My Departure From The Grasp Of Social Media
This is an important message for those who follow me through social media and those in future who wish to follow me on social media accounts.
As I continue to grow as an artist, I've been bound to the grasp of social media. It would seem essential for an artist in 2021 to have an online presence to uphold an audience which is a great thing for most people, but for some, such as myself, online presence is a derivative from the the idea of "art".
Art isn't defined by numbers, it's one of the last forms of true freedom and can't be bound by what "should" or "shouldn't" be done.
I am a single person, an artist who has committed his life and blood towards doing the thing I love most in life, creating art. I will put this forward in finer detail in a later blog as I go over my goals in this journey and why I've chosen my path.
Since becoming an artist, I've used social media as a tool to promote myself and spent an ungodly amount of hours learning algorithms and learning about what works and what doesn't, I've spent decent dollars on advertisement campaigns set out by social media outlets with very little or no return, and when this happens, the work becomes a product of this, leaving me with dirt beneath my fingernails and the taste of copper underneath my tongue, causing a creative withdrawal. In contrast to this, I'm continuously struggling with my mental health with social media as the pioneer to much of my struggle.
It can be incredibly difficult to find a healthy medium when one is struggling and trying to heal, and to constantly feel that my work isn't being valued the way I'd hoped is the cherry on top of a depression sundae.
I feel privileged to have taught myself to build my website which is a safe home for the entirety of my work and a place for me to express myself without chasing algorithms.
I've been in need of drastic change for my art, and for myself. This decision has been thoroughly analysed and as I proceed in future, I'll be able to redirect the staggering amount of time I would spend on social media towards creating the art that is meaningful to me and my audience. I feel that I need to relieve myself from the duties of trying to appeal for platforms of a culture I've never been able to fit myself into, so that I may progress and become a better person, and a better artist.
As I continue to work on my mental health in a dark time, it isn't out of the question that I would return to using social media when perhaps I feel comfortable with opening up my personal life to people, but until then I am solely focused on the healing process for myself.
In conclusion, I'm so grateful for the support I've had in the past 5 years, your ongoing support is much deeper than numbers for me and I feel it in my heart. I'm very excited for the future and you can always find my latest work here at this address.
- Mickee
