[Hyungyoung Joo Column] "I'm Quitting My Job to Become a YouTuber" To Those Employees Dreaming of It

[Heo Yeong-ju's Creator World]
Happier as a creator than as an idol
Creating 'my own things' and enjoying freedom to the fullest
The reality of creators: half of them earn 400,000 won annually
Jumping in with blind fantasies leads to giving up halfway

In this era, when you ask young children what their dream is, many say ‘creator.’ According to surveys conducted annually by the Ministry of Education and the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training, creator has ranked 3rd among the most desired professions for elementary school students in Korea.

It's not just young children who dream of becoming creators. Recently, a meme about the ‘top 2 lies of office workers’ has been circulating, and it's: “I'm going to quit my job” and “I'm going to start a YouTube channel.” While it's realistically difficult to put into action, the desire that many office workers secretly harbor is ‘to quit their jobs and start a YouTube channel.’

The reason why so many people want to become creators is likely because they perceive it as a kind of fantasy: a positive image where they can ‘have fun, freely do what they want, and earn a lot of money.’

Indeed, there are many advantages to becoming a creator. First, unlike a job, you proactively create ‘your own things.’ In the ‘age of mass layoffs’ where jobs are gradually disappearing due to AI, your ‘own channel’ built on your foundation will be a strong force.

Furthermore, as we enter the era of the ‘creator economy’, the culture of individuals sponsoring creators is becoming more active. If you have your own ‘community’ built through your channel, you can create content anywhere in the world, receive sponsorships, and live freely.

I was an idol before becoming a creator, and my quality of life and happiness have significantly increased since then. In fact, my income has also increased more than 10 times.

The best part about being a creator is the ‘freedom.’ The fact that I could create content I love on the platform I chose and work with people I love felt almost like a blessing. When I was an idol under a company, I couldn't release albums or create stages as I pleased. I had to simply wait and entrust my entire fate to the agency. However, after leaving the company and actively seeking opportunities myself, I experienced immense self-efficacy and a sense of accomplishment.

There are countless other advantages. The creator profession can be expanded into various careers. Thanks to my work as a creator, I was able to lecture at university as a visiting professor at a young age, write books on trends, and even become a radio DJ, something I couldn't do as an idol. I became an ambassador for an international NGO, received endorsements from global brands, and even had the opportunity to travel to the United States at the invitation of the US Embassy in Korea, where I interacted with local American creators.

So far, I've only discussed the positive aspects. The reason I'm able to list these great advantages is that I'm a creator with a combined following of 6.5 million across TikTok platforms.

Now, let's look at the harsh reality. According to data on the income of individual media creators (including YouTubers) released by the National Tax Service in early May, the top 1% of creators earned an average of 713 million won annually. On the other hand, the average annual income of the bottom 50% was only 400,000 won.

Similar to the entertainment industry, the creator industry also exhibits severe polarization. A very small number of creators earn big money, and looking at the average annual income of 400,000 won for the bottom 50%, it's clear that making it a full-time profession is challenging.

According to an anonymous creator, despite uploading content every week for two years and having nearly 20,000 subscribers, their earnings are almost nonexistent. It takes them over 10 hours to edit a single video, yet their monthly income is between 100,000 and 200,000 won—not even covering labor and material costs.

Creating a channel and becoming a creator is like starting a business. Just as most startups fail, the failure rate for creators is also high. In the early days of the platforms, there were fewer competitors, so there was a slightly better chance of success. However, these days, major broadcasting stations are creating channels with 10 cameras and hiring famous celebrities as MCs, making the competition even more intense.

Even if a creator gains a large following, high viewership, and achieves success, it doesn't mean they're free of problems. For example, most creators with over 1 million subscribers report suffering from panic or burnout. To maintain a channel's growth curve, you constantly need to fuel it with content. For growing channels, this fuel supply becomes even more urgent, leading to immense pressure. When you constantly push yourself to the limit, burnout is inevitable.

When experiencing burnout, you need to rest. However, if you rest, your subscribers and views decline, and the algorithm gets ‘destroyed.’ This prevents you from taking a break. Then, panic sets in, and you're forced to take a hiatus. You may be able to return to your previous activity levels after the hiatus, but recovery can be slow, and even if you do come back, the algorithm might have changed, hindering your ability to achieve the same performance and growth.

In my case, after four years of filming content to the point of feeling like I was going to throw up, I experienced burnout. Pressing the upload button on the platform became a source of pain, and even the thought of filming made me feel dizzy, so I took a break from content creation.

As soon as I stopped, the channel quickly lost momentum. As time passed and my body recovered, I tried to get back to where I was, but it wasn't easy. I persevered and continued uploading content, and eventually, the channel started to pick up again. I managed to regain an upward trajectory, but reflecting on the patience it took, it's a memory I don't want to experience again.

Another dark side of being a creator is that many are merely ‘shiny facades.’ This applies not only to lower-level creators but also to those with a large following, as having many followers doesn't automatically equate to high earnings. Among my fellow TikTok creators, there are many cases where people have over 1 million followers but no income.

Especially if a channel grows based on attention-grabbing or provocative content, it becomes difficult to generate ad revenue, which is a major source of income for creators. Advertisers consider the creator's image as well as the number of followers.

Instagram ad rates are generally lower than YouTube and TikTok. Many creators have over 100,000 followers and strong branding but still struggle to make ends meet. Therefore, there's no need to be envious of these numbers. There's an internet meme that says ‘I wish I was rich and nobody knew me.’ In this world, many people know you, but you don't make much money.

Finally, the fatal flaw of the creator profession is that you're easily exposed to indiscriminate malicious comments and judged by the standards of a celebrity without earning the same income. You might even become the target of online witch hunts, unwittingly increasing the viewership of cyberbullying channels. Experiencing something like this can easily shatter your mental state.

I've discussed the bright and dark sides of being a creator, and the choice is yours. No profession is perfect. And nothing in this world is free. Growing a channel is like building a business, and building a business is impossible without significant effort.

These days, the slogan ‘Earn 1 million won a month with SNS’ is trendy, and countless individuals are taking on the challenge of becoming creators with high hopes. I wholeheartedly encourage those who dare to take on the challenge, but I advise you to let go of ‘blind fantasies.’ I also believe that having your own channel is essential in this unstable era, but I want to make it clear that running a channel requires enormous energy. Let's approach the challenge of becoming a creator with awareness of both its pros and cons and a realistic perspective.

※ The author of this article is the writer herself, and this is a translated version of the article from Woman Economy Newspaper.