Owning My Introversion As A Health Advocate

When I first started my YouTube channel in the summer of 2017, I was on a mission to be the most viral eczema YouTube channel in the world. I think that is what many creators’ goals were at that time in the world. We all want to put ourselves out there and get as many followers and subscribers as possible and get into affiliate programs and sponsorships and just go big big big.

How has my eczema advocacy changed?

While I still have not gotten as big as I would like online, since the pandemic of 2020 came up my priorities have changed in terms of the kind of role I want to play in social media and as an online eczema advocate.

For example, before I used to be very open and share a lot of content and pressured myself to put out new videos at least once a week on different topics and just get all of my knowledge out there online. At that time, it seemed like anyone who made a video seemed to present themselves as someone who was either an expert in that topic or someone who is very knowledgeable about it from personal experience. Making videos seemed to give a creator a level of authority on that topic or niche. I certainly intended to present myself as an eczema expert when I was putting out my content before 2020.

How did I burn out?

What I found was that although I was and still am a very small channel, I would already get a regular amount of questions on a weekly basis on my various social media platforms about different eczema topics. But because I have no official license or certificate in health or medicine, I found myself answering a lot of questions that doctors should be answering, but often did not have information or personal experience with. And I was doing this all for free and essentially giving free 1-on-1 consultations, answering several medical questions to the best of my limited ability for nothing. I was happy to help but in the long run I ended up getting very burnt out and feeling depleted. I could not keep up with the volume of inquiries being a one-woman crew.

How have I focused on my community?

Now with all of the social media drama that has ensued in the past few years and paranoia with potentially spreading misinformation, I no longer want to present myself as an “expert” (although some people in my close circle might disagree with me and still consider me their eczema expert). Instead, now I'm happy to just have my small, loyal community of people who know me and get me and enjoy the more spiritual, philosophical, and holistic concepts that I have personally found helpful for my own recovery, skin maintenance, and mental health.

What did I learn about myself?

Something else I discovered about myself during the 2020 pandemic is that I am an introvert and that I am very comfortable and content in my own solitude the majority of the time. So having a smaller community of people who know me for a longer period of time has also worked out better for my mental health. I am no longer putting pressure on myself to be more frequent or consistent with my online content. Quality over quantiry.

When do I create content?

I choose to only post when I'm genuinely inspired to, have the energy to go through the whole process from filming to uploading, and responding to relevant and respectful comments. I want to keep my content primarily heart-centered and not have its value defined by money alone or first (though it is a nice, practical bonus to pay bills).

I just think of myself as a hidden gem for certain eczema warriors who are looking for content like mine and who connect with a personality like mine. I love having that special bond with certain people instead of spreading myself out too thin trying to reach for the entire world at once.