I mean… I am not sure how many times I can say in this conversation, “the traditional paths have not worked well for a lot of people”. We do not disagree in the slightest on this.

But there is no reason in the world to think that the world of “influencers” gives marginalized groups more access to success than the corporate world. If you think of all of the various biases that play a role in these problems, there is no reason to think that the general public that consumes content is any more immune to them that the functionaries in corporate machines… and corporations and private businesses have D&I initiatives, governance, various legal requirements, and so on.

Is it flawed? Absolutely. You and I already agree on the results we have seen. But there is nothing even close to the various equal opportunity laws for social media. You can’t sue TikTok because their users didn’t like your video because of the way you look or your accent or a disability or whatever. If the YouTube algorithm is bumping you down because some machine learning system says, “you aren’t like the creators that our users like”, tough luck. Imperfect as it is, with the traditional job route, those options exist.

The world of social media is brutal. If some coworker make a comment about your sexuality in an actual job, you can go to HR and get that resolved, and if not, plenty of lawyers will be happy to help you out. Meanwhile, the comments section… basically everywhere… is non-stop, toxic filth.

Again, you and I agree completely that the traditional routes have problems, and agree on what those problems are. But I think your view of the influencer and social media economies is very inaccurate. There is no reason I can see to think that, other than a very select few people, it is a viable alternative to the standard world of work.

I remember 5 years ago being told “gig economy” was going to blow those old-school jobs away, and now here were are forcing Uber et al to make their drivers W2 employees because it was so horrible for their workers, and Uber et al are saying, “but if we can’t exploit the workers, our business model collapses and we go under!” That’s exactly the situation I feel we will be in with this stuff in 5 years, people will realize that it’s a horrible, exploitive situation, and that only a very slim segment of the people doing the work are being fairly compensated.

J.Ja