Content creators who have been seized life and death by SNS companies. Recently, however, there have been signs of a change in this balance of power.
Callie Tiffaw, 33, a New Orleans artist and content creator, had previously found success with a niche Instagram account.
I made an account about 7 years ago. To get your meme out to a lot of people. He could have made some pocket money selling T-shirts, but that wasn’t his goal. Help body-conscious plus-size people find a companion they can feel confident in and empathize with. This was Tifau’s goal.
By all measures, Tifau has succeeded in doing so. He has 25,000 followers and his posts have been viewed by more than 500,000 people. Some posts went viral, and her network and community grew month after month.
But then something strange happens. The number of views on the post has plummeted. Most posts now have less than 5,000 user views.
“Less than a quarter of my followers have seen my posts. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe people think I’m crazy for pointing this out.”
“Return to old Instagram”
I’m sure Instagram favors branded content and TikTok-style videos to obfuscate my posts — Tiffaw’s allegations went unheeded for a while.
But then other Instagram users started noticing similar issues. In late July, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner all posted the sentence, “MAKE INSTAGRAM INSTAGRAM AGAIN.”
Kylie Jenner has complained that Instagram will become like TikTok.
Instagram admitted it was actually prioritizing videos over photos, and revealed a slew of other changes. After some users protested outside the premises of Instagram’s parent company, Meta, the company soon yielded to the protests and paused mass updates.
The protests were successful, but Tifau learned a lesson. His account is constantly at the mercy of big tech companies. I’ve been struggling to get to the top with an algorithm I don’t understand.
For years, social media platforms have profited from creators like Tihuau, but haven’t paid them much in return financially. Plus, black and trans creators argued that the algorithms were insane and that they were being treated unfairly long before the Kardashians raised their voices, but no one listened. .
Tiffaw recently created a community dedicated to plus-sized people.
“This community makes me feel happy and makes me feel less miserable. Some people say that this community has saved them.
Minorities like us are used to seeing platforms that were once our space become commoditized and not ours, and we have to find our next home somewhere else.” )
I gave up on finding community and support on Instagram. “It was a fleeting moment. The moment is over,” Tifau says.
Those who rely on social media to find their communities or make money struggle to make ever-changing and opaque algorithms work in their favor.
But as the recent backlash from users shows, people are already tired of chasing algorithms and want to take control. The recent backlash over Instagram’s changes is evidence that there’s a move to take the burden of social media seriously.
But in order to regain power from platforms and make social media better, content creators must first identify themselves as “workers.”
Life or death is in the hands of the platform
Social media companies are too big.
Meta, which has about 3 billion users, generated revenue of 117 billion dollars (about 16.84 trillion yen, 1 dollar = 144 yen) in 2021. YouTube, which has 2 billion users, has revenue of 29 billion dollars (about 4.17 trillion yen in the same year). TikTok’s revenue is expected to triple to $12 billion in 2022 from $4 billion (about ¥570 billion in the same year) per billion users.
On the other hand, creators who are in the grip of life and death by the platform are too powerless. First, it has no say in how it operates. There is no customer service phone number to complain about, no instructions when the algorithm changes.
Whether you’re a powerhouse content creator like the Kardashians or a relatively small player like Tiffaw, how do you deal squarely with these giants?
The answer is the same way workers have fought big corporations in the past: by organizing.
Influencers and creators often see themselves as “self-employed” who monetize their platforms. But Instagram has made it clear that it has control over platform changes that could impact users’ potential revenue.
Now, Instagram’s recent turmoil over algorithm changes has shown how it can improve how it operates even when it’s controlled by a handful of companies.
If social media users, especially those who depend on their income, come to see themselves as “workers” with rights worthy of protection, there is room for social media to work for them. is born.
It’s also about changing the way we look at social media. It’s better for social media companies to put us in the “user” box.HoweverSince these companies profit from the labor that creators with large followings put into their platforms, it makes more sense to consider them workers.can’t you say
The Writers Guild of America went on strike in 2007 to demand better wages.
Meta made $40 per user in 2021. This is an average that includes spam, old people’s accounts, high school secret accounts, etc. So it’s safe to assume that influential accounts that get more views and “likes” and drive more viewers to their ads make a substantial profit.
At first glance, creators may find it inappropriate to participate in large-scale labor or to form a union of sorts. Most people don’t make money from social media, and those who do don’t work like other industries. Influencers are isolated from each other, sometimes competing with each other, and not tied to an office or factory.
