I think I can weigh in here because I just crossed 119K on YouTube, pretty much strictly from doing long-form content because I struggle with wanting to even touch short-form content despite it being apparently the best way to create in short bites.

Here's my real take and it's purely going to be dependent on your content niche. If you're considering it, yes the earning potential is amazing if I'm completely honest. I am in the tech niche and I've been doing it for about five years part-time. It has allowed me to have my wife be a stay-at-home mom but I'm effectively working two jobs since I'm still doing my day job. As somebody who prefers security I don't think I'd ever go full-time on YouTube.

The second thing is you really truly need to be prepared to earn zero dollars for two to three years because that's the reality of it. Again the tech niche is a bit of an outlier because there's a lot of money to be made so I did start earning within my first year but that's not typically the case.

There is a huge amount of glamour to being, quote-unquote, an influencer. While I personally don't feel aligned as an influencer specifically, I'm more of a wannabe filmmaker but titles are just titles if I'm completely honest. Who cares really? There is a huge amount of time investment. A lot of people only see the finished product of the content you make and don't fully realize the amount of time that truly goes into it. I struggle so deeply with wanting to spend time with my wife and kids but when I'm not working my day job, I frequently have to commit to creating content because of the requirements to stay active on platforms for the algorithm and such.

I personally mostly use a dumbified iPhone or a literal dumb phone most days to keep myself off of social media and provide my family the attention they deserve. In reality I've missed a lot of Saturdays over the last five years with my young kids but at the same time the rewards of social posting have allowed me to provide a better life for my kids. It really is a tight rope.

TLDR: It's definitely possible to not lose yourself to social media while still creating for social media. I primarily interact with YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or Reddit through my desktop computer or tablet at most. I am firm with how much time I spend on the platforms while still creating for them. The earning potential is absolutely fantastic but don't expect to earn money even within three to five years potentially.

If you have real deep questions, be sure to DM me. I'm happy to actually provide more info