It is not uncommon for artists to reject the idea of self promotion. But with platforms such as Instagram, it is near impossible to not dabble in the art of social media self promotion. When art is your lively hood whats not to love about a forum that consists of purely image based promotion. Well some artists beg to differ. In a Vulture article from 2018, some artists were beginning to feel like ‘Instagram (had) just become an addiction, devouring their creativity.’ Artists like Brad Phillips who has made quite a success off the forum, bagging a prestigious book deal and making direct sales through his DM’s says his feelings towards the platform have become ‘confused’, and that he resents his reliance on the app. He speaks on the damaging nature of likes and comments, that potentially can affect the authenticity of the work, as well as the comparative nature of the forum.

But, one must note that Phillips was an established artist before he joined the app. For many aspiring artists, the app is the best and only way to reach such broad audiences. As well as the fact that there is no middle man, one has complete autonomy over what they post and how they interact. In this day and age, Instagram is often a first point of call when employers, galleries, and such want to get an understanding and insight into an artist. In this case, the infrastructure of Instagram has situated itself almost as a necessity for artists who aren’t already firmly established. Over all I believe the foundational aspects of the platform are positives – sharing and being inspired by visual content. But the app, with its pros also comes with cons. Because of pressures to receive likes, have followers and having access to the highlight reels of everyone’s life it can become a creative black hole, which unfortunately has most of us in its pervasive grip.

Links referenced:

https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/why-these-artists-are-quitting-instagram.html