An Open Letter to Social Media
DISCLAIMER: We’ve all been there - you can’t love your job 24/7, 365 days a week! If you do, you might just be a robot..but that’s not for me to decide. Anyway, we love our clients and the work we do but sometimes, there’s stressful and frustrating situations that just make us want to vent! And this blog post is a result of that…so take it with a grain of salt and hopefully it makes you laugh a little!
Dear Social Media,
Specifically Instagram and Tik Tok.
I would like to first thank you for the wonderful opportunities you have provided for countless people all over the world. From the underprivileged who would never have a platform otherwise to people who deserve much needed representation. For that, I thank you.
But boy, do I have a bone to pick with you. For all the wonderful things you’ve given us, you’ve sure given us a lot of fucked up shit. I’m not even talking about body image and jealousy, racism, sexism or misinformation.
I’m addressing an issue from a purely professional standpoint. How you have diminished the standard of expert marketers, writers, designers, photographers and numerous other professions. Content, we call it…
Surface level influencers “representing” for their people while literally appropriating and selling their culture for views, likes and money.
Copywriters, forced to think of catchy captions and one-liners that pander to an uneducated audience.
Marketers, freaking out if they don’t post an image or video at exactly 9:16am on a Wednesday morning.
Designers, designing the same minimal logos for brands that want to appeal to everyone.
Photographers, videographers, stylists and other creatives who are not only working on client work but SCRAMBLING to make a silly 1 minute video to post on their pages to achieve the credibility they already should have.
Professional lawyers, doctors, bankers and other professionals taking time out of their already busy days to create “content” in hopes of educating people….or just chasing clout?
It seems to me that in the beginning, it really was about your work and getting a larger audience to understand your work, your industry and everything else that involves it. However, now it seems like there’s two avenues: people who are forced to contribute to whatever this monster of Instagram and Tik Tok have become OR people who were once experts in their field that just want to be social media famous.
Because let’s face it, some people do love fame. But for example, they were never going to be a Hollywood actor by going to law school. So being a lawyer was not as glamorous as they had hoped - but they were smart enough to push through and now, they can at least pretend it is and have others validate their pipe dream? By dressing up and recording skits and giving out free legal advice? This is purely speculation as I know not everyone in every industry who is successful is trying to be relevant on social media. But I guess I hate seeing those who are?
I just know how much WORK all these professions consist of, so it drives me crazy knowing that on top of their skills, they have to also make sure they are properly marketing themselves to the monsters that are the algorithms of social media. Or on the other hand, those who are in certain fields in order simply to get clout and end up spreading misinformation and misconceptions…. early 2010s beauty gurus vs makeup artists, hello!!
In conclusion, social media really grinds my gears sometimes. Especially for someone who only wants to put things out carefully and intentionally. What a catch 22 we are in and I know it’s best to just embrace the good, the bad and the ugly. But what a paradox this blog post is, as I will literally be promoting it on instagram stories. SIGH.