It’s not easy being social. But imagine the pressure when you have to be social because you want your talent to be recognised as an artist. Extroverts have forever ruled the social media page. But it’s not the same case for introverts or ambiverts. But just because you are struggling with being social on social media doesn’t mean you can’t succeed in the end. Without trying it will be too early to give up. So, let’s dive deep into the world of social media and find out why it sounds scary to us and how we can get over it.
If you are someone who doesn’t like to be social, it’s a given that you must have heard from others going like, “It’s not a big deal dude, chill”. But they fail to understand that if you could “chill” then you wouldn’t worry so much about what to post on social media. Sometimes you wonder if you are sharing too much. And at other times you wonder if you’re sharing too little. Most of your worry about social media stems from your overthinking.
Apart from overthinking, we always tend to have this assumption that we don’t look as perfect as others or present as perfectly as others. Hence, we come to the conclusion that we should stop altogether. There is also the concern that you’re missing out on the latest trend. This concern further fuels the anxiety that is built on the fear of missing out and causes you to constantly scroll and be up to date with the recent events of social media, which will inevitably lead to a point where you get tired and just give up.
Although being able to be who you want to be, or in other words being anonymous seems like a boon of social media, it isn’t always the case. This holds true, especially for those artists who want to get the recognition that their art deserves through social media. As artists, it’s important to keep in touch with your followers to increase your influence but if you prefer to remain anonymous it may not work out that well for you. Then there’s the issue of deindividuation which refers to the perceived loss of individuality and personal responsibility when you’re in a group. Deindividuation occurs especially when you end up donning a new persona to satisfy your audience and feel detached from who you actually are.
Just because these problems exist doesn’t mean you should give up on social media altogether. Hopefully, the following tips will help you regain your lost spark on social media.
- Take A Break:
We are sure that everyone must have told you to take a break from social media every now and then. But instead of taking a long hiatus, how about starting with a small one? And no it doesn’t have to be like a social media detox where you don’t even open the social media apps. Instead, you can take a hiatus from posting and being forced to update about yourself on social media every single minute of the day. Just scroll through social media like a regular user. Experience being a follower rather than an artist for once. Who knows what creative spark that might ignite?
- Create a community page:
Nowadays Instagram has come up with this option for artists and influencers to create a community page to interact better with their followers. Make use of this feature to create a community page for your own followers. This will not only reduce your burden of constantly getting harassed when you update about yourself on social media (as when you post on your social media grid as usual you are putting it out there for everyone which includes trolls as well) but will also boost your confidence as you will get honest feedbacks from followers who truly care about your growth as an artist and content on social media.
- Be responsive for at least 2-3 days after you post:
We understand that it’s hard to always be responsive and active on social media. And although consistency is the key to succeeding on social media, it takes a huge toll on mental health. So rather than being active 24/7 how about you stay active for a few days, say, 2-3 days after posting something new so that you can interact with your followers and others for some time while also taking some time off for yourself? As much as being active and constantly looking for inspiration on social media is effective, taking a break and letting your mind wander is equally important to spark your creativity.
- Don’t force yourself to show parts of your daily life:
We know it’s hard to constantly update your followers about your daily lives. And we know it’s equally hard for you to post anything without overthinking it much especially if you like to think of all the possible outcomes before posting. It’s impossible to entirely stop overthinking overnight, so it would be rather dumb of us to expect you to follow that advice. But rather than stressing over what to post every day, how about you post something that you find aesthetic enough for your social media grid every day instead? It doesn’t necessarily need to be related to your art. It could just be the sky if that made you smile that day. As long as you are comfortable posting about it, post it. You don’t necessarily need to post about a certain lifestyle because your followers demand that. Yes, as an artist you owe it to your followers to update them about your work in progress but you don’t need to provide a weekly report for the same. Take a break and maybe share something that made you smile that day. We are sure your followers would love to know you as a person beyond an artist as well. Plus, it will help you fight deindividuation as you show sides of yourself that are truly you. Don’t overthink it, just post!
- Let your followers know that you want to take a break:
It’s completely okay to take a break from social media. But what’s not okay is going MIA (missing in action). If you update your followers about your latest work, you should also update them about taking a break from social media especially if it’s for 2-3 weeks or more. You may not provide any elaborate justifications but a simple I will be taking a small break will be enough. But let them know. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, but if you do, do it, you will end up getting more followers who love and respect your boundaries. Social media was invented to ease communication, by taking the baton and communicating, you as an artist who has the potential to influence thousands of followers can influence them to use social media to its maximum potential, especially in terms of communicating about what you’re going through. Thus, making our society more open to discussing mental health disorders.
Afterword
Social media is not an easy task to master. With new trends and updates it’s hard to keep track of it all. But instead of overthinking and seeing it as a checklist that you must tick off to master it, how about enjoying it? It’s only when you let go of all inhibitions and enjoy it that you really end up mastering it, as you tend to overthink less and are not afraid to try something new anymore.
