Chapter 34: Exercises

The Creator Economy: When the Algorithm Becomes Your Boss

Section A: Comprehension and Analysis

Exercise 1 [Definitional] Define "the engagement treadmill" in your own words, then explain how it differs from simply having a demanding production schedule. What is distinctive about algorithmic production pressure that makes it specifically a treadmill? What would stepping off the treadmill actually cost?

Exercise 2 [Analysis] The chapter identifies four primary creator income streams: advertising revenue, brand partnerships, subscriptions, and merchandise. For each stream, identify: (a) the primary source of vulnerability or instability, (b) what a creator would need to protect against that vulnerability, and (c) what type of creator content or audience is best positioned for that stream.

Exercise 3 [Critical Thinking] The chapter argues that creator burnout is a structural condition rather than an individual failure of self-management. What evidence supports this structural diagnosis? What alternative explanation — that burnout reflects individual differences in resilience or boundary-setting — would a critic offer? Evaluate both interpretations against the available evidence.

Exercise 4 [Application] Apply Maslach and Jackson's occupational burnout framework — excessive workload, lack of control, insufficient reward, breakdown of community, absence of fairness, conflicting values — to the creator economy. For each dimension, explain specifically how the creator economy activates that burnout condition. Which dimension do you find most clearly documented by the evidence in this chapter?

Exercise 5 [Comparison] Compare parasocial labor in the creator economy to emotional labor in other professions — nursing, customer service, teaching. What are the similarities in psychological mechanism? What are the key differences in institutional context, compensation structure, and available support?

Exercise 6 [Conceptual] Explain the "authenticity trap" in your own words. Then explain the paradox at its core: how does the algorithm both require and consume authenticity? Is there a meaningful form of authentic self-expression possible within a system that has learned to monetize authenticity?

Exercise 7 [Evidence Evaluation] The chapter cites research finding that creator populations show elevated rates of anxiety and depression compared to comparable non-creator populations. What methodological challenges would researchers face in establishing this comparison? What confounds might produce the observed difference? Does identifying these methodological challenges change your interpretation of the finding?

Section B: Research and Investigation

Exercise 8 [Research] Research the YouTubers' Union and other forms of creator collective action. What specific issues have these organizations organized around? What demands have they made? What results, if any, have they achieved? Write a 400-word assessment of the effectiveness and limitations of creator collective action to date.

Exercise 9 [Content Analysis] Identify a creator on any platform who has posted content about burnout, mental health, or taking a break. Analyze: (a) the specific language and framing used to describe their experience, (b) how the engagement metrics on this video compare to their typical content (if available), (c) what the response from their audience was, and (d) what, if anything, changed in their content after the video. Write a 350-word analysis.

Exercise 10 [Platform Investigation] Research the monetization policies of three different social media platforms (e.g., YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, Patreon). For each, identify: (a) the minimum requirements to begin earning, (b) the rate of revenue sharing or equivalent payment, (c) the primary categories of content that are demonetized or restricted, and (d) the appeals process available when a monetization decision is disputed. Write a 400-word comparative analysis.

Exercise 11 [Income Analysis] Research publicly available data on creator income distribution. Sources might include platform reports, industry analyses, creator surveys, or academic studies. Construct the most accurate picture you can of the income distribution across creator categories (by platform, by subscriber count, by content category). Write a 300-word summary with appropriate caveats about data limitations.

Exercise 12 [Algorithmic Bias Research] Research the documented evidence of algorithmic amplification bias in the creator economy. Sources might include academic studies, reporting by organizations like the Center for Countering Digital Hate, creator testimonials, or platform transparency reports. Write a 500-word summary of what the evidence shows about which creator groups are disproportionately disadvantaged by algorithmic systems, and what mechanisms produce the disparity.

Section C: Design and Policy

Exercise 13 [Design Challenge] Design a social media platform for creators that addresses the specific structural harms documented in this chapter. Your design should address: algorithmic transparency, demonetization due process, income stability, production pressure reduction, and parasocial labor recognition. Describe your design in 500 words with brief rationale for each element. What tradeoffs would your design require in terms of platform business model?

