The Great Social Media Migration?
Rethinking where and what to post
First - I apologize for the length of this piece. I may have rambled on a bit due to the complexities of the topic (at least for me), which caused me to delay posting until today (instead of Sunday as I had planned.) Regardless, I hope you find my observations helpful in some small way.
Second - As a preface to what you are about to read - my observations are mostly anecdotal. As an artist, I often go “with my gut,” so to speak, and am considering my own social media options less analytically than I probably should. Why not? If you want stats, though, you’ll find a few in the articles I compiled at the end1 while pondering this topic of where artists will (or should, or shouldn’t?) go to share their art practice online.
TLDR: “Yes, I am planning to see if Bluesky is really somewhere I want to spend my time and to continue to write and grow my offerings here on Substack. But after a week away from Instagram (and much longer off Facebook or Twitter), I feel less and less attached to those platforms.” ~ Jennifer
Like many artists, I have used various media (social or otherwise) to promote and share my art over the years, including Facebook, Instagram, Patreon, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. There is always a learning curve, one which I typically climb only part way before leveling off someplace comfortable that feeds me just enough dopamine hits from my few likes and comments to keep me engaged and feeling like I’m doing something positive for my business. Before we get to those good feelings, though, I’ll share the proclamations and questions I recently observed within my artist enclave (yes, the anecdotal part) that I’m sure many of you may have already noticed in your online communities.
Goodbye Meta (Facebook and Instagram)
See you later Twitter
Hello Substack & Blue Sky
Where else can (or should) I put my energy? CARA*, Patreon, YouTube, Pinterest? TikTok (oof, that’s a whole other story!)… I’m sure there are others, too.
Should I leave social media altogether?
*CARA is a small but growing social media app built for and by artists. Last summer, it saw a large influx when artists became aware of AI being trained on their images and were looking for an alternative. It had some growing pains and seems to attract mostly digital and graphic art, but it is an interesting and beautiful alternative.
My Substack feed is also filled with posts like these…
Goodbye Meta, Hello Substack?
If you, like me, like many other artists, have grown even more disillusioned by all things Meta (specifically Facebook and Instagram) and are looking at different options, you might like to consider some alternatives with me. Admittedly, I originally started testing the waters about four years ago - the first time I decided to leave Facebook. At that time, I found myself landing here, on Substack (after Heather Cox Richardson started sharing Letters from an American here). I decided to try out a longer writing format, more similar to my early 2000’s Blogger days, before life as a full-time artist and young mother became overwhelming and a new world of little social media sound bites seemed more feasible.
More recently, though, with Substack (and later, also with Patreon), it felt good to try something a little more substantial again. I shared my first Substack post, “Hope, Love and the Creative Process” September 28, 2020.
Hope, Love and The Creative Process
I still remember sitting in class the first time a teacher explained the process of brainstorming to me. I remember the enthusiasm, the speedy, dusty, writing of chalk on a board, and all the possibility. It was some sort of creative writing lesson in middle school. I don’t remember which teacher, but I remember the energy, and the simple premise of the…
Since this first post, the Substack platform has developed some interesting new features - one of which is “Notes”, launched in April 2023.
I didn’t embrace this feature when it first came out. I was confused about how it worked, and I didn’t see a lot of people using it. Recently, though, it seems filled with a growing and interesting array of folks with artists joining the ranks as well. It feels more like other social media feeds - but in a fresh and wholesome kind of way.
Substack Notes is an addition to the Substack platform that allows writers to share quick thoughts and newsletter snippets with the Substack community. Unlike traditional long-form posts sent to subscribers via email, Notes are posted directly on the Substack platform, and readers don’t need to sign up for a newsletter to view them.
Notes help writers attract new subscribers and grow their audience and revenue by making it easier for their work to reach new readers in the Substack network. Notes are also helpful for creating connections between communities and sparking conversations.
Notably, the platform is ad-free as Substack generates revenue from subscriptions.
