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The Effect of Social Media on the Modern Artist
Courtney (Connor) West
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The Effect of Social Media on the Modern Artist
How does an occupation based on innovation, creativity, and specialized skill survive in a
world now dominated by the Technological Revolution--one that has made innovation, creativity,
and specialized skill more accessible and easy-to-achieve than ever before? As the world changes
at a faster pace, art changes at a faster pace too. Social media in particular has had a massive
effect on how the modern artist operates in the modern world. Applications such as Instagram,
Youtube, and TikTok have transformed the artistic landscape into an anyone-can-make-it
hullabaloo of algorithms, marketing, and self-presentation. Although every art form has been
massively affected by this expedient change, perhaps the most affected are the following art
forms: visual arts (painting, sketching, etc.) and theatre performance.
All of that being said, before we can even consider how social media affects the modern
artist, we must define what the modern artist is. “Art has always been a domain of specific
application for philosophy, in the sense that art raises numerous questions of a philosophical
nature” (Andina, 2017). An artist, therefore, is one of strong philosophical beliefs, who draws
from their worldview in order to create a message that implements said philosophy. Although,
historically speaking, Christianity, “turned itself against the arts,” and was strongly opposed to
artistic creations, particularly of religious figures, “it did not confront itself with the question of
the image in the field of the arts and the field of philosophy” (Smallbrugge, 2019). Once
Christianity opened its mind to artistic interpretation, it began to even embrace the artistic world;
After all, what is more philosophically based than Christianity, the primary world religion and
belief system?
But how does one define social media? McCay-Peet and Quan-Haase approach the
subject as thus: “because the term social media has multiple meanings, its definition has become
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highly contested, and it is not always clear what tools, platforms, and social phenomena count as
social media...but what brings social media scholarship together are the many commonalities
shared across platforms (e.g. features for sharing and evaluating content, means for connecting
with a social network, search and save functions)...” Another thing we have to make clear is that
social media has created its own social standards, expectations, and rules that are part of a greater
internet culture. Not to mention that each platform has a unique culture, much like different
countries, or different religions. Now that we’ve begun to understand what exactly social media
and the modern artist are, we can begin to break down how the two coexist.
As an artist who posts my work on social media, I need to be able to have a brand-new
skill off-the-bat: photography. But photography’s integration into the artistic world is another
story for another time. The modern artist must possess photography skills better than any other
learning artist of his skill level had to, historically speaking. Not only that, the modern artist must
now also possess the knowledge of social media platforms, marketing, branding, etc. in order to
even compete in an overwhelmingly accessible world online. The basis of most forms of visual
art are that they are an image of something, whether that be realistic or abstract. With the advent
of social media, the line between what is and isn’t art has become more blurred than ever before.
“Indeed, the sharing of images is becoming an integral part of the social media experience today,
and given that social media platforms are the prime locus for sociability—at least among young
people in the West—this shift towards visuals arguably transforms how we relate to each other
and the world around us, as well as how we perceive and construct our sense of self” (Russman
et al., 2017). Modern artists face the challenge of keeping up with technology and social media
standards or getting left behind, and in a world where anyone can achieve the New American
Dream of influencer status, getting left behind means failure to adapt to the new social landscape
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that is approaching us (whether we want it to or not). In these pressurized given circumstances,
it’s not surprising that many artists edit their photos, often only to mimic what the eye sees or to
make up for lack of photography instruments. But this begs the question: is the editing of these
photos coming from a logical conclusion, or does the editing ultimately lead to people being
deceived? Is the editing of photos moral? This is one small question the modern artist must face
—a question that couldn’t even be conceptualized 50 years ago.
Theatre and theatrical performance are inherent parts of our history and society on an
international level. Theatre was social media before social media existed. Theatre was media
before media existed. For years and years, theatre had dominated in society as a place to find
political opinions, community updates, progressive thoughts, etc. Most often, theatre was
accessible as well. It was enjoyed by the poor and the wealthy, and everyone in between. It was
storytelling meant to inspire you to empathize, and, well, love thy neighbor. Although
Christianity is the primary worldwide religion and is far from being underappreciated, theatre has
been overlooked since the invention of movies and performance on the screen. Social media—a
happy medium between stage and screen—has both helped and harmed theatre and theatre
companies.
Social media has been a massive help to the theatrical world in creating unbeknownst
theatre fanatics via TikTok and offering platforms for authenticity and opportunities for self-
presentation via Instagram and Youtube. TikTok has opened the eyes of new generations to the
theatre community and is essentially creating a platform not labeled as theatre but is at its core a
performance for an audience. Youtube has created a platform for creators interested in
performance to potentially thrust themselves into other industries utilizing Youtube’s
accessibility and anyone-can-make-it algorithm. Many performers have built their careers
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through Youtube. Instagram is also a major asset for performers and theatre companies. It is a
platform that creates a space for self-presentation in whichever way you’d like it. This is
incredibly important for casting performers; You now not only benefit as a performer from
knowing your theatrical “type,” or who you would typically be cast as, you also benefit from
investing time into your social media profiles, on which you can now actually alter what “type”
you come across as. This affects casting massively, and therefore would affect your entire life as
a performer.
