Arguably, there’s never been a better time for self-expression. It’s been said before, but we really are living in a gilded age of super-powered creative tools and massive opportunities for distribution. For an upcoming artist, the road from bedroom to box office has never been as well paved.
Technology that was initially designed to speed military command a few decades ago has, by 2019, brought us new bands entirely conceived in comment threads and one-man game studios coding exquisite narratives about a 19th century loss adjuster. Visual artists have built custom apps to bend photo-sharing to their whim, and philosophers have educated millions by expressing their unadulterated selves with production values once reserved for TV networks. Monumental media companies are aping idiosyncratic YouTubers, research scientists are converting complex theory into tangible games and hip-hop artists are collaborating with VR filmmakers to define new narratives.
The decentralized web provides signposts to the most esoteric corners of our culture. So why is it that in the last few years, my own participation online has left me so dissatisfied?
Don’t get me wrong, though proud of my culinary skills, I’m never going to become the next breakout food vlogger. But when I do dip a toe in the sea of content creation, I fall into the the same traps over and over. As the major social media platforms have continued their quest to top up endlessly scrolling content feeds, highly engineered designs have refined the frictionless share.
A sticker overlaid on a photograph gives us the impression we’re acting creatively, but is simply bait to the switch of geotags and facial recognition.
That I generate packets of metadata to be parsed, processed and pilfered is vastly more valuable to a platform than whether or not I can say something interesting with a video commentary. This false sense of creativity, paired with an addictive ease of use has led me to replace writing with liking, and careful composition with off-the-shelf filters.
As an immigrant living many thousands of miles from the people I grew up with, I’ll be forever grateful for the role these platforms play in keeping me in contact. However, I’ll admit I am envious of those creators who can break out of the regular like/share/follow patterns that form the backbone of digital activity.
I hope this very post serves two purposes. Firstly, it’s a personal reminder that taking the time to consider my thoughts and write is more satisfying than blasting out 140 characters. Secondly, I hope that by publicly declaring my intention to create more thoughtfully, I’ll hold myself to account, and continue my efforts to consume less and create more.
Here’s to a creative 2019!
To find out more about some of the creatives linked to in this story, check out the latest issue of my gazet, Midweek Miscellany: