Did the concept of creators exist before the Internet?

Over the last 3-4 years, the Internet has become the home for millions of content creators across the globe.

There are over 200 million content creators in the world today.

Everyone you come across on all major social media platforms is either a content creator or an influencer these days even more so after the pandemic and lockdown.

But is the idea of the creator limited to just the internet?

For most of us, the concept of the creator may be new but it existed even before the dawn of the internet.

We were all creators in some or the other way even before the term ‘content creator’ was coined. The ability to write, draw, paint, sing, compose music, cook, act, teach and guide, and narrate stories made each one of us a creator in our respective fields.

Technology and access to data have enabled people from all professions to share their knowledge over the internet and also monetize their skills and passions from all corners of the world. And the 2020 lockdown was a huge driver of this process where many were sitting in their homes, bored and mostly had nothing to do or were figuring out to spend time in a better way.

A chef, a homemaker, a housewife whose knowledge of cooking was just limited to the kitchens, hotels and restaurants are now able to share food recipes and teach cooking through online videos and workshops.

A teacher or a professor who could only teach in class can now make a living by building an audience on the internet and teaching online.

A musician, singer, dancer, writer & painter who’d depend on third parties to distribute their work can do it now independently through social platforms.

A fitness coach and doctors to an extent can help people understand the importance of health & fitness by sharing useful guides on the internet.

It doesn’t stop here. Even blue-collar workers have taken over the internet by sharing videos of their day-to-day lives & BTS of their work. Don’t believe me? Cool. Check out All Round Construction and R Rajesh Vlogs. You’d be surprised.

‘Content Creator’ is an umbrella word that covers much more than just Vloggers, YouTubers, TikTokers, and Influencers.

We have Educators posting informative videos, tweets, articles, etc on health, fitness, career, productivity, finance, law and whatnot. And then there are creators comprising comedians, musicians, artists & storytellers. There’s another set of creators called ‘edutainers’ or ‘infotainers’ who do both.

Even the platforms like YouTube, Meta(Facebook & Instagram), and TikTok have pivoted themselves to empower creators in the best possible way to keep them engaged & active on their respective platforms.

We also saw the rise of India-based platforms like Moj, MX Takatak, and Chingari along with the increase in the number of content creators in India. Sharechat, Roposo, Trello and many other platforms that were lesser known before the surge in creators and creator economy have also pivoted from their initial idea to support creators.

In this digital era, anyone with access to the Internet and a smartphone can spread the word about their passions, work, and hobbies, build communities and monetize them.

Before 2020, people hardly knew the concept of content creation and creators. But now being a creator is a full-time job and companies are looking to hire in-house creators to scale their brand’s growth.

Not just that, we have startups building for creators and creator ecosystem to help them with content creation, distribution, repurposing, monetization and many more.

With so many platforms & content formats, the opportunity for anyone to take up content creation as a hobby or career is limitless.

What do you think? You can reach out to me on LinkedIn at @heymohan.