Exercise 14 [Policy Memo] Write a 500-word policy memo to a national legislature recommending specific regulatory interventions in the creator economy. Your memo should identify three specific problems and three specific regulatory remedies, with brief rationale for each. Address likely industry objections to your recommendations.

Exercise 15 [Contract Design] Design a hypothetical "Creator Bill of Rights" — a set of minimum protections that creators on any monetized platform would be entitled to. Your document should address: notice requirements for algorithm changes, demonetization due process, appeals mechanisms, income stability protections, and non-discrimination requirements. Present your document as a formal list of rights with brief rationale for each.

Exercise 16 [Business Model Analysis] The Velocity Media case study suggests that the engagement treadmill cannot be eliminated within an advertising-revenue business model. Research alternative business models for social media platforms — subscription-based, cooperative ownership, data-trust models, etc. For each alternative, assess: (a) whether it would reduce engagement treadmill pressure, (b) what it would cost in terms of creator income and platform sustainability, and (c) what barriers to adoption exist.

Section D: Perspective-Taking and Ethics

Exercise 17 [Perspective-Taking] Write a 400-word first-person account from the perspective of a brand manager at a major consumer goods company who is designing a creator partnership program. What are your goals? What creator characteristics do you value? How do you think about the relationship between brand safety and creator content? This exercise asks you to take the brand perspective seriously while understanding how it shapes creator content.

Exercise 18 [Ethical Analysis — Creator Obligations] A creator with 500,000 subscribers has been experiencing severe burnout and depression. They want to take a three-month break from posting. They know from past experience that a three-month break will cost them approximately 40% of their subscriber base and significantly more of their algorithmic standing. Write a 400-word ethical analysis of their situation: What are their obligations to their audience? To themselves? To the creators who depend on the ecosystem remaining vibrant?

Exercise 19 [Stakeholder Analysis] Map the full stakeholder ecosystem of the creator economy: individual creators, platforms, advertisers, MCNs (multi-channel networks), creator management agencies, tool companies, audience members, brand partners, regulators, and any others you identify. For each stakeholder, identify: their primary interests, how the current system serves or fails those interests, and what changes they would likely support or resist.

Exercise 20 [Audience Ethics] The chapter suggests that audience behavior contributes to the engagement treadmill. Write a 400-word "ethical audience guide" for consumers of creator content that addresses: expectations of posting frequency, parasocial relationship management, direct support, engagement behavior, and how to respond when creators experience burnout or take breaks. What would a genuinely supportive audience relationship look like?

Section E: Extended Projects

Exercise 21 [Creator Interview Project] If possible, conduct an interview with a content creator (at any level of scale) about their experience of algorithmic production pressure. Your interview should address: posting frequency and how it is determined, how they experience metric monitoring, their financial relationship with the platform, their experience of demonetization or algorithm changes, and how they think about the sustainability of their work. Write a 600-word summary with analysis connecting the interview to this chapter's findings.

Exercise 22 [Comparative Labor Analysis] Write a 1,200-word paper comparing the labor conditions of content creators to those of gig economy workers (Uber drivers, DoorDash workers, TaskRabbit workers) and to those of traditional creative workers (freelance journalists, independent musicians, staff journalists). In what ways are creators most like gig workers? In what ways are they most like independent creative professionals? What does this comparison suggest about the appropriate regulatory framework for creator labor?

Exercise 23 [Historical Analysis] Write a 1,000-word historical analysis of "the algorithmic boss" — tracing how technological systems have functioned as managerial mechanisms in the history of labor. You might examine: factory time-and-motion systems of the early 20th century, call center monitoring systems of the late 20th century, Amazon warehouse productivity tracking, Uber's algorithmic driver management, and social media algorithms in the creator economy. What is continuous and what is new about algorithmic management?

Exercise 24 [Case Study Development] Research and write a 1,000-word case study of a creator (at any scale) who has navigated the engagement treadmill in a way you find instructive — either by successfully managing its demands, by strategically stepping off it, or by experiencing its full costs. Your case study should be evidence-based (drawing on publicly available information) and should analyze the creator's situation through the frameworks developed in this chapter.

