VidCon 2024: 8 Takeaways on How YouTube and the Creator Economy Are Changing

In June 2024, I attended VidCon, the preeminent global conference on YouTube and all things Creator Economy.

It was the first large-scale event of its kind I’ve ever been a part of, and it introduced me to many fascinating and surprising trends emerging on the Internet.

Here are my top takeaways from the conference that are going to inform my work on our YouTube channel:

#1 – YouTube is becoming increasingly influential and dominant

YouTube continues to encroach on and replace traditional media consumption channels like cable television. In fact, the fastest growing device for YouTube viewing is connected TVs, and 10% of total TV-watching time in the U.S. is now spent on YouTube alone, outpacing all other digital platforms including Netflix. 

During a panel on TV viewing habits, it was fascinating to watch a veteran Disney VP repeatedly defer to Mr. Beast’s content strategist when it came to questions of how best to reach online audiences.

In the last five years, media spending on digital platforms (which includes all advertising spent by companies) has grown from $1 billion to $7 billion USD, an astonishing rise that shows no signs of slowing down.

Yet that’s still only 1.9% of the $360 billion in media spending per year in the U.S., meaning there’s still enormous room for growth. 

#2 – Creators are starting to figure out how to “exit”

In the past, most YouTubers were “accidental” – they stumbled onto the platform to pursue a geeky side interest or just for fun, and then unexpectedly found traction. These days, in contrast, creating content online has become a full-fledged career being pursued by millions.

I attended a session with the founders of The Game Theorists channel, MatPat and Steph, who create videos analyzing and explaining video games. After 13 years building multiple channels and acquiring tens of millions of subscribers, they were acquired by Lunar X in 2022. As part of the several years’ long transition, MatPat will be replaced with 4 other “hosts” who have been working with the company for as long as 10 years.

This points to one reason why “Goodbye YouTube” videos have become such a trend. The first generation of professional YouTubers is approaching their 40s, and many of them are truly leaving the platform. As they plan their exits, they’re experimenting with a range of options, from simply disappearing and riding off into the sunset, to bringing on other talent to their channels, to selling their IP to larger media companies.

Interestingly, one panelist noted that it’s worth building a YouTube channel with such an exit in mind, even if you never plan on leaving, because it will lead to a more sustainable, less risky, and more profitable backend business.

#3 – The difficulty of staying on top

Related to the above, one theme that I kept noticing throughout the event was just how difficult it is to stay on top. In various sessions, I heard from people who’d been at the top (whether measured by subscriber counts, views, or clout) only to lose their spot in the limelight as trends shifted and younger, harder-working YouTubers took their place.

The amount of work it takes to stay relevant on the platform seems staggering, with 70 or 80-hour workweeks seemingly common. This reinforced for me how challenging it is to create a sustainable business in an inherently unpredictable, quickly changing, trend-driven creative industry like the Creator Economy. And it made me all the more determined to find less fickle, longer-term income sources (such as books) that don’t depend on the whim of an algorithm.

#4 – Are you the Network, the Show, or the Talent?

We’re definitely seeing an expansion in the power and influence of major creators in mainstream culture.

One session explored how creators were once viewed primarily as “talent,” essentially using YouTube to kickstart their acting or hosting career in Hollywood. YouTubers like Lilly Singh were lauded for leveraging their online viewership to make the jump to “legitimate” TV shows and movies. 

But power, money, and influence are increasingly flowing to online creators, who command the vast audiences that major media companies are desperately trying to reach. This has led some creators to begin identifying primarily with a “show” – a repeatable format that often gets released as a series of similar videos over time. This gives the creator more options and more negotiating leverage, since a show can be taken over by another host, or sold to a different network, without losing its original appeal.

We’re now entering a third era, in which creators are accruing so much power and money that they are starting to see themselves as something even bigger – as a network unto themselves. For example, the aforementioned creators of The Game Theorist channel have expanded over time to include The Film Theorists, The Food Theorists, and The Style Theorists, each one applying the same format of in-depth nerdy analysis to a new category.

Lunar X didn’t merely acquire talent, or even a successful show; they acquired a thriving network of channels, which together provide far more financial and cultural weight with much less risk of any single one failing.

