Since he was 17, Nik Nocturnal has made a name for himself as a YouTuber and content creator in the metal scene. Yet, 11 years and 1.27 million subscribers later, he’s giving it all up.
In a YouTube video entitled ‘I Need to Figure Out My Life,’ Nocturnal explained that he had developed an “unhealthy relationship” with content creation. “I will go through shit and instead of necessarily dealing with in in that moment, two hours later I’m like, ‘All right, someone that’s close to me passed away. I guess let’s go do the stream or get the YouTube video finished,’” he said.
He added that while he feels “blessed” with his job, he has “never taken that proper time to just absorb things like that — like a normal human basically would.”
Nocturnal also announced that he was leaving a “parting gift” for his fans: a new EP dedicated to 2000’s metalcore culture.
Is This A Growing Trend?
This comes after fellow YouTuber Luke Nichols of Outdoor Boys quit his own channel because he feared he was becoming too famous.
“The sheer volume of fans trying to contact me, trying to take pictures with me, or just trying to come up and talk to me in public can be overwhelming […] The time to stop is before this problem gets so out of hand that my family and I can’t live normal lives,” he said.
While its early days, it’s starting to look like burnout is spreading across the creator economy. As more and more creators become disillusioned with their craft, what can we do to help and support them? Perhaps creator-focused therapy practices are truly the solution, but for now, check out our discussion with creators on how they manage stress.
