They are tiktokers, instagramers and youtubers. And they want a regulation on their work activity. A group of content creators has joined with the General Union of Workers (UGT) for the Network of Creators, a union that allows them to have representation and defense against the rules of social networks. About 15 Spanish influencers have launched the initiative, of which UGT acts as a mediator, with growth expectations to analyze the employment situation of this group in Spain. They have several demands, the next step is to make them all clear to start mobilizing them.
The initiative wants to start out strong and have an impact on the influencer world. However, the first thing it has caused is a division in the collective. The union seeks to “make visible an activity that is consumed daily by millions of people, but whose protagonists are not represented”; also the “negotiation, dialogue and fair rules for all the people who generate their own and repeated content”.
The response to these objectives has been harshly criticized by a part of the community. They have been Spanish influencers such as Wall Street Wolverine , the economist Juan Ramón Rallo or Roma Gallardo. Criticisms that have complicated the birth of the union and the explanation of its objectives.
Not all Spanish influencers join
@ PutoMikel is one of the content creators who have joined the project for the union and explains to Hipertextual what the first reactions have been. “They have called us failures and those who have mobilized against the initiative have been youtubers like Wall Street Wolverine, who lives in Andorra, and ultra-liberal people who create content based on mobilizing hate against certain profiles “.
Wall Street Wolverine, with 183,000 followers on Twitter , wrote a thread on this social network that began: “The fatal arrogance of the frustrated socialist that makes him flee from self-criticism, from the search for content more attractive, new strategies … and it clings to victimhood in the face of an oppressive entity that prevents the masses from appreciating what they consider 'quality content' “.
Precisely many of the Spanish influencers who want to be part of the union have criticized the image that many people have about the youtuber who lives in Andorra and that they have great economic benefits. With the initiative of the UGT they are also committed to “achieving more egalitarian relationships between creators and social media platforms,” reads a statement from the UGT.
In his last tweet of the thread, Wall Street Wolverine writes: “Chiringuito of losers who cannot live on YouTube and aspire to live off the taxpayer” . Mikel Herrán, the Spanish influencer behind the @PutoMikel account, explains that those who appear in the video have a left-wing profile, but that the network is considered inclusive. That has been used to attack and label the initiative, Herrán continues. So much so that they have received hateful messages from the followers of the youtubers who have criticized the creation of the union. “They have only seen youtubers on the left, they have come to a mockery,” he criticizes.
The key points of the Network of Creators
In order for the UGT Creators Network to become known, a video has been launched featuring some of the Spanish influencers who will be an active part. The objective is to publicize the initiative, as well as a meeting that will take place on December 10 and 11 at the Julián Besteiro School to talk about the guidelines to be followed for the union. Also to determine the claims of the group in the labor spectrum.
The key points they want to address are several. Mikel Herrán refers to the situation of imbalance with regard to the status of workers because the content creators are officially autonomous, although the conditions are not fully set by them. “This is what negotiating is all about and seeing how we position the 'digital worker' in the new job landscape.” Likewise, they seek a certain transparency on the part of digital platforms about their recommendation system. “It is not a question of accusing YouTube of doing one thing or another, it is that we do not know exactly what it does,” sums up @PutoMikel. It also calls for greater transparency about the volume of income and the statistics that Spanish influencers receive about the impact of their content. Creators Network already has direct communication with YouTube in Europe, confirms Hypertextual.
In social networks, people who have criticized these claims argue that those who are part of the initiative have not got enough followers , they cannot live off their channel, and that is why they are trying to change some rules . They are branded as “losers”, as Mikel Herrán pointed out. Other Spanish influencers have criticized that the transparency they demand from the UGT Creators Network will not be carried out. That would imply uncovering one of the platforms' biggest secrets: how their algorithms really work.
Division does not force
The union, before it was even born and the guidelines to follow have been established, has already divided a part of the community of Spanish influencers. From “failures” to criticizing that some content creators only deprive the number of followers above quality content. The fact is that the Creators Network has raised blisters and has been the perfect environment so that the conflicts that surely already existed before the UGT entered the equation and became a mediator to emerge. However, the hateful comments that have marked the birth of the union can cause the objective to remain in the shadows and that very few have understood what this initiative was born for.
The Spanish influencers who are part of this project, however, have expectations and believe that they can achieve certain improvements in their working conditions. “Although I know that it is an objective that may take time and effort, I have expectations that a minimum law will be achieved. Just as it has been achieved with workers in a new market that has changed much and faster than what has allowed the legality “, concludes Herrán. It may be a long process but the Network of Creators has opted to follow the motto of unity is strength. Although a part of the collective of content creators have wanted to stay, for now, outside the project.
