When Creativity Meets Hunger: The Price We Pay for Going Viral

Last week, on Saturday, I was scrolling through my Instagram account, and I discovered an unusual advertisement from most of the Nigerian content creators that I am following that people who are interested in content making can monetize their account, and I said to myself at that very moment that people are now taking this content creation to another level, and it has become louder and a topic of discussion in our society today. Almost everyone today has now become a content creator because everywhere I turn on my social app, I see a lot of content from people all over the world ranging from food to clothing to travel, about their house, family, breakups, relationship life, and all, and even their flaws.

In my country, where everything seems to be fighting against us, a lot of people have now turned their mobile devices into a job power office, and to be honest, it is not their fault. Imagine seeing a content creator posting short, short clips, and before you know it, he has already gotten himself a brand new house and car... I guess that would motivate someone.

But yet, it goes far beyond that and way deeper. Because if it was that easy, everyone would be rich by now.

Yes, I will not lie, and from what I have seen, monetization has changed a lot of people looking at the things they do. It has put a lot of people in a very competitive race of who has more followers, who has more influence, and who will blow first. And from what I have seen so far, a lot of those who called themselves content creators are not really creative with their content—no content, no message; they are just doing it to have views. It is just like shooting a knockout during the festive season; it shines for a while and then disappears after.

I recently discovered a guy's page on Instagram. He goes about with his colleagues, acting like they are fighting and exchanging some abusive words with each other on the street, then one will slap the other while a passerby tries to separate them, thinking that it was real, but unknown to them, the camera is hidden somewhere. They are doing that not because they enjoy that slapping and abusive drama but because they need to monetize what they are doing.

In my opinion, I guess I can't blame those involved because in a country like mine, it is not easy to get a job; everyone has to survive, and a lot of people have become desperate, and that is why they turned to content making, not because they are lazy.

And yet, even though we have a lot of content creators today, I guess not all should be paid for because I feel some content is not passing on a positive teaching, and some things should stay secret instead of going viral on social media.

I believe monetization is good, but some people are abusing it just because they want to go viral and cash out. Because what is the essence of posting if what you post does not educate, add value, or bring joy.

It is good to create, yes, but do not forget yourself in the process all because you want to earn, forgetting that what you post will stay forever online.

Thank you for reading.

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