Why Do Popular YouTubers Fall into 'Burnout'?

"One Month Break Takes a Year to Recover Views"... Driven into Infinite Subscription Competition
Operating Method Measuring Influence by Numbers Like Comments and Subscribers Is the Cause
Social Factors of the Digital Era Breaking Time and Space Constraints Also Play a Role

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] On YouTube, 621 hours of content are uploaded every minute. As of 2018, 1.3 billion videos were registered annually. YouTubers are getting exhausted from this fierce competition. From 'Doti' (real name Na Hee-seon), who has attracted 2.53 million subscribers, to 'PewDiePie,' the Swedish creator with the most subscribers worldwide (about 100 million), popular YouTubers both domestic and international are complaining of burnout (a state of psychological and physiological exhaustion due to unresolved stress). On the 7th, Asia Economy examined the causes of burnout among YouTubers based on expert opinions, categorizing them into three factors: ▲ YouTube's operational methods ▲ human physiological and psychological issues ▲ social factors.

◆ "One month off means one year to recover views" = According to YouTube's monetization requirements, creators must meet minimum criteria of over 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the past 12 months to earn $2 to $3 per day through AdSense (Google's advertising program). Due to this operational method, YouTubers are pushed into competition to gain more subscribers.

Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, stated that as more YouTubers complain of burnout, "an internal team analyzed six years of data and concluded that there is no problem with revenue even if videos are not uploaded for a while." Nevertheless, YouTubers believe that fewer videos and longer intervals between uploads cause them to lose subscribers' attention. Drake McHorter (USA), who had 268,000 subscribers for gaming content, said, "After taking a month off in 2016, it took a year to recover the page views I had before the break."

Image source=Yonhap News

◆ "Can't rest even when sick"… The burden of solo creation = 'Happy Saea' (real name Eom Saea), a travel creator, pointed to YouTube's operational method of measuring influence by numbers such as likes, comments, subscribers, and views as a cause of burnout. He said, "YouTubers run toward goals like 100,000 or 1 million subscribers, but beyond that, numbers continue endlessly to 10 million, 100 million, and so on," adding, "Because of this, they are inevitably driven into infinite competition."

Unlike movies or dramas where multiple members share tasks, most YouTubers work solo, which is also seen as a limitation. Comedian Kim Sang-tae, who runs the kids' channel 'Saranga Nolja' with about 300,000 subscribers, said, "Many YouTubers have no choice but to push forward with content creation even when they are not feeling well or conditions are not ideal because there is no substitute," adding, "Especially those who work full-time as YouTubers or have contracts with multi-channel network (MCN) companies must consistently produce a certain amount of videos, making them more likely to face burnout."

◆ Side effects of 'digital stress' = Lee Jang-joo, director of the Erak Digital Culture Research Institute and a psychology expert, evaluated that this kind of YouTuber activity style exceeds human biological rhythms and psychological limits, causing problems. He said, "People's bodies are accustomed to working during the day and resting at night, adjusting production activities according to climate conditions like heat or cold, but with the advent of industrial society, these boundaries of rest broke down, causing stress," adding, "With the digital society including YouTube, even the constraints of time and space have been removed, leading to excessive consumption of physical and mental energy." Happy Saea defined this by saying, "Freelance YouTubers have no clock-in but also no clock-out."

Social factors, such as active interactions through social networking services (SNS), are also pointed out to fuel burnout. Lee said, "On SNS, rather than depressing or uncomfortable stories, only the glamorous moments or special events of others are highlighted," analyzing, "Those watching feel a sense of inferiority, thinking 'I'm falling behind most people in society,' and while engaging in YouTube activities, they immerse themselves in producing content beyond their abilities to stand out, leading to easy exhaustion." He added, "If you suffer from the obsession to only produce the best content, you cannot sustain any work for long," and emphasized, "It is necessary to exercise restraint and introduce topics you like whenever conditions allow."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.