Why I Quit Social Media.

I’ll save you reading some time. Social media just doesn’t work for me. At best it’s a nice distraction, with only a momentary loss of productivity. At worst, I found social media to be an insatiable beast; it gorged itself on my time, at the expense of my creative process, for next to no reward. Dramatic? Maybe. This year, I’ve decided I no longer want to be a slave to the algorithm Gods; creating free content for other’s platforms, compete with other artists who will do just about anything to get noticed, or participate in the devaluing of art. I am taking back my sanity, my time and most importantly my creative process! Still interested? Read on.

I started my creative business in 2013 and up until the end of 2022, I was on social media in some shape or form for my creativity. It started casually, then its slowly became a dedicated part of my daily routine. I was spending a significant amount of my day preparing content to share, organising photography or video, scheduling according to the most likely time for posts to be noticed, trying to keep on top of the latest trends, researching social media strategies. Then there’s all the time replying to comments, engaging with all sorts of people in order to “network” and so on. I even tried things that were not really my style in order to “stand out” amongst the crowd. 

I was making free content for various platforms, while accepting that I was handing over complete ownership and control of said content. I know of many people who have lost their pages, or been ‘cancelled’ due to some internet troll who disagreed with something they said. All that work GONE. Sure, there was an overwhelming positive response, from those who engaged with my work. Support received was deeply appreciated! In the early stages, that was enough to think it was worthwhile continuing. I spoke to many lovely people, however, so many people thought it was ok to monopolise my time for free art advice. I was also getting invitations to share my work in magazines, newsletters, and other social media pages. Great, right? No! These so called publications were asking me to PAY THEM to be ‘featured’. Other high profile pages asking to share my work (for free) to promote themselves, with the promise of “exposure”. Sure, i’ll just go buy my groceries with exposure, thanks.

Hours of daily studio time lost to this soul sucking process led to working on weekends, and going back to work after kids were in bed, just to get actual art tasks complete. I'm also a huge introvert, and a few hours of being ‘social’ is utterly exhausting, even on the internet! I found myself burnt out and feeling really down, I began to question everything: ‘if this is what it takes to be a successful creative person, is it worth it’? Do I even want this? 

I have always resented the culture of social media and how it is force fed to us, as artists (and humans) that it is something you need to do to succeed in life and business. Promising to keep us connected, but in reality distancing and devaluing real relationships, and real life! Don’t get me wrong, I know there are so many artists and people that have made social media work for them successfully. I applaud them. But to me, it feels as though our lives and aspirations are being used to make others money, keeping us distracted and addicted to the dopamine hit that likes and hearts provide. It just doesn’t deliver on its promises for me. Social media is oversaturated with people trying to get attention for something or another, and the whole debacle downright degrades the value of art, in my opinion. Honestly, I just want to make art and create, to be able to dive so much deeper into it, without the constant stress, competition and distraction. I just don’t want to play the game!

Moving forward, I plan to create loads of content for my own website. Content that I have ownership and control of, it cannot be suspended, closed or canceled unless I choose to do so. Here I am only competing with myself. I aim to add value to art itself, and to create a nice online place to visit; with many creative articles, thoughts, and journaling (both written and photographic blogs). I hope to expand this to member area content, tutorials, workshops etc. over time. I will employ a mailing list, which will allow me to tailor a more customised and intimate group of art lovers and creative people. I believe the email list is perfect for me! If you would like to be part of the creative community I want to build, scroll to the bottom and join my mailing list below. Thank you so, so much for tagging along!

~Karlie.