A study commissioned by mega-video platform YouTube asks readers to consider the contributions of the media channel’s “creator economy” to the overall American GDP.
Citing creator activity that’s the equivalent of 394,000 jobs, the study reports adding $20 billion to the GDP in the past year.
Total GDP is estimated at $21 trillion, which would mean that the aforementioned digital activity would represent .1%.
“Google-owned YouTube, which has at least 2 billion monthly users, is the world’s biggest online video operation,” writes Joan Solsman at CNet today, in an article outlining some of the numbers dredged up at YouTube’s request. “The study also disclosed internal YouTube data that more than 38,000 US channels had at least 100,000 subscribers and that more than 5,000 channels had at least 1 million subscribers as of the end of last year.”
The study was performed by Oxford Economics, a firm that has been analyzing the digital economy in other efforts as well.
“Much of this online activity is enabled by a dynamic and innovative network of online platforms,” says an Anglophone voice in a video presentation on an Oxford Economics study of the Digital Services Act in the E.U.
According to the company’s study, 75% of European Union residents used the Internet daily in 2019, and half of all businesses used social media to advertise.
In terms of the benefits of social media and video platforms, researchers suggest these channels allow SMEs to access infrastructure, which will help them to grow and scale.
Cross-border trade, Oxford Economics says, is also promoted, and online shopping provides choice for buyers and sellers alike.
All of this economic activity is also important to consider for your technology portfolio. If you have related holdings, keeping an eye on the state of e-commerce and video advertising can help you to choose the best path forward.
