The most important trend of our generation is the disaggregation of work.
In 2027, America will become a majority freelance economy for the first time.
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Young people today are skeptical of "traditional" career paths. Many watched their parents lose jobs during the 2008 financial crisis. Many lost their own jobs during the pandemic.
This skepticism is breeding a distrust of institutions and a backlash to centralized authority.
Millennials & Gen Zs don't want to "rent" time to a corporation or work within "the system".
They'd rather use their own hustle and savvy to dictate their own fortunes.
This is fueling the gig economy, the creator economy, the hustle economy. All of forms of more flexible work untethered from institutions.
There are 68 million contractors in the U.S. today, which will grow to 90 million by 2028.
But in America, much of the social safety net is tied to work:
156,199,800 Americans get healthcare from their employer. Life insurance, disability, paid time off, retirement. The list goes on.
Most benefits come from employers, and that system is breaking down.
The entire infrastructure of work needs to be rebuilt.
There are many benefits to the disaggregation of work: careers are becoming more flexible, creative, self-determined. But the ecosystem around work needs to keep up.
To recap:
• Technology + growing distrust of institutions is disaggregating work
• This fuels the gig, creator, hustle economies
• We'll soon be a majority freelancer country for the first time ever
• The entire infrastructure of work must be rebuilt
I'd add that terms like "hustle culture" and "hustle economy" can distort or put a rose-colored lens on the fact that younger generations are turning to freelance work *because* traditional employment has proven impossible to find or doesn't provide economic mobility any longer.
Yes, many people find it appealing to "be your own boss" and the internet increasingly makes that work possible.
But for many, freelance work isn't a choice but a necessity.
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Every Wednesday, I send out a piece of writing. Topics include: creators, internet culture, digital economies, Web3, & social media
You can subscribe here. Below are 10 of my favorite recent Digital Native pieces 👇 digitalnative.substack.com
📹 What People Misunderstand About The Creator Economy 📹
5 reasons it's important:
• It's about self-expression
• It's horizontal, not vertical
• It enables diverse voices
• It lets workers reclaim agency
• It breaks down outdated power structures digitalnative.substack.com/p/what-people-…
🏛️ The Memeification of American Capitalism 🏛️
There are common threads between r/WallStreetBets and NFT mania. Both are emblematic of a growing backlash to institutions.
This is Miko. She's a virtual streamer who is controlled by a real-life woman known only as The Technician.
The Technician uses the Unreal Engine and a $30,000 motion-capture suit to create Miko.
Thread 👇
The Technician's story starts like that of many other creators:
At the beginning of the pandemic, The Technician was laid off from the animation studio she worked at, just weeks after moving to Los Angeles.
She found herself unemployed and stuck with a $2,000-a-month lease.
In her words: “I thought, you know what would be the good thing to do right now isn’t to try to look for work. Let me put down $20K and try to make it on Twitch.”
The early days were slow-going. She made $300 a month and was thousands of dollars in debt from expensive equipment.
OnlyFans 2020 numbers:
• Revenue grew +553% to $391 million
• Users grew 5x from 20 million to 120 million
• Over 300 creators made more than $1 million
OnlyFans' success is a fascinating combination of business model innovation & the desire for online belonging.
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OnlyFans' business model lets creators stitch together subscriptions, tipping, & microtransactions.
Creators can send out locked DMs that look like personal messages, but are sent en masse to thousands of subscribers. One message can earn a creator thousands of dollars.
Locked DMs are a way for creators to earn income at scale and for subscribers to feel personally connected to the creator.
@lucymort_ calls this “the commodification of intimacy.” Online relationships with OnlyFans creators can become replacements for real-life intimacy.