The affiliate and partnership marketing platform Awin has revealed the results of its “Creator Burnout 2024” study, carried out among content creators and influencers in Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States.
The results show that a majority of content creators have already experienced symptoms of burnout or professional exhaustion. In the United States and the United Kingdom, the figures speak for themselves: more than 80% have already experienced symptoms of burnout, nearly a third of whom often or always. Short video platforms like TikTok and Instagram appear to be particularly high risk, followed closely by Facebook and YouTube. Instagram is particularly singled out by French respondents.
The pressure of competition
Comparison with other content creators seems to have a strong influence on the risk of burnout. Across all geographic areas surveyed, more than half of respondents regularly compare themselves to other creators. Competitive pressure appears to be even higher in Britain and the United States, where more than 50% of creators always or often compare themselves to others. The majority of people surveyed agree that this comparison increases their risk of burnout.
A similar trend emerges from negative comments. According to those surveyed, negative comments have at least a “minimal impact” on their burnout.
Alone facing risk?
Regardless of the social network used, creators indicate that the platforms provide few appropriate tools to manage or prevent burnout, and that their complexity impacts their professional burnout. 75% of respondents in France report that the constant evolution of platforms is their main source of anxiety when creating content (a similar figure for respondents in the US and UK). 50% of people surveyed in France identify the fear of lacking creativity and the absence of income as additional sources of pressure.
AI, a help and a threat
52% of people surveyed in the German-speaking world already use artificial intelligence for content creation, while only a minority seems to do the same in France. To
USA and UK they are also only 19%. In addition to direct use when creating content (notably to create captions), creators use artificial intelligence for brainstorming content ideas and for revising texts or posts, thus lightening their burden of work and sometimes helping to reduce symptoms of burnout (for 20% of total respondents).
While few believe that artificial intelligence will replace their jobs, most fear that it will force them to redouble their efforts to stand out. For 42% of respondents, AI represents a threat, particularly in terms of reducing the quality of content and reducing confidence in it. There is concern about the reduction in the amount of useful content, and their audience taking the content less seriously.
Overall, the survey results show that the risk of content creators developing burnout symptoms remains high and will not be significantly reduced by the increased use of artificial intelligence. Users of platforms such as TikTok or the short video formats Reels and Shorts of Instagram and YouTube, in particular, more often exhibit symptoms of burnout, which could be explained by the hectic pace of these platforms, which forces creators to regularly produce content in large quantities in order to stay relevant.
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Methodology:
The survey was conducted among Awin users who are active on social media as content creators
in France, Great Britain, the United States and Germany. The survey gathered responses from more than 300
content creators using Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, X, and blogs. To find out
more click here.
Photo of Sydney Sims sur Unsplash
