I’ve been thinking on events and how I put my work on media platforms and I decided to do things here a little differently moving forward. I’m publishing my paintings, drawings, long form thought, stories and any art related posts here on my website and scaling back on how I post my work on social media; I’ll still be posting updates to Instagram and Bluesky, and I hope you will follow the link in bio THERE to check in HERE now and then to see the full story.
Thing is, I have been wary of placing everything I do on social media, but I went ahead anyway. The incentive to have one meeting place to connect with friends is convenient and fun. And there are pet videos. It seemed like a good way to build connection and have an archive of my art activity.
But the app controls what happens there, and we do not. Getting locked out of our own account on these apps can happen. If I were locked out of my instagram account and could not get the account back, I would lose all the work I had put into it, and our digital online identity has become increasingly consequential and real. I want control of it and given the way media corporations behave, they will dictate how the app will benefit me, or not.
Recent events have shown that autocratic capture in this country has become very real. Media companies have mostly fallen in line with the demands of the new President. It’s the cost of doing business. The person who controls Meta including Instagram is at the front of the line. My trust in this platform is gone. So I will not continue to use it as the primary network to post my work.
I understand that fewer will see what I post here than on the major platforms, with their many millions of eyes scrolling by our posts. But I hope you will stay tuned and check in here once in a while. Find my tidbits on Bluesky @peterdickison.com and Instagram @fogland.studio.pete and click that link in the bio!