I didn’t intend to become a social media artist. But it happened and I’m now conflicted about the experience. The ‘social media impact’ has had unparalleled consequences on the art world and artists themselves.
The source of many striking modern art trends can be linked back to social media. Social media dictates trends within art communities from the mediums we use, like digital art. To the brands we love, driving sales. I began using social media solely to post my artwork. Along the way, I found a community of artists who became part-friend, part-teacher to me.
I can credit social media with the development of my art skills and strengthening my knowledge about selling art as a business. The information is truly invaluable to an artist wanting to make art their career. But the art communities that are growing on social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and more recently, TikTok, barely resemble what they once were.
It’s left me worried that the days when art on social media thrived has been overtaken by commercialism. Leaving artists behind and putting influencer-driven content above art itself.
Social media art’s beginnings
My social media art journey began as a creative outlet when I was at university. I wanted to rediscover my love of art. I missed holding a graphite pencil, I missed the texture of a canvas and playing around with paint. The last time I focused on my artwork was during my A-levels. This time, I promised that I would make art for myself. I wanted it to be a true reflection of myself, rather than a school project I had little control over.
Social media art was taking off and I challenged myself to post a painting each Friday on Instagram. This way I had a good method of tracking my development. I could watch my art evolve in one place as I moved back and forth between home and university. By scanning and posting copies of my art online, I didn’t have to worry about losing any paintings during my constant apartment-hopping.
The biggest impact on art today is social media
One of the aspects of social media art that used to be celebratory was the sheer variety of artwork you could find around these platforms. Whether it was oil portraits, cartoons, anime or sketches, there was something for everyone. I didn’t have to scroll on a social media app for very long to find creative new content from all around the world.
Instead, I was so grateful to find reviewers like Dr Oto Kano and Teoh Yi Chie who introduced thousands to a technical art education I never received at school. I learned details about the ingredients in the paper and paint I used that helped me to understand how to get consistently good results. It made me become a more knowledgeable artist and helped me to save money along the way too.
I overcame my fear of digital art and was able to research how to get into it solely because of social media. Because of these artists and educators, plus many others, I was able to pass on that knowledge to my artist friends too. But over time, the social media algorithms began to change the way I was able to find this type of content. Over time, my social feeds became dominated by sponsored influencer-based posts. These new influencers were less focused on education and more focused on selling us products. Thus the commercialisation of the online art space became the new norm.
What is ‘one-face’ syndrome?
Between 2018 and 2020, art criticism was birthed. It was the first time I began to notice how social media was shaping the type of art artists felt comfortable making. Lots of the artists I followed would complain that only certain types of art that they posted would gain traction. Many of us artists began to notice that the social media impact had led to many artists copying each other so much that their characters/portraits would be noticed in the online space.
Over time, the most popular art was beginning to take on the same types of features. The phenomenon was called ‘one-face syndrome’. Referring to artists who seemingly only drew one type of face in their work. Even if their previous artwork demonstrated that they could draw varied art.
The ‘face’ in question was a combination of cartoonish large eyes and anime features, with characters that more or less had the same hair and body type in each separate post. While it’s common for artists who have found a style they like to start drawing with certain distinct signatures. It was strange to see my Instagram feed becoming so uniform and popular artists’ work becoming less distinct. So much so, that I could barely tell their work apart.
Why does it matter?
It’s not to say that I don’t like cartoons or anime. I grew up watching them and they are a major inspiration to me. But seeing a diverse spread of art on my online feed was something I used to enjoy about early social media art. I didn’t have to search for beautiful works of art in every discipline to find them. Due to social platforms like YouTube and Instagram developing new algorithms which favour certain types of art, a new narrow set of factors started to determine which artists would become popular. If they conformed, that is. This narrow set of factors was starting to homogenise the art on social media.
When social media began to dictate popular art
Over time, I started to notice the algorithm was impacting me too. I began to draw more of my artwork over the years to fit into the square format Instagram prefers, even though I didn’t want to. This is because my artwork’s image quality would be low if I posted a rectangular painting. I considered starting my digital art journey too so that I could post more often, as the new social media algorithms favoured content-makers who posted daily.
It was inevitable that social networks, which thrive on popularity, would eventually see some types of art become more popular than others. But I didn’t expect to see unique art and emerging artists pushed to the wayside.
So, not only did social media changes lead to ‘one-face syndrome’ but to the decrease in popularity of certain types of artists gaining popularity. Particularly artists who work with oil paint and sculptures. These are mediums which typically take longer to produce finished works of art than say, a photograph, which can be posted online instantly. It isn’t coincidental that my art feeds began to be dominated by art styles that require less time to finish, like sketches, portfolio pages and simple cartoons.
Traditional art has started to fall out of favour on social media platforms as digital art can often be produced much faster. Then when I thought the issue couldn’t get any worse, Instagram introduced reels to compete with TikTok. And the art community became significantly more vocal than it ever had before.
The negative impacts of social media on art
It became more obvious towards 2020 that if artists did not bend to the whims of social media trends, our work would barely be noticed at all. Many of us that used to have posts reach hundreds of likes in a week would go on to struggle to reach a hundred within a month if we didn’t conform. Our reach was disappearing, even to people who were our followers and not just by-passers.
The lack of traction began to trick us into thinking we had all somehow gotten worse at art. That lack of engagement was a sign we were falling behind better artists. Little by little, my friends stopped using social media for art. Those who once had successful art businesses were no longer able to find new clients or work opportunities to sustain them.
