Dubai: The creator economy is expanding at an unprecedented pace, and success in the sector will increasingly depend on authenticity, meaningful differentiation and long-term thinking rather than chasing numbers, speakers told audiences at the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai.

Emirati content creator and YouTuber Khalid Al Ameri, Ambassador for the 1 Billion Followers Summit 2026, delivered a session on day 1 of the summit, urging creators to look beyond metrics such as followers, likes and engagement, warning that the pursuit of numbers alone risks distorting both purpose and credibility.

Organised by the UAE Government Media Office, the 1 Billion Followers Summit 2026 runs from 9 to 11 January 2026 across multiple venues including Jumeirah Emirates Towers, DIFC and the Museum of the Future, under the theme “Content for Good.”

Al Ameri, who has a following of more than 22 million across platforms, said the creator economy is no longer a short-term trend but a structural shift that will define media, culture and business for decades.

“We’re looking at a stage now where the creator economy is growing at such a rapid pace, it’s not here for the short term, this is the future,” he said. “The question is: how do we build creators for the next thirty years?”

He cautioned that focusing purely on growth metrics creates pressure to compromise values and authenticity.

“Followers, likes and engagement are always moving targets,” he said. “If we focus only on the numbers, we end up doing anything we can to get them, regardless of how that makes us look or what it does to our message.”

Al Ameri, who is known for storytelling that connects communities and celebrates cultural differences, encouraged creators to embrace what makes them distinctive rather than conforming to platform trends or external expectations.