Chapter 34: Quiz

The Creator Economy: When the Algorithm Becomes Your Boss

22 multiple-choice questions. Select the best answer for each.

Question 1. According to the chapter, approximately how many people worldwide identify as content creators?

A) 5 million B) 20 million C) 50 million D) 200 million

Question 2. What is the estimated size of the creator economy market as of 2022?

A) $12 billion B) $46 billion C) $104 billion D) $380 billion

Question 3. Of the 50+ million people who identify as content creators, approximately how many earn professional-level income (generally defined as $50,000 or more per year)?

A) Approximately 200,000 B) Approximately 2 million C) Approximately 10 million D) Approximately 25 million

Question 4. Which of the following best describes the "engagement treadmill" as used in this chapter?

A) The increasing time users spend on social media each day as they become more habituated B) The dynamic in which algorithmic relevance requires constant production, and any interruption results in measurable degradation of algorithmic standing C) The competitive dynamic among creators that forces them to constantly produce more engaging content than their rivals D) The process by which engagement metrics are used to calculate creator advertising revenue

Question 5. According to the chapter, what is the primary mechanism by which recommendation algorithms favor frequent content production?

A) Platforms explicitly penalize creators who post less frequently than weekly B) Algorithms systematically favor recent content, causing older content from less-active creators to receive less distribution C) Brand partnerships are only available to creators who post on a daily schedule D) Advertisers pay higher rates for content from creators who post more frequently

Question 6. The "YouTube Adpocalypse" of 2017 was triggered by:

A) YouTube's decision to reduce advertising revenue sharing rates by 30% B) The revelation that YouTube was secretly demonetizing conservative political content C) A Times of London investigation showing major brand advertisements appearing alongside extremist content D) The discovery that bots were generating fraudulent ad revenue for large YouTube channels

Question 7. Which of the following best describes the consequences of the YouTube Adpocalypse for creators?

A) Only channels with extremist content were affected; mainstream creators experienced no income change B) Automated enforcement systems mass-demonetized legitimate content across many topic areas, reducing income for creators who had not created the problem the policy addressed C) YouTube compensated all affected creators through a creator relief fund established to address the crisis D) The primary effect was reduced advertiser revenue for YouTube itself, with creators largely unaffected

Question 8. According to the Maslach and Jackson burnout framework applied in this chapter, which of the following is a condition that produces occupational burnout?

A) High salary relative to job complexity B) Strong supportive relationships with colleagues C) Excessive workload combined with lack of control over working conditions D) Frequent positive feedback from supervisors and customers

Question 9. What does research consistently find about content creators' burnout announcements — videos in which creators discuss their mental health struggles?

A) They typically receive below-average engagement because audiences prefer positive content B) They typically generate among creators' highest engagement, because authentic vulnerability drives high interaction C) They are systematically demonetized by platforms that view mental health content as advertiser-unfriendly D) They are rarely made because creators fear the reputational consequences of admitting vulnerability

Question 10. The "authenticity trap" in creator content refers to which of the following dynamics?

A) Creators who present themselves as authentic but are actually highly scripted and managed B) Platforms that claim to promote authentic content while actually rewarding heavily produced, optimized content C) The dynamic in which authentic, vulnerable content performs best algorithmically, creating incentives to mine genuine personal experience as content D) Audience members who perceive parasocial relationships as authentic mutual friendships rather than one-sided attachments

Question 11. Which of the following best characterizes the legal employment status of content creators in their relationship with platforms?

A) Employees, with full employment protections including minimum wage and anti-discrimination rights B) Independent contractors, without the legal protections of employment C) Partners, sharing governance rights over platform decisions that affect them D) Licensors, with intellectual property rights that protect their content from platform expropriation

Question 12. The "gig economy parallel" in the chapter identifies structural similarities between creators and gig workers. Which of the following is identified as a key DIFFERENCE that makes creator platform dependency potentially more severe than gig worker platform dependency?

A) Creators are subject to more aggressive algorithmic management than gig workers B) Gig workers have more income alternatives; creators are forced to rely entirely on one platform C) Creators have higher switching costs because audience relationships are platform-specific, built through years of investment D) Gig workers are paid significantly more per hour, making income loss less devastating for them

Question 13. Research by Sanjay Sharma and colleagues documented which of the following regarding algorithmic amplification in the creator economy?

