Some people on the Internet haven't been too sympathetic to the YouTubers whose livelihoods have been affected by YouTube's recent Content ID sweeps. Boohoo, they say. Get a real job.
There are a lot of things I have to say to people who claim that producing videos on YouTube isn't a "real job." A lot of things that Boogie2988, who is also known by his online persona of angry video game nerd Francis, rightfully states in his latest video, posted up above (skip to 3 minutes in for when he really gets into it).
Being a personality or critic or whatever on a video hosting site may seem like an odd career. It is. It's fairly new and it's understandable that a lot of people don't get what goes into a job like that. But we're living in a world with an increasing amount and variety of non-traditional jobs. Think about how new and unusual a social media manager's job may have seemed when that was just starting out. Or community management. But that's not to say that those people's day-to-day is any easier, or any less legitimate than a more traditional 9-5.
Not everyone can make a living off of producing videos and hosting them on YouTube. It's not as simple as pointing a camera at your face or turning a capture box on and throwing it up all willy nilly online. It requires dedication, time, and an effort to build your community and your brand. You need the equipment—which can be very expensive—and the editing chops. These people pour hours of their time and skills into entertaining you. It certainly wasn't the easy way out.
And maybe all of those efforts don't apply to all successful YouTubers we know of. That very well may be. But I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any YouTuber making an actual living off of their work who doesn't work their fingers to a bone trying to make good videos.
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