Hi all,
In this edition, I’ll discuss my observations and realizations as I created a TikTok and then decided to do nothing with it.
A ridiculous question
A few weeks ago, a friend passed on a TikTok example they thought would fit well for me.
I had it written down on my to-do list, but not until yesterday did I put the 11-second piece together. After crafting the video, I was about to re-download the app to share it, and then I wondered to myself, should I just put it on Instagram?
As I debated this rather ridiculous question, I realized I had to go to a site visit on the outskirts of town for an upcoming project. I left the decision for after my work trip and started the trek.
During that drive, I put on Creative Pep Talk, a podcast I frequently listen to.
The episode I pushed play on was “How To Break Free From Serving Social Media In 3 Steps.”
Perfect.
The host, Andy J. Pizza (a.k.a. Andy J. Miller), mentions a couple of podcasts at the end of his piece that contributed to his decision to step away from Instagram. One is Common Shapes, a podcast by Marlee Grace, and the episode “Leaving Instagram or Exiting the Portal of the Validation Loop.”
Giving it a listen
Throughout the podcast, I nodded along.
When Grace dissected the many ways she attempted to mitigate her social media behavior and its influence on her, I could see how I’ve done similar antics.
These self-imposed rules that I’ve tried demonstrate an overall inability to step away.
I realized how dire it (social media use) was for me.
Dire is a strong word.
I realized how impactful it (social media use) was on me.
Over the years, I’ve written a few pieces about stepping away from Instagram and focusing on more tangible, thoughtful, and intentional things. I’ve paused my usage of Instagram for months at a time. I’ve shifted to newsletters a couple of times. And yet, I have always ended back on the app. And I’ve never left Facebook. I justify using this social media site because it is one of the most convenient ways to communicate with friends in Cambodia, and I find a couple of Facebook groups valuable for my business.
For Instagram, I justify it by saying that it is essential to have a social presence and that there are clients in the digital spaces. I am parroting something I’ve heard throughout my career.
But, in 2023, I don’t believe I’ve landed a single job from my social media accounts. Instead, cold emails, word of mouth, and referrals have generated business throughout the year.
It appears that I may be lying to myself about the importance of social media for my business.
The impact
In the piece, “Casual, distant, aesthetically limited: 5 ways smartphone photography is changing how we see the world,” a colleague of mine from Mizzou, Dr. T.J. Thomson and Shehab Uddin examine the impact of mobile phone cameras have on how we see the world.
I am not extremely well-versed in technological determinism, but my oversimplified understanding is that technology shapes our lives, which ripples outward into our behaviors and beliefs.
This oversimplification seems accurate from my perspective, especially in photography, where the technology has shifted who is a photographer, the price, and the rate at which photography can be produced (among plenty of other aspects of the craft).
In this piece by Thomson and Uddin, they identify how technology directly impacts how we are creating due to the physical setup of the camera and how the apps have shifted us from making more pictures horizontally to vertically.
What this means
I am going to extrapolate.
If we make more vertical images because that is how the apps best showcase the images/video, we can infer that the tools and ways we share what we create impact how we create.
This makes sense.
Let’s go one step further. Suppose the apps are building templates/providing outlines and guidance on what to create. In that case, we are starting to develop and share projects with mimicry at the core (I understand the importance of mimicking when you begin learning any craft, but also, there is somewhat of an insanity to it all in the algorithmic nature of it).
And most notably, trending topics/music/etc exacerbate this lookalike mentality in creativity. Our work looks like the other work that followers are doomscrolling past.
We are creating to fit the spaces provided by the apps and piggybacking on what is favored by creating more content that fits the mold with the hope that this will be enough for our business and our art.
What I’ve found over the past year is that putting my work in the right spaces that I have more creative control over has been far more impactful for my business and creative practice.
So, as I move forward into 2024, I think you’ll find me here, on Substack, a lot more and significantly less elsewhere.
Links, etc.
I had images published in a recent Wall Street Journal article. I am looking forward to sharing more about this assignment.
And, since you are curious, here is the previously mentioned (not)TikTok that started this whole mess.
Your posts on FB make your mother very proud and happy.