Quitting Social Media As A New Digital Artist

A New Digital Artist’s Insight On Leaving Instagram, Twitter, And Facebook, And What Other Options They Sought Out Instead.

Just a couple of months ago, I deleted my all accounts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I felt like these platforms were not giving me a chance since the artist community in all those social media were already very saturated, and so as result, it was uneasy to stand out. I spent all my energy on them in hopes to get at least some breadcrumbs of attention for my work.

As a young digital artist, I have been public on the Internet for a year, so in terms of knowledge of the art industry, I cannot say much. I will only speak from personal experience.

Before I began social media, I looked for advice on how to grow my presence online. Older artists and others said the same thing, “social media”. They told me, “without social media, you cannot survive as a modern artist”. I was very disheartened, but I reluctantly opened up an art account on these platforms. I predominantly focused on Instagram, as it was personally an ideal format to showcase art (will be mostly discussing Instagram in this blog).

I promised myself that I wouldn’t fall into the trap of FOMO and numbers.

But of course, I did anyway. I felt my mental state go downhill, defining my success and artistry by likes, follows and re-shares. I tried to keep up with the ever-changing algorithm of Instagram. One time I made a reel for the algorithm, which did not increase my following at all, just gave views and likes. I felt like everything I did was useless. I would constantly compare myself to other artists on the platform - many were far younger than me and far more successful. Many made far more beautiful art than I ever did.

As I continued using Instagram, I discovered how even the art community was shallow. An artist would work hours or even days on an artwork, and the viewer would simply look at it for 2 seconds and scroll past. We degraded the meaning of art so much that now it's expected to be something highly consumed without any thought. Artists will draw fan art of things that are trending at the time simply for attention. They would ask below their post to ‘re-share and save their work’ to cope with the algorithm. I would comment on others' posts just in hopes they would notice my own works too. I would only draw what fit my Instagram page’s theme and what others liked. I wouldn’t dare draw landscapes as it wouldn’t fit Instagram’s cropping. Everything was only done for attention in my eyes.

The Instagram algorithm expects you to post as much as you can, or you’ll fall behind. Art is creative, and cannot be forced to produce on a daily basis. If you aren’t jumping on the latest trends, you’ll fall behind. Despite all this, I forced myself to go on anyways. In a year on Instagram, I reached 70 followers. I checked my following numbers every day, unsatisfied until I reached a higher number. But even when it did increase, I wouldn’t be happy. I would just grasp onto the next big number.

On a fateful day, I stumbled across a whole new world. There was a whole artist community online that don't use social media at all, but was still made a living. I was shocked - how? For years, I was told that was not possible. Now, social media was simply a choice.

Youtube and blog websites were the main tools from what I found. I know Youtube is a social media, but it's more artist-friendly than Instagram. It's rather timeless, and you don’t have to keep up with trends all the time. Art appears to be more appreciated. Though, I am aware Youtube is also a corporate lover and has a dumpsite of an algorithm. But, it's been a better experience personally to use. Creating a blog website also appeared inviting, as you don’t have to deal with an algorithm and have complete control over what you post. Of course, I wouldn’t say using this method is easier, but certainly less taxing on your mental health.

So now, I decided to work on Youtube and website-building instead for my art career. Though, since I just started, I’m not very experienced and knowledgeable. But I can certainly tell you now, I am much happier with this option and I have more creative freedom. I will make another blog probably a year later or so to document my progress.

Well then, that’s it for now - thanks for reading!

If you want to view a Youtube version of this, feel free to view it here:

#socialmedia