I watched three separate YouTube videos that used a well-known quote, or a variation of it. The quote in question is “A rising tide raises all ships.” If asked, I would say that quote means a good thing can and often does benefit multiple people. I have heard the quote plenty of times in plenty of different settings, and I’m sure you have.

The first time I heard it was on a Podcast where YouTubers were talking about how collaborative the YouTube space is, and how often they will get tips and tricks from other YouTubers. Rather than people being secretive about what they find successful, they often share it, because if the platform does well then they individually do well. The more people that find YouTube enjoyable to watch, the more chances they have of someone seeing their video. There are plenty of views to go around.

The second video I was watching talked about people that make music on TikTok and if they are finding more “traditional” success with record labels after a viral song. That video again brought up the point of when the platform does well, everyone can find more success.

I’m going to hold off on discussing the third video for a second and talk about the demand for content. YouTube works because there is content on the platform that people feel is worth watching. Same with TikTok. People feel there is a good enough reason to go back to the platform, watch another video, and stay just a little longer. They tell another person, and that person finds content they enjoy. YouTube and TikTok cannot survive if it was simply one person making content on each platform. It is true with traditional media as well. No network has just one show. No studio makes just one movie. But the biggest part where platforms like YouTube and TikTok differ from traditional media is there is often one person behind a lot of the content being made. A TV show can have tens to hundreds of people who all play a small part in making the show. A movie can have thousands. Many YouTube channels have one person. How does one person meet the content demands of potentially millions of people?

I’m not here to answer that specific question as I don’t have the answer nor do I believe there is one correct answer. What I mean to discuss is the third time I heard the quote “A rising tide raises all ships”, however, there was a spin on it. The video was a person asking questions to retired multimillionaires, and one of the pieces of advice that were given by one of these retirees was “A rising tide rarely lifts all boats, you still have to be good when the tide is rising.”

The tide may be rising, but that does not mean you have a ship that can float. Just because all these platforms are getting more and more views and there is a growing demand for content does not mean everyone will succeed. That can be a hard thing to go through, seeing people around you have more and more success and you’re just stagnant. I beat myself up a LOT. I should be doing more. Be more successful. Be doing my dream job. Rising in success like all of these people that I admire. It’s an unfair comparison, to begin with, but it also clouds my vision of the boat I’m currently on and how well it is floating. I’m always thinking about how I want to be in the sphere of creating content, but I don’t. There is plenty of demand that I could fulfill, but I don’t. That’s okay. Tides come and go. Right now I’m just in a different stretch of water on a different tide, and my boat is doing quite well. For now, I’ll keep sailing along and maybe make my way over to those tides of content creation.