Youtube put out a caution about burnout. Penny arcade summed it up. “Creators: you’re feeling burned out because you are light bulbs. And there are always more light bulbs. You create young, energetic light bulbs with every video you make.”

Good educational content is distinct from aspirational content. As a chemistry professor, my primary job is to produce more chemists (and educate non-chemists who need the background). The point is not to generate a great many more chemistry professors. Complexly and the Scishow folks make great educational content. Aspirational content is the opposite: it endeavors to sell the idea that you too can become an aspirational content producer. Mostly by watching more aspirational content.

The second problem with aspirational content on youtube and social media is that it’s not a fair portrayal of creators’ lives. Aspirational content is a slice, not the whole (!) and it’s dangerous to interpret the images that content creators project as an achievable lifestyle.

Achievable, enjoyable lifestyles require care and nurturing. Those activities are not easy to capitalize, replicate and automate. But they have huge value.

I lived a good example of this. I had good roommates for most of my twenties, but none of us were very good at doing the work of repairing, maintaining, and cleaning. I can imagine a different story. Imagine six young adults who are good at these skills. They trust one another to do the repairing maintaining and cleaning in their relationships and their shared space.

With those skills and commitment, a group can build up savings, live comfortably (albeit in close proximity and with limited privacy), and have lots of fun with limited resources. Each of the young adults living separately can barely afford a studio apartment and ramen.

Aspirational content needs to be an adventure. It needs constant novelty. The thing about repairing maintaining and cleaning is it’s not an adventure. It’s repetitive, and it’s boring to watch. It is highly valuable but makes a poor subject for viral marketing. But it can be pleasant and happy.

I’d been thinking about this a lot. Then it crystallized when I watched a video by an extremely popular self-proclaimed lifestyle vlogger. I’ll paraphrase: “I’m a youtuber making a living sharing his whole life online. I can say that for vloggers (and especially lifestyle vloggers) what works best on youtube is to share a happy lifestyle, a lifestyle full of excitement and smiles and beautiful things. Those videos show off how amazing life is. Millions of viewers compare what they see to their own lives. And that can steal joy.”

So people watch this kind of content, and they feel bad. What’s scary is that the implicitly offered solution is to start being a vlogger. And that’s not the best solution (except for the social media companies). I don’t know how to promote the alternative: caring labor and social capital.