Abbie Chatfield has jumped into the debate surrounding influencers and their line of work – specifically, whether or not being a full-time influencer is more or less stressful than working a regular nine-to-five job.
This all kicked off on TikTok recently, after some influencers were torn apart after saying they were stressed out and needed some time off. Considering the top Aussie influencers can make around $82,000 per Instagram post — more than many regular Aussies make in a year — people haven’t been too sympathetic for the influencer cause.
However, when the FBoy Island host saw a clip, she decided to discuss it in great detail, seeing as she’s lived both sides of the coin.
“[The podcast host] was saying that people she knows work all day every day and have much more stressful jobs than these influencers and they should be grateful,” Abbie told her followers.
“I wanted to put my two cents in because [I’ve] worked a corporate job in commercial real estate, and now [make] money on the internet.”
The former Bachelor star said she thinks “both sides are right”, but it’s difficult to explain the “unique stress” that comes with being an influencer.
Abbie Chatfield has entered the chat. (Image: Instagram @abbiechatfield)
The biggest stress factors that come with a normie job, in her opinion, come down to the lack of money and having to deal with long hours and bureaucratic nonsense.
“I think what people are trying to say is that the work of an influencer is disproportionate to what they would get if they were working nine-to-five, and it totally is,” she said.
“The [lack of] money, 100 percent, [it’s] way more stressful and then that adds stress to every other element of your life.”
Plus, influencers and content creators often enjoy what they’re doing – especially compared to someone stuck in a dull corporate cubicle.
Abbie Chatfield points out influencer jobs come with “unique stress”
However, she made some damn good points in defence of all those influencers out there, saying content creators are often doing far more hours of work than you expect.
It’s not necessarily time spent filming and editing videos for social media, but the fact that you never “have a break”.
Obviously, it depends on what type of content creator you are, but for someone like Abbie – she’s always switched on and has no divide between her “work-life” and “real life”.
“What is time-consuming is you are literally constantly working. Like you are constantly looking for… things to do content on, things to speak about, everything you read, you go, ‘do I have an opinion on this?’, you’re constantly looking for that. That is all day, every day. You don’t have a break from working, ever,” she explained.
With a following of 17.4 million, Tammy Hembrow can make an estimated $82,000 per Instagram post. (Image: Instagram @tammyhembrow)
The other main point she made to back up those full-time influencers is the fact that their life is under a microscope. The “unique stress” of having hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of people voicing their opinions about you, is one that many of us can’t imagine.
“It makes people feel like they are always surveilled, and that they are always being perceived and being judged, and then quantified in their value, and then also trolling is a really, really stressful thing,” she said.
I guess it’s also rough having your income stream dependent on whether you’re the flavour of the month, and it would be horrible seeing it going down the drain if you didn’t have a contingency plan.
But – like two people mentioned on TikTok – influencers can also pack up and take a holiday whenever they want, and at least they don’t have “people’s lives in [their] hands” like healthcare workers do.
“Healthcare workers deserve to get paid four million times what [influencers] get paid, teachers as well, aged care workers… and that is actual stressful meaningful work,” Abbie conceded.
“[I think it’s] the unusual type of stress and anxiety this job brings, I think that is what makes influencers say they just need a break and a holiday… but, I think either they haven’t worked nine to five [and] don’t understand the struggle of working a million fucking hours to get shit pay and work for some dickhead who can’t print a PDF, either haven’t worked it or they forget.”
It’s interesting to see someone who has experienced two very different careers break such a controversial topic down. We can always rely on queen Abbie to come through with the goods!
Feature Image: TikTok & Instagram @abbiechatfield
The post Abbie Chatfield’s TikTok Sparks Debate On Whose Job Is More Stressful: Influencer Or 9-5er? appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
