25 Years Online: What “Going Viral” Actually Paid (y2w27)

The first website I published was in grad school in the late ’90s.

Yes, I am that old.

My first personal site was launched in 2005 when I created a family website to blog about my first pregnancy. That site snowballed into a weight-loss blog with a recipe-site spinoff, a yearly conference I hosted for bloggers, and even a small travel blog I managed with a friend.

Long story short, I have been creating content online since the early 2000s.

I often joke with friends and students that I was an “influencer” before there were influencers. We didn’t use the phrase “content creator.” We were simply “bloggers” back then, and the landscape of the web was entirely different from today.

Much like big-player franchises have taken over shopping and restaurants, blogging was pushed out by the social media giants.

Remember when there were more small stores and malls with local shops and restaurants? They all still exist today, but they are nowhere near as prominent as they were fifty years ago. It’s hard for a small business to compete with Target or Amazon. Local restaurants get drowned out by fast food and cookie-cutter chain restaurants.

Well, the same thing happened to early “content creators.” We used to be able to share our work directly with readers on our own little websites, and then social media took over.

At first, it was fun and another way for us to promote our little mom-and-pop websites. Then the social giants created algorithms that rewarded people for staying in their little ecosystems. We were okay with giving our content to these social giants in hopes of finding an audience that would support us by visiting our websites. We’d earn a little ad income, maybe have some affiliate relationships, and we could make enough to support ourselves.

Then those social giants changed the game. They wanted all the content. They went from using our content to generate ad revenue themselves to asking us to pay just to get our content seen. The entire model has been flipped on its head, all in favor of social media companies, which, in essence, drowned out the small bloggers and voices that were trying so hard to establish their own little corner.

That’s when I bowed out. I didn’t want to be a part of the machine anymore.

And yet… here I am, still in the machine!

As a social person, I really enjoy the promise of social media. A place for me to share thoughts, videos, ideas, and connect with other like-minded people?

Hell yes, I’m in. I thrive on connection.

However, over the last few years, I’ve been trying to figure out how to play by my own rules instead of theirs.

At first, I thought I’d completely disconnect, and I did for a little bit, but I’m not ashamed to say I missed it. I missed the fun little comment interactions and sharing proud parenting moments. I missed seeing updates from the many people I consider friends whom I’ve never met and may never meet in person.

So I decided to lean back in and do it my way. I started blogging again, promoting my posts, and here I am, defining my path in the way that feels right to me, just like I did back in the early 2000s.

Wow, I did not expect to write such a long introduction to this post. It just flew out of me!

I don’t know. Maybe it’s my age, but I have been very reflective lately. What I really wanted to share this week were the insights into my first-ever viral video because after 25 years of content creation, I am still fascinated by how all this stuff works.

I also thought you might find it interesting because how much are online creators really making these days? I know I’m curious, so here’s what I learned over the last month.

The Viral Video

Last month I posted my first WastelesslyDelicious idea: making strawberry syrup from the tops of the strawberries I put in my weekly fruit salad.

In the last month, the video has unexpectedly gone viral, reaching nearly 1.3 million people and generating more than 1.7 million views. It received over 143,000 likes, 68,000 saves, 65,000 shares, and brought in more than 14,000 new followers.

Viral Video Earnings

The stats above were just Instagram. Below are the monetization stats from Facebook.

This, of course, has increased views across the board for all my content on IG and Facebook, and my small creator account went from making an average of about $3 a month to this insanity:

Now, as you can see, I won’t be quitting my day job any time soon. $700 is awesome! But it is a short-lived spike that has taught me a lot.

Monetization on TikTok

Since I do have a pipe dream of building a recognizable brand around WastelesslyDelicious, I decided to grab the name on other platforms like TikTok.

My plan was to simply repost the videos there with minimal interaction because that place is like the Wild West!

To my surprise, however, the videos did well there, and within two weeks I qualified for the TikTok Creator Reward program!

So I accepted…

Again, as you can see, it was short-lived, and I do not have the energy or desire to maintain the pace likely required to continue growing an audience on TikTok.

But I can’t lie… It’s been really fun!

Monetization on YouTube

So, like TikTok, I also decided to repost the videos on my old Roni’s Recipe Channel (which used to be GreenLiteBites for those that remember).

How much have I made on YouTube?

Diddly Squat! Because I don’t qualify to earn money there anymore, even though my channel is literally twenty-plus years old. YouTube only rewards very popular creators. I need to hit 3 million views on my shorts OR 3000 hours of watch time.

That will probably not happen any time soon. So I won’t hold my breath. lol

Lessons Learned

After 25 years of creating content online, going viral has been fun, and I have had a ton of micro-interactions with people that have truly made that last month enjoyable. People are continually sharing their experience with the strawberry syrup or giving me new ideas on how to use it.

It reminded me that there is still a “good” side to social media. It doesn’t need to be all doom scrolling all the time. The internet may be dying, but there are, in fact, still real people out there like me who want social media to live up to the promise of connection.

I may be naive, but I still think people are, for the most part, good, and I refuse to believe that everything online is AI-generated slop posted by bots. I know that stuff exists, but if I’m still out here creating authentic content, then so are other people.

I’ve also learned how important it is to interact with content that you enjoy. Interaction is currency on social media. If you like something that someone has shared, literally the best thing you can do for that creator is interact with it in some way. Share it, comment on it, repost it, or simply “like” it.

Interacting not only supports the creators you enjoy, but it also educates the algorithm so you get more of what you like.

By creating the @WastelesslyDelicious account in IG, I have seen how awesome a feed can be. Since that account is literally just food ideas I’ve been sharing, I’ve discovered a ton of new-to-me food-centric accounts that get drowned out on my personal account. It was a nice reminder for me.

The biggest lesson was also a great reminder that money was never the point for me. A viral video that earns $700 is not a retirement plan, nor something I want to chase for the rest of my life.

But a stranger telling me I inspired them to try something new or cook more? That’s the best feeling in the world, and I want more of that for sure.

I’ll be back next week with a goal update. 🙂