The Creative Climate of Social Media

Sometimes it’s the loudest voice in the room that gets followed, not necessarily the right one.

For example, let’s say there’s a mid-level journalist in the thick of a bustling newsroom. Now that he’s accrued some experience, he has the confidence under pressure to speak up when an idea strikes him, or compete with someone else’s idea for a story. Maybe over time this gets him promoted, until one day, he’s running that paper as senior editor. It’s an organic growth, a direct relationship between effort and reward. So what happens when everyone is speaking at the same volume in a room of millions?

Let’s talk about being online. And let’s start by talking about the phone that’s in your hand this very second, that allows you to read this.

Take a moment to reflect on how your relationship with your phone has evolved. Now, everyone has a phone. More importantly, everyone has his or her own phone. Sharing a cell phone isn’t a thing. Our relationship with our devices is acutely personal. Perhaps rightfully so! It does know everything about you, all your photos, all your Google searches, how many times you hit snooze. It knows more about you then your own spouse, I’m willing to bet. But what’s more important than that is what does for you. It is your tool for expressing yourself, whenever and wherever you’d like to.

Your phone has given you a heightened sense of individuality, and for many, a renewed and vibrant outlet for personal creativity. All of that is supported and reinforced by the second biggest thing to happen since the birth of the Internet: Social Media.

We’re going to use our friend the journalist as an example again. Let’s say his name is Paul and let’s say that we apply the social media rules for pitching a news article in a big meeting. Paul puts a lot of effort into his article and gives a well-constructed pitch in the newsroom—that same instance speaking at the same interval, is Chad, Brenda, and 57 other people submitting their pitches as well. Paul’s idea gets a few votes, but is otherwise lost in the mix. This happens over and over again for years. Oh, and another thing, Paul doesn't make any money unless he's chosen by the advertising gods. Throw in some random algorithms of why some pitches rise to the top and others don’t and you’ve left Paul feeling like his ideas aren’t worth very much, and broke.

This kind of digital climate isn’t making for a happier, more innovative, more creative world. It’s making for a weirder, more risk-taking, photo-shopped version of the world that doesn’t reflect people’s real values or creative spirit. We turn to our phones and social media for lots of different reasons, but if we're turning there for a creative outlet, one that we hope to grow organically into a sustainable income, we may as well log off now.

The paradox of our phones and of social media is that while it’s made us feel more creative and individualistic, it’s not actually rewarding a majority of people for either of those things. If anything, it’s giving us juust enough likes to keep us posting and active, but not actually enough to generate any real type of income. We are told that the digital world is the future, but the present platforms don’t actually let us take any real foothold there.

I want my ideas to matter, and I want to be able to effect real change on the world around me. Creativity will play a part in my future, but the truth is that social media might not be the tool to take me there.

If you’ve looked into websites like Steemit.com, or tuned into blockchain technology, they really are on to something. Getting paid to contribute content should not be a wild idea. The Internet is young. A lot that exists just happened to be the loudest ideas at the time it all started. But it doesn’t mean they were the right ones.

I highly recommend listening to Waking Up with Sam Harris - Episode #136 – Digital Humanism, if you’d like to explore this topic further, with actual professionals.

Other notes: This is geared toward creative professionals that feel the need to "sell themselves" on social media, particularly photographers, more particularly on instagram.