How to stop feeling burnout as a content creator

This is for people who make content on social media regularly.

Content Burnout

Photo by Malte Helmhold on Unsplash

Burnout as we traditionally think of it is related to work. Burnout denotes a collection of symptoms related to exhaustion, mental fatigue, a loss of concentration, and cynicism related to work.

Burnout can also apply to creative pursuits. While we do not have strong data on "creative burnout" this phenomenon seems to be widely held.

However, content burnout is perhaps distinct from both traditional forms of burnout related to work or creative pursuits. Nonetheless, a person can make the case that burnout is the same regardless of occupation.

Still, it is interesting to look at the distinction between online creation versus other occupations.

Content burnout describes how content creation can have negative psychological impacts that resemble what we know as burnout.

The creation of content can be seen as a distinct creative pursuit.

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Content Burnout and Social Media

A lot can be said about social media.

We could describe the harmful impact of algorithms such as how social media worsens mental health or how it distracts us.

However, something more harmful has come to mind recently.

This harmful mythos of the “online influencer”.

While the internet has allowed a lot of opportunities that were not afforded in previous generations it has also given rise to the idea that one can escape their circumstances by being akin to a celebrity… but an online celebrity.

We know people tend to fixate on celebrities, but the rise of the online social media influencer takes things to a new level.

Social media gives people regular access to individuals they were never allowed in the past. The celebrities of old came to us via TV screens and movies, but the influencer can be engaged more repeatedly and intimately.

You can get a back-row seat into the life of an influencer, influencers can be engaged with through an instant message, and you can constantly interact with what they post.

In the case of OnlyFans, you can even buy more intimate attention at a price.

This creates what psychologists call “parasocial” relationships in which there is a one-sided connection between an individual and a public figure.

These relationships can have emotional benefits and drawbacks, one such drawback is holding a person back from authentic real relationships.

How does this relate to content burnout?

It could be argued that social media companies gain greatly from such relationships as it keeps people more engaged on their platforms.

This incentivizes creators to keep creating content and keeping their public image to maintain such relationships with “fans”.

If attention is the currency then creating more and more is the job. While only a small percentage of folks create content regularly on social media, they must keep creating to achieve “influencer” status.

Social media regularly encourages this creation through their algorithms, where viral content doesn’t necessarily have to be good or informative but can play into people’s emotions or desires.