~ makeuseof.com/what-is-substack-notes/
Don’t get me wrong. The Substack platform has its problems too - seeing an exodus in early 2024 when their content moderation policies were found to allow Nazi hate-speech (as well as COVID conspiracy theorists, among others). Large numbers of users were concerned the company’s hands-off moderation approach was no longer sufficient, even though, regarding paid newsletters, they follow the same basic Stripe terms of service, “…that explicitly prohibit hate, along with pornography, spam, and individuals or entities restricted from making money on Substack…” [techtimes.com] They quickly responded with a “reinterpretation” of their policies which enabled them to remove newsletters “expressing extremism.” But as one Substack writer noted…
So, yeah, wherever you go it’s probably not all roses and sunshine. Pick the best of the worst?
So far, though, the Bluesky social media platform, compared to other platforms, seems like a viable alternative to Twitter.
Bluesky - the Twitter alternative?
If you have meandered over to Bluesky to see what it’s all about, you might notice the similarity to the original Twitter (now called X). That’s because Bluesky was started by the former head of Twitter, Jack Dorsey. However, he is no longer involved, having posted on Twitter May 4, 2024: “Don’t depend on corporations to grant you rights. defend them yourself using freedom technology. (You’re on one)”
Despite his migration back to Twitter, Bluesky is the one now seeing a surge in users.
As of February 2025, Bluesky has surpassed 30 million users [techcrunch.com] (up from 16.7 million in 2019) [BBC.com]. For comparison, as of April 2024, [statista.com] Instagram has the 3rd highest user count with more than 2 billion users. Twitter (coming in 12th) with 611 million monthly active users. Facebook and YouTube still lead the pack with 3.065 and 2.504 billion users. So, even though it’s growing, it’s still a much smaller platform.
And, while it is similar to Twitter, it has some unique features about which I’d recommend reviewing the full TechCrunch.com article to understand the platform further and to get started, if you so choose - like these new users have done (myself included!)…
But with all the recent movement to different platforms, arms up in the air with trying to choose something that aligns (or at least doesn’t trample) our own values - what else can we try? And ultimately - is it worth it?
Social Media Alternatives
As I mentioned above, CARA was an early alternative for artists looking for a platform that wasn’t AI friendly. I haven’t tried it, but if you are looking for a community of artists (particularly in the digital arts sphere), this might be a good place to land.
Patreon is another platform I find well suited to bringing your followers and fans into your inner circle - but first you have to convince them it’s worth their time and effort to set-up a following there. When I was more active on it, I definitely enjoyed the format, tools, and concept. At some point, though, I had to decide if I wanted to devote my time on Patreon or on Substack, and I chose the latter.
Pinterest - I hear people still use it? I was active there several years ago, and can still find my art circulating (both authorized and unauthorized.) I never spent much time there, though, and haven’t looked at it in quite awhile. If you have any experience you want to share - I’d love to know in the comments.
YouTube - I wouldn’t call this an alternative, per se. It’s just another choice for where to spend your time. With all the focus on ad revenue, it has its own set of problems that would take a whole other article to explore. In short, if you’re not already comfortable there, I don’t know that I would make it a primary social media outlet. For now, I rarely post there anymore for a couple reasons: (1) It’s incredibly time consuming to make a decent video, and (2) I’ve become much more protective of my time lately. Otherwise, my experiences there have been positive, and I appreciate the subscribers and commenters who found me there and gave me encouragement!
Tiktok - I have no experience here and won’t wade into pros and cons.
I admit I am limited in my observations here by what media I’ve personally felt completed to explore. I am, simply put, one artist looking for a place to find community and to promote my work. There are certainly many more options than the ones I’ve listed. For someone like myself though, where my footprint is rather small, I have to ask myself - am I really spending time on social media for the benefit of my art business? My business has been supporting me for 20 years with very little of my income tracing back to anything I’m doing on social media (although it can be a difficult line to trace). I already have an artist community within the world of art fairs, local arts groups, part owner of a coop gallery, and all the amazing long standing customers who continue to support my art practice. Why share my art on social media at all?
