Finding Balance as a Content Creator

Sophie Cohen

When we asked Sophie Cohen of Tiktok handle ‘Stylewithsoco’ where she draws the line when it comes to turning off the camera, it’s pretty clear content creators are not alone in the inability to press pause.

“I have definitely had to set boundaries with myself. Over the summer when all of the influencer events started happening and I had so many awesome opportunities to meet other creators and develop relationships with brands. I found myself at the end of the summer feeling so burned out from putting all of my energy either into my full time job or social media. I try to set a lot of time for myself during the week now to just relax and chill so that I can be fully present and energized for the events/activities that I really do want to go to. It can be hard to learn how to say no but I think it is so important for my mental health to set boundaries and be respectful of my own time.”

Slowing down can be kind of scary. Content creation is a constant hustle, the very idea literally depends on the frequent release of fresh ideas. We’ve never heard of a successful influencer who doesn’t engage with their community on the daily. Perhaps they’re granted the occasional no phone day, but come on, even after that engagement begins to wane. Content creation is a game of ‘who can hold whose attention for the longest?’ So how can we draw boundaries when our performance takes a direct hit just by napping? We appreciate Sophie’s healthy perspective on the construction of ‘me time ’but wanted to hear from other members of the community on how they navigate such murky terrain, especially playing on the idea that such limits are a luxury.

Brielle Webb

Brielle Webb, known for her Instagram presence, and partnerships with authentic brands, lamented the constraints that social media imbues on her day-to-day, “Being a freelancer can be stressful. Especially when you haven’t blown up yet! It’s for that reason that I’ve recently gotten a 9-5 in addition to my content creation. It’s important to have steady pay, especially during times like these. I really hope that content creators unite and fight for standardized pay! It fluctuates so much throughout the industry and pay isn’t always given within a respectable time frame. We contribute a lot to brands and we deserve to be compensated fairly for it!”

Webb’s tribulations got us thinking; if the form of payment for content creation were to be centralized, would the unrealistic straddling between living and creating be so drastic? Instead of jousting for attention just so our channels can persist, shouldn’t we instead hone in on the content we really believe in. ’We like to think artists deserve patience in the development of their product.

Mallory Kugler Goodman

Mallory Kugler Goodman is who we look to when we're in a shopping rut. She faithfully posts dozens of steals and finds on her Insta story and is daily tasked with finding the ‘perfect white tee’ or ‘cocktail dress to wear to Feb wedding under $400’. Given her skill for scouring the internet, demand is high. Frankly, we’re exhausted just clicking through Goodman’s stories thinking of the hours she devotes to her craft. We asked Goodman what she feels her commitment is to her followers, “I try to post consistently and just be there for them! That means trying to get to the majority of my DM’s and giving them ways to access me via questions boxes, polls, to make sure they feel like they’re being heard.” And here Goodman presents yet another debacle to taking time off: the relationship between follower and creator is incredibly personal. Not responding to a dm or posting a follow up video to part 1 of a Tiktok is not just perceived as unprofessional, it can hurt the relationship with your followers.

Quoting March 2020, content creation is in an unprecedented territory. We don’t have the rules and regulations that preexisting professions have. We have merged personal with corporate. But just because we are the guinea pigs doesn’t mean we don’t deserve paid time off. No one really has the perfect solution to this dilemma, but we do know that joining content creators of all different platforms and interests into this Emcee community will not only open the door to this conversation, but provide a space for demanding just compensation. We are not the first to challenge the stagnant lucracy of the content creator market.

In fact, Li Jin and Lila Shroff introduced the idea of a Universal Creative Income (UCI). A UCI would offer artists the breathing room to explore their creativity without the stifling deadline of affording everyday necessities like making rent and buying groceries, “Successful implementation of UCI would bring improvements in creator stress and mental health, and create a more equitable path for a more diverse array of creators to be able to pursue content creation as a career.” (Jin, Shroff). If we could extract the gatekeeping that discourages so many talented individuals from dedicating their 9-5 to content creation, imagine the places content could go.