Artists And The Algorithm

Hey everyone!

Thanks for being here and I’m so glad that I can share some thoughts on here that exist outside of a social media timeline.

I’m planning to make posting a weekly blog on Fridays part of my routine going forward, and I’m hoping that having this shiny new site will keep me accountable to do just that. I’ve long since wanted to start a deeper discussion about my work and how I understand art in this social media age, and with so many artists voicing concerns about platform changes and the demanding nature of social media, this felt like the right time.

So here goes…

My relationship with social media in 2022 is, like for many of you I’m sure, complicated. 

Some back story for those not familiar. Despite being fortunate enough to study art in college through an athletic scholarship, I didn’t leave school with many career prospects or obvious paths into the art world after graduation. Pursuing an MFA wasn’t an option, and without a set plan to continue making art post-graduation I sort of panicked and went over a year without making anything. I was living in a new state without practical connections and I was badly missing the art community I had in college. Mix in some unresolved childhood trauma, and I was simply terrified to pick up a paintbrush. 

When I was finally ready to resume drawing/painting, there wasn’t exactly a gallery busting down my door to show my work. Some of that was because I wasn’t making anything spectacular to start out, but mostly I just didn’t know anyone in Austin or even how to get my work in front of people. Social media was the obvious way to make that happen.

I started my Instagram account back at the start of 2016, and I quickly realized that it was the perfect tool to sustain my practice. Not only did it help me stay accountable (I did a year-long one painting/drawing a day challenge throughout 2016), but the growth of the app in the few years that followed was encouraging as it felt like my audience was growing at a similar rate to my skillset. It was a reassuring sign to keep going.

At some point along the way, Instagram’s timeline switched from chronological to an algorithm format and my colorful paintings were suddenly being shared on the explore page and well beyond just my followers. My bright work seemed to really vibe with this new format and I was rewarded with thousands of new followers every month.

Still yet, I was seeing other artists skeptical of the changes. The loss of a chronological feed meant that posts often went unseen by followers and many of my peers voiced that the benefits of the algorithm came at the expense of an online art community. Some of them couldn’t pursue art full time anymore because of this change, so I was keenly aware of the stakes even if I wasn’t being affected at the time.

With that, I resolved then that I wouldn’t allow myself to become tied down to the whims of an algorithm. I understood that pivoting— in what I posted, when I posted and how I posted— would be critical for me to maintain my presence on Instagram should the algorithm ever turn against me.

It feels like a lifetime has passed since that initial format change several years back, and I think all artists with audiences big and small can say that the algorithm has come for them at some point in the last few years. There are a litany of reasons for the changes Instagram has implemented, but now in 2022 it’s safe to say that the growth gold rush days for artists on Instagram are over. 

This has actually been evident for awhile now with the huge slowdown in engagement on posts, so about a year and a half ago I realized that my next pivot would be to go away from posting as frequently. While it was easy to mourn the Instagram days of old, I took the slowdown as a sign to stop the frantic one painting a day pace I had essentially kept up for five years since the start of my account. What was the point of burning myself out with a new painting each day if the app didn’t reward it?

It’s easy to gloss over these changes in a blog as a blessing in disguise, something that has allowed me to step back and slow down with my work. After all, I believe I am making work now, more than ever, that conveys more of what I’m trying to say in regards to class, gender and my lived experiences. I can’t help but think by not cranking out seven paintings a week any more, I’m helping in that mission. But the fact that Instagram’s volatility has made any artist second guess their work is a harmful side effect of the era we’re in.

So, as all of us artists have had to become cross-platform content creators on the fly these last few years, I’m here to say that my focus going forward is making art, providing commentary and sharing insights without as much concern for curating it to an algorithm. Practically, I’m still going to be sharing my work on Instagram, so this isn’t one of those “why I’m quitting social media” blogs in case you were wondering.

Instead, I’m going to be sharing my extended thoughts here every week and posting a little less on Instagram. I’ve come to terms with the fact that the algorithm monster cannot be slayed, but I shouldn’t complain too much about a free website to post my paintings. I have it really good all things considered.

I know I am forcing myself to practice what I preach, and old habits die hard when it comes to six and a half years of close to daily posts on IG. But one of my main reasons for starting my account back in 2016 was accountability, and the same is true now. One of my favorite quotes is “the medium is the message,” and I think about it a lot when I consider why I paint, and more simply, why I make art.

My message is that art is how I best communicate my understanding of the world, and I don’t want that to be obscured by an app manipulating my medium.