The use of social media peaked during the covid season of 2019-21 when people went into isolation and the only way to work was online or remotely. This systemic risk led to remote work and later on developed into a hybrid model, as we currently know. But beneath all the disaster there was another underlying monster growing at a rapid pace. The rapid rise of content creators and entertainers. A content creator can be an entertainer, but the reverse is not true. How it all become a menace in a brief time, the reason is user engagement. Major streaming channel such as YouTube or any other for that matter always reward the creators’ irrespective of their content. Now, it is creating a problem for all the stakeholders. Let’s understand how, if I am a business owner and I want to reach my customers and want them to be a repeat business, I would only want to market my product or show my advertisements on such channel that actually have true engagement, irrespective of how many subscribers they have. But, here is the catch: I have two segments; one that creates original content (say in YouTube) and another user either posting reactions on the existing contents. Even worse, ripping off someone else’s work to monetize it. It is not just unfair to the original content creator, but also a blind spot for the business owner. The customers that will engage in the channel of these knock offs will never be a genuine customer for any business. So, all my efforts for customer acquisition and customer retention go to waste. And it applies to the companies out there who trust these advertisers to promote their presence, which is again good for nothing. Either there must be a parameter to segregate the content creators from entertainers.
A possible solution is to decrease monetization for entertainers by 800% and increase it for content creators by 800%. Now comes the hardest part of segregating content creators and entertainers. So, who are content creators, anyone that creates his own content, if he is sharing an analysis of someone else’s work, then the research must be his own and not quoting other content creators. Reaction channels are by default entertainers, generalised astrology, occult or spirituality also comes under the same purview. All those channels broadcasting news without the proper license also come under the same entertainers’ category. The channel that doesn’t take accountability for their work and requires someone else to vouch for their content is, by default an entertainer. Once this segregation is done, each content can carry a badge, either content creator or entertainer. Therefore, as a business owner, I would know which is real and which is not. Showing the advertisement only to a select group will improve its efficiency and reach. This is good for everyone involved—the business owner, the original creator, the advertising agency, and viewers who won’t get bored scrolling past countless copies. After all, we become what we consume.
Also, it is can be a use case for new developers looking for a clean and transparent streaming platform that protects the interests of all stakeholders, just need a billionaire daddy to sponsor them, if streaming platforms fail just in case.