A lot of people get confused when I tell them I’m a YouTuber. Fast Company reported that nearly one-third of Gen Alpha kids in their early teens want to be YouTubers when they grow up. So why is it that so many kids are drawn to creating content online, while a significant number of adults pause and tilt their head when I say I’m a YouTuber myself?
I think it all comes down to two things: desire and understanding.
Desire vs. Understanding: Why Kids Get It and Adults Don’t
Desire
Of course kids want to be YouTubers. They are actively consuming content that speaks directly to their interests. Whether it’s gaming, sports, fashion, or crafts, YouTube is their preferred form of entertainment. They may not fully understand the mechanics of content creation, but they absolutely find joy in their hobbies and seek out content around them. That desire is the spark.
Understanding
The drop-off in aspiring creators as age increases comes down to a few things: the timeline of when these platforms emerged, the amount of time already committed to family, careers, and existing hobbies, and most importantly, the type of content people grew up watching. I have parents and friends who are obsessed with pop culture icons from the 1980s because that’s who they saw, that’s who they identified with. If I told them I wanted to be a rockstar, they’d at least be able to visualize how I’d make a living. But YouTube? From the outside, it’s confusing.
That’s exactly why I like the Uber analogy.
YouTube Is Like Uber (But With One Massive Difference)
A lot of people drive Uber. A lot of people are YouTubers. Uber coordinates the connection between someone who needs a ride and someone willing to provide it. YouTube does the same thing with someone who needs information and another person who provides it.
Someone searches “how to change the oil in my car,” “how to build a website,” or “how to cook an amazing Super Bowl snack,” and YouTube matches them with a creator who has already shared that knowledge.
The key difference? YouTube isn’t tied to the creator’s time. If a video exists online, people can watch it today, tomorrow, or ten years from now and get the same value. But the creator only had to put in the effort once.
The Key Difference: You Only Drive Once
Imagine if Uber told drivers they only needed to complete one ride in their city, and every time someone requested a ride in that city after that, the driver still got paid without ever having to drive again. That’s what YouTube is.
That’s the power of evergreen content. One upload can keep earning views, subscribers, and ad revenue for years after you press publish. It’s one of the few career paths where your output isn’t tied directly to the hours you put in today.
More Routes, More Cities
So the real question becomes: how does the driver get more routes, more cities?
It’s not just about making one video on how to build a website. It’s about creating content on how to schedule posts, how to design a logo, how to build a digital business card, how to grow a brand online. The goal stops being “how do I make one more ride” and starts becoming “how do I capture more of the online content space by creating valuable content across multiple topics that provide value to viewers simultaneously.”
Where Viraly Comes In
That’s where Viraly comes in for me personally. As someone who works in the social media management tool space, I’ve tested a lot of platforms, and Viraly helps me accomplish exactly that goal: creating more content without sacrificing more time.
It saves time because I can schedule posts quickly through a clean, user-friendly interface across multiple social media platforms. But what really stands out is the AI-powered post generation. I can draft 10 posts in 10 seconds, or 100 posts in 100 seconds, and they all sound like me. For any content creator, small business owner, or social media manager trying to grow their presence, that’s a game-changer.
One underrated benefit of using a social media post scheduler is that it naturally forces you to plan content in advance. When you’re not scrambling to post in the moment, you start thinking ahead, looking out to a larger time horizon, building a real content strategy instead of just reacting. I genuinely believe every business, professional, student, and corporation should be using a post scheduler as part of telling the world who they are and what their passions are. It’s how you build digital assets that live online, provide ongoing value, and hopefully generate income that isn’t tied directly to your time, while doing something you actually enjoy.
Final Thought: Drive Once, Earn Forever
If someone told you that you only had to drive Uber once to earn money every time anyone in your city needed a ride, you’d do it. No question.
That’s what YouTube and other social media platforms are for creators. Every piece of content you put out is a route. Every platform you show up on is a new city.
The goal is to build more routes. Viraly helps me do that.
Want to see how I manage content, grow on YouTube, and use tools like Viraly in real time? Check out our tutorial video below.
Joe Zeplin, Social Media Management Creator