Vtubing as a Career vs Job vs Hobby (AKA a conversation about aspirations with a teacher) 

Apologies about the little bit of flickers and stutters in the video, my recording dropped a ton of frames and I didn't know until exporting RIP I promise the quality will be back in the next one! 🧡

As someone who is disabled and can't work a normal career, Vtubing has given me reasons to live beyond just the day to day survival my life was before. I don't think I'll ever stop, partially because I can't do anything else, and partially because I don't want to do anything else.

When i was little, i always felt that my life was "boring" and "ill just fade into nothing when i grow up". Thats when i got into youtube and watching content creators. It just filled up my little body with so much joy and made me feel like maybe my life wasnt so boring after all. Ever since then, ive always wanted to bring that feeling to other people. People who are at their lowest. If i can just bring a smile to their face, ill feel proud

I get a feeling that this video not only is a source of good advice to vtubers or content creators on the internet, but also to people who are in or considering any creative pursuits in life

I'd love love LOVE to see more vtubing model critiques! I like when you offer subtle changes to the model that really enhance the design as a whole. Whether it be color palette, silhouette, or emphasizing the motif. Your last video on the topic was really interesting to watch. It helped a lot with my character design process.

As someone who streams as a hobby (disabled) i do feel like an imposter amongst the indies who "take it seriously", this explanation really helped put things in perspective and quell my thoughts, ty!

Solid Video! I think people being less judgmental when it comes to vtubing will make the space healthier. For me, it 's kind of a hobby but also helps me in my true passion that is art. I experiment with my own model all the time so it scratches ALOT of itches. It also makes me a little bit of money with commissions and I've found I love to entertain! I do hope to one day support myself with all my creative outlets but until then, my day job will have to do. My day job isn't exciting, but it's easy and pays the bills.

BABE WAKE UP NEW SQUIJI VID DROPPED 💚

Hearing the amount of time needed is demoralizing on my end. It makes it feel like starting at 35 is too late. Everyone who becomes any decent size seems to be at least around a decade younger than me. I also have several mental blocks stopping me from getting a normal job to support such things.

My teacher wanted me to make a presentation about what my dream job is, this is going to come in handy Thank you SOO MUCH‼️

Decent life advice. Thank you for helping bring it to people in this niche who might not have truly realized it.

I'm happy you talked about this! I've been struggling with the difference between hobby and job and vocation. I realized that something that started as a hobby eventually became my vocation, and is something I'd like to turn into a semi-job/career some day. But I'm also aware of some of the risks and is why I'm trying to have a day job on the side. At first I felt tremendously guilty about the whole thing. "All these other people are doing full time, what is my excuse? Why am I struggling so hard to launch after all these years?". But I think that I am enjoying it being part time. It feels like a lot less pressure to do something once or twice a week than 4+ hours every day 7 days a week. (Plus a lot of agency creators eventually slow down their pace once they get past the initial hype push) I also realized that if I do montize those things some day, I will need to find new hobbies. I think I want to return to traditional art. I've always loved doing it the most, but over the years have done it less and less in favor of the more marketable digital art.

I remember watching Chibi Doki absolutely blow up. She made her vtuber twitter the WEEK I made mine but had a much larger drive than me. Really proud of her!

Another fantastic video! Especially the breakdown of the actual meaning behind the starving artist trope.

I feel like there's this grey zone where the possibility of having a side-gig become a tax advantage/tax advantageous is neat - minor write-offs, but they're one-offs from time to time

