretty much anything else though so all he has to do is arrive on time, drop in a chair and play the game.

Re:Need help, maybe?

[djinn6]

Much of the planning is something only he'll can do. Above all, he's an entertainer, which means his work gets harder when not much is happening in the game, and prepping for that will take up time and mental capacity.

Other than that, how much setup is there for streaming a game? Turn on the lights, webcam, screen recording software, sign in to Twitch and maybe have a can of coke ready?

Re:Need help, maybe?

[thegarbz]

He only earns $500k per month. He doesn't have enough to hire a team. /sarcasm

Re:Need help, maybe?

[guruevi]

In most cases there's also editing for YouTube, promotion, reading or filtering e-mails/messages. Lights, camera and audio setup, depending on your environment, you may also need noise and echo reduction for it to look semi-professional or in some cases even be audible. Most streamers overlay messages or ads onto the video, so that takes some time to do and rework every so often. You also need a computer that runs optimally at all times, often more than one (one to play games, one to transcode the data into a stream and overlay messages)

There is a lot that comes with production of even streams and videos, hence the complaint, but at that point, you're running a business, most "good AND popular" channels aren't complaining but also have a production crew of 5-10 people.

Just another method to get attention.

[Archfeld]

This is just another attempt to grab more media attention. When whatever stupid thing you posted on YouTube has passed, you have to do what you can to keep the attention. Did you ever notice how many low grade trying to 'comeback' actors and musicians have ghosts and spirits in their houses today.

I know why they're unhappy.

[stevent1965]

They're unhappy because they've chosen an extremely shallow and meaningless avocation and have mistaken it for meaningful achievement and lasting contribution to the greater good. They're unhappy because they're beginning to realize the complete futility and meaningless of what they're doing with their lives. They're the modern, digital equivalent of 30-year-old hockey scores. No one will care or even know about them two or three years from now and they'll be left pondering how and why they've wasted some of the prime years of their lives. I hope they're saving whatever money they're making so they at least have a nest egg to finance something meaningful that will make them happy.

Re:I know why they're unhappy.

[guruevi]

That's not necessarily the problem though. The problem is that money brings with it a bunch of responsibility and most people can't handle nor ever planned to make a million dollars. So they waste it and never have any saved, if you suddenly are $3M in debt while making $6M/y you get stressed out.

Re: I know why they're unhappy.

[TJHook3r]

At least Hockey is a fun team sport that brings entertainment. Having a meaningful success will mean a lot in 30 years... more than most of our futile lives!

Re:I know why they're unhappy.

[Reservoir Penguin]

Yeah, having midlife crisis in your teens sucks. Well, at least they made so me people happy for a little while. They could have been writing meaningless soul crushing enterprise back-ends for 30 years.

Oh ick.

[HeckRuler]

For years, YouTubers have believed that they are loved most by their audience when they project a chirpy, grateful image.

ok, let me stop you there.

"youtubers" as a specific genre or style of presentation and platform is way more narrow than "people posting to youtube". I'm not saying you're wrong, but let's be clear on what we're talking about. This is a specific "cultural trend", like how all air traffic controllers are trying to sound like that one NASA employee in Houston they heard announcing the countdown for Apollo. Or how drill sergeants all wish they were Gunny (RIP). Or how all Slashdotters are neckbeards.

But I get you. "youtubers" as a genre. The sort of stuff you see Youtube recommend when you go there without a history. The "common denominator". And personally? FUCK THAT NOISE. It is the most banal and fake shit I can imagine and it grates on my nerves whenever I hear it. If the talking heads are sad about having to maintain a fake personality, WELCOME TO TELEVISION. It's a job. In other news, Keisha isn't really drunk 24/7, CNN reporters aren't staring into the void with half-dead eyes outside of work, and that cure girl working retail isn't actually that happy to see you.

a 20-year-old Filipino-Canadian YouTuber in a (monetised) video entitled Burnt Out At 19, posted in May. "And why the fuck am I so unfucking unhappy? It doesn't make any sense. You know what I mean? Because, like, this is literally my fucking dream. And I'm fucking so un-fucking-happy."

