#soz this is a ranty essay

[stupidlittledoodles]

[image description: a screenshot of a tweet by @KyWilliamsDraws that reads - art being called content and artists being called content creators has to be one of the worst things to happen to the art space in years]

im gonna get on my soap box bc I feel this so so hard. It really sucks.

I’ve seen artists posting or sharing online how they spend every waking (or sleeping!) hour not only creating art and thinking of ideas but also dreaming up new and engaging content ideas.

Instagram is a prime example of this. I’m on art chat groups that discussed when insta started placing more engagement ‘value’ on reels. And people had to GUESS this by testing the response of their posts, bc Instagram sure didn’t tell anyone! Now they had to start creating this new kind of content to prevent their engagement falling. And (idk about now) reels was under developed and awful to use as only doing this to try and stay current against the rise of tiktok. And if their engagement fell they’d lose income.

And these platforms are no longer centred around the joy of sharing. Sharing your art. Sharing your favourite selfies. Sharing your pets. Now it’s centred around content consumers and the masses are HUNGRY.

If you don’t evolve your content with the app, say making videos, reels etc you lose. You lose your audience and you lose money.

Creators have to _work_ For. Free. For an apps where an algorithm can really fuck your income. And all while artists work is getting stolen bc there are no protections in these spaces (another soap box for another day!)

—————-

I wrote this rant a few days ago and I never finished it and thought maybe it’s a cathartic exercise that never needs to be posted. But then I see this.

Instagram has finally come clean.

[image description: a screenshot of a tweet by @EugeniaLoli that reads - And now, Instagram is coming clean: they say that they’re not a photo app anymore, they’re a video app. They detailed that they will only promote video reels from now on. Be prepared to have you IG images soon not seen by almost any of your followers.] Here’s the link from the tweet above if you wana read it

https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/30/22557942/instagram-no-longer-photo-app-video-entertainment-focus

The head of Instagram specifically says they're focusing on Creators as one the four key areas. Video, messaging, and shopping being the other three. Creators on social media now means content makers. They do not care about artists. They do not mean artists, or photographers. They do not care that centering on video means creators have to work 200% harder and more to produce the kind of engaging content Instagram rewards. They do not care that taking the focus off images will hurt a lot of artists who rely on social media for their income. They just want you to make content for free so they can compete with tiktok. Instagram is no longer a 'square photo sharing app" - it hasn't been for a long time. They're finally admitting it.