A new era…

Hello

I thought for 2024 that I would add a new wrinkle to my blog. I think about a lot of different things and for the most part the only ideas that I tend to share online pertain to art. Obviously I have quite a few different interests in things that I would like to talk about. So I thought it might be interesting to explore some of these topics in my blog.

Sea & Tree #5 4x6

I plan on salting these blog posts with videos, photos and music from my illustrious art career. In my notebook I have quite a few ideas for topics but one that has been percolating quite a lot in my mind lately is:

Social media.

On the surface, social media sounds like a great idea, you can keep in contact with old friends, relatives and acquaintances quite easily and it is a social experience. However, I think that social media tends to bring out the many of the least desirable aspects of our personas.

What do I mean?

It's perfectly natural and acceptable to create something and want positive feedback for that thing. The more effort that has gone into the creation the more desired the feedback is. I see a real issue with social media being that it separates the desired attention from the active creation and thus leads to an infatuation with stimulus, response.

We are all highly susceptible to stimulus, response and not just humans, all animals are. If somebody gives you a positive comment or 'like' you do get a positive buzz and in some cases that may be highly deserved depending on the content that evoked the response. However, what I think can happen that is negative is that if you get a consistent stream of social approval it really stings when that stream ceases in any way shape or form.

What I think can happen from that point is that people will produce or share content specifically designed for a positive social response and they may become engaged in an unhealthy loop. Ultimately something that was positive and felt good becomes more of a millstone around one's neck.

I have been sharing my art and music for many years online. I am not immune to desiring a positive reception to my creations. However, being a sane individual it's apparent that unless you feed the social media beast regularly and in a way that satisfies it, social media is a zero-sum game regardless of the quality of the creations being presented.

I'm not writing this post to complain. Honestly, I don't see that much can be done about the social media matrix. Essentially we are left with two choices as modern humans, engage or disengage. Personally, I would rather spend my time creating things I found beautiful than pursuing positive feedback on those creations. I try every now and again to approach social media from different angles but ultimately I find social media to be very unfulfilling and I drop out.

Frankly, I'd rather just have a conversation with somebody in line at the coffee shop. Though short this conversation contains more essential humanity than hours spent scrolling through a feed.

I see social media very much like tobacco. In the early part of the 20th century, everybody smoked cigarettes and nobody gave it a second thought. Over time it became increasingly apparent that this habit was bad for your health and so people began to quit. I think social media as its currently formulated is not good for most people's mental health. I say as currently formulated because it's possible that it could be improved in some way.

One of the real problems with social media in its current form is the monetization of human attention. This drives the social media companies to control the feeds of people in such a way that they are always hungry for more. While I don't have any answers, I do think it's important to talk about it and that's why I made it the topic of my first extended blog post.

You will notice at the top of the post that I have put a link to my latest YouTube video. I've been on YouTube for a long time and while it definitely does qualify as social media, what I like about YouTube is that it is not a feed. Once people find you if they like you they can watch your videos.

I do want people to see my videos and to enjoy my paintings and music but a long time ago I figured out that it's not a good idea to modify or change what I do to accommodate this desire. That too is a zero-sum game that leads to burnout. So, YouTube as a platform is not immune to the social media disease but I certainly can utilize it to share what I do with people that are interested and for that I am grateful.

Take good care and stay out of trouble.

Mike