This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
Analysis
Remember the early days of social media? The days when the only editing we did to our pictures was slap Valencia on top of a selfie or random picture of a sunset? Back then, the idea of creating content was foreign to us, and we posted selfies and random group pictures of our friends on platforms like Myspace for the fun of it.
Fast-forward to today, content creation and cleverly-planned aesthetics seem to be the primary focus of social media, regardless of whether you’re an influencer or not. “Explore” and “For You” pages on platforms like TikTok, for instance, are now full of everyday people filming their daily activities, from morning routines to skin care regimes and “Day in the Life” vlogs.
With popular sounds on Instagram encouraging us to “be the content,” the idea that we can gain fame and fortune by recording our daily activities is enticing for many Zoomers and those who grew up using social media. “Contentifying” our daily lives is often presented by social media influencers as an easy route into the global digital content creation industry, which has been expected to reach $38.2 billion by 2030. The desire to create content and become an influencer is one that some creators have managed to capitalize on by selling courses on how to build a platform and become popular online.