#5 – Generative AI is here to stay

Gen AI was a recurring theme of the conference. Seemingly everyone is experimenting with and exploring it. In the sessions I attended, I found a much more nuanced and complex view of its potential than what I typically see on social media.

A survey of online consumers presented at one session showed that 60% of them actually prefer GenAI content to human-created content. I think these are early signs that for certain people and certain topics, the sheer prolific variety that AI is capable of will make it superior.

81% of creators reported better engagement with their AI-generated content, again showing that the ability to rapidly and easily create hyper-customized content is going to appeal to certain niches and allow certain kinds of content to be created that wouldn’t be otherwise.

#6 – The incredible rise of fan culture

A keynote presentation by a YouTube executive analyzing major trends on the platform zeroed in on the rapid rise of “fan” culture over the last few years.

In their research, they found that 85% of people online aged 14-44 say they’re a fan of someone or something. 80% of those people say they use YouTube at least weekly to consume content about what they’re a fan of. 47% of Gen Z viewers say they’re part of a fandom that no one they know personally is a part of.

66% said that they watch more content unpacking or discussing the subject of their fandom, than the original content itself. This could take the form of fancams, explainers, reaction videos, fan art, or hour-long video essays analyzing every minute aspect of a new video by a prominent personality.

For example, when Rockstar Games released the trailer to its long-awaited sequel, Grand Theft Auto VI, it was viewed 93 million times in the first 24 hours, setting a new record. But fans of the franchise also immediately started creating reaction videos, breakdowns of the trailer, and detailed deep-dives, which themselves accumulated another 192 million views in the same 24-hour period.

In other words, even the most successful, viral videos are now only a stone dropped in a pond. Their true impact is amplified by the legions of fan-created ripples that grow and spread far beyond what the original video could do on its own.

Fans are morphing from passive viewers to active co-creators, with 65% of Gen Z survey respondents saying they consider themselves to be “creators”. In effect, they are partnering with the celebrities they adore and extending their reach and relevance to new levels. In YouTube’s words, “fan culture has become the central driver of emerging popular culture.”

#7 – YouTube is an economy unto itself

It’s tempting to list YouTube alongside the other major social media platforms, but my impression from VidCon is that’s not accurate. YouTube is the juggernaut of the Internet, an ever-growing black hole of attention consuming ever more of the wider economy.

I’ve always thought of YouTube as a way to attract attention and find followers, only to send them to my email newsletter for a longer-term relationship. But I was shocked to learn that there are actually 10 different ways to monetize on YouTube:

Advertising revenue (through the YouTube Partner Program)Channel memberships, where viewers pay a monthly fee for exclusive perksSuper Chat and Super Stickers, allowing viewers to pay to have their messages highlighted in live chatSuper Thanks, letting viewers purchase one-time animations to show appreciationMerchandise shelf, selling branded products directly on your channelYouTube Premium revenue, earning money when Premium members watch your contentSponsored content and brand deals, partnering with companies to promote products in your videosAffiliate marketing, earning commissions by promoting products with special linksCrowdfunding/fan funding through platforms like PatreonSelling your own products or services, using your channel to market digital or physical goods

YouTube is at its most powerful not as a lead acquisition source for other platforms, but as a self-contained, integrated economy in its own right. You can achieve all the critical components of a business – from acquiring customers to monetizing them to communicating and supporting them to developing new products and services – without leaving the platform. And as the viewership grows, that’s where the incentives will lie.

#8 – The acquisition of attention is core to every business

This is the insight that trumps all the others, because it explains both YouTube’s rapid rise, and the broader proliferation of all parts of the Creator Economy.

Every business, not just media or entertainment businesses, has to acquire attention to sell its products or services. The only thing that varies is how different businesses or industries go about that.

There have always been a variety of competing options, but as YouTube continues to grow and dominate more and more of the world’s attention, it is finding its way into every industry imaginable, whether for lead generation, community engagement, R&D, recruiting, advertising, brand awareness, customer education, or something else.

If TV was the dominant communications medium of the 20th century, and all roads led to it one way or the other, it seems like YouTube is well on its way to dominating the 21st century.

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