Theatre companies benefit from applications such as Instagram by being able to gain an
audience outside of their local community. For most theatre companies, this is crucial. Theatre
companies outside of the well-known New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago used to only
have a reach within their city and the small surrounding areas. Not to mention, theatre companies
in large cities would have a lot of competition with each other. By being able to better build a
brand for themselves, theatre companies are now able to take advantage of social media
platforms like Instagram by extending who may be in their audience.
Although we must acknowledge all of the ways social media has benefited the modern
theatre artist, there is no doubt it has been detrimental to the theatre community as well. Theatre
at its core is live, in the same room performance for an audience, and social media at its core is
the direct opposite. Although theatre has opened a new platform for theatre companies and
performers to represent themselves on, there is a dire worry in the industry of being replace by
social media.?
Theatre and theatrical performance are an incredibly important part of our world’s history
and should be considered just as important for our world’s future. Although the lack of theatre
appreciation has not allowed for plentiful research done on the positive effects of theatre, what
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little research has been done resoundingly proves that theatre is crucial in developing skills such
as empathy and social cognition. For example, the play “Wolf Play,” which is a show about a
same-sex couple adopting a child, was shown to audiences who completed pre and post surveys
dedicated to analyzing the trends in the audience members’ empathy increase: “did the play
increase empathy for groups depicted in the show? As predicted, participants in the post-show
condition scored significantly higher on the topic-specific empathy measure than participants in
the pre-show condition” (Rathje et al., 2021). Although the worry of gained empathy on a
specific situation that is sinful may lead to sinful actions is understandable, it is actually the
opposite that is true. Look at Matthew 5:43-45, for example. “‘You have heard that it was said,
‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.’”
The core beliefs of a good Christian should be to implement empathy, and to understand and love
thy neighbor, whomever they may be, and to show them the light, not shun them for their own
beliefs. This deeply rooted Christian belief is not in contrast to academic argumentation, but
rather the two coincide. As Reblando explains, “in academic argument you need to follow certain
steps to produce a strong argument. You need to firstly understand the argument, decide your
view or position on the argument, find evidence that will support your position, check whether
the evidence is strong or weak…” (Reblando, 2018). Any true Christian will have done all of
these self-analytical steps in order to strengthen their faith. In a world where we are never sure
what is true, we must question everything, and it is my belief that Christianity, even when
questioned, would pass the test of academic argumentation.
Theatre was considered the most important, often only, form of media throughout most of
human history, and we as a society cannot allow for theatre to become just that: history. Theatre
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has allowed for the Average Joes of the past (and present) to spark debate and innovation within
their respective societies. Cultural performances such as those found as recently as
Shakespearean time all the way back to tribal performances from indigenous groups have been a
major capture of the social culture it existed in, as well as a major influence for the social
cultures that would come. Jesus himself was no more than an actor or artist; a performer. He took
word that he knew (and likely even rehearsed). He was inspired by God, as many actors are. And
those actors who are so grateful of Him today wouldn’t exist if not for Jesus’s performance of
God’s Word. It is clear that Jesus himself acknowledges the way that he is performing—
sometimes scripted, sometimes improvised. If it is overwhelmingly clear the respect Christianity
has for performance and storytelling, why is theatre oft-ignored?
The artists of the 21st and 20th centuries have been challenged to adapt to a fast-paced
world in which status, success, and skill can change by the minute. With the introduction of mass
social media applications to our world, everything and everyone has found themselves affected,
and this definitely includes artists, particularly of the visual and theatrical kind. To move
forward, we must be aware of how these overlooked issues are affecting our arts culture, and
moreso how our arts culture ultimately affects us as humans. Once we take the steps forward to a
more aware world, we can begin to understand the modern artist and social media’s effect on
them.
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References
Andina, T. (2017). What Is Art? Brill Research Perspectives in Art and Law, 1(2), 1–88.
https://doi.org/10.1163/24684309-12340002
McCay-Peet, L., & Quan-Haase, A. (2017). What Is Social Media And What Questions Can
Social Media Research Help Us Answer? The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research
Methods, 13–19.
Rathje, S., Hackel, L., & Zaki, J. (2021). Attending live theatre improves empathy, changes
attitudes, and leads to pro-social behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,
95, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104138
Reblando, J. R. (2018). Critical and Creative Thinking. International Journal of Novel Research
in Humanity and Social Sciences, 5(4), 70–72.
Russman, U., & Svensson, J. (2017). Introduction to Visual Communication in the Age of Social
Media: Conceptual, Theoretical and Methodological Challenges. Media and
Communication, 5(4), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v5i4.1263
Smallbrugge, M. (2019). Modern Christianity, Part of the Cultural Wars. The Challenge of a
Visual Culture. Religion and Transformation in Contemporary World, 10(5), 1–17.
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10050299
