u/Hopeful-Raspberry993

I figured I'd share my experience because I couldn't find many real posts about SideShift when I first started.

I've completed a few UGC campaigns through the platform, and it's been a pretty straightforward experience overall. Most of the campaigns I joined involved creating short-form videos (TikTok/Reels style), and the briefs were usually clear enough that I didn't have to guess what the brand wanted.

One thing that surprised me was how organized everything was. Instead of messaging brands back and forth, most of the communication, requirements, deadlines, and submission process were all in one place. That made it much less stressful, especially if you're juggling multiple projects.

A lesson I learned pretty quickly: don't rush your first draft. The creators who pay attention to the brief, lighting, audio, and natural delivery seem to have a much smoother experience. UGC doesn't have to look like a polished commercial—it actually performs better when it feels genuine—but it still needs to be clean and easy to watch.

For anyone new:

• Read the brief more than once before filming.

• Record extra clips (B-roll). You'll thank yourself later.

• Submit before the deadline instead of waiting until the last minute.

• Don't be discouraged if you don't get accepted for every campaign.

Overall, my experience has been positive. It's not "easy money," and you'll still need to put effort into making good content, but it's been a good way to build experience and improve my UGC skills.

Happy to answer questions if anyone's curious about how the process works or what it's like from a creator's perspective.

Idk, ako najud siguro ang problema. I have been talking with this guy for the past few weeks. Ganahan kayko niya promise, malingaw ko niya kastorya kay same same mig humor and the way mag chat. I love how expressive he is. Tapos atong nag exchange na mig socials, I have posts like akong face, pero sya wala and then di lang sa pud daw sya mag send og pic cos he said "di pa sya ready" and maulaw sya. I did not force him kay I respect that, I've been there. Then today, I just got ghosted lmao hahaha. Whatever his intention was, I just want to say nga I really appreciate him and I genuinely enjoyed talking to him. Maka sad lang :(

I get irritated and mad with everything that people do towards me. Even if they are just doing it for my own good, I get so mad. It's not healthy... I can't really explain it well but I know it's not healthy. I do this to almost everyone. Most especially to the ones who are supporting me since I'm not living with my parents since birth. I can't afford therapy... I don't know what to do

I'm planning to stop studying and find a job nalang but I'm still a SHS graduate. I am living with my relatives and I don't want to keep being a burden to them, I know they are tired too. I don't know whom to call for help. I have people in my mind that might help me but they might also be busy and I am not sure if they'd be willing to help. I want to find a job away from here. I know it will be hard but I have to get through it and I am willing to take the risk. It just feels so heavy... I can't keep living like this, I can't keep living with people who don't want my presence inside their home.

I'm looking for a job po. I'm a SHS graduate lang, I'm currently studying college but I'm planning to stop and work instead. May I know if may hiring po? If ever meron, ano po location? Salamat

Kapoy kaayo makipuyo sa relatives bai. Puhon, ayaw jud mog pataka og anak nya di ninyo kaya atimanon og supportahan, maglisud ra mabuhi ang bata. If sa side pud sa nag atiman, lisud pud siguro para nila ang mag atiman og bata nga di nila responsibilidad maong grabi ang frustration and kasuko. Kapoy kaayo hunahunaon nga dapat buhaton nimo tanan sakto para wa silay ika-ingon. Kaylangan ikaw ang mag adjust. Kung magka mali ka, di ka tarongon og storya para mabag-o nimo, puro blame og kasaba. Dapat buhaton nimo tanan nila gusto as a sign of gratitude. Everyday mahadlok ka makasala kay basin mawad-an pud ka kalit sa mapuy-an og makaon. Kung mag reklamo ka, ikaw pay mali. 😮‍💨 Lami na kaayo mag lakaw dri pero wapa ko ka graduate college, lisud pa kaayo ni ipangita og trabaho. Dugay na namatay akong mama og lolo nga maoy nag atiman nako but I'm still grieving. Understandable ang unfairness pero di lang jud nako mapugngan masakitan bai. This is life, I guess.

(Akong gi-post utro kay na remove, sorry po)

Problem/Goal: I need an eye opener, maybe I'm the one at fault or maybe it's me who needs to adjust or idk, please tell me what to do.

Context: My mother died when I was around grade 2 and I'm not supported by my father. I am living with my mother's sister and also supported financially by my other Aunt. The Aunt who supports me financially is living abroad and we only connect through the internet and she's very kind towards me, I never heard her say anything about me being a burden or that I have to pay her back for all the things she has done for me. On the other hand, the Aunt whom I am living with would constantly remind me that "I am just living with them" using the most harsh and hurtful words.

My Aunt has a lot of good things that she's done for me, they let me go to school, feed me, and raise me when it isn't her responsibility. But now that I am older, I just want to disappear, I want to go away from this house, I want to live on my own. It feels so exhausting to keep on focusing on the good things they have done for me, I am grateful for it, God knows how grateful I am, pero nakakapagod palaging marinig na may utang na loob ka sa kanila, na kaylangan mong bayaran pag nagkatrabaho kana dahil di mo mararating lahat ng yun ng di dahil sa kanila. Alam ko naman yun pero nakakapagod lang na halos araw araw yan ang sasabihin sayo.

I don't think it would make me feel uncomfortable if they asked that of me without guilt tripping me. Growing up in Filipino culture, where there's a strong sense of giving back to those who supported you, I know that I may be obligated to do so, especially since they aren't my parents. Still, I can't simply ignore or erase the pain they caused me when I was younger and unable to stand up for myself, especially when I believed that what was happening was normal.

I am going to list every action and words I received and heard from what I can still remember.

