There is a broad fascination with the possibility of ‘giving up your day job’ to make money from YouTube. Stories of people coming from obscurity to earn fame and fortune producing videos for online audiences are now commonplace.
But how possible is it, really, to make a living from YouTube? What are the major obstacles and opportunities? What rights and responsibilities do YouTube creators have? What risks do they face? More broadly, what are the implications for Brisbane and Queensland’s creative communities?
This panel discussion brought leading YouTube scholar Jean Burgess, Director of the QUT Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC) together with leading Australian YouTubers Elly Awesome and Madison Lloyd from Sketchshe to ask: Is being a YouTuber a real job?