What good is it?
Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Substack, what the hell is going on with social media and artists?
Word has it Instagram sucks for artists.
I say, “Define sucks.”
I would guess sucks means it’s like Facebook; you may have a thousand friends but only a few come up in your feed which is filled with crap, interesting crap, but crap nonetheless. (I don’t know how they are making money off of all this nonsense but they are, lots of it apparently, and it’s time we get paid for our time.)
Instead of developing community, a gradually but hopefully steadily building stream of consistent and valued posts by you and your friends, acquaintances and colleagues, “the algorithm” (like the Wizard in Oz) is behind a curtain, up to something else, seducing us into trying to figure it out, be “popular,” gather views, “likes,” or, the Grail, “go viral,” Hallalujah!
Substack, by comparison, is being touted as the second coming for creatives, writers in particular, but also cartoonists, comedians, journalists and, presumably, artists. It also has feeds but they are definitely less intrusive and seem to be less random, more based on who you subscribe to and substacks you “like” and leave comments on.
The paid subscription feature is awesome for those who break through the 100 loyal fans/followers number. Even a modest $5/mo. (U.S.) from people who like your work enough to contribute to your rent is unbelievably supportive, significant enough to be considered “income,” part of how you make your living doing creative work. So, so important.
I appreciate your interest is my work, doodles and musings. It’s both serious for me but also, I know, amateurish, reactionary and “off” sometimes. I wish I was a better artist, for your sake. Then again, this is the raw me and I appreciate your effort, patience, whatever you call it. (Thanks for coming to the show Mom!)
Anyway, about Substack, I am thinking (and have mentioned the idea before) of creating sub-substacks for The Mona Project, which was 100 days of clown faces applied to famous artworks, on Instagram @sketch_finish, and now the Fingerprintz project, also on Insta, hoping to be 100 days of doodles and collages on and about fingerprints.
The idea of project specific substacks is not something I’ve seen before. Substacks are more like blogs, they go on forever, rather than collections of a specific series of works, or writing. Maybe there are substack books, serialized until they are done. To get the book, you “subscribe” to the stack. Given Substack is free for contributors, it seems like a pretty good place to have your work online, stored, retrievable and potentially for sale.
If you’re still reading this, I’d like to know what you know and what you think about all this.