I'm glad that I finally had a chance to watch through all of this! You did a great job getting your points across. This way of thinking about VTubing, like any artistic space, is super helpful. I realized a while back that I may not be cut out for being a VTuber as a career (streaming, at least), but I do know that I want to solve problems for other people. Instead: I've kind of turned that into a career as a result of the kind of vocation I'm naturally drawn to (helping people overcome problems)! The results of that on other peoples' streams makes it all worth it, and that inspires me to do better, too. The friction that happens when people attempt to do content creation full-time without it truly being their calling (yet) really hurts to see. It's also difficult to see friends that can absolutely turn this into their sole full-time effort writing that off as a "job". Artists (especially the starving ones) seem to have a common anxiety that permeates their lives, mostly involving being worried if they're "good enough" at what they do. I might be spitballing a little too much here, but I personally think that comes down to attempting to shove themselves into a box doing what they love as a job without fully realizing that they've hurt their own passion, or attempting to chase a dream as part of a vocation that's actually slightly mis-matched from what they thought they were doing. I saw that a lot in art school, but that angst has persisted as a problem well after I graduated for most of my friends. Many of my old classmates have fallen out of love with their passions as a result. VTubing as a career can be complicated, tech-heavy, and requires a ton of support from other creators for most people to keep it up full-time. It feels like subversion of the classic Marshall Mcluhan "the medium is the message" mode of media production and consumption (It's not "hot" media, it's spicy!), but that creates some really heavy expectations for the creators that stay in this space, whether self-imposed or created by their communities. TLDR: I'm glad to see another creator thinking more about "why" people give VTubing a shot. I hope that more people see this video and take the time to really listen about it! Good looks, providing the source for your inspiration. I might dive into that mode of thinking a bit more, myself. Thank you so much for making another awesome video!

i've definitely found my vocation to be entertainment. and vtubing has been helping me slowly figure it out while also having a job that i can at least support myself somewhat. this is an amazing video and i definitely went too long without hearing this!

11:00 The "Media Offline" jumpscare got me good. On a serious note, this video is really helping me with rethinking how I manage by hobbies. Thanks Squiiji!

Darling you have no idea how validating this is, specially the part of working go survive and to support our passions makes me feel better for spending some of my spendable income onto it!

I've needed to hear something like this. I appreciate the message in this video, realistic but not cynical. With a dash of optimism.

Oh wow, I got way more out of this video than I expected. I thought that this was going to be about Vtubing, but it went so much deeper into talking about different paths to pursue in life. Thanks for taking the time to make this!

Honestly thank you for this. I always felt so bad that I had to keep vtubing as a hobby cuz my main job pays too well for me to give up, but also didn't have the time or energy to go as hard into marketing myself and streaming constantly to actually make a job or career out of. I've actually had to (at least temporarily, hopefully) give up on streaming entirely because my job has been stressing me out, I was getting tired of always falling back into the headspace that I HAD to grow, and in general seeing the low view count always got my depression going real bad and it was getting unhealthy... It still sometimes feels like I 'failed' and it can be hard to remind myself that it was a hobby and that's ok.

YAY SQUIIJI POSTED edit: just finished the video! i really needed to hear this. a lot of things are stressing me out rn, and finding something to support myself is one of them 😭. i feel a lot better after watching this, thank you!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this! I found this video by chance as a highschooler, and honestly? This helped a lot more than what my counselors in school told me about jobs and all of that. This really helped a lot as an insight for hobbies, jobs, careers, and vocations in general, so thank you

At this point I'm just gonna have to have squiiji be my teacher recommendation for college. Your videos are so helpful, I hope you make more like this cause dam I needed it today

This was a really well put-together talk! Any chance we can get a follow-up video that builds on this one about networking in the context of those different content creation goals? Like it's really disheartening when hobbyist friends fail to acknowledge my goals toward professionalism and I'm not trying to write off the relationships on account of that misalignment, but like (and maybe this is just me) I've definitely got no idea how to find others with a similar mindset. It's definitely not a social norm to jump out at another content creator with "SO WHAT ARE YOUR CAREER GOALS". There's definitely a delicate balance to be struck, I think. But if you're ever looking for ideas for a sequel, I'd love to get your take!

I'm really thankful for this video. When I don't have the language to say something I become so meek and I *have* been meek about what Vtubing is for me to just about anyone I've spoken to about it. Now I know what it is, or rather what I want it to be. Wonderful talk. 🙏

i ve seen a comic about this recently. The person that wrote it said that no matter how much he tried he just couldnt succed as an artist and in the end he took another job. But he said that just because he is working their doesnt mean his paths are closed because life continues. Well if we will say it shortly, thank u for an amazing video

I am amazed by you and this video! As someone who has a day job of editing videos for other people this is so inspirational for me as I am having problems being a vtuber myself and make content of my own. My dream is someday to have a model made by you if I can afford it. I am blown away on how detailed the mouth tracking is in your vtube model. I am now a fan of yours.

