At some point in my countless posts, I realized that I was not only taking away valuable time from my art, but also my relationship with my partner, my kids, and to be honest, Facebook is partly to blame for my marriage falling apart. I was regularly creating content for Facebook and Instagram and not for me. I had over 1000 friends on Facebook (most who I never interact with) and 20 who are dead. In an effort to "boost my visibility", I was spending more time creating for a platform I do not own or have control over. Social media relies on content creators (artists, entertainers, instawhores, you name it) to stay relevant. People will literally pay good money for likes...think about that. Someone will go to work for 8 hours, and then post content on Insta, and pay for people to like their shit. That's like doing stand up comedy and paying for an applause. It's shallow and at the end of the day, does nothing for you, or your brand.
Art - good art, effective art, produces or creates an emotion. It tells a story and forces conversation both good and bad. "Social" media should be just that, a place to socialize in a medium outside of personal contact. It's how the world interacts. Unfortunately, what could be used for a positive interaction turns into people stalking their ex, sending "hey we should hang out" DMs, and scrolling through endless, mindless posts. Snapchat for business? No...snapchat is for over-filtering your photo and trying to get laid. Regardless if you're a man or woman, it's kind of weird and creepy if you're over 35 with a Snapchat or TikTok account, considering the majority of both of those platforms consist of minors and people under 30. If you are 38 hanging out at a high school, people will think you are a creep. How is that any different if you are on Snap or Tik? I'm sure it's different for you isn't it?
On Facebook, artists are bound to the terms and conditions...conditions that they don't regularly uphold. Their policy is so obscure it's laughable, and if for whatever reason they decide to shut your profile down, you lose it all. People have violated the community standards for sharing a post that that they found on Facebook which legit doesn't make sense. I used to work PaintNite, and they had a policy that nobody could be put on the schedule until they'd finished their training packet. I was asked by corporate why an individual was not on the calendar and when I said they hadn't completed their training packet, I was told to put them on the schedule anyway. Then, after putting them on the calendar, I was written up because they hadn't completed their training packet. It's kind of like police telling you it's okay to talk to them and they promise they'll help you, but then penalize you for talking to them. Facebook is no different. They have a nudity policy that they enforce...sometimes. They have a hate speech and bullying standard that is strict...sometimes. Racism will not be tolerated...most of the time. This is not a slam against Facebook, everyone knows their algorithm is so faulty it's laughable. Instagram, LinkedIn, NextDoor, Deviantart (is that still a thing?) they all have this same, shitty issue.
As I continued to create for these sites, I realized that I was spending more time with the setup, photographing things properly, looking up the latest hashtag, editing videos, and then getting notification after notification. Most of the notifications were just likes, but sometimes the comments (especially on social/political art pieces) could become toxic. And when things become toxic, things get emotional, and guess who Facebook penalizes? They don't penalize the racial "fuck them monkeys!" comments (I know, I was on the receiving end of these hate messages and these accounts still exist)...no, they penalize the person who is fighting against that comment.
On Instagram, I was posting 1-2 times a day along with 1-2 stories and even a reel here and there. It's exhausting. Over the last few months, I've downgraded to maybe several times a week and I haven't updated my Facebook (art page or personal page) in almost a month. The amount of sales I get from social media is menial at best. With advertising, I think this year I made $1000 off all social media platforms combined. I made that in 2 weeks from Etsy alone without any advertising. Most of my sales come from markets, my website, etsy and art shows, and yet, I spent more money and time promoting on social media with nothing to show for. I literally make a living from being a full time artist, but social media brings in the lowest revenue. Artists are notorious for doing this - spending countless hours promoting on social media and at the end of the day, the post is lost in a massive chain of mindless content. And not just artists do this, take a look at your Facebook albums...some of them are just sitting there, never being opened by you or anyone else. Facebook owns the rights to use that image pretty much however they like without paying you or getting your permission. They can sub-license and transfer the photo without your permission. It's in the terms and conditions you agreed to.
Basically, it's free work for the social media giants who depend on artists and creators to make content to stay alive and relevant. Yet, we're the ones who see little success for it in the grand scheme of things. I have nothing against influencers; in fact, I think they are a necessary evil. When I say "influencer" I'm not talking about the "can I get free shit and I'll post about you on my Insta." I'm talking about the RichmondExperience or Miss_elaine_neous, who go around to businesses and promote them with little to no interest in free shit. They love their city and highlight the fuck out of it. More than once I've had an influencer approach me about doing something on their blog about my art and never once did they ask for anything in return. Social media, for me anyway, is not productive. It's toxic, and honestly a sheer waste of time.
It's toxic not only because we compare ourselves to everyone else, but because we're lambasted with tons of "DM for promo" comments under our posts. Within seconds of making an art post, the spammer "DM" comments come in, and for the next 20-30 minutes, I'm having to individually delete and block the posts. Instagram knows it's a spam account but allows it to stay. If someone has 1M followers and 10 likes...it's a spam account.
So for my art business, I will most likely pull back almost completely from social media. I've already started doing that and sales have remained the same. Of course, I'll post art if it's relevant or meaningful, but other than that...I think it's time to promote with my business partner, on my website, blog, and store...things I own and control.
Don't get me wrong, social media has allowed artists to gain exposure (myself included) in ways never imagined. But at the end of the day, they control that exposure, there's little to no financial gain, and they require constant content for you to stay relevant and collectible. It's free work, and if you're good at something, you never, ever, do it for free.
