It’s kind of intriguing how the world evolves. Suddenly, things people barely paid attention to have become the new normal. Looking back years ago, the only people I saw on TV were the news reporters, the professionals who showed up with their calm voices and told us what was happening around the world. That was the closest thing we had to people sharing information publicly, and even that felt formal and structured. Fast forward to today, and the story has twisted into something completely different. It’s almost like everyone you meet has one platform or the other where they’re posting, sharing, analyzing, or performing something.
And honestly, I didn’t mind that shift at first. I genuinely enjoyed following the channels that taught you things you didn’t know you needed. The ones sharing the not so obvious facts, the hidden skills, or the things far outside my normal experience. I also didn’t mind the people who genuinely created content because they had something entertaining to offer. Everything still had some sort of structure then.
But the beginning of the global trauma, if we’re being dramatic, was when people were suddenly given the opportunity to make money from the content they put out. Now I have nothing against platforms deciding to reward people for their effort. If anything, I think it was a brilliant way to encourage creativity and give people a new career path. In a world where even people with degrees are struggling to secure jobs, monetization has helped so many people earn a living. Some don’t have any other job besides setting up a camera, doing their thing, and cashing out. And sometimes, their “thing” pays better than traditional jobs ever could.
But somehow, we’ve reached a point where people are genuinely questioning if monetizing every form of content was the right move. It’s not even a surprising debate because money has always had too much power over human behavior. The moment people realized they didn’t have to work that hard before the money started rolling in, everything shifted. And not always in a good way. Now, it’s no longer about the few creators who provide real value. Instead, you have people putting out the most chaotic, bizarre, and sometimes downright harmful content simply because desperation has entered the chat. The race for the bag is intense, and apparently, dignity is now optional.
It’s gotten so ridiculous that you could just be minding your business one random afternoon, only to come home and find yourself trending online for something trivial. Maybe you argued with a bus driver. Maybe your shoe had a small tear. Maybe you simply existed in public with the wrong expression. A desperate content creator catches you on camera, posts it because they know people will engage, and boom, your privacy is traded for their paycheck. You, an unwilling participant in someone’s hustle.
And that’s where the problem lies. Not all content deserves rewards. Not every act needs to be commodified. A lot of creators now push past reasonable boundaries just to spark controversy. It has turned into a competition of who can produce the weirdest, most unhinged content all in the name of engagement.
I wouldn’t say content monetization has necessarily made people lazy. I think it has simply reduced the pressure of the traditional 9–5 path, which isn’t a bad thing. The real issue is how some creators are misusing the opportunity with their odd creativity, doing anything and everything except actually creating something meaningful.