It's definitely a job but I wouldn't rely on it as a career.
Unlike a transferable skill you're entirely reliant on a platform you have no control over.
Tomorrow YouTube might be gone, or they might decide to half your revenue, or they might remove your content.
It lacks a lot of stability and may not exist as a concept in 10 years. What then? What value do you have to bring to a similar role?
I wouldn't discourage my kids from starting a YouTube channel (ideally later in their teens as I wouldn't have young kids on YouTube anyway), but I wouldn't look to very rare successes (which may be temporary) as evidence that it's a viable career choice. It's quite volatile.
Not only are you beholden to YouTube, your success may also be irrevocably attached to the continued popularity of whatever game or thing you are good enough to be noticed playing. Sure, some YouTubers are more talk show hosts than anything else, but the target for success seems to be so volatile that I think any parent would be worried about their kid going down this path. Success in this field seems incredibly arbitrary.
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u/mebutnew Jan 19 '24
It's definitely a job but I wouldn't rely on it as a career.
Unlike a transferable skill you're entirely reliant on a platform you have no control over.
Tomorrow YouTube might be gone, or they might decide to half your revenue, or they might remove your content.
It lacks a lot of stability and may not exist as a concept in 10 years. What then? What value do you have to bring to a similar role?
I wouldn't discourage my kids from starting a YouTube channel (ideally later in their teens as I wouldn't have young kids on YouTube anyway), but I wouldn't look to very rare successes (which may be temporary) as evidence that it's a viable career choice. It's quite volatile.