The Monetization Era: Attention Over Value

Truth be told, content monetisation has been a blessing for many people. It has helped provide jobs for unemployed people who have been searching, submitting CVs, attending interviews and getting nowhere.

It's easier to sit in front of your laptop or even phone to create content, post online and make cool money. With this, many people have escaped from poverty to make life easier for themselves and their families.

We all create content, and I can tell you how it has helped a lot of us. However, many people have taken advantage of it for weird purposes, causing irrelevant content to go viral instead of highlighting its meaningful aspects. For instance, I could accidentally come across some content and ask myself, "What's the meaning of this now?"

People do not mind again. They make some content, and you'd be pissed off, mostly because of the little data you've wasted on it when there is good content that makes sense, and you could feel satisfied with it.

Many have settled for posting outrageous content because of monetisation, and you see them getting shitty and crazy just for money.

I wouldn't say that monetisation has made many of us too lazy to pursue actual work because creating content itself is a huge amount of work. The editing, writing, filming, and finding the perfect spot/location, as well as other things, require time and skill.

I still find good content creators who put in extra effort to make content, and I would praise them. In contrast, you see those who do not mind but rush to make this content go viral and make money only without considering how it will inspire the viewers.

The difference becomes clearer every day. No one wants to do the big work anymore. They want fast money, and that shouldn't be.

I appreciate those who have taken the time to sit down, think and apply their creative skills to produce good content. I would say these deserve more visibility and better payment, but even social media now rewards shock value over substance.

They reward shortcuts over craft, noise over meaning. That's not the way at all. It's like appreciating the lower-quality ones over the ones that truly put in the effort.

Sadly, many platforms reward what gets attention, rather than what adds value. You would literally see a girl naked in the room, dancing, get millions of views, whereas someone who sings with a good voice gets lower views. What has gone wrong in our world today?

You see those pranks that cross boundaries, too? I don't think they should be allowed at all because many people have misused them. I shake my head for this generation where they even prank Christianity and mock it, and then you see their supporters clapping their hands for them. Even exaggerated lifestyles and controversial opinions can generate more money than calm, meaningful or helpful content.

This has prompted even genuine content creators to go to extremes to stay relevant, because why not? Others are doing the wrong thing, and they earn a lot; why not I do that, too?

I want to add that content monetisation created the illusion that easy content equals easy money. However, the truth is that sustainable content creation is hard work, but when done consistently, it can yield significant rewards.

Is any content worth being paid for? Not really!

The truth is that not all content deserves to be monetised. However, it's disheartening how social media algorithms work; they only reward clicks, not value. This results in low-effort content going viral, misinformation trending, harmful content being spread around, and people being paid for content with little substance.

In conclusion, monetisation has led people to chase attention, not value or impact. So, instead of people asking themselves, "Is this helpful?" before posting, they ask, "Will this go viral?"

And that's why we don't see much high-quality content being dropped online. However, I suppose that when you move to the right platform, you'd see better examples and more creative people who still care about substance. But for others, it's sad that it will continue as long as content is being monetised.

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_{Image Credit to Gemini}