this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2025
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Does social media create a physical product? Remember, computers need engineers to repair them and electricians to keep the power on. Physical infrastructure.
May I ask what your age range is, and what you do for a living, as well as how much income you make?
By that metric do authors or poets or actors create a physical product? Do computer programers? Since the death of physical media, books and art are now far more frequently digital than paper or canvas. Applications and software is 100% digital. Newspapers are dead, so journalists don't create a physical product. Is your argument that only physical labor producing physical things is "real" work?
No, there is value in artistic expression and other intangibles. Our ideas are what give the tangibles scope.
What I AM saying is that people seem to think that social media influencers are more important than farmers or gas station attendants or grocers. No they are not. Most aren't creating anything more than a hobby level. That's okay if that's what you want to do with your time, just don't expect sympathy from those who feed you, keep your lights on, and ensure the comfort of all.
It doesn't come across as you appreciating value in artistic expression and other intangibles when you say "suck it up and get a real job". That may not have been your intention, but it can definitely be read that way. I think that is the "boomer" people have commented on.
I don't think there are really that many people who think social media creators or better than farmers or essential services personnel, and those that do are completely out of touch, but there are plenty of people who see alternative media creators as less than any other job. I personally think A-list actors, celebrities and sports professionals are no better than grocery store worker or warehouse person, but I won't deny they work just as hard in different ways.
My point is that no matter what, if you have success at something, there's going to be blood, sweat and tears involved. Sisyphus doesn't complain about his boulder for cheating Death, why should they? It's pointless.