Deferred ‘exposure’ and visibility pay most aspirational content creators poorly

Evidence

Most saw themselves—to borrow business guru Tom Peters’s label—as the “CEO of Me, Inc.” … These content creators, I came to realize, were motivated by the wider culture’s siren call to get paid to do what you love. But what they experienced often fell short of the promise: only a few young women rise above the din to achieve major success. The rest are un(der)-paid, remunerated with deferred promises of “exposure” or “visibility,” even as they work long hours to satisfy brands and convey authenticity to observant audiences. — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, 11

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the book’s core concept, aspirational labor, though the term itself is stated just after this excerpt.
• XREF: connects to: Slash-career workers pursue passion projects chiefly for income in uncertain labor markets — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 14; Aspirational consumption projects a future self rather than signaling present status — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 64; Content creators’ earnings are piecemeal and far below popular perceptions — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 572 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Content creators’ earnings are piecemeal and far below popular perceptions #expands (0.85) — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, 572
• Visibility functions as income allowing employers to underpay in cash #corroborates (0.85) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 142
• Creators must withdraw from exposure to make lasting culture #expands (0.75) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 868