"They don't OWE you anything!" "The content is FREE!" - Sick of this narrative.

It makes me sad when people undervalue themselves so severely. Do people truly not understand how the creator ecosystem works?

Every celebrity and influencer knows that their only value is their fan base.

Sponsors pay creators because you might buy their products.
You, the fan.
YouTube pays creators because you watched an ad.
You, the fan.
Brands send creators products to influence you into buying them too.
You, the fan.
Companies invite creators to events and trips to influence you.
You, the fan.

Without fans, there's no YouTube money or sponsor money.
Without fans, there's no gifts, trips, events, invitations.
Without fans, there is no career to speak of.
Without fans, they're two random people in front of a camera.

Among a sea of millions of other creators doing the exact same thing.

Among those millions of creators on YouTube, you chose to watch them.
And because enough of us did that, these two people had the privilege to build their livelihoods off of chit-chatting in front of a camera about obscure internet drama.

You contributed to making their dream a reality.

You're paying with your time and attention.
You're paying with your engagement on their socials.
You're paying with your love and joining fanbases like this one.

So, no, that content is not FREE, and yes, they do owe you. They owe you their whole entire career, quite literally. It literally would have been impossible without us, the fans.

It's sad to see people don't value their own time.
It's sad to see people think their support is worthless.

It's okay to think you deserve more.
Value yourself more!
Happy 2025!