The case for exiting all social media
Yes, social media can often feel like that dark alley while at the same time dragging us into an unhealthy relationship with self-worth. It’s easy to be drawn into the game. Refresh that feed. See if anyone likes what you post. See if anyone commented. To think this is a reflection of how good your art is, how interesting your words are… and ultimately… whether you and your art matter.
Hear me loud and clear - your “reach” on social media is never a reflection of worth. The creative act, in and of itself, and your willingness to be a part of it is what matters. The experience of making, solving a problem, contemplating an idea, putting paint to canvas, words to paper, collecting materials into an interesting and unique form all your own - that is where we can feel the expansiveness of these little acts of determination and love. It is worthy.
When I do feel those internal alarm bells go off (and they have), and I find myself peering down that dark alley, I know it’s time to step away. To re-evaluate my relationship with online media. To take a week break. A 30 day break. Maybe you have done the same thing too. We are by no means alone.
Additionally, every time I leave, I find myself less inclined to spend my time there.
Yes, I am planning to see if Bluesky is really somewhere I want to spend my time and to continue to write and grow my offerings here on Substack - even if I’m not yet sure how or why. But after a week away from Instagram (and much longer off Facebook or Twitter), I feel less and less attached to those platforms, and thinking more about a life creating off the grid. Remember when we all used to just put our thoughts in a diary and draw in our sketchbooks? OK, maybe that shows my age. But the idea of creating to simply capture a moment in time, the ramblings of a wandering mind, to give life to something that may never see the light of day… maybe we need more of that. Or maybe it’s just me?
Either way, it’s good to remember, there was a time before social media.
“In my experience, you can grow a successful business without social media if you want to. It is that simple. It will be slower and involve lots of experimentation but there are other paths to take. The most obvious digital places to play are: Your website, Newsletters, Email flows, Closed communities, Podcasts, and Creator partnerships that go beyond social media.
While none of these spaces can compete with social media on the volume of people who will see your content, each space provides an opportunity to forge a deeper connection with every person you interact with. Less broadcasting and more conversations.”
As I once had an instructor tell me - “Never put your eggs in one basket.” This is especially true for artists. I’m grateful I have maintained an email list all these years to reach my followers on a more personal level. I’m grateful to have maintained gallery relationships and a willingness to seek out a wide range of opportunities beyond the ones “fed” to me on social media.
It’s a good reminder to join the guilds, show up to the community art events, reach out to arts organizations. Check with your local library if you don’t know where to start - they are the original information network!
In the meantime - here is a page from the analog art journal I’ll be keeping this year… whether I choose to share pages online or keep them to myself.
Happy community finding!
~ Jennifer
https://ahmadmerheb.com/cara-app-statistics/
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dm0ljg4y6o
https://www.makeuseof.com/what-is-substack-notes/
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/substacks-great-big-messy-political-experiment/
https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/03/what-is-bluesky-everything-to-know-about-the-x-competitor/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/
So well thought out, thanks for sharing.
In the "old dog learning new tricks dept." after being an early FB adopter and only recently IG and now a reader on Substack, feel that the connections are still worth it and am loathe to move and relearn yet another platform.
At some point wish there would be an EASY option to delete stored content to lessen the carbon footprint it all takes after hearing data storage is already 10% of OR's energy usage. Argh.
thank you. this summed up so many thoughts i’ve had on it. you’re not alone and it was refreshing to read. i too have been taking up my handwritten journals again and enjoying the silence. i find it disconcerting realizing i’d forgotten how freely i created before all of this. most especially for being reluctant to ever use social media in the first place. i feel like the arts could really benefit from this shakeup. where it originally was a great resource to be independent it transformed in ways that, for me at least, did the exact opposite.