....Really? Wow. Ok, this is so over the top it must be a hit-piece by an old codger at the Guardian. I guess giving people reasons to hate millenials pays?

Whining is part of the job

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

I don't think I've heard of a "celebrity" that doesn't whine. The whinier, the celebritier.

Re:Whining is part of the job

[war4peace]

Morgan Freeman.

Re:Whining is part of the job

[alvinrod]

I think that's just because it's impossible to whine with his voice. If he tries, everything just sounds too majestic and he can't finish. At best, he can make what sounds like a well reasoned complaint, but no one will interpret it as whining.

Re:Whining is part of the job

[war4peace]

Touche!
(+1 Funny)

Re:Whining is part of the job

[LordWabbit2]

I actually laughed out loud, please mod this gentleman up.

Get Real

[theascension]

In the yet-another-money-doesn't-buy-happiness-dept we have people self-employing themselves for 500k struggling with depression? There's an awful and growing segment of the population who are caught in the glow of their own avatars and it is NOT healthy. Get out and form some friendships, invest your millions of dollars and understand that followers are NOT friends. They're leeches who have come to consume YOU the product.

You will never be happy if you can't make the distinction.

Social Media is a comparative and dissociative medium, we compare ourselves to others 'bests' and happiest moments and dissolve our personalities to mere veneers of reality. It doesn't surprise me some get depressed even if successful, but it's not a hard fix. Drop your online and GET REAL.

Every high income profession is stressful

[Anonymous Coward]

So being a professional attention whore is hard work? Being professional anything is hard work. Grow the fuck up.

Waaaaah!

[Rick Schumann]

Waah, pay attention to me!

*** time passes, attention-whoring YouTubers get their validation, money rolls in ***

Waah, I'm depressed, pay more attention to me!

*** sheep go BAAAAH and give the attention whore what (s)he wants ***

..I'm sorry, but let's be honest, aren't many of these people on YouTube just attention whores? More like attention vampires, maybe? Suck up all the attention, into the black hole it goes, never satisfied, always wanting more, more, more?

..oh, please.

Re:Content is king

[Darinbob]

There is so low quality on youtube, and I hadn't realized twitch made that money since it's inherently unplanned and ad-hoc and so low quality too. It really diminishes most of any value you get. Very little editing, very little variance from last week's uploaded video, and half the video is spent begging for viewers to subscribe.

Sympathy for those trying to make a living, but

[Phil Urich]

not for those making a killing. There are tons of people creating great videos (or other works) out there on the internet that are just trying, and often failing, to make a living from it; those people I have a lot of sympathy for. People like the two guys behind Cool Ghosts, who amongst other things have put out perhaps the best video game review 'TV' episodes of all time.

By contrast, people that are making enough they could easily retire and live an extremely comfortable life for the rest of their days? Those I don't have sympathy for. They aren't actually stuck in any real rut, and their artistic output tends to be a lot less laudable anyways.

It's an age-old problem and dichotomy. It brings to mind the song "Coup D'etat" by Sleepless Nights, about the music industry:

Who killed Sam The Record Man?
Music fans with blood-stained hands
"God damn, Celine sold less Greatest Hits this year"
The only hearts that beat close to mind
Are the casualties of the retail line
Part time artists, Scraping bottom and barely getting by

Brace yourselves, here comes the Coup D'Etat
There goes the old dead world
Rebuild, rebuild, rebuild, rebuild, now
Brace yourselves, here comes the shakeup shift
Golf carts are crashing hard
And I could really give a shit

For old Gene Simmons and tin-can Lars
Need their hands on my money like a hole in the heart
Art needs to suffer, not drive expensive cars
Aluminum and plastic, and more plastic still
Making mountains of ephemera in the county landfill
I remember when rare sound wasn't just a ratio kill

Brace yourselves, here comes the Coup D'Etat . . .

Re:At $500k/month, he only has to stream for...

[Darinbob]

Maybe some of the stress comes from knowing you have to make your money now because in a few years it will dry up. Like sports stars.

Fuck em

[Snotnose]

I'm sorry, I live in San Diego. I'll never forget that asshat youtuber who took his supercar the wrong way on the freeway and killed a mom and her 12 year old daughter.