This is such a professional way to introduce the current field to people who may not know about. I hope they can get pass the Vtuber speaking, and listen instead of judge by what is on the screen.

I loved this video!! I always feel so bad about wanting to make my vocations and hobbies my career, but this completely changed that :))

I’m so happy to see a lot of other disabled people are doing this too. I have chronic pain and can’t work a regular job. Thank you for this video!

These videos are always so informative, my squirrel brain manages to focus through all of them without getting distracted. Thank you for the great videos Iji! ❤✨🍄

Loved the video! I think it's perfectly fine to try bouncing between the roles to see where vtubing fits in your own life. It's great if a hobby that could end up supporting you in some way, but never end up being either a 'career' or 'job'. I think the world would be a kinder place if we didn't have people comparing others for 'not trying hard enough' on a hobby or job, because everyone's situation is different

So happy to see a new upload! Literally two days ago I thought, "Hmm haven't seen Squiiji in a bit. Hope a new video comes out soon, I'm sure they're busy." Really like this topic too, feel like it's an important aspect everyone needs to dig into to figure out what's best for them career/job/hobby/vocation wise.

Your advice is relevant for so many avenues. really helped me put things into perspective. Very happy your vid popped into my recommendations.

Holy shit, that model is adorable.

✨in my fueling my vocation era ✨ but seriously another great video!

VTubing is a stepping stone, sure. But it's something I think I'll do forever. Maybe not as Ixo, but I like performing and making people laugh n smile. My primary goal is a production studio, all my skills, training, and education really should have me in Hollywood behind the camera, but becoming responsible for dying family members' last *years* several times in a row really put the kibosh on that. But for now, am simple slime goblin. Scribbling my stories and acting my voice. Once most recent health crisis cools off, my VT channel will actually launch (building up smol back catalogue so I have time to produce).

Thank you for the video! Really helped put my mind in perspective.

I’m in the IT field and am gradually moving toward vtubing. I really enjoy the idea and want to try it out as a hobby. If I enjoy it enough I’d love for it to grow into a second job with IT work being the stable job I enjoy that pays the bills.

ah, so good to see your videos return! missed watching you :)

aside from the anti-capitalistic views, i can agree with this. From what I can tell, most Vtubers do it as a hobby, and decide from there whether to take it more seriously and turn it into something profitable. Even if isnt enough to live of of, if it pays the electric bill, or allows you to get that medical checkup youve been delaying, I think that it can be just enough of a balance in terms of hobby vs. job. It's kinda what I've been wanting to do. Start as a hobby with a reasonable money investment, something I don't mind losing. Then, see if I like it and pursue it further if I end up liking it. Especially considering I see a clear market gap in the community, and I want to be the one to help fill that in.

squiiji u inspire me ;-; ur kind words are such a comfort

I am starting to get back into drawing and create OC’s so I would love another OC critique vid. Perhaps you can address the smollola model copying shylily drama, but instead of the drama you can use it teach us how to take inspiration. Also thanks for the vid I needed to hear that!

I actually said something recently about how I just stream for fun and how not everything you do has to have a grandiose reason to be done. I can be one but doesn't have to be one. Nod. Nod.

"You can be cute anime character" Shows Chibidoki Either you don't know Chibidoki or you're trolling with her.

12:24 that frame of media offline... why did I notice that? Why did I mention it? Eh whatever.

this is my first time seeing you so FIRST OF ALL ur model's design is so cute i love it qwq

I remember you saying you where working on this video when i said stuff about it in the comments of a previous one. It's very helpful thank you.

Thank you!! Im an artist, I'm getting Into amination!! Yeahh!! Thank youu!!

