Some people might argue that monetization was one of the best things to come to social media, and they won’t be wrong. Also, there are those who will argue that monetization is one of the worst things to happen to social media, and they still won’t be wrong. How can one question have both opposing answers correct? That’s the conundrum that we find ourselves in today’s social media.
There are so many creators today that would not have been so motivated if they were not being paid handsomely for it. From the money the platform pays them to the endorsement deals that they get as well. A lot of money comes in, many creators see this, and because they want all that money as well, they begin to do anything and everything to make that money!
Thanks to social media, there are many people who are able to feed their families with it. Sometimes, just going live on the platforms could bring you a lot of money, and this is still separate from the money that will be paid from your views and engagements. People have had their lives transformed, people are able to lift their families out of poverty, and people are able to meet their favorite celebrities, just because social media gave them a leg up.
And for these people, social media might never be seen as something terrible. Something that blessed them so can’t be so bad, and it will always be a blessing. And for the others who are yet to make it, they’ll always be looking up to them, hoping and praying that a time will come when they will also earn and make money like the influencers and creators that they’re looking up to.
But then, this also leads me to the other side of it all, the darker side. You see, the chase for monetization, and even when you get monetized, the chase for likes, engagement, and views, pushes people to do even the craziest things. They keep pushing the lines with every video that they put out there. And most of the time, they don’t care how this affects those around them. People have insane pranks that no one finds funny, people are willing to make hate speech, talk about raping, and other disturbingly controversial subjects just to grab attention.
We have parents who basically use their kids as their get-out-of-poverty scheme. I’ve watched videos where the parents only show their kids in the videos, and in each video, the kids look tired! Like, they just want to play with their toys, why do they have to keep standing in front of the damn camera? Every night, when I scroll through the live section on TikTok, I want to weep. People are doing anything and everything, making fools of themselves just to get money. Not all of them, though, but a large number.
The truth is not everyone will get monetized on social media, but right now, everyone is going for it like it’s no one’s business. People are even refusing to work, they’re going full-time into content creation with no way to fund it until it begins to pay. That’s what we’re facing now.
So now, back to the topic, I can’t say for sure that it’s one of the worst things to happen to us, because we’ve seen the good sides and the bad sides. As a matter of fact, the devil here is not even social media or monetization. And I’d end it like this; monetization will be the worst thing to happen to some creators while also being the best thing to happen to others. Because in the end, it all boils down to how you use it and the lengths you’re willing to go for it.
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