Exercise 25 [Policy Brief: Creator Protection] Write a 1,000-word policy brief for a platform CEO recommending specific internal policy changes that would better protect creator wellbeing without fundamentally changing the platform's business model. Your brief should: identify three specific harms, propose specific policy remedies for each, estimate the business costs and benefits of each remedy, and address the objection that the proposed changes are not financially viable.

Section F: Practical Engagement

Exercise 26 [Creator Economy Literacy] For one week, keep a log of all creator content you consume: platform, creator, estimated duration, whether you interacted with the content (like, comment, share), and whether you paid anything directly to the creator. At the end of the week, calculate: total creator content consumed, estimated total hours, ratio of direct payment to free consumption. Reflect in 300 words on what your consumption log reveals about your relationship to the creator economy.

Exercise 27 [Algorithm Observation] Choose one social media platform and observe your recommendation feed for one week, documenting what you are served and noticing patterns in content type, creator style, and topic clustering. Write a 300-word analysis of what the algorithm appears to have learned about you and what kinds of creator content it is steering you toward.

Exercise 28 [Sustainable Creator Support] Identify three creators whose work you value. For each, research what direct support options they offer (if any) — Patreon, channel memberships, merchandise, Substack subscriptions, etc. Write a 200-word reflection on: the barriers to direct creator support (cost, friction, habit), what it would take for you to shift from passive consumption to active support, and what difference direct support would make for the creators you've identified.

Exercise 29 [Creator Communication Analysis] Analyze the language that a platform (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or another) uses in its creator-facing communications — Creator Studio, Creator Academy, official blog posts, creator guidelines. How does the platform describe its relationship with creators? What terms are used? What is emphasized and what is omitted? Write a 300-word critical analysis of the promotional narrative in these communications.

Exercise 30 [Platform Comparison] Compare the creator monetization terms of two platforms — ideally one large, established platform and one smaller or newer alternative. Research: the revenue sharing arrangements, the minimum requirements, the content restrictions, the appeals processes, and the community governance mechanisms. Which platform offers more equitable terms for creators? What would it take for creators to migrate from the larger to the smaller platform?

Section G: Advanced Analysis

Exercise 31 [Intersectionality Analysis] Research the intersection of algorithmic bias and creator burnout for a specific marginalized creator community — Black creators, LGBTQ+ creators, disabled creators, creators with mental illness, or another community of your choice. How do the structural conditions of algorithmic bias (disparate amplification, disparate moderation) interact with the general burnout conditions documented in this chapter? Write a 600-word analysis.

Exercise 32 [Platform Power Index] Develop a framework for measuring "platform power" over creators — the degree to which a platform controls creator livelihoods, creative expression, and career trajectory. Apply your framework to evaluate three platforms, ranking them from most to least creator-empowering. Present your framework and rankings in 500 words with brief rationale.

Exercise 33 [Cross-Chapter Synthesis] Connect the algorithmic architecture documented in Part II of this book (variable reward schedules, social validation, the infinite scroll) to the creator economy dynamics analyzed in this chapter. Specifically: How do the psychological vulnerabilities exploited to maximize user engagement (chapter subjects) also shape the conditions under which creators operate? Write a 500-word synthesis essay.

Exercise 34 [Economic Modeling] Using publicly available data on creator income distribution and platform revenue, develop a rough economic model of the creator economy: how much value do creators generate? What share of that value do they capture? How does the value distribution compare to other sectors where intermediaries (record labels, publishers, galleries) mediate between creators and audiences? Write a 600-word analysis with appropriate caveats about data limitations.

Exercise 35 [Future Scenarios] Write a 800-word analysis of three possible futures for the creator economy over the next decade: (a) the current trajectory continues and intensifies, (b) significant platform regulatory intervention changes creator-platform dynamics, or (c) creator collective action and new organizational forms shift the power balance. For each scenario, analyze: likelihood, creator welfare implications, audience implications, and platform business model implications.