The Explosion of “Nontent Creation”

The noticeable decline in the quality of content has drastically altered the viewing and creating habits of users.

A recent article by Carl Jeffers triggered my analysis of the current state of the working world and what we are willing to achieve.

In this article, he explains how he wakes up, hops on the train, clocks in, clocks out, hops on the train again, eats, and goes to bed.

As someone who also works a 9–5, I relate to the sentiment of wallowing away in the never-ending erosion of development and sameness, sparking no inspiration, no joy, and no fulfillment.

With the stagnation of wages, the decline in job satisfaction, and the lack of trust in the corporations we work for, content creation seems to be the escape route from the hell we live in.

But, from my perspective, we seem to be creating another form of hell.

Take YouTube for instance. I can remember a time in 2006 when YouTube was literally “broadcasting yourself” doing anything. Often, there were small skits in someone’s basement with the occasional Minecraft stream. Other times, there were genuine pranks without harming or causing chaos in your neighborhood.

It was a wholesome time with people who were having fun. As the years droned on, the evolution turned into posting photography on Instagram, creating animations on YouTube, and overall, just having fun with your friends.

Now? Now YouTube sucks. Instagram sucks. It all sucks. We have entered a content arms race to who can mass manufacture the most hyper-edited, action-packed video possible. We have the same commentary, the same clickbait thumbnails, and the same political discussions everywhere.

I recently posted a piece discussing the effects of neuroeconomics in business which I believe applies to content creation.

Everyone is following the same formula to increase engagement. Very few content creators seem to have anything meaningful to produce. Nothing is authentic. Everyone has the same merch, the same editing style, the same friends… Where is the unfiltered authenticity that was once the internet?

Jacksfilms on YouTube coined the term “nontent” when he was discussing the allegations brought forth to SSSniperWolf. Her videos are giving minimal reactions to TikToks her viewers recommend which, in turn, produces millions of views for putting in no effort.

Nontent applies to almost all platforms and genres in content creation post-2016. YouTube and other platforms don’t incentivize quality content or transformative art. They incentivize attention-grabbing dog water in the form of reactions, outrage, and anything to meet the expectations of our small attention span.

I recently read an article by Aure's Notes which I have linked below.

In this, Aure discusses how we are unwilling to sacrifice ourselves for anything anymore.

I wanted to expand on this idea since it applies to content creation.

The risk of creating new and interesting content supersedes that of creating the same content which has proven to garner millions of views. The saying “no risk, no reward” clearly has fallen on deaf ears in terms of creating a channel.

We have been conditioned to avoid risk and that is ever present in this sphere of nontent.

Why create when you can replicate someone else’s video with a slightly different format?

Why chase something new when the old ideas have demonstrated profitability?

Why produce when you can react to someone’s video that took them at least one week to create, edit, style, and produce?

Deseret News polled kids aged 8–12 and teenagers on whether they wanted to be a YouTuber or influencer. 30% of 8–12 year olds wanted to be one and half of teenagers also wanted to follow this profession.

This is similar to how Gen X wanted to be authors and how Millenials wanted to be actors. But at least these generations had expectations to meet in terms of creativity and value.

What do these kids have? They aren’t going to influence anyone to go to school. They’re not creating content to inspire or provide value. They are going to mimic the same content with the same format to garner as many views as possible.

And what will happen to the kid who has something entertaining and inspirational to provide? Will these platforms just shut him down?

This is literally what everyone complains about when they have criticisms of corporations and their 9–5 boss. “They’re just chasing the numbers”.

So are YouTubers and influencers.

But we don’t hold the same resentment or accountability for them. Those teenagers don’t want to be YouTubers because they have content to produce. They want clout and to “make a quick buck” which is not viable. But, when they are bombarded with low-effort, reaction content, then they will be inspired to do the same.

The demand for soulless and passionless content is eroding out actual talented creators who want to produce meaningful work.

For instance, I followed a woman who could paint on two canvases with her hands and feet. I’ll repeat that. She can PAINT on TWO canvases with her HANDS and FEET. Yet, she only amassed 10,000 followers in 5 years.

Meanwhile, streamers such as XQC and Hasan can upload someone else’s hard-worked video on their channel and provide almost no reaction. They are also some of the most high-earning streamers on the platform.

