The TikTokification of Instagram is hurting artists

San Diego offers an art scene to painters, poets, activists, comedians, sculptors and photographers, not only through the numerous art institutions, galleries and learning spaces scattered throughout every neighborhood, but also through the efforts of the City of San Diego to finance public art. Headquarters of the San Diego Museum of Art, of the Spanish Village Art Center, of the North Park murals, of the Museum of Photographic Arts, of The Old Globe, from the gallery Bread & Salt, of La Jolla Playhouse And among many other artistic hotspots, San Diego has positioned itself as a central location within the art world. Many universities train their students for Southern California's thriving artistic workforce, positioning them as innovators, freethinkers, and nonconformists... and also as social media marketers?
Is it necessary to have Instagram followers to be an artist in modern America?
Artists rely on social media to be discovered by potential buyers and investors, but the relationship between artisan and buyer is changing in sync with the changes in the platforms through which they interact. Advances in Instagram are not only harming an artist's ability to market themselves, but are also negatively impacting their capacity for self-expression.
Joshua Mannila (@joshuamannila), a 19-year-old photographer based in Oregon and Los Angeles, said Instagram's shift toward video seems unfair to photographers and creators who produce photo-based content and rely on it for their income. He's noticed his engagement has dropped and said he's been stagnating for months, even losing followers.
Mannila said Instagram started with photos, then introduced the feature stories like Snapchat and Livestream like Musical.ly. Now, reels like TikTok.
“They are losing their own identity as a social media platform,” Mannila said.
Entertainment
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As artists try to navigate this evolving tool, the line between being an artist and being a business executive is rapidly deteriorating.
“I really stay away from orienting my art and design towards what’s trendy because I believe that (as) artists, we are the ones who can set that next trend,” she said. Kyle LeBlanc (@leblanc_co), a 26-year-old contemporary artist from San Diego.
LeBlanc has been a full-time artist for two years. He said Instagram is where people discover him, as well as where he makes about 90 percent of his sales. LeBlanc has adapted to Instagram's changes by creating reels that capture his artistic process and often show his paintings from start to finish. For LeBlanc, the videos help him tell a story about the kind of artist he is.
“Having a business mindset is going to make art less personal, and it’s going to slowly kill art,” LeBlanc said.
“I’m a little cynical about what I think the future of art is going to be,” he said. Spenser Little (@spenserlittleart), a 46-year-old sculptural artist from San Diego, is best known for his wire sculptures that he integrates into streetscapes. Little is represented by a gallery that exhibits internationally, but primarily shows in galleries in Los Angeles. Having been a staunch opponent of smartphones and social media, Little bought his first smartphone and joined Instagram in 2015. Little said he is fortunate to have established, real-life clients who consistently collect from it, as well as opportunities to work with museums and institutions to build installations.
Since her career began before the advent of social media, Little seemingly escaped the pressure of building an online following. However, due to COVID-19 and the lack of gallery shows, she now sells her work primarily through Instagram.
Little has noticed that viewers interact differently with his works when they are presented online rather than in a gallery.
“If you can’t captivate someone in a millisecond, they’ll move on,” Little said.
When artists examine their post analytics, it's easy to see what others like. This information, while perhaps useful for sales, isn't, according to Little, true art. In a perfect world, expression and profit would go hand in hand without affecting one another. But it's not a perfect world, and artists have to promote themselves the same way Instagram tries to make money: by capturing attention. This business model threatens the art world, which relies on redefining what's popular.

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Katrina Frye, Founder and CEO of Lauretta Records, an independent music label based in Los Angeles, said that social media has updated and evolved to become insatiable, a turning point he believes came when Instagram was bought by Facebook (2012) and ads were introduced to the platform (2013).
“That was a dramatic change, with no turning back, because suddenly every artist had become a business. You weren't just a person anymore, you were selling something. I think that took away from many artists the joy of simply sharing,” Frye said.
Previously, Frye founded and ran a business development company for artists and creatives called Mischief Managed. She ran Mischief Managed for five years, but continually found that artists sought full marketing support, a service she chose not to offer.
At Lauretta Records, Frye works with artists to create a sustainable business model. Frye said there are likely shortcuts in the industry, such as chasing virality on Instagram and TikTok, but she doesn't believe in them.
“I haven't met an artist yet who feels cared for, who feels supported, who feels reciprocated by social media,” Frye said.
Although it comes with challenges, there's no denying the need for an online presence. Artists can't afford to let their work go unseen, and now they have to prove their worth with tangible evidence of their marketing skills. Frye said many of the vendors and contractors he works with won't even look at the artists he represents if they don't meet the criteria of a certain follower count or consistent posting. When industry gatekeepers tell artists they have to hit specific audience goals, artists have no choice but to change what they're creating to be more marketable.
"If anything, it just makes everyone want to be more like everyone else, and that's really scary. That's not art," Frye said.
Many artists with an online presence pursue virality, but Frye says going viral is only one indicator of success, not an end in itself.
Artists becoming salespeople to find an audience on an app that keeps users addicted to profit is damaging the art world. The art world, once a realm of self-expression and true creativity, is slowly being channeled into the constraints of social media and calibrated marketing.
“We are all the clinical trial for the Meta universe, and to me, that’s dangerous,” Frye said.
According to a study by Harvard Business Review, watching videos without interruption helps users continue watching more videos and fall further down the rabbit hole of scrollThe success of this business model for social media companies is undeniable. With Meta paying Facebook users to create video contentInstagram's shift toward video isn't surprising. However, it's independent artists, without the resources of a small business, who are struggling to keep pace.
Johnston is a journalism and graphic design major at Point Loma Nazarene University. She works as a features editor for PLNU's student newspaper, The Point, in addition to contributing as a staff writer. While Johnston covers a wide variety of topics, she enjoys reporting and commenting on emerging technology as a means of connecting current events with the experiences of a younger generation.