Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Every year, more people seem to enter what I think of as the content creator lottery.
I have met everyone from teenagers to middle-aged adults who become genuinely excited when they are close to YouTube monetization, hoping it might lead to a little more freedom, extra income, or even a new career. I understand the attraction. Most of us would love to earn a living by making something people enjoy.
I also know full-time content creators who quietly admit how exhausting it can be. Behind every finished video are hours of writing, filming, editing, uploading, promoting, answering comments, studying analytics, and trying to satisfy an algorithm that never explains exactly what it wants.
I have always felt slightly uncomfortable with the term “content creator.” I consider myself an independent artist, although I am not above any of this. I have experimented with YouTube, social media, tutorials, and online video myself, and I currently have two monetized accounts.
At one point, I was spending thirty to forty hours a week making tutorials and other videos on top of a full-time job and whatever remained of my social life. Within three months, I was completely burned out.
I gained followers, met some wonderful people, received a few independent commissions, and worked with several temporary sponsors. I am grateful for all of that. Financially, however, even at my most successful, the platform income usually paid for little more than one or two cups of coffee a day.
It was a strange exchange. I supplied the ideas, equipment, editing, artwork, personality, and hours of my life. The algorithm supplied enough coffee to help me do it again tomorrow.
That does not mean nobody can succeed. Some people absolutely do. But the dream of going viral can begin to resemble gambling. Every upload feels like another ticket. Maybe this video will be the one. Maybe the next post will finally reach the right people. That small possibility can keep us working long after the work has stopped feeling meaningful.
I rant quite often. Sometimes I record myself, and sometimes I write everything down until the frustration becomes something useful. That eventually became “Dystopia with Teeth,” an audiovisual series built from my personal rants, hand-drawn animation, digital film editing, sound design, and other visual effects techniques I have learned through more than two decades of working in creative fields.
This video began as one of those rants. I rewrote it several times, recorded it, and eventually animated it across my own face. It reflects my personal experiences and frustrations as an independent artist trying to remain human inside a system that often reduces art, music, animation, and personal expression to something called “content.”
I am not criticizing anyone for wanting to become a YouTuber or content creator. We all want to feel seen. Many of us are simply trying to build something of our own, connect with people, or earn a little extra money doing something we enjoy.
My only advice is to make something you actually care about. Do not spend all your time chasing trends simply because they might bring more views. Trends pass, platforms change, and algorithms move on without explanation. The hours you invested still belonged to your life.
If you enjoy creating videos, music, animation, tutorials, or art, then there is still something worthwhile in the process, even when the numbers are disappointing. But if you are miserable every step of the way, it has simply become another job.
And believe me, the pay is probably not as good as the dream makes it appear.
That is all I have to say. I hope you enjoy or learn or just feel something in general after watching this...
Music by Drown the Riot
Song Title: "Decay" from the Album: Decay & Dust
More from the "Dystopia with Teeth" series: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWl_nVCEeExQASn5hW379QbrzfaCZvgY&si=sjNJh6CK842BwyZb
iamYork is a boutique Animation, Sound and Visual Effects studio in Hell's Kitchen, New York city created by NiTen Iwato, a mixed media artist, animator and anti-designer...
My "traditional" Digital Animation and Independent Experimental Film Work can be found here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWl_nVCEeEzujp534UtDOzOEcbFrA2k2
#burnout #handdrawn #dystopia
Every year, more people seem to enter what I think of as the content creator lottery.
I have met everyone from teenagers to middle-aged adults who become genuinely excited when they are close to YouTube monetization, hoping it might lead to a little more freedom, extra income, or even a new career. I understand the attraction. Most of us would love to earn a living by making something people enjoy.
I also know full-time content creators who quietly admit how exhausting it can be. Behind every finished video are hours of writing, filming, editing, uploading, promoting, answering comments, studying analytics, and trying to satisfy an algorithm that never explains exactly what it wants.
I have always felt slightly uncomfortable with the term “content creator.” I consider myself an independent artist, although I am not above any of this. I have experimented with YouTube, social media, tutorials, and online video myself, and I currently have two monetized accounts.
At one point, I was spending thirty to forty hours a week making tutorials and other videos on top of a full-time job and whatever remained of my social life. Within three months, I was completely burned out.
I gained followers, met some wonderful people, received a few independent commissions, and worked with several temporary sponsors. I am grateful for all of that. Financially, however, even at my most successful, the platform income usually paid for little more than one or two cups of coffee a day.
It was a strange exchange. I supplied the ideas, equipment, editing, artwork, personality, and hours of my life. The algorithm supplied enough coffee to help me do it again tomorrow.
That does not mean nobody can succeed. Some people absolutely do. But the dream of going viral can begin to resemble gambling. Every upload feels like another ticket. Maybe this video will be the one. Maybe the next post will finally reach the right people. That small possibility can keep us working long after the work has stopped feeling meaningful.
I rant quite often. Sometimes I record myself, and sometimes I write everything down until the frustration becomes something useful. That eventually became “Dystopia with Teeth,” an audiovisual series built from my personal rants, hand-drawn animation, digital film editing, sound design, and other visual effects techniques I have learned through more than two decades of working in creative fields.
This video began as one of those rants. I rewrote it several times, recorded it, and eventually animated it across my own face. It reflects my personal experiences and frustrations as an independent artist trying to remain human inside a system that often reduces art, music, animation, and personal expression to something called “content.”
I am not criticizing anyone for wanting to become a YouTuber or content creator. We all want to feel seen. Many of us are simply trying to build something of our own, connect with people, or earn a little extra money doing something we enjoy.
My only advice is to make something you actually care about. Do not spend all your time chasing trends simply because they might bring more views. Trends pass, platforms change, and algorithms move on without explanation. The hours you invested still belonged to your life.
If you enjoy creating videos, music, animation, tutorials, or art, then there is still something worthwhile in the process, even when the numbers are disappointing. But if you are miserable every step of the way, it has simply become another job.
And believe me, the pay is probably not as good as the dream makes it appear.
That is all I have to say. I hope you enjoy or learn or just feel something in general after watching this...
Music by Drown the Riot
Song Title: "Decay" from the Album: Decay & Dust
More from the "Dystopia with Teeth" series: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWl_nVCEeExQASn5hW379QbrzfaCZvgY&si=sjNJh6CK842BwyZb
iamYork is a boutique Animation, Sound and Visual Effects studio in Hell's Kitchen, New York city created by NiTen Iwato, a mixed media artist, animator and anti-designer...
My "traditional" Digital Animation and Independent Experimental Film Work can be found here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWl_nVCEeEzujp534UtDOzOEcbFrA2k2
#burnout #handdrawn #dystopia