1. My Aunt slapped me when I didn't wake up right after she called me. The second time that I could remember was when she was ordering me to do something and I didn't do it right so she immediately slapped me. (I was still in Elementary by this time)

2. I sleep on the second floor of their house, every morning, they (her husband) would keep on banging the floor with a wooden stick to wake me up. (This became a routine from Elementary - High School)

3. My Aunt Daisy (dito rin pinatira anak niya) who's abroad bought them wifi, washing machine, a tv and other things. They won't let me use any of it unless they tell me to. My Aunt Karen's (yung may ari ng bahay) kids would block my phone so I won't get to connect.

4. Up until now, I don't know how to cook because once I touch things in their house, I will get scolded. I never do anything without their approval due to fear of being shouted at. Even their footsteps scares me back then.

5. My phone would get confiscated every 9 PM. All I could do about this by that time was to cry and sleep. Though, this wasn't really a problem since it benefited me to sleep early and it gets me to study and do my homework.

6. My Aunt Karen was very into cleanliness. We are also not supposed to touch any of her things and foods that she bought for herself or for them. I remember a time when I was from the CR, we are not allowed to wash or touch their things unless we wash our hands in the water from outside of their house. I forgot to wash my hands and unconsciously touched the dipper of their kitchen sink, she was so mad at a point that she hit my head using that dipper, saying I was "hugawan" or filthy or something like that.

7. The time her daughter graduated and worked abroad, it worsened because anything they bought like foods for snack or their ulam or any food and things they bought, they won't let me and my cousin (Aunt Daisy's daughter) touch or any of it. They are so high alert that anytime we would open the fridge or the pots where the foods are, they would keep on talking and saying that we are not allowed to eat any of it since "it wasn't our money" that they used to buy. My Aunt Daisy was the one who sends them money every month when they are still struggling and finding ways to get through each day, it just hurts me that they would always calculate everything. I just think they should feel blessed they now have someone abroad and at least try to share the blessings they are receiving.

8. When I was turning college, I asked if I could live with my other Aunt, she's living on a different island with her family. I was planning on studying there since there's a State University near their house that offers an Education program. I wanted to take Education because I love kids, I am passionate about teaching and being creative. I thought my Aunt Karen was being supportive when she said yes to it, turns out she wants me to be there because she thinks they are worse than them. I heard them talk with his husband saying, "mas mabuti kung duon yan, inunudnud nila ulo nyan sa barrel kung sasagot sagot yan duon". I don't even talk back to them unless I am so full of anger that I can hold it back.

9. I changed my plan because it scared me, my Aunt Daisy also told me that my Aunt Anna's husband was kind of a pervert so it wasn't safe there. My Aunt Daisy said I could take the course that I want but in the city instead, she would pay for my boarding house and everything that I need there. I was so happy with that. When my Aunt Karen heard about it, she told me why I would demand to study in the city when I could just study in the nearer college even if I won't take the course that I want. She has a point, my Aunt Daisy won't get to spend so much money for my college if I just chose to study there but I didn't demand to study in the city, she offered it. I was an honor student and she keeps on posting my academic achievements especially when I completed 10th grade with a good grade and I even got to do a speech. I think it was the reason why she offered and trusted me that her offer won't get into waste. What hurt and broke my eagerness when my Aunt Karen said "hindi mo yun ina para mag demand ka ng ganyan, ang arte arte mo". I know I shouldn't have let her words get into me pero those words made me feel so guilty that I did not go to the city to pursue the course I wanted.

I was so eager and excited for my college but I don't want to be a burden so I settled and enrolled in a college near this house and took a program my younger self never imagined. I'm majoring in a subject I hated the most. I used to be so curious and happy to learn, always striving for improvement in my academics, now I don't even care. I just want to graduate. I hate how I wasted my potential.

10. All I can remember my Aunt Karen and her family did for me was to offer me a house to sleep and go home to. She never attended any meetings and recognition in school for me. It was only during my graduation in grade 6 and I don't remember any other time she was there. His husband never helped me with anything, if there are projects like wooden crafts and I ask if he could help me, he would just tell me to go and find my father.

I am grateful that I have them, I always try to focus on the good things they have done for me but I can't control and I always go back to the feeling of being mistreated. My Aunt Daisy knew about this because I told her. She told this to some of our relatives but they don't care. They think I don't have the right to complain since they don't even give me "heavy work" and I should be grateful that someone is raising me that's not even my parents. They are right though, they don't give me heavy work. My chores here are on routine, I will clean their yard every morning, sweep the floor, water the flowers, wash my clothes, wash my dishes (my Aunt doesn't make me do their dishes or laundry because she thinks it wouldn't be as clean as she expects it to).

Am I just over reacting to this? To the ones who experience the same situation as me, how did you get through it? I already accepted the life I have, but I don't think I will ever get to understand the unfairness and mistreatment. I know this one's normal in Filipinos, some even experience worse than mine. But is this really normal? Should I just accept it and be grateful?

I am super close with my Aunt Daisy that I tell her everything but just recently, I feel like her children are getting jealous of the kindness she shows me so I am distancing and limiting myself from being so close to her. I may not have a mother of my own but I don't want my cousins to feel as though I'm taking something away from them just to feel loved.

I want to get out of here. I want to work and finance myself on my own but I am still studying college and if I leave, I probably won't get to graduate college. I am so tired of feeling like I have to hustle and succeed so I can pay them back. I am studying a course that I don't think will get me to a job that pays well, it makes me sad that one day, my salary will get split. Don't get me wrong, I do want to pay them back but can't they let me adjust and breathe first. I am planning to take something connected to Education after I graduate so I can be eligible to take LET but idk. I know I can do it but right now, all I want to do is to get out of here. I want to disappear from all of their sights, I want to do things on my own so I won't owe anyone anything.

Lucky are the people who were born with loving parents and a healthy environment.