A) Black creators' content received significantly more algorithmic recommendation than white creators' comparable content, due to diversity initiatives B) Black creators' content was systematically less likely to be recommended to users outside their existing follower base compared to comparable white creator content C) Algorithmic amplification was unrelated to creator demographics; only content quality determined recommendation outcomes D) Black creators were more likely to be promoted by YouTube's recommendation algorithm but less likely to receive brand deals

Question 14. The chapter describes "parasocial labor" as which of the following?

A) The work that audiences perform when they actively engage with creator content through comments and shares B) The ongoing work of maintaining parasocial relationships with audiences — performing friendship and intimacy at scale — as a form of emotional labor C) The physical labor of content production including filming, editing, and publishing D) The algorithmic work that platforms perform matching creator content with likely-interested audiences

Question 15. A 2022 study in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking found which of the following about creator mental health?

A) Creators showed significantly better mental health outcomes than comparable non-creator populations, suggesting that creative work is protective B) Creator mental health was indistinguishable from comparable non-creator populations when controlling for income level C) Content creators experienced significantly higher rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout symptoms than a comparison sample from non-creator occupations D) Mental health outcomes among creators were primarily determined by the size of their audience, with larger creators showing better outcomes

Question 16. TikTok's Creator Fund, launched in 2020, paid creators at approximately what rate per 1,000 views, according to creator estimates?

A) Between $5 and $10 per 1,000 views B) Between $0.50 and $1.00 per 1,000 views C) Between $0.02 and $0.04 per 1,000 views D) A flat rate of $100 per month regardless of views

Question 17. The "content optimization cycle" described in the chapter refers to which creator practice?

A) Creating content about topics that are trending on the platform to increase organic discovery B) The systematic process of analyzing performance data, identifying high-performing content characteristics, and replicating them — over time converging content toward algorithmically rewarded patterns C) Optimizing video file sizes and encoding settings to reduce loading time and improve algorithmic distribution D) The practice of posting content at algorithmically optimal times of day based on audience activity data

Question 18. In the Velocity Media case study, what did Dr. Aisha Johnson's two-year assessment of the creator partnership program find?

A) The program had successfully eliminated burnout among Velocity Media creators B) The program had meaningfully reduced production frequency requirements by redesigning the algorithm C) Creator wellbeing metrics improved compared to industry benchmarks, but the fundamental engagement treadmill could not be eliminated within an advertising-revenue business model D) The creator welfare initiative had no measurable effect on creator wellbeing, suggesting the concept was fundamentally misguided

Question 19. Which of the following best describes the "alt-text and keyword phenomenon" in creator algorithmic strategy?

A) Creators using alternative text on images to make content accessible to visually impaired users, which platforms reward with increased distribution B) Creators placing target keywords in titles, descriptions, comments, and metadata to signal topical relevance to algorithmic categorization systems C) The practice of creating text-based alternative versions of video content to reach platform users who prefer reading to watching D) A regulatory requirement that creators disclose algorithmic optimization strategies they use in content descriptions

Question 20. Lilly Singh's announced hiatus in 2019 was notable for what reason, according to the chapter?

A) She was the first major creator to announce a hiatus due to burnout, establishing a precedent for subsequent creator disclosures B) She explicitly attributed her exhaustion to the algorithmic production requirements that had crowded out authentic creative expression C) She was able to maintain her subscriber count and algorithmic standing throughout her hiatus, demonstrating that breaks were not economically costly D) Her hiatus announcement was met with platform retaliation in the form of demonetization and reduced algorithmic distribution

Question 21. Research on creator income diversification finds which of the following about creators' mental health?

A) Creators who diversify across multiple platforms show worse mental health because managing multiple platforms is more stressful B) Creators with diversified income streams show better mental health outcomes, suggesting income stability is a significant protective factor C) Income level is unrelated to creator mental health; the primary determinant is content category D) Creators who earn primarily from subscriptions show worse mental health than those who earn from advertising, due to direct audience accountability

Question 22. Which of the following represents the most structurally significant power the platform holds over creators in the creator-platform relationship?

A) The platform's ability to set minimum posting frequency requirements that creators must meet or lose their accounts B) The platform's ability to require creators to attend in-person training sessions and meet creator community guidelines C) The platform's ability to modify Terms of Service, change algorithms, and demonetize content unilaterally, without creator input, compensation, or meaningful due process D) The platform's ability to limit creator content to formats and lengths that the platform has standardized

Answer Key

  1. C
  2. C
  3. B
  4. B
  5. B
  6. C
  7. B
  8. C
  9. B
  10. C
  11. B
  12. C
  13. B
  14. B
  15. C
  16. C
  17. B
  18. C
  19. B
  20. B
  21. B
  22. C