Gate Keepers for the Digital Nomads

Youtube is in a lot of turmoil. Sites have been banned or demonetized. There have been problems with vloggers getting their videos ripped off. It's turned into a mess. For a lot of people, making videos is not a hobby, but the way they earn their daily bread. Some have managed to move their work to other video platforms, but it's hard.

Youtube is just one example. If you want to self-publish a book, Amazon is the way to go. There are only so many blogging platforms. Digital outlets have a few big players that dominate everything.

In one way that's good, especially for the consumer. It's terribly convenient if you want to find a particular type of content. With dominate players, searching for what you want is pretty quick and easy.

The problem is that those handful of big players can pretty much set the rates everyone gets paid. Their owners become exceedingly wealthy. The poor slobs who actually provide the content have very little leverage when it comes to getting paid. The big boys can make or break them.

For those of us who like to travel, being a digital nomad seemed like the way to go. As long as you could get a decent Internet connection, you could work. While it's easier than ever to work on-line, getting paid well hasn't gotten easier.

I'm not sure how this will all shake out. Maybe digital freelancers will form associations to protect their common interests? Perhaps real competition between platforms will provide more opportunities? All I know is that the business of the Internet is in flux.

Fortunately, most of my income is from other sources than on-line. Good thing. While the occasional deposit in my account is nice, it wouldn't keep me in rice in beans. Of course, we are all just one massive solar flare from everyone going non electronic. Wouldn't that be interesting?

-Sixbears