When I hear "youtube star" I instantly think "douchbag", and so far they've only gone down from there.

Just like other celebrities

[Trogre]

It seems a lot of celebs spend a lot of energy chasing reviews and accolades, which becomes a driver of their self image, before eventually arriving at the crushing realization that fame and fortune aren't all they're cracked up to be, and ultimately don't fill the emptiness they experience every day.

Stressed, Depressed, Lonely, and Exhausted

[NikeHerc]

Reminds me of a doctor visit: (me) "Doc, it hurts when I do this."

(Doctor) "Don't do that."

Perhaps there's a lesson herein.

Making money off of no real talent and work..

[SocietyoftheFist]

doesn't make one happy? I would have never thunk it.

Young people that need to retire?

[mschaffer]

I hear that "Portland is a city where young people go to retire." https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Seriously, though, I could not agree more with mschuyler. Who would ever think that these attention-mongering prima donnas would bitch and moan so much about doing their jobs? Someone needs to show them what it's really like to have a stressful job---especially jobs that are low-paying, yet require more skill than making a ton of irrelevant Youtube videos.. Better yet, show them what it's like to absolutely depend on the income from two crappy, unrewarding, and stressful jobs.

Nobody is forcing them to do this. It's all self-inflicted. If you cannot handle the stress, perhaps you should look into becoming a librarian?

Besides...I would not be surprised at all to learn of a version of the appendix to one of the apocryphal versions of the New Testament that states that prominent Youtube personalities signals the approach of the end times.

Re:Young people that need to retire?

[93 Escort Wagon]

Besides...I would not be surprised at all to learn of a version of the appendix to one of the apocryphal versions of the New Testament that states that prominent Youtube personalities signals the approach of the end times.

I don’t recall anything like that in the New Testament... but I’m reasonably sure Dante mentioned them being frozen, head-downward, in the ninth circle of hell.

Get rid of public view counts and subscribers

[ka9dgx]

CGP Grey came up with idea that initially sounds silly, until you think about it...

Get rid of publicly seen view counts, subscriber counts and thumbs up/down counts for all videos and channels. The creators would still see them privately. It would take a lot of the pressure off.

sympathy

[Tom]

There was little sympathy on Twitter for the millionaire.

This. Fucking arseholes. You think such an income comes for free? You think regular people who do actual work for their money don't get stressed? People who earn your money in a year have higher job demands, so STFU.

Most of the "YouTubers" that I've had any exposure to (thankfully, very few) don't know how to do anything else and have never held an actual job for any length of time. They don't have any idea what life outside YouTube looks like. Most people who have had an actual career understand very well that higher salaries come with higher demands and very often with higher stress levels. We can easily extrapolate and understand that we could probably earn twice as much as we do now, and what the cost would be.

I've been a CEO in my life. I honestly don't want again. I prefer having a life, thank you. I'm more happy now, and trying to get rid of the last remnants from that time, the last requests and demands.

YouTubers, from what I understand, are similar to musicians or actors. Most of them have little audience and very small incomes, but a relatively low number of stars goes through the roof. It's a steep curve with a small tip. So your choice is to be on top or not, there's not much of a middle where you can be comfortable with acceptable stress level and income.

But you know what? That's a choice you made. Give me half a million a month and I'll be happy to work my arse off 24 hours a day seven days a week for a year, invest most of the profit nicely, then retire back to my current job, but live at a higher comfort level because my house is paid off and I still have a few millions in a nice portfolio that gives me a really nice passive income.

Oh yeah, I forgot. I have an actual profession that I can go back to. Poor YouTuber. Maybe spend your money on learning something? That's what smart pro-athletes do, who understand the most clearly that they can't be a soccer player or runner or jumper for many years.

Re:let me fix that for you

[phantomfive]

People Are Stressed, Depressed, Lonely, and Exhausted

Headline shortened and generalized for clarity.

Vacation

[houghi]

In Europe we value our off time and limit our working time and take holidays. Even people who are self employed are spending their money on it.
If your hobby becomes work, it is still work. So look for something ekse to do. Build in weekends you are not in front of a PC or camera. Take uearly holiday.
Moaning about work? There is a support group for that and we meet at the bar.

