Blog / 2019 / Goodbye Social Media (For a While Anyway)

I started my art career in the summer of 2003, just before the launch of both Facebook and Twitter. In a professional sense, I grew up with social media, adapting and maturing as the platforms changed and got bigger. My use of social media is fundamental to my success as an artist, so much so that it was recognized in Cory Huff’s book How to Sell Your Art Online.

But, in 2016, all the most popular platforms did two things that startled me out of my happy-mellow relationship with these companies:

1. Social media ditched the chronological feed.

Companies now use algorithms to determine what you see. These twisted bits of code revolve around showing you things that will keep you on the site the longest—things that have already been “liked” or commented on a lot. The logic? More time on the site = more clicks for advertisers. In other words, they only care about quantity not quality, and that mindset offends me.

2. These once-lovely platforms have become cesspools of propaganda and corruption.

Throughout their lifespan, all major social media corporations have failed to grow their staff to match company expansions. Their obsession with staying lean so that they can feed their shareholders more profit is wildly shortsighted and has allowed the sites to be overrun by bad people with lots of money who like to eat your freedom. Companies are finally trying to make changes and rebuild our trust, but their fixes are too little too late for me.

I’m not saying I’ve renounced social media forever—frankly, I don’t know if my business can thrive if I refuse play the Facebook game. But this time off will help me to see what’s possible. (Thank you to the 77 Kickstarter backers and 107 Patreon supporters who are making this break feasible!)

The good news is that, if you love following my art, I’ll still be posting weekly on my blog, and you can get a notification every time I publish: