i really hate corporate social media. obviously, if uve ever been in a conversation w me lol its something i talk about a lot and its been on my mind so much lately. as an artist who wants to be driven by good principles, im in conflict with being an artist who also wants to try and make art my entire life, so in that sense is mainstream social media just a necessary evil to find that success? (success used loosely lol, i just mean being able to support myself with art someday) do i keep working on instagram as a means to an end, gain as much traction and make as many connections as i can, or do i really commit to my values and delete my account all together?
I often find myself making a resolution to not use insta, etc and then i shamefully return to it when i feel small and insular, because knowing people looked at your work is just so fucking validating and the majority of my community in DIY uses insta. beyond ego, i also firmly believe that part of making a piece of art is sharing it; art changes when its viewed, its changed by the relationship and interaction that other people have with it, and i dont think the art can be considered “done” until that happens (this is mostly just for me, i think art is inherently valuable regardless of if people see it, but atleast for my work i think its important that theres an audience in some capacity yk, it wouldn’t feel complete otherwise). that said im not that sure if instagram is even a sufficient vehicle for that – the majority of “connections” people would have with a piece of art on insta is just clicking like and scrolling to the next one – but it its still putting your work out there and getting eyes on it though, so its worth it?
my main issues with instagram are ethical ofc, as its owned by meta and i dont like the idea of investing my work into a corporate platform riddled with censorship and bias and countless other issues, theres so many good reasons to do away with it! but everyone still uses it, and thats cus everything is on there, so i get it, it makes sense and im drawn back to it a lot as well. and being entirely honest, part of my wanting to stay on the platform is just to not feel left out, and my account is decent sized already, i may as well use it, right?
so then the other reason for instagram is to network, make connections to find people to work with and under, which to some extent requires playing the game of social media and gaining traction – so is the focus on the art or the success then? i want to focus on the art, but playing the game is kinda necessary to do more, bigger art, no?
id like to publish a zine and just talk to ppl irl instead, but im nervous about if that could go anywhere. making connections on social media feels so tangible; it means another contact, more messages, more likes etc, and its incredibly comforting in contrast with loose in person conversations, though i would say those in person conversations have more weight to them than anything online.
im still stuck on wanting to use insta just to make sure people see my work – even if its not the ideal spiritual artistic experience etcetc it is still a connection that is made, and i want sharing my work to be more than just a means to an end. besides i can always just use it to announce releases of new issues and new projects i guess
i want to pick one and stick to it – i hate saying im going to get off insta and then inevitably come back due to lack of resolve or effort etcetcetc, if im going to be on it i need to be on it with drive and intention or i need to leave it behind
probably gonna come back and edit this ik its hella disjointed lol. i just want to make art and i want people to see what i make, i have sm ideas for shoots that i want people to engage with, and im nervous about changing what has worked for me before :<