Re:Vacation

[Daralantan]

If your hobby becomes work, it is still work. So look for something ekse to do.

Except in many of these cases, the whining is part of the work - "please donate more to my patreon because I'm not happy" etc.

Dumbasses are doing it for the money

[skovnymfe]

What the title says. The dumbasses are doing it for the money and the attention, not because they think it's fun. Just fucking do whatever you want to do and whatever you think is fun to do. Don't do what you think other people think is fun to watch you do. The people who think what you do is fun to watch, they will find you and watch what you do.

It's the same stupid gimmick musicians have been going through for the last 60 years. Playing music is fun, playing gigs is fun, getting signed for a big music deal is fun, but then you have to start working for the money, and that's not really so fun, so you take a few drugs to make it fun again, and you enter the inevitable death-spiral until you burn out and/or commit suicide.

But stupid people will continue to be stupid and will refuse to see the reality they live in, or learn from mistakes made by thousands upon thousands of people before them

I don't care....

[SuperDre]

Why should I care about these people? if you make $500.000 a month with live streaming playing a game.. Stop moaning and just stop live streaming or cutting it back.. Sorry can't have any sympathy for those people if they complain, they do it to themselves and their bankaccount isn't complaining.. A lot of people have to work a lifetime to even earn $500.000, let alone having that ammount of cash as a reserve on their bankaccount (most people don't have that).

TANSTAAFL

[sabbede]

You know the old saying, "if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life"? It's a lie. You're still going to have to work your ass off, maybe more than you would otherwise. You just won't mind as much as you would if you didn't like your job.

YouTube "celebrities" are just discovering something that everyone else in the entertainment industry has always known - it's incredibly demanding and much harder than it looks. Audiences are fickle, and you are at their mercy.

Narcissism is unrewarding

[Martin S.]

The root issue is Narcissism. They need increasing amounts of egotistic admiration otherwise their ego/self image will suffer. At first they can achieve rapid growth in subs which feeds their ego, but they need for more attention to gain the same endorphin high, but ultimately there subscribers will plateau they will not get the highs.

Even those that do not start as Narcissists, will acquired situational narcissism as long as they receive constant positive feedback, it rewires their brains to need the endorphin high.

I sympathize!

[TJHook3r]

I have literally tens of IG followers and I know the pressure of keeping those likes flowing. One of my kids was consistently getting low ratings on Instagram so I was forced to drop his content, in favour of one of his siblings.

Re: At $500k/month, he only has to stream for...

[Quirkz]

If you make all the money in one year, you're paying high taxes. If he earns $2 million in 4 months, he's only keeping half that, so that's at least double. Plus the inevitable expenses due to being new to money, because nobody figures it out on Day 1 that they need to resist being stupid and invest everything.

Also, being that young, nothing can go through retirement accounts, so all investments are taxable for decades. Plus being young, he's needs to plan for at least 60, probably 80 years to be smart. Even assuming current, modest inflation rates, $2 million isn't going to be much in 2098 - something like $200,000 in current dollars.

All of which is to say he's probably got to work not just a full year but maybe a couple of he wants to retire safely on this one project alone. It's still a great opportunity, but probably not something that you can grind out in 4 months and be done.

the real story

[slashmydots]

I run a channel with 16.5 million views, 37k subs, and 1450 videos and it's been up for about 3 years. These whiners are entitled milennial assholes who only care about what people think of them on top of never having worked a day in their life. They're depressed that 95% of their fans loving them and 5% constantly bashing them leaves them feeling empty and "stressed out." They're shallow and impossibly lazy and picked the wrong career path. I'm not "burned out" and I work a full time job on top of making around 1.5 videos per day for my channel.

The Game Theorists channel had a very insightful..

[bev_tech_rob]

video about why folks are getting burnt out putting out content on Youtube..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Re:Maybe because...

[cayenne8]

Not to be mean, but "youtube celebrity' is not very high on the list of things which makes the world a better place. There's no long term job satisfaction in that.

WTF does that have to do with having a job?!?!?

You work to earn money to live your life for necessity (food, shelter, etc)...and hopefully a bit more than that to save for elder years, and a bit above that for a lifestyle that makes living today happy.

