What does “selling out” look like on social media? How can internet personalities generate revenue and remain authentic? — Week 5

Selling out is often misinterpreted these days all too often. Any time an artist, organization, band, business or any “product” starts doing something that was even remotely different from the style they originally started out with, people scream “SELL OUT” because they make changes or add on extra product in order to support themselves financially with future projects. But what does selling out even mean anymore? Is it even possible to not sell out these days where capitalism is basically unavoidable.

Selling out basically means that you are making a change to your product or style that hurts your creativity, restricts it and basically cheapens your product just for the sake of making money. The literal definition is “a common idiomatic pejorative expression for the compromising of a person’s integrity, morality, authenticity, or principles in exchange for personal gain, such as money”. How can Internet Personalities generate revenue and remain authentic? My answer to this question is, you can’t. At least not in the way that you’re probably thinking right now.

Think about it, you can remain independent and do your own thing, it’s what you love but it may not get you enough money. So what do you do? You create your own products. You can brand yourself to your fans and sell yourself in a sense. You can create products that add on to your name/identity. People will think you’re selling out when really you’re not; you’re just trying to get extra money on the side so that you can fund your art/personality/brand/product/services. This is not selling out!!!!

However, if you are not satisfied with the current revenue you are producing, then you would want to get sponsors or collaborate. Or maybe you are being talked to by another organization who might want to buy your brand. You say yes but that would mean they have a good amount of control over what content you produce. They might want changes made that don’t mix in well with your unique style. They will censor you. You may or may not be miserable, lose sight of who you are and what you were doing. But on the plus side, you are loaded with money. If you say no, you won’t be as rich but at least your integrity and dignity will be intact and no one can stop you from doing what you want to do, how you want to do it.

Side note, some people will think that Nickelback are sellouts but to be honest, they were created to be a generic product from the beginning, so is it really selling out from them if they were tools from the start? I don’t know…

So overall, an internet personality can produce revenue and stay authentic, but the problem is they won’t have as many sponsors and won’t be as loaded with money as they could be if they did sell out. Just do what you want internet people. If selling out and making a lot of money is something you can live with, do it! If staying true to yourself is important, do it! You won’t be as loaded but do it. Who cares.