Can you have an art biz and not be on social media?

I’ve been discussing this with a few people and most seem less than enthusiastic about the need to be all over social media.  Some say get an agent.  Others say limit your time.  Most feel it is important to have a presence on the inter-webs.  I agreed for the longest time but now I’m not so sure.

In my last post I wrote I would be off Instagram for a week.  I’m following through with that statement.  I’m sticking to Plan A.

Tuesday was my last post on Instagram and I explained what I was doing and why.  I haven’t looked at the responses because that would be going to Plan B of occasional checking.  Plan A.  Plan A.  All the way.

In this post I’ll include my daily reflections on how it is going.  Here we go.

Tuesday:  Posted my final image and comment.  I had been losing some followers the last few weeks and knew that doing this I’d probably lose a few more.  Why do I care?  I feel brainwashed into thinking that the more followers I have the more successful I’ll be.  I suppose if I want to be an influencer that would be important but I don’t.

I took the IG icon off all my screens; hid them in folders and made them hard to get to.  Making the habit hard and time consuming to get to is one way to break it!  To find out more about how habits are formed and broken visit the site of Charles Duhigg, author of a NY Tims bestseller on this topic!

A sense of relief passed over me.  Truth.  I felt 100lbs lighter.

Wednesday:  My morning has been spent with my dog who was diagnosed with cancer Tuesday night.  Social media is the last thing I want to do.  No FOMO!

Thursday:  I can feel my thumb searching for the IG icon and it’s not there!  Hurrah!  That extra second or two gives my brain time to break from the habit and move on.  My mind is less jumpy today and I’m enjoying a spaciousness of thought I haven’t felt for a long time.  Now that I’m free of a daily session of visual impressions chunks of time are returning.

Friday:  Day was filled paying attention to Lila.  Looking for signs of “one day”.  No desire to check IG.  My brain has a welcome relief as if I’m finally over that destructive relationship.

Saturday:  You know that feeling you get when you’re on vacation and you don’t need to check in with anybody?  That’s how I feel.  Untethered.  I hate have-to’s and social media was beginning to feel like that.  I allowed my time to be exploited and fell into the entertainment trap.

Not sure about you, but I always feel rather miserable after screen gazing.  Unless I’m in creation mode it’s not worth the time!  The suggestion of limited daily sessions is still pumping the drug.  I feel better without social media.

Is it essential to have a social media profile in 2020?

What would happen if I just drop out?

I checked out the social media application Hootsuite where you can manage and schedule your social posts all on one platform.  There is a free version.  How can I use this to satisfy my business needs and play on my terms?

If you’re struggling with the social game you might find this article The 9 Best Social Media Management Tools  useful.  I’ll be reading it to see what might work for me.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about the necessity of having a social media presence.  Are you using a management tool to structure your posts?  What are you doing to not fall into the pit?

From my vacation desk…

XOXO,

Francesca

The late great, Wayne Dyer has a great quote, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”