Social Media Got You Down?

Has social media felt like it is draining you of your enthusiasm instead of being a source of inspiration?

As pretty as life may look on social media it is not always reality. We see the pretty, the shiny, the polished side of life. Often the slightly fabricated, embellished side of things. Looking at this from the outside it can be easy to get discouraged and start to feel “less than.” When in all actuality, if we could pull back the curtains we could see that life isn’t always so glamorous.

“We show our victories and not the multitude of failures that may have gotten us to that point.”

— Brooke Henry

What do I mean by this? Let’s take a quick look at how we may often see this represented. We often hear of this concept when it comes to self image or lifestyles. When it comes to what we see portrayed on social media, it’s easy to think: “wow, she always looks so put together” or “their house is always so spotless.” But, if we were to pull the curtain back, so to speak, we would see there is more to the story.

Often times, the messier my workspace the more “in the flow” I am. While I’m creating, a perfectly clean and cleared off table does not exist.

For instance, the photo that we covet is only one little corner of the house that has been specially curated for social media. Now, zoom out a bit so we can see the whole story. The rest of the house may be a disaster, but we can only see what that person allows us to see. Or that corner is the only place in the house that is filled with modern, picturesque decor. NOTHING is as perfect as it may appear on camera. Messiness is a part of life. But, when our feeds are filled with images like these, it’s inevitable that we will start to feel bad about ourselves

Something important that I would like you to remember. We all have our own unique strengths and weaknesses. How does this play out on social media? For example, that influencer that we admire may have great fashion sense and always appears to be put together. That doesn’t mean that we see all aspects of their life.

Think about it like this - social media is 2D. We only see a small piece of the puzzle. Real life is 3D - it’s dimensional.

There are so many pieces that make up a person. It is in our nature to put our best foot forward. We highlight the areas about ourselves that we deem as admirable.

Social media is not often a place of vulnerability and not usually a place that strangers (or friends) act with genuine kindness. Unfortunately the anonymity of a screen can perpetuate an environment of harsh judgment and misunderstanding.

On Instagram I would typically share this grid journaling spread as a still photo with a white background or in a video format where you could see the details up close. What would be missing from those scenarios is the huge mess of supplies that are used for the creation of this page. A photo may seem polished, but it is often accompanied by creative chaos.

One major perk that I see and feel about the art community, at least the circle I’ve curated over on instagram, is it’s a place of kindness, understanding, and acceptance. If this is not your experience, I suggest actively doing something to change that.

We want to be able to use social media for our benefit and not feel the draining effects from it.

How do we go about this?

This may mean blocking people that are unsupportive or using hurtful language.
Find your people. Start small.
Slowly start to reveal some truths about yourself, start taking the steps to more vulnerability and I believe that you will find your people and they will find you.

This isn’t to say that I suggest you put your whole life out there in the open. But rather, be true to yourself and don’t hide who you truly are. If you are seeking true connection with like-minded individuals, I suggest that you challenge yourself to dig a little deeper.

Are you still with me? You’re probably wondering how this actually applies to art.

So, just like that influencer showing you their perfectly styled outfit - artists tend to show off their best works, too. We show our victories and not the multitude of failures that may have gotten us to that point. We also want to put our best foot forward. A lot of us love the idea of a “perfectly” curated feed. But is that the whole picture? No, it’s just a piece of it.

Take a look at this screenshot of my Instagram feed.

I like my images to look polished and cohesive. But, just glancing at this feed does not give you the whole picture.

It does not show you the creative chaos going on behind the scenes.
It doesn’t show the struggle to overcome my low energy days.
It does not show the countless hours I put into my art.

It only shows a very small piece of the bigger picture.

Now this is something that I’m actively working on - showing you more of the complete picture - behind the scenes, so to speak. Others have told me that my work is inspiring and encouraging and they love to see it show up in their social media feed. But, I want to speak on the other side of that.

Have you ever seen someone’s work - and then start to notice how often they post or how much they appear to be making and then started to feel a little discouraged?

Maybe this caused you to question yourself.

“Why don’t I work as fast as them?”
“Why aren’t my energy levels consistent enough to be creative everyday?”
“How do I make my work as cohesive as theirs?” etc. etc.

These are all questions (and more) I’ve asked myself when seeing other artist’s work, I think it’s only natural.

“I think it takes some vulnerability to show the messy side. To show a side that is not so polished.”

— Brooke Henry

Take a look at these two photos. They are of the same thing - but one crops out the mess to make it more visually appealing and the other shows my workspace in all of it’s creative chaos.

Because of how we process things visually - especially when it comes to a continuous scrolling feed like instagram - the algorithm encourages us to use clean, bright, “show-stopping” images. We consume content so fast now-a-days, which means if we want people to see what we are creating we have to put it out in an appealing way.

I don’t see this going away any time soon. I’ve found a couple ways to work with this and really get what you want out of social media instead of just taking what it hands you:

Captions. Use the caption to reveal what is going on behind the scenes. Share what your thought process was as you created. Share the struggles you may have had to get to this point. I know this option is not always ideal - I know I’m guilty sometimes of scrolling and only looking at the images or reels instead of taking the time to read the caption.

Images. If posting a carousel (multiple images - up to 10 - in one post) - posting the “pretty” photo as image number one. Then with the other images show the nitty gritty, messy process. Peel back the layers and reveal a clearer picture of reality.

Reels. If posting a reel (a short video) - consider changing up your filming style from time to time. Show all aspects of your process.

Here are some ideas:

“in process” video
what your workspace looks like
the prep you did to get ready
the failures leading up to the victory
the finished product.

Also, the great thing about reels is that you can show everything more in depth.

In addition, you are able to choose a cover image for your reel. This allows your feed to stay in that curated aesthetic, if that is what you’re aiming for.

Stories. Use this space to talk directly to the people that are following you. Show your work in a natural way that hasn’t been staged. Show your creative process, let people into how your brain gets from point A to point Z. One of the perks of posting to your stories is that you can save these to your highlights or let them automatically expire after 24 hours.

Pro tip: a large, clean, bright piece of white paper can do wonders as a quick backdrop. My workspace can be an absolute disaster, but I can place a white piece of paper down and then crop the image later. It’s ok if your tripod and finger are in the image 😉 In the end we are all just faking it until we make it.

(I usually use one of more pieces to make sure there is plenty of white space around whatever I’m photographing. This allows for an easier crop later.)

You may be thinking, how does this apply to me?

If you’re thinking: I don’t really post on social media or I only go on instagram to see what others are doing and be inspired. Use these tips to connect with more people, and find the creators that really inspire and encourage you in your art practice.

Start taking the time to read captions. Seek out those artists that take you behind the scenes and show you what their creative process is really like.

Swipe on those carousel posts - look at all the images instead of just the first one.

Engage with reels and posts that really resonate with you. The more that you engage with posts the more you are shown that kind of content.

What does it mean to engage with content? Like, comment, save the post, share on your stories, send to a friend.

Watch the stories of your favorite artists. Tell them that you enjoy seeing their process. Or that you would be interested in watching more stories of what goes on behind the scenes.