A guild is a defined as "medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often having considerable power." The word has Germanic roots. In medieval societies, members of guilds could become powerful members of their communities. Guilds offered not only opportunities for trade, but also protection.
On June 15th, Hank Green announced the Internet Creators Guild. Hank Green is one half of the pair that makes up the Vlogbrothers. Together, they have founded Vidcon, inspired thousands of Internet creators, and had a central role in establishing online educational video.
The Internet Creator's Guild is an organization that "promotes the interests of online creators," according to its website.
It also claims to bridge the gap between creators and the press, platforms, and service providers. The guild will give strategies and advice to up-and-coming creators, first access to Vidcon tickets, and provide sample contracts when working with sponsors, managers, and other companies. This guild is an amazing opportunity for creators to get support as the online industry grows in size and prestige.
There are now thousands of creators making a living through online videos. With that, its members have experienced being on the wrong end of bad contracts more than once. Youtuber, movie actress, and TV show host Grace Helbeig, for example, spoke about being caught up in a bad contract when she first began exploring online video. In a community not solely based on video, a former employee of Buzzfeed and Thought Catalog warned new creators about the dangers of signing away all your ideas.
The online community has be scarred before. Now they're taking action.
The Internet Creators Guild is part of the online community growing up. This organization has the opportunity to validate Internet Creators as a career option and as an industry.
As an Internet Creator myself, it is incredibly exciting to be at the beginning of this. Since its inception, the Internet has had to fight tooth and claw to be viewed as valid. See example here: where news hosts slammed Youtubers who were invited to interview President Obama. It is so encouraging now to have an organization that will stand behind creators to support and protect them. This is a new world, a new industry, and it is only growing.
Here's to the future of the internet and all of the new creative voices it will give a platform.
