“We Don’t Want to Influence Anymore!” Understanding Digital Content Creators’ Burnout
(A2026-132284)

AUTHORS

Kiran Gandhi, IIM Jammu, India; Rashmi Parida, IIM Jammu; Anand Jhawar, Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad, India

ABSTRACT

The creator economy has transformed how individuals produce, distribute, and monetize digital content. These creators produce multiple forms of content, including short-form videos, long-form videos, podcasts, and blog posts. Prior literature has extensively studied the creators’ revenue model and its impact on the audience. However, the creators’ mental health remains underexplored. This study analyzed the content of 37 creators regarding their mental health. Drawing on COR theory, this study identified six resource threats: work-life imbalance, creative fatigue, financial strain, algorithmic fatigue, peer compassion, and digital harassment. All these threats intensify emotional exhaustion, leaving the creator feeling burned out. As a result, creators ended up exhibiting disengaging behaviour, such as reducing post frequency, taking a small break, discontinuing social media use, or quitting social media altogether. Keywords: Creator Economy; Creators' Burnout; Conservation of Resource Theory