Ambidextr Media

The way social media is incorporated into our lives has made its influence undeniable. As a contemporary phenomenon, it was able to pave the way for individual creativity to flourish in the digital space. 

However, within the realm of social media lies a paradoxical identity, which has been subjected to controversies among its users. On the one hand, there’s an infiniteness in its usage and the opportunities it brings along; on the other hand, it has limited our decisions and capabilities in terms of creative pursuits.

When social media is the focal point of the digital age, it’s often seen as the platform in which creative pursuits take place. Yet, diverging perspectives have attempted to challenge its allure.

Destination for inspiration

The prevalence of social media platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram provided a means for artists to get inspiration. Scrolling through the pins and pictures other artists posted can give you endless ideas to take notes from. 

Even content creators and marketers started enjoying this side of social media. The rise of TikTok also brought about the rise of influencers and later on, its transformation as a marketing tool. For influencers, browsing through TikTok posts gives oneself an idea on what type of content they should post. May it be food, beauty, or fashion-centered. By looking at what’s trendy, they can establish their branding in order to get more engagements.

We can also locate the evolution of TikTok as a marketing tool at the point when commerce and advertising converged with content creation. Through the short videos creators and companies post, their audience also becomes their consumers. This transformation made TikTok an inspiration hub for marketers in figuring out what sells and what doesn’t.

With that, social media perpetuates a cycle in which people and their audience exchange creative ideas. The question is, how long until it becomes counterproductive?

Conformity over originality

Trends are so widespread that we can’t help but be informed about them. It’s probably because they’re so entertaining that they go viral, making them difficult to resist. Sometimes we find ourselves in front of the camera filming the latest TikTok dance trends or the same places vloggers recently promoted. Every now and then, even artists occasionally dabble in the latest art trends. 

We begin to recognize social media’s limitations when we keep seeing the same type of posts. There comes a point where it becomes so saturated that it’s hard to come up with something new. Where is creativity in an oversaturated media?

When we take too much inspiration from influencers thinking they have the formula on how to attract engagements, conformity could take over originality. Companies and brands share the same struggle too. It also raises the question of what they can do to set themselves apart from other businesses and draw customers to them. 

The excessive scrolling for inspiration could kill our creativity. In our search for new ideas, we’re trapped with overused or unappealing ones. But this puts us in a tricky position: where, now, can we look for new ideas? 

Excessive scrolling

The limitation of social media also takes on another form. Here, the process of literally scrolling through our phones puts “excessive scrolling” in a new light. Instead of being out there, we become passive users of social media. 

Have you ever lost track of time while spending hours scrolling through your feed? We don’t realize that it takes so much of our time that we unintentionally (or intentionally, even) abandon our tasks. This brings us back to the infiniteness of social media. We never run out of things to watch or posts to read. 

In other words, social media has the effect of diverting our focus and diminishing our productivity due to overconsumption. The time we use to excessively scroll could’ve been spent on more fruitful activities. 

Indeed, scrolling through social media helps us boost our creativity by taking inspiration from creators we see around the digital space. But keep in mind that it could lead us in other directions too. We either wind up creating the same content as others or surrender to its addictive side. 

Where do we go from here?

The volatility of social media made us raise so many questions about its conflicting impacts. Finally, we ask one last question: where do we go from here? 

Telling people to stop using social media altogether is pointless. What works best is to strike a balance in our consumption. 

When feeling inspired by the contents you see, try to integrate your individuality. Consider what to add or change to make it distinctive or personal. Don’t just imitate what you see, post it, and wait for it to gain reactions. Alternatively, we can always seek inspiration from nature so as to not limit our options. Encouraging the plurality of ideas helps us make social media into a more creative landscape than before. 

Also look into setting up boundaries that regulate how much social media may impact your way of living. Something realistic you can do is to lessen your screen time. Take advantage of the extra time you will have by doing important tasks or delving into activities that can divert your attention from your devices. Nonetheless, recognize that there is more to life than its digital aspect.

Blog by Maria Bernadette Torda