For 99,999999999999% of people that's the ONLY reason they work....most don't give a flying fuck about making the world a better place when you come down to it.

If I didn't have to work to support my lifestyle, I'd certainly NOT work....I have much better stuff I can think of to occupy my time on earth.

Re: At $500k/month, he only has to stream for...

[Cederic]

Or he could work 6-8 months, buy a big fuck-off house and sign up with an old school media company that would love to have someone with strong presenting, editing and audience engagement skills.

It'll fund him a decent lifestyle, especially now he's already got the house, and give him far more workable hours and a social life.

Better than being a 22yo millionaire suicide.

...wow do people need to get a life...

[ole_timer]

...wow...just wow...

Re:Who isn't? (I agree, but slight correction)

[gosand]

If you earn in a month 6 times more than what professionals in other industries earn in a year, how about just quit after a few months? Learn some financial managment (ie, don't spend more than you have) and be set for life.

"... and be financially set for life." The answer is pretty clear to outsiders looking in, but I would expect it is similar to anyone who gets famous - how people handle it ranges from loving it and thriving on it, turning it into other opportunities all the way down to people who hate it and wish it never happened. I think what has changed over the past 10-15 years is that the speed at which it happens has accelerated. It seems that quite-literally anyone can become famous on youtube. Personally, I just don't get why people are so intently interested in famous people.

And as is fairly well known, money can't buy happiness. I do believe that. However, I would still like to have a few million bucks in the bank knowing full well it won't make me happier than I am now.

Come on...

[bblb]

How can anyone be remotely surprised by this? If the predominant connections you have in your life are based around chasing money or superficial engagement with glorified strangers, then you're obviously going to have an empty and meaningless existence that eventually weighs upon you. This is the problem with modern keeping up with the kardashians culture... all these kids see money as the key to happiness and have no idea what life is about. They'd rather text people than see them and they spend the majority of their time doing things because they think other people will think they're cool rather than because it's what they truly dreamed of doing. This poor girl crying about being so unhappy after achieving her "dream" is completely missing fulfillment because all she dreamed of was having the followers and being a youtube star. That kid didn't grow up dreaming about creating content and acting and engaging, she dreamt about the celebrity of it and assumed that with that celebrity would come happiness. We've raised a generation, going on two generations now, of kids who don't know who they are because they're so obsessed with who they think they're supposed to be. While that's undoubtedly been a component of teenage angst as long as teens have been around, the presence and extent of social media has elevated it as much as anything else. We need to start teaching these kids to dream about what they love doing, not what they want to be... if you dream of flying, then you naturally gravitate towards becoming a pilot... but if you just get bombarded with media showing how cool pilots are, you grow up thinking you want to be a pilot then one day you just might realize you don't even like flying.

You wanted fame?

[Methadras]

Well, here you go. Deal with it. Here is your fame? How do you like it now? Oh, the money is great, but you better keep producing or you're going to lose it. Hope you've invested wisely so you have an eventual exit strategy.

You can't have your cake and eat it too

[TheStickBoy]

oh...there's a saying about this....how does it go?

Get paid to talk to yourself

[sursurrus]

Actors draw clear boundaries between the role and their own personality. Successful youtubers destroy that line - with the pressure to put out content constantly comes the pressure to incorporate more of the personal life into the act. Soon the line gets irrevocably blurred. Comments, likes, views, subs, and revenue become a self-reinforcing cycle tied to self-esteem. Something starting out as a quirky labor of love turns into caring what hundreds of thousands of random internet idiots think. It can destroy your passion for whatever your content is about, at a minimum. You're literally at the collective mercy of all the crackpots, cranks, weirdos, trolls, haters, fanboys. You have the awesome power of knowing that a small percent of viewers will do whatever you tell them... and realizing these tools may be the worst of all. If you have any intellectual honesty, you come to realize what many 'celebrities' do: success is random, and the product of collective stupidity based on the boredom of the world at large.

Re:Tired because they're dumb

[NJRoadfan]

Some of them finally take the hint and hire other people to do things like editing. Problem is most of these folks still treat it as a "hobby" and not as a "business". I still wonder how these people file their income taxes or realize how much in taxes they will be paying on all that income to begin with?