To think that digital creators and business coaches are not proper jobs?

[Peekaboooooo]

An old school friend has a fitness business and is also a business coach. She shares a lot about this on social media which I find intriguing. Before I get slated for this, I admit, this isn't a world I'm familiar with. However, through looking at her content and that of the ladies she associates with who are also business coaches, there's a large amount of posing for social media posts, making reels about growth mindset and using attention grabbing promotions with mildly aggressive sounding wording. Do you know the sort of thing I mean? The common theme seems to be, how to be a 'hard arse' to make money off people, whilst taking lots of selfies. Is this a proper job? Why are so many people doing this now? Having worked in the NHS with mental health and now in schools with a similar role, I can't relate to how being a digital creator or business coach is a real world job. I'm sure I'll be corrected on this but any thoughts one way or the other?

100% agree

If it makes enough money and it’s not illegal, it’s a proper job.

There are lots of jobs that might not be ethical or in line with someone’s values that are still proper jobs.

Unfortunately social media is so far behind in terms of laws and standards so people can take full advantage of their audiences.

First I thought you don’t know much about it but after reading the whole post it’s just mom nonsense isn’t it

I think they can be but often aren’t

A job is anything people will pay for.
The way for businesses to get customers these days is often via social media.
Some people need help understanding how to use SM for a business(i would), so will pay for help.
Other people are do good with SM that businesses will pay for ads/product endorsement, and the influencer makes money.

The world is a-changing.

I get the impression that 99% of digital creators are just spamming their social media and following one another and not making any money - or just pocket money. To make money people have to be outrageous to get reactions - ideally long rants in response - and half of them are just posting on one anothers posts as "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" favours.

Coaches also often seem to have no idea what they're talking about - it's totally unregulated. A friend of a friend (says she) is a "Life coach" who did an online course, but she's always trying to start new, totally random and unrelated, businesses which never go anywhere.

Probably it's a "real job" (as in it generates enough money to live on) for a tiny percentage of people in each category.

Probably the ones who are successful are very successful (snowball effect) and do make it work as a real job, but it's a bit like everyone at secondary school wanting to be a performer or a footballer 20 years ago - barely anyone makes it aa a real job, the odd one does though, most are just hot air, and others keep at it as a fairly serious hobby...

Basically just multi level marketing, which is essentially selling something that does not exist to others who pay for it or watch your reels and bump up your followers in the hope they can also eventually sell themselves as a product. There are loads out there that have been successful but the same with youtuber/gamers - some made millions, then it got too popular.

I see 'content creators' out there and what they are selling is their souls to be honest. The insides of their homes, their kids, their safety utimately but others just 'sell' meal prep ideas and things and the more they get watched the more they make. They seem to have taken over from 'life coaches' who really were a bugbear of mine.

YABVU
Someone gets paid for it... it is a job.

Agreed. I see this in schools now. If you ask children, even in primary, what they want to be when they grow up, so often they will say, a youtuber, an influencer, a professional gamer.

Well she does it for work and gets paid for it so it’s a ‘real’ job. My job is a job because I do work in exchange for money, that doesn’t change depending on other people’s judgement (I don’t work in a related field to the woman you are moaning about)

YADNBU. I attended a school awards ceremony earlier to hear a chat GPT spiel from a “content creator” three years out of uni as their inspirational speaker. I’m sure her life is a lot of fun, but she isn’t a role model I want for my child thanks.

That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a job though.

I think if you have upwards of a couple of hundred thousand followers you can make real money and then it’s a real job.

What is a "proper" job?

I get what people are saying, these are people's jobs that make an income and living plus potentially also support dependants. However, are they jobs that serve a purpose to the wider world? Are they a good example to children as 'jobs'?
Yes, it may seem judgemental to people in these industries but it's the superficial, ego driven nature of them that's so obvious. It also looks quite masonic in a way.

A job does not have to be "proper" to serve a purpose to the wider world.
It seems that the jobs that do serve a purpose in the way you say are the ones that do not attract great pay anyway.

What’s a ‘proper job’?

I would have said whether it's a proper job depends whether you can live on what you make doing it.

Some can, the vast majority can't.

It's like playing a sport or being a stand up comedian being a job - it actually is for a tiny percentage of people, but most people who play sport or do standup do not make any money, or not enough money to give up the day job/ not need to be supported by parents or partners.

Proper job - for a few people yes, for most no.

Socially valuable job is something else entirely! Actually the odd disability advocate content creator (and presumably some others) could be argued to be more useful than some other more analogue jobs...

Depending how you look at it either all jobs are socially useful as long as tax and national insurance are paid, or if that's left aside probably very few jobs are.

My son who has no qualifications because he struggled with his autism is making £3000 a month through YouTube. It’s a proper job. He gets paid, he pays his taxes. You sound very envious tbh

Oh absolutely. Many jobs in the public sector are underpaid. Perhaps those sorts of jobs are more vocational. I would say they're harder work for less money than digital creator type jobs but like I say, that's not my world so maybe it's harder than I think. However, the public sector workers will always be needed.

Define a proper job then if you are an expert?

I agree with all the points you've raised. Like you say, if tax and NI is paid, then it does serve a wider purpose. That's indeed another way to see it.

Business coaches are invariably a load of bollocks. They’ve usually sold Herbalife or some such shit and now they think they’re qualified to give people business advice. I ran a very successful business and I could confidently give advice on running a business in the same (fairly niche) sector as mine. But I would be useless giving any meaningful advice about the 99.9999% of businesses that I know nothing about, unless it was very generic and superficial advice. And they actually charge people for that bollocks.

Yep, I have a relative who has absolutely crippling anxiety, but he has his own stream and You Tube channel that pays for his rent and bills, and the usual extras.
It is not easy.. you have to be researching for new content etc all the time. The hours you put in our not just the hours the viewers see on YT, but people will think that the 6 hours a week online is all they do. There is tons of behind the scene stuff.

So I think when you have kids saying they want to be a YouTuber etc, they don't realise the work that has to go into it. It is so much more than sitting infront of a camera a few times each week.

"However, are they jobs that serve a purpose to the wider world?". YABVU and come across unpleasant with your judgement.