I was shocked to find artists I followed with well over 100k followers complaining about the same things. A lack of reach, their followers sending them messages to ask if they were still active because their posts weren’t showing up on their feed.
I learned a great deal from fellow artists and resources social media helped me discover. But these spaces have become highly commercialised, led by influencer-sponsored posts and ever-changing algorithms that put keeping up with competition between social platforms, before the users who gave these platforms their initial fame.
When artists began to speak up and voice concerns
Social media platforms are driving trends and changes users aren’t happy or comfortable with. People running businesses, who once relied on social media, can no longer trust that social media will be consistent with their rules and regulations. The social media impact on art has taken a toll on users’ trust in social media overall.
Modern art is incredible, but it feels disheartening that social media of all places isn’t promoting how varied and interesting it is. During the pandemic, I concluded that I had allowed social media to derail my progress. I went from trying to appease anonymous moderators who marked my Art GCSEs and A-levels to doing the same for anonymous social media staff who would change their advice on boosting engagement on a whim.
Social media puts commercialism above the artist
One of the aspects of social media that I loved for artist growth was the plethora of resources you could discover. Whether it was learning new techniques, finding classes to go to or places to visit to find affordable products. This was my vision of art social spaces online thriving.
One algorithm change that has dominated social media recently is the push for users to make videos rather than photos. Another one has seen celebrities getting priority promotions for their posts. Whereas regular posters are being encouraged to spend money on advertising if they want more engagement.
The art world has always battled the issue of what value should be ascribed to a piece of art. But social media art in the last few years has proven to not be exempt from being commercially focused. The social media impact on art has only escalated this.
The ever-moving goal-post
Facebook and Instagram used to display posts from people you follow in chronological order. They would occasionally suggest new people’s posts to you. Today, the opposite is the case, with strangers and celebrities’ posts taking over lots of people’s feeds. I began to spend more time planning elaborate videos to make my art posts more interesting.
It preoccupied my day to focus on filming my art progress to make the reels Instagram now favours. I quickly found it was so time-consuming, that I no longer had the time to finish many of my paintings before the trends would be over. This contributed to me posting content online a lot less and falling out of love with social media altogether.
Social media once brought power to artists
Social media’s impact on art has changed the way artists communicate with each other. I have discovered more art galleries and budding artists through social media than anywhere else. But I’m debating just how much social media’s benefits are being outweighed by the negatives in recent months.
Social media artists appeal to the younger demographics because influencers and artists can carve out unique relationships with their viewers. Or at least, they used to. Through giveaways, competitions and giving viewers free colouring pages or tutorials to follow, the possibilities were exciting, educational and endless. So many young artists rely on exposure to grow a following, start a business of their own and find consumers for their work. Whether it be exhibiting in a gallery, finding a job working on a major project or doing occasional commission artwork. Seeing all of this progress diminish because of social media changes is disheartening.
Why more changes to social media might be the future
Social media’s impact on creativity has become a debated topic. I think we can learn a lot from older artists whose identity hasn’t diminished or wavered in the face of changing trends, like artists such as Yayoi Kusama. This Japanese artist is unashamedly herself, with a unique signature style. Because her work is so easily identifiable, her creativity isn’t compromised by trying to keep up with being trendy. Instead, her artwork is a true reflection of her own colourful inner world.
Despite artists and other communities on social media becoming increasingly vocal about the changes being made, it appears that the owners of these platforms only started to care about the criticism they were facing when celebrities, like the Kardashians, started to voice their complaints too. This only serves to make small creators feel even more unheard.
Yayoi Kusama is one example of an artist who gets it right. There is beauty in allowing your personality to forge your artwork. Uninhibited, unadulterated by outside pressures or influences. Through this reflection, I realised I went from catering my artwork to GCSE/A-level moderators to a constantly changing algorithm on social media and back to whatever made me feel most fulfilled. Despite the backlash on social media getting louder, I think it might be time for some of us artists to find other avenues of promoting ourselves. The social media impact on art should remind us that art is always under the threat of being defined by its purchase price.
The social media impact that keeps on changing
Social media has made many artists feel like they have to change their art style to keep up. This takes the joy out of creating when you’re inspired to. It makes creating a job rather than an honest expression.
The social media impact on art enticed young artists to start businesses on their sites. Only to change the way sellers interacted with their buyers overnight. Many of the businesses I have purchased, which I discovered from social media, are either struggling or have shut down due to these changes.
Artists are already undervalued and it’s hard not to feel discouraged. Artists feel the pressure to focus on their social media performance and their interaction statistics. All at the expense of their art. Not only does this lead to creative burnout but it overwhelms artists who are often working solo. As they’re their own advertisers and producers, all wrapped into one person.
How social media artists are taking back control
The impact of social media on artists should help to teach and connect us more but not lead us. Creativity should.
So many of the artists I know, love or follow online are expressing that they feel burnt out. Constantly trying to twist and bend themselves to fit unattainable standards has become exhausting. Some artists are paving the way forwards like these Vancouver-based artists using their popularity to help direct artists to services in their local area. They have said they want to redefine art spaces so they feel less intimidating, more inclusive and more welcoming.
Social media has become dependent on advertisers and celebrities to drive the changes they make to their platforms. I only hope that in the future, these platforms evolve to put the control of artists and their communities back into their own hands.
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Written by Chanté-Marie Young
Illustrated by Francesca Mariama
