March 28, 2024

The toxicity of social media as an artist



Published May 18, 2023, 9:20 a.m. by Monica Louis


As an artist, social media can be a huge blessing. It allows us to connect with our fans, share our work, and build a following. However, social media can also be a huge curse. The constant comparisons and the pressure to be perfect can be toxic, and it can take a toll on our mental health.

Social media can be a great way to connect with fans and promote our work. However, it can also be a breeding ground for comparison and self-doubt. As artists, we are constantly bombarded with images of "perfect" lives and "perfect" art. It's easy to get caught up in the comparison game and start to believe that we're not good enough.

The pressure to be perfect can be overwhelming, and it can lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. If you're struggling with the negative effects of social media, it's important to reach out for help. Talk to a friend, therapist, or other professional who can help you manage your mental health.

It's also important to remember that social media is not reality. The people we follow only share the highlight reel of their lives, and we only see what they want us to see. So don't compare your behind-the-scenes to someone else's highlight reel. Focus on your own journey and be proud of your progress.

The bottom line is that social media can be both good and bad for artists. It's important to find a balance that works for you and to reach out for help if you're struggling.

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likes comments views

these have all become a part of our

world

another source of validation for artwork

although yes exposure is noise for an

artist

there's a lot of weight that gets put

onto our shoulder

to reach for that star it now requires

an endless staircase of low self-esteem

a world of negativity

caring and pressure

when i first started posting my artwork

at the age of let's say 13.

i had maybe accumulated 50 followers

in which were all classmates of mine and

friends occasionally i would get a

stranger from a hashtag that i would

have used on my recent post eventually i

start to get more and more likes and i

liked it the thought that someone liked

my artwork was a driving force to

continue posting fast forward to eight

years later after transitioning from big

titty anime to anime fan art and

then eventually to kpop primarily bts

fan art i had accumulated to about a

whopping 2 000 followers at this point

it was 2020 and engineers had finally

grasped the concept of our worst enemy

the algorithm a system in which it made

content creators and artists harder to

reach their audience suddenly there was

this thing called an engagement

promoting your posts and a consistency

to posting it once the panorama had hit

and i had to attend zoom university i

made it about myself to post more often

i would say that i posted close to every

day although yes i did draw what i was

most interested in at the time

bts i had also been posting

to trick the algorithm to reach more of

an audience

everyone in my comments would ask how do

you post every day little did they know

what mental state i had to go through to

do that to diminish my self-worth if i

hadn't sketched or drawn something that

would be deemed worthy enough to post

that day to refresh the post within the

first hour to see if it would be

successful for the next

24 hours this would be a cycle for

about a year by the end of summer 2020 i

had unlocked a new achievement 10

000 followers

i was ecstatic

i was creating a small community sharing

content and befriending others who had

the same interest in me i was pretty

happy but then as i had started my

junior year of zoom university and i got

occupied i began to post less my

engagements were going down and so was

my self-esteem

it didn't help that i was beginning to

lose my interest in drawing fan art i

had been focused on building this niche

audience that i would eventually lose

touch with while shifting gears toward a

new career path although i had slowly

inched my way out of this art subject it

hadn't been slow enough for me to not

notice the drastic amount of followers i

would lose in the coming of months with

losing both my audience and posting less

the algorithm was not in my favor until

instagram reels became a thing i began

to post more instagram reels and gained

a heavy attraction from those it was

more effort to record the work in

progress but it was worth the growth of

my brand

once again i would eventually lose my

audience through the algorithm and get

upset if i hadn't gotten the amount of

views that i had gotten from the post

prior do you see a cycle

i was beginning to see it

that no matter what i had post

it wouldn't be enough for me

but it wasn't my art that was pushing

away these people well i mean except for

the bts fans

eventually i was gonna grow out of it

but

it is what it is it was the formula that

social media began to stir into the mix

they wanted me to buy promotions to give

them money so that i can make myself

feel better about myself to have that

sense of validation this was no longer a

safe space for artists it was

or should i say still is another form of

hell facebook really said capitalism

since when had it become a trend for you

to post art for likes

to pay for ads just to get your

followers that you had rightfully earned

did you know that only 10 of your

followers see your posts so if you had

100 followers only 10 people would see

your post

maybe a couple more if the algorithm was

just in your favor that day what

happened in posting to just show friends

of family and whoever you may have it or

to just simply show your beautiful work

that you were proud of

can we bring her back

after i had opened my

chak chakra chakra chakra

english gained a third eye for my blind

ass

no seriously i'm blind i'm in the

negative threes i geared my artwork

towards my own self-growth not the

growth of my social status online i

started to treat it like a blog well i

mean

essentially it is a platform to record

your journey in whatever and

if i just so happen to stumble upon an

opportunity then that's lit

but i was not going to let that stray

away of becoming the best artist that i

can be to anyone who needs to hear this

likes do not matter followers do not

matter comments don't matter subscribers

don't matter

shares don't matter at least for the

standpoint of being validated as an

artist

not everyone could be a marketing pro

hell sometimes i don't even understand

it myself i'll be getting 10k plus likes

on a sketch that took me 10 minutes as

opposed to a piece that took me hours to

make but that no longer stops me from

taking my time to work on a piece

just because one post is favored more

than the other doesn't mean that i'm

going to let that control the art i want

to create and post

similar to when i was growing out of my

fan art stage although yes i got a big

audience from drawing bts i wasn't going

to let that stop me from beginning to

post more personal and original work

though sometimes you'll catch me drawing

them because well

they're a snack

their music is great and

they're a snag

what can i say i believe that instagram

twitter tick tock whatever other social

platform is a great way to get

recognized and build connections for

introverted artists i have been given

multiple opportunities to pursue my

dreams of a freelance illustrator

through social media and even create a

small community through them

and i'm forever grateful for that only

when you begin to lose your purpose of

posting does it begin to become a hinder

to both your mental health and work your

priorities should always be your art

do not post just a post do not create

artwork for the validation create it for

yourself

post for yourself

post your art journey not just

your journey does that make sense

i'm reading the script and

girl what

post your art journey

treat these platforms as a journal to

your path as an artist and let the waves

take its course for opportunities if you

guys enjoy this video give it a thumbs

up and maybe

subscribe or not i appreciate y'all

sticking for this entire video and let

me know in the comments on your opinion

of social media

do you think it's toxic do you struggle

with it let me know and i will see you

guys in the next one

bye

[Music]

you

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