5:00 yep, that's where I'm aiming 😄☺️ (with vtubing or content creation in general being the hobby/side-job)

I've been really wanting to start streaming, heck I've already made my own PNGtuber model that I'm gonna use. One day, I hope I could make it big, but even if it never happens, idk "the real adventure was the friends we made along the way" I guess. At least I have the benefit of an online school program and have plenty of free time to do this stuff (going into my sophomore year, skipping summer vacation to graduate early) Cheesiest comment ever.

I’m graduating high school in a year and I’ve been worried about my future because I’m not really sure what I want to do and that’s part of why I want/wanted to make money off of it as soon as possible (ofc i also enjoy the streaming and video making process as well), but this video helped me ease some anxiousness!! I mean I still have senior year to build my channel and hopefully figure something out lol

I need and like money and a job gives me that. It's okay to just have one that geets you that. A job to me is a means to an end to fund what I actually enjoy doing. My goal for one is to make enough money in one that I can work less and have more time for my life.

I'm 17 teenage girl, soon to turn 18 in Sept. I'm nervous, yet eager to become a vtuber, I've been designing or even might do my self a favor of learning to rig, yet I have highschool to finish, I got finals, and assignments to finish up. Love your videos!

Your point at 8min I knew some1 who was like pushing saying "Any1 wants a reveiw on ur stream" then an ex friend was like yeah,sure why not cuz that person said it like a couple times&no1 said anything and when my ex friend said thx for the feedbak but Im just during into a hobby" that (bigger content person) in a sassy voice "OH u cant do this as a hobby" I was in the vc but I didnt say anything. (Im a full time content career) but thank u for this video I had follow u on twitter/x

HELL YEAH UPLOADED 4 MINUTES AGO

As I live in the Polish countryside. And my health does not allow me to work to which I could commute by train or bus. Being a Vtuber seems like a good option... But I'm just starting out "independent" living with the help of my grandparents. So before I figure out what and how (especially when it comes to making money on RU-vid) It may take me some time. And the annual chain of trips to doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists does not make the task easier.

Well, for me, I'm simply curious about animation and vtubing, wonder how to do this and that, until yt put them to me, and got me interested. I'm simply treated them as interest, because I understand myself that I will lose interest one day when I run out of ideas, etc. Vtubing as job, career and vocation to me is very dangerous, as I will be looked down upon by my parents, brothers and relatives, you know, they're still having that kind old thinking. If someone asked me what's my job, how am I going to answer? Content creator, to cover up for my vtuber identity? So, currently I'm just a factory worker, while doing vtubing as just an interest, hmhmhm...

If vtubers are new and dont have big fan base yet they could start off as a hobbyist//part time job (extra little money sometimes ) until you get a bigger Fanbase and the money you get from vtubing would be enough to set you for life

In the case of Ironmouse, it should be noted that there also isn't much else she could do to earn money.

Great video. It cleared up a lot in my head💛. Since like fellow students i wonder if my direction is right one. But i will see if it ends up a career or a job. At the very least i will find it intreasting. Might try vtubbing as a hobby or a way to get to know new people, but we will see i don't move on from that idea.

Preach 👏

Vtuber agencies expet you to work lomger hours, and then there is the ones where their managers have to fight to get to take a break…. Few have that Kaelafication though 😂

Might be one in the future

I wanna do vtubing as a hobby and I really don't wanna get big because I won't be able to do any other jobs, like baking(right now I love baking, once when I was little I planned on opening a resteraunt with my freind, but that's beside the piont.

Yay new Squiji Video

I'm kinda just winging it 😅

Love vtubers, ABSOLUTELY do not have the personality to do it

gave me some perpective hmmm thank you

love the model tbh

I have zero clue what to do. Empty...

Omg i love your videos so i got excited sawing this ⁠\⁠(⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠\⁠ ⁠)

“Being in an agency that supports their talent really well-” *shows Nijisanji on list* Oofs

I do not know why videos need to be scripted… if most of the time videos are being done in real time. Explain

streaming as a career is a fool's errand. no one should stream full time. even if you make crazy money from it, it isn't a good long term thing. twitch itself is dying, perhaps showing that streaming just isn't a good business model for anyone

New Squiiji vid!

Really good video!! It's nice hearing about a realistic approach to dedication levels of Vtubing!! 🩵