What does this tell me?

Steal someone’s content, react to it, and make thousands of dollars. That is what we are telling our youth. Don’t create, just steal. It’s nontent.

Just the fact that someone can upload a 40-minute video from another channel and make money on it is a slap to the face for anyone who wishes to put in actual effort for their videos.

Content creators understand that they must follow whatever trend is popular at the time to make a video on it. If there is a crappy movie, every content creator will provide the same perspective. If there is controversy on TikTok, every creator will react to it with almost the same perspective. Outrage and shock factor is what YouTube has turned into. Creativity doesn’t matter as much as it used to.

This is why I believe not everyone can become a content creator. You need to truly love what you do. You need to be willing to learn a new skill and learn from your mistakes to evolve the platform into something less degenerate. The reason teenagers want to be “YouTubers” is because the umbrella is so wide. They don’t need to be inspired by anything. They just need to peddle outrage and clickbait to garner attention and viewers.

Also, instead of trying to fix our short-attention-span problem, we funnel content to suit the needs of the viewer. That is why TikTok and YouTube shorts are so popular. Hyper-editing a 60-second clip to peddle hedonistic content is what sells. It doesn’t need to be transformative, valuable, or creative. It needs to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

The mix of negativity and meaningless sells on these types of platforms. Gone are the days when an individual needed to meet certain expectations to provide something that would garner attention. There are too many people and less talent.

Resorting back to Aure's Notes article, people don’t want to sacrifice anymore because there is no incentive or future growth to do so. Not while the sole reason for your journey as a content creator is to make money.

Hard work used to be appreciated. Now, looks and low-effort sludge is appreciated. Small attention spans and low expectations from viewers incentivize creators to produce low-value content.

This also ties back into the idea of FOMO.

Jason Olofsen (The Happy Psychologist) produced a piece describing why it is extremely difficult to kick off social media addiction.

In this article, he describes the phenomenon of FOMO (Fear of missing out). In one of my articles, I also explained how this is an evolutionary safety mechanism to avoid death by relying on those around you for safety.

But, as we transitioned to chronically online goons, we experienced FOMO due to not feeling ostracized from social circles.

But here’s the thing. Your life will not change by not viewing 10 commentary channels on why Airack was doxxed from YouTube. You won’t “miss out” on anything by not watching “10 Transformative Ways to Sculpt your Jawline: Looksmaxxing Guide”.

The only reason you click is because of the clickbait and shock factor of nonsense. Content creators are more obsessed with numbers than ever. Numbers will always be more important than improvement and learning creative means.

There is no reason to give a new perspective or story to the world when your viewers rely on FOMO to funnel their search results. Might as well mimic what everyone else is doing to cause further outrage and a society filled with cookie-cutter personalities.

YouTube and other platforms are also to blame for this. The site wants watch-time and views. They aren’t interested in pushing content they know their viewers won’t watch. Most of the content doesn’t teach you anything. It doesn’t help you grow as a person. It’s a waste of time that could have been spent by both viewer and creator to do something meaningful or provide genuine entertainment that isn’t from another channel.

Search results are also obsolete. The algorithm will cater your viewing experience to what it thinks you want. As reactors earn more viewership from another channel’s hard work, as commentary channels discuss the same issues, and as shorts become more and more egregious, everyone is subject to consuming the same, ill-informed, ill-instructed content.

I see more videos of “creators” emphasizing AI and using AI to create, write, and post content.

???

If you don’t want to do anything, then you do not deserve to be a content creator. This is one of my main issues for allowing 0 barriers to entry and no regulation when it comes to these types of issues.

Talent isn’t required. Exceptionalism isn’t required. So many of these people do not deserve to be celebrated. It drowns out actual talented people who don’t get noticed because their videos don’t appeal to low expectations.

The era of content creation is over.

The era of nontent creation is booming and it won’t stop for a long time.

But, that is why I enjoy medium. I can enjoy a great poem by Edward Swafford, read a well-articulated review on video games I want to play from Alex Rowe, or I can garner advice from thousands of years of Buddhist teachings from Rami Dhanoa mixed with his spiritual journey.

These are the type of people we should be promoting.

Not some hot tub streamer or reaction-driven content that appeals to everyone and influences nobody.