Category: InternetCategory: Internet

From Joshua Heath Scott:

“As artists and creatives, we face the challenge of standing out against the digital tide. Han explores the importance of making real, physical art that holds emotions, memories, and true community value, unlike the fleeting nature of digital information.”

This really makes me want to start putting together a print version of Social Media Escape Club. Printing photos every month. Making newspaper projects with Newspaper Club.

Via Zach

It’s Friday, so another Four the Weekend – four things I hope you’ll do by Monday.

1. If you’re still on social media, ask one person to subscribe to your email newsletter. Yes, one. Avoid saying “sign up for updates.”
2. Watch ‘Real Art Matters In a Digital World’ by Joshua Heath Scott, then think about how you can bring your digital work into the real world (thanks Zach Sprowls).
3. Did you make a video to promote something you’re selling? Try embedding it on your sales page, instead of sending your fans to YouTube. I explain why here.
4. Practice leaving social media and experience being unavailable. Be bored and do nothing for a few minutes. Leave your phone in the car.

Fom ‘Covert Clicks: The ‘Psyopification’ of the Internet,’ by Social Medium:

“The most important realization is that the internet is no longer neutral terrain. It is not just a communication tool; it is an environment designed to shape behavior. The question is not whether you are being influenced—it is whether you recognize how and by whom.”

I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, “the internet is a tool, not a destination.”

A tool to order books, then read them in my living room.

A tool to connect with others, then go cook dinner.

A tool for my banking and business admin, but then for logging out and going for a walk.

Every second spent online is data tracked, monitored, and stored. And probably sold to random bidders.

Time offline, away from the internet, provides less surface area for being influenced by the powers that be.

In May, I thought of Ezra Caldwell out of the blue, knowing he passed away some time ago. I did an online search, and it was almost 10 years to the day that he left us.

He was someone I met years ago when I lived in NYC. We met via Flickr. I wrote a little something on my blog, and that was it. I didn’t share it, promote it, or send the link to anyone. It was viewed 18 times.

A few days ago a former neighbor of Ezra’s sent me an email. They, too, thought of Ezra recently. They went online like I did, and they found my post.

Their email was sweet, speaking of the time they spent walking their dogs together. They had some of his photo prints in their office (Ezra was a phenomenal photographer).

Friends – believe that magic can happen without social media. Those spontaneous findings and meetings can still take place on the old-fashioned web, as busted and chaotic as it is.

If you’re struggling to leave social media, I get it.

But if it makes you feel bad, if you lose yourself in comparison or grief or anger, or if you just can’t stop losing 4+ hours a day to scrolling… you’ll find your way at some point, just like so many others are figuring it out for themselves.

• “Reclaiming our mental space to be a wide open field for our imagination to flourish instead of a hoarder’s house with piled up boxes full of trending Reel sounds and fit checks,” is how Jak Major describes it in Leaving Instagram.
• “I’m not even sure why I post on Instagram anymore. Perhaps that’s a sign to…not?”
• “Now that Instagram is made up of half advertisements and you see very few posts from people you actually follow, many are calling quits,” writes Marloes De Vries, “people who once spend hours a day crafting content are opting out, and rightfully so. Why spend time in a place that gives you nothing in return?”

There’s no need to wait for some new platform, some online utopia that will bring back the gold-rush of impressions and clicks. It’s a house of cards, an illusion propped up by pitchdecks and advertising potential promised to early stage investors.

No, thanks.

We’re hosting artist meetups, we’re organizing video calls, we’re engaged in our Discord channels, chats, and email threads. There is power in our communities, our creative networks, our neighborhoods, our online hangouts.

Our art and magic will be around long after they shut out the lights at Meta HQ.

Believe that.

Carter Vail recently had 400 people pre-save a new song.

In a recent Instagram video, he shows how 1,072 unique users clicked through to the pre-save page.

Now, that’s a 37.3% conversion rate, and in the world of “getting anyone to do anything on the internet” that’s a fantastic rate.

The scary part though is that he’s got 211,000 followers, which means just 0.1% of his fans pre-saved his new track.

I’m using Carter Vail to illustrate that a huge following on Instagram doesn’t guarantee huge pre-save numbers or sales or people signing up for your thing.

But, I’ve worked with a client who had “just” 5,000 email subscribers, sent three emails, and sold over $3,000 in vinyl and shirts.

This is all about getting the right people to know what the fuck you’re doing, which is hard when you rely on third party platforms that limit your ability to reach your audience.

Like Rick Rubin says, “make cool things, show it to your friends.”

But it’s hard when those 200K friends are all on Instagram.

This also goes for who’s willing to pay and support your cool things.

Ira Glass lays it out pretty well in an interview with Vulture:

It’s just crazy to me that people are having a hard time earning money making something so many other people clearly want.

Well, part of the problem is that people aren’t paying for it, right?

Right. They’re accustomed to getting it for free.

That’s the hole in the business model.

Artists are having a hard time earning money making something so many people clearly want.

But most people ain’t paying for it.

A few are, though, right?

Do you know who?

Who bought your last album? Do you have their email? Can you let them know you’ve got a new record coming out?

Do you know who your top supporters are? Do you know who spent $1,000 in your store in the last three months?

Are your west coast fans aware of your upcoming west coast tour? Or did 70% of your social media fans miss that one post you made about it two weeks ago?

It won’t get any easier to reach your fans on social media, and all the time you spend building a following there means shit when over half of them never see your posts.

Take your power back.

Start an email list.
Send emails that entertain, with a few less BUY NOW buttons.
Update your website once in awhile.