As artists, social media is a space of creative inspiration, a platform to connect with our communities, speak our minds, share our work for feedback, stay updated, and so on. However, how can artists use social media during times of crisis? Especially when it is hard to pick a side and when we don’t know everything, as the media nowadays is incredibly misleading. I wanted to share with you a list of what you should and shouldn’t do with your social media presence during the crisis, so let’s explore it together.
You can also read: How to sell your art through social media marketing
1- Avoid using social media to read news about the crisis
Social media is full of fake and misleading news. The worst thing that an artist could do is use that to stay updated about a crisis instead of trustworthy news channels, which could often be sharing misleading news as well. News is often written in an emotional tone to trigger instant reactions and make the readers sensitive to their content. As artists, we are vulnerable to emotions and would try to use our art to defend certain cases when the latter could be fake or meant to mislead.
2- Remember, your creative inspiration is what keeps you going in times of crisis too
I used to shut down whenever something disturbing was happening in the world, and I saw it being posted on social media. I’m extremely sensitive to humanitarian cases and any visual content exposing violence, abuse, or harm, and I wouldn’t be able to keep a clear focus on my daily tasks with the thought that the world around me is not fine. If this sounds like you, please do not consume any content that would cause you more harm than good. At the end of the day, we cannot change things out of our control, and by being distracted, mad, or sad, you are depriving the world of your creative power and positive contribution. If you’re mentally not able to engage in expressing your thoughts about a crisis, don’t do it.
3- Choose what and who you follow
Your feeds are supposed to fuel your imagination. These apps are offering us the opportunity to see people’s art, thoughts, lives, creations, and everything in between. So how can we, as artists, use social media to make the most of the content shared especially during times of crisis?
- Teach your algorithms to show you the content you want to see (only engage with stuff you want more of and mark as “not interested” anything that you don’t wish to see again).
- If you are expressing your thoughts online and see any hate or offensive feedback from your followers, pick a side. Do you want to be true to your values and what you believe in? or is it more important to you to build a community of people who are only interested in your art and not in who you are as a person?
- Do not use a crisis situation to grow your following or catch people’s attention away from topics that matter more than your ego.
- Block, delete, and report any pages posting fake news or trying to mislead and prevent the large public from seeing the actual truth (the truth you believe in).
- The feedback of your followers or audience could either be wrong or correct. Stay aware of who is replying and interacting with your posts.
4- Don’t use social media to alter your expression to meet other people’s expectations
I know how hard it is for people-pleasers to actually pay attention to this destructive social media habit. Just because a large number of people disagree with you doesn’t mean you’re wrong, and just because so many people are supportive doesn’t mean you’re absolutely right and correct.
Having a strong position and taking on a topic of crisis always comes with pros and cons. If you see yourself right about your choices, keep going; the right audience will eventually find you.
5- keep creating and speaking up your values
Whether it means producing creative new content, repurposing big, complex ideas into smaller bite-size sentences, sharing imperfect pieces of art, works in progress, or experimental forms of artistic expression here and there, you have to stay present and connected to your community to maintain an online presence that would serve as a platform for you to share your ideas, talk to people about things, and exhibit what you create.
Conclusion
I know that it may be very hard to use social media during times of crisis for many reasons (you may feel unheard because people don’t care about art at that moment, or you may feel useless because your creativity isn’t leading to any “real” change; you may be criticized, canceled, or even shadowbanned for supporting certain causes). For that, I hope this article serves as a little reminder of how artists can use social media during times of crisis. Enjoy creating <3