However, many non-traditional industries have greatly improved working conditions by forming unions and working collectively. Even Hollywood screenwriters and actors have unionized to raise wages, improve health care, and prevent insecurity.
As the internet blurs the lines between writers, actors and content creators, these jobs are no different when it comes to labor. Most of the creators receive no or little compensation. They too should be given more rights as workers.
If workers spend hours and days creating content and they don’t make a dollar, they’ll think it’s ridiculous and illegal. But in the context of “social media labor,” we’ve taken it for granted.
Influencers as workers
In 2021, a study was published summarizing the results of in-depth interviews with 30 creators from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and more. According to it, creators have problems such as “I don’t know if I can earn money in the future” and “I feel like I’m not in control of my labor”, which are similar to problems other workers have in the modern economic situation. I found that I was facing problems such as anxiety.
Megan Sawey, a master’s student in communications at Cornell University and one of the authors of the study, told Insider:
“There are users who post as creators and make money from the platform, but they don’t own the platform itself, so there’s always the potential for sudden changes to negatively impact them. It’s hard,[creators]face this instability all the time.”
Most creators don’t even think they can fight back. “This is partly due to the forced surrender of the platform,” Thaway said.
“Users have no say in the platform. They just have to do the best they can with the weapons they have. I think users should be pushing back, but as creators, it’s a frustrating and precarious position.” We have accepted the reality of
But now that influencers and creators are realizing the need to work together to demand more transparency and standards from the industry, things may be slowly starting to change. Thaway says he’s seen pages on Google Sheets, forums and Instagram that encourage creators to share information and not settle for “exposure” as a reward.
fight with numbers
Some creators are starting to think of themselves like other gig workers. This comparison may point the way forward.
Drivers and delivery workers on gig work apps like Uber and Instacart have sought to formalize networks of workers in their industries. In early 2022, thousands of Lyft and Uber drivers protested in front of New York City Hall, demanding greater worker protections.
Uber and Lyft drivers have started organizing to demand better protections for workers’ rights.
Unions are springing up across the country, including New York’s Justice for App Workers, which represents more than 120,000 drivers and delivery workers. In the UK, Uber drivers recently won the first-ever collective bargaining agreement between the company and a union. California also made its first decision to classify gig workers as workers instead of independent contractors (although companies that rely on gig workers have filed lawsuits against the law).
Annika Pinch, an influencer researcher and PhD student at Northwestern University and co-author of the Depth Interview study, points out:
“It would be nice if there was a movement to form a labor union in the content industry, but it is quite difficult.
This is true for the entire gig economy. Everyone is isolated. The solidarity that is emerging across other gig workers, such as Uber drivers, is encouraging for the future.”
There are signs that the wave of worker organizing is hitting the creator economy as well. Hollywood’s largest union, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), now accepts influencers as members. But for now at least, it’s still difficult for unions to negotiate directly with platforms that employ influencers.
There are two major barriers for creators to obtain labor rights.
The first is the problem of the gig economy as a whole. The companies that dominate the gig economy wield tremendous power over workers’ rights in the United States and abroad. These companies are lobbying world leaders to create favorable working conditions for their companies and winning the public over to protect their business models. Mehta is one of America’s top lobbyists, spending more than $20 million in 2021 to influence politicians.
The second wall is a more personal matter. Many, if not the majority, creators do not consider themselves workers. The labor movement in this industry is tiny compared to the scale of the industry itself, and many believe they can fend for themselves. I don’t think I need that kind of labor organization.
But that is changing. The aforementioned pinch says.
“Being an influencer is thought to be easy, democratic, and anyone can do it. There is a big gap between those who succeed and those who don’t, but everyone works with the thought that ‘I should be able to do well.'”
Although there are signs of organization among some social media creators, even the first step of “creators thinking of themselves as workers” has yet to be taken.
PE Moskowitz: Publisher of Mental Hellth, a newsletter about psychology, psychiatry, and modern society. Her memoir and reportage, “Rabbit Hole,” is forthcoming, which examines the role drugs play in human well-being.
[Original: Influencers of the world, it’s time to fight back against your social media overlords]
(Edited by Ayuko Tokiwa)
Source: BusinessInsider
David Ortiz is an opinionated and well-versed author, known for his thought-provoking and persuasive writing on various matters. He currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker, where he shares his insight and perspective on today’s most pressing issues. David’s unique voice and writing style make his articles a must-read for those seeking a different point of view.