Commercial Aspirations from Today's Youth

In a recent 2019 survey by Global Affiliate Network it showed that 17% (one in five children) and 14% wanted to be a social media influencer and Youtuber respectively, with only being a doctor scoring higher at 18%. This study regarding job aspirations from today’s youth sparked my interest in investigating whether YouTube is denoted as more of a career than a hobby in society now; culturally shifting the platform towards a more commercial environment. The power influencers have on spending habits is remarkable, with 22 per cent of 18-34 year olds making large purchases after seeing an online influencer endorsing the item, as explored in an April 2018 Marketing Charts survey. The influx of successful kid YouTubers with passionate parents behind them is becoming standard practice and causing an ethical debate of using children for exploitive means and profit as they are showcased to millions of people around the world. There is no greater example than Ryan ToysReview.

Thumbnail from Ryan ToysReview

7 year old Ryan has reportedly made $22 million last year according to Forbes in pre-taxed income, generating 27.5 billion channel views and 18 million subscribers. How has he achieved this? Since 2015 when he was just 4 years old, his parents produced and posted practically daily uploads reviewing and unboxing childrens' toys on the channel with Ryan as the host. Their first viral hit was a video titled ‘GIANT Lightning McQueen Egg Surprise with 100+ Disney Cars Toys’, featuring Ryan opening a box containing more than 100 toys from Pixar’s ‘Cars’ series and to this date, it has accumulated over 950 million views. Ryan ToysReview's mass appeal draws from the earnest and enthusiastic commentary from Ryan with the minimal camera guidance from his parents of screen. It targets the huge family market on the platform, being a safe, advertiser friendly space for commercials and in turn, generating the huge amount of AdSense revenue.

Ryan’s success is not bounded only to YouTube, with his vast expanding licensing empire of 40 global deals including his own ‘Ryan’s World’ product brand with Halloween costumes, party goods, furniture and water bottles released at Walmart last August. He has also landed a 20-episode series on Nickelodeon Jr. called Ryan’s Mystery Playdate, enabling him to diversify and continue his fully fledge career at the age of 7.

The combination of studies and case examples such as Ryan’s inspired me to create my own SurveyMonkey to uncover an overall view of whether the perception of YouTube has changed from a hobby purely for entrainment and creativity to a profession with so many children now creating channels.

Bar chart of my survey question: Do you consider Youtube as a career?

As you can see from the bar chart above, although 40% answered yes, the 60% majority argued against YouTube and therefore, being a YouTuber as a career. From this, I asked the following question to obtain more engaging and insightful responses into the issue of commercialisation on YouTube. Here are some noticeable responses, with 17 people agreeing and 11 disagreeing with the statement.

“It has been like that for a long time, as adds are needed to pay the bills. The problem is that they are now using arbitrary censorship and apply it unfairly. That alone makes me hesitant to even try it.”

This statement is referring to the Adpocalypse and unfair censorship on the platform leaving creators demonetised, stripping them of any financial income and making new creators unsure of whether to even attempt to create a career from an insensitive platform.

“Youtube's mainstream content has become corrupted by simple trendy videos and the exploitation of fans through ad revenue and sponsorships.”

“Yes. Most of the trending page is music videos, company YouTube channels, or Jimmy Kimmel. With the rise of T-series (SUBSCRIBE TO PEWDIEPIE) and them being a corporate channel, this is backed up.”

These statements express distaste for the open promotion of celebrity based content and corporate channels rather than the spotlight being on the sole creators that established the platform, as well as the influx of sponsored videos from influencers showcasing a product to fans rather than creating original, entertaining content.

“I think that YouTube is trying to become commercialized but I still believe that independent creators can make a career out of YouTube. A lot of people are tired of mainstream media and regular celebrities so they turn to YouTube to subscribe to people who they best identify with.”

This individual still believes that despite increased commercialisation, there are still independent creators thriving and that the general public still regards the platform as a safe haven from mainstream media. Furthermore, expressing that a career can go hand-in-hand with entertainment and that achieving financial success can aid the creation of independent videos without negatively being about monetary goals.

As is clearly evident from this discussion, there are many varying opinions regarding whether YouTube has become more commercialised and whether this is seen as a largely positive development or a hindrance to sole creators. As we continue to see young children such as Ryan thriving as a brand, it raises the ethical debate of whether this is beneficial to our culture and society, promoting a professional and commercial lifestyle at such a young age. As each generation aspires to become social media influencers, it will be to no surprise to see the negative effect on mental health and self-confidence as we as a society continues to live in a virtual world, right from the beginning of our lives.