Hello everybody,
Welcome to my first-ever Blog Post! This section of my website shall serve as a small “News Feed” but is not limited to only that. I will dedicate this space to occasionally post about me and my creations, including not only dance and art but also my thoughts, my inner world, magic, spirituality - everything which is a part of me.
I was inspired to establish this “Blog” section because I decided to deactivate (maybe soon delete) my social media accounts - specifically Instagram. I used that platform primarily because of my friends. I started building an audience through my dance videos & photos and also connecting to other dancers around the world. At some point, I decided to put out more content to market myself and hopefully land job offers as a dancer. The number of followers rose slowly but surely, giving me a feeling of worth and justification for “doing the right thing”.
I became quite active as a creator and consumer. To be honest, I didn’t have a conscious opinion about social media, to begin with. I was just going with the masses, doing what others did because it worked for them. Talk about herd mentality.
My opinion about social media started to shift when I took my first break from it. Of course, I also tried to delete the app from my phone and use the app through my laptop only - but that didn’t last very long. To post, you have to have the app on your phone - so it was a constant install-uninstall game. Excruciating. I started to see no value in being active on a platform, which was taking up so much of my space/time daily. It followed me wherever I went and it masked itself as a perfect escape from “doing the work” and ultimately being present - with me and with the people around me! Even after a small break, coming back to the platform was uneventful - the same people doing the same thing. Nothing to really miss out on. Although it was nice to see what everybody was doing, the dominant oversharing and flood of information overwhelmed me, and the following question crept on me: “Why am I even doing this?”
So, I deactivated my account and I realized that I had so much more time! Even my screen time on my phone dropped from 5 to 2 hours per day. That is 3 hours more of your day! (I wasn't on social media for 3 hours but like a chain reaction, it triggered me to stay on the phone and “check stuff”.) I started doing things “I didn’t have time for”. I didn’t care about just resting and doing nothing from time to time. Additionally, I became conscious about externalizing my self-worth, meaning feeling good or bad depending on how my posts do, if people like what I do, etc. Pretty scary stuff.
In my personal experience, this environment created by social media has affected me immensely. I realized this when I got out of that matrix and looked at it from the outside. The change in environment has enabled me to listen to my voice more and see the beneficial and detrimental structure of social media more clearly. I still feel very present and conscious about my mind, body and soul. I can focus on the next thing in front of me. And guess what, after working on my to-dos I still have so much time in my day. And guess another what - I am still booked and blessed. (In reality, I got maybe one or two job offers through social media IN TOTAL, which came through people who had found me on other websites, so it wasn’t even directly through social media.)
I see the necessity, especially for artists, to market ourselves and hopefully reach millions of people/consumers. The platforms are free to use and you can literally create and post in minutes, connecting with everybody immediately. You can find like-minded people and share your thoughts on various subjects. That’s great! Personally, the social media platform I still use is Youtube to watch videos from time to time. I don't really consider it as a highly-engaging platform such as Twitter or Instagram - although this is changing too… Also, Facebook is another platform I use from my laptop because of work and voguing related stuff. As you can see, all of this is a process. But I believe that you can achieve the same results without the constant need to share and pressure to be up to date. How about a newsletter, meeting people out in the real world, or even trusting that people will find you? As creatives, let’s find creative ways to connect.
Here is another idea you can think about. For those who say: “I don't enjoy social media, but I need to do it to get what I want.” Imagine doing something you don’t like to get what you want. What if you never get what you want? Meaning you have wasted your time doing something you didn't like to get what you want and you didn't get it! What a waste of life. My conclusion is: Either change your perspective about it or stop doing it.
I am aware that everything has its positive and negative sides. What benefits one person, might not benefit another. Everybody's wants and needs are different and maybe social media is the perfect tool for your work. Objectively speaking, I see the value in social media but in reality, it is not what I want it to be. Even saying that there is an “easy way”, is a very subjective statement. Social media accounts can be taken down or deleted at any time, with no warning or reasoning! That means you are at the mercy of other people ruling over your content. That’s why I choose my own platform. That’s called empowerment. I am here to challenge social media and the ways it influences us. The values I stand by are authenticity, genuine connections, quality over quantity, self-love, and empowerment. I hope this post inspires you to reflect on your relationship with social media and find healthy ways to be with it. You might be led to change your opinion about social media completely so you align with it or join the dark side with me. ;)
Keep on shining!
Ray