The frustration of Load shedding for a content creator in South Africa
The deep hatred we all have for load shedding and the emotional suffering it’s causing among South Africans is one thing we can all agree on.
Load shedding is now a predictable nightmare that creeps up more often than we would like it to and everyone is feeling its daily impact.
Seeing how it was affecting my gaming time and remembering how difficult it was to navigate my stream schedule, I started wondering about other streamers that have full-time jobs, and how they manage to work around all the load shedding.
The stress of squeezing in a stream before the next set of power cuts can be challenging. Then there is also the constant worry that your regular viewers and supporters will be unable to watch your stream since they probably also dealing with load shedding. This can be very demotivating for a small streamer who only has a few viewers watching them.
For most South Africans, especially smaller streamers, streaming can be an additional form of income and can help a small streamer a lot.
Load shedding not only adds to the fear and worry about the loss of potential income from streamers but can be financially troubling if you have bills to pay, and now end up short of income.
Working around the load-shedding schedule while also having a full-time job from 8-5, Monday to Friday can put a lot of stress on the body.
One of the biggest challenges for me for example is that I have to get up an additional hour earlier each day, to try and avoid the early morning traffic caused by all the robots that are offline.
Our roads have become increasingly challenging to navigate as everyone tries to skip another car, or a red flashing light just to make it to work on time.
For me as a part-time content creator (If I can even call myself that, due to the lack of content) my days get longer, my moods would shift a lot and I would become very depressed and easily irritated.
I hated coming home and the power would go off or might already be off and I had to sit in the dark. There was no drive for me to try and create something, my body was exhausted and I was feeling very negative about everything around me… please tell me I am not the only one…
The stress of trying to work in a stream before the next set of power cuts can be rather draining, you either end up disappointing yourself or the people that show up for your streams by canceling at the last minute.
Then there is also the worry that your regulars will be able to watch your steam since they probably also have their own load-shedding to deal with.
It’s been a while since I last streamed but I started wondering how other streamers felt and dealt with their feelings. Was I really the only person feeling a bit sorry for myself because of the lack of content I created? For not reaching my goals or providing the amount of content I wanted.
Load shedding in my opinion has caused many South African content creators and streamers to experience feelings of depression and helplessness. It has become difficult for us all to create content in a timely manner and it affects our growth within the scene.
This impacts not only our productivity but also our motivation to create content, which leads to a downfall in the quality of work we put out. We feel rushed, and forced about the content we upload, and viewership and interaction go down greatly because we are tired and demotivated.
I always wondered what it would be like to be a full-time content creator because the full-timers made it look so easy. They could stream whenever they wanted, how often they wanted, and load shedding would not be a problem for them.
At least this was my understanding and attitude toward the situation until I started talking to some full-time streaming friends. And they have assured me that being a full-time content creator is not easy and for some, it’s their only source of income.
Which can be very stressful if the monthly criteria are not met for the streaming platform to pay out the fees owed to you.
So if you ever consider leaving your job to pursue content creation full-time, I would recommend talking to one of the full-time individuals first to see what all the pros and cons are.
Finding a job in South Africa is not easy and our unemployment rate is at an all-time high, so do research before you decide to do anything.
And while load shedding has been hard on everyone, I take my hat off to the content creators who push forward and start streaming very late at night to ensure they get those much-needed streaming hours in for their communities. Whether you are a part-time creator or full-time, everyone has their own way of dealing with their load shedding and its after effects.
I still like to think load shedding has some pros to it and for me personally, it’s spending some time away from the screen. Taking time away from the online world can be very refreshing and self-care is very important. It also allows reconnection with your partner, family, or friends.
So by writing this, I’m hoping I am not the only person who feels that load shedding has caused some loneliness, feeling down, and leaving me feeling unmotivated.
The only advice I can really give if you do feel the way I feel is: Don’t feel discouraged if your views drop and your chat is quiet, it’s natural when so many people are affected by load shedding and they are not able to watch.
Keep pushing forward and remember why you enjoy streaming, whether it is to become a full-time content creator or for fun and relaxation.
Always be kind to yourself and rather focus on congratulations yourself for pushing yourself, even when you feel down.
And most importantly remember that your community loves you and will always be there for you.
We will eventually overcome load shedding and the hardships it creates, we just need to keep moving forward!
Lots of Love
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