Use social media as an art form, not a deceptive tool

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Use social media as an art form, not a deceptive tool
Social media apps | Pixabay

Hillsdale hates social media.

Or so it would seem, based on what students say about it: Instagram never shows the whole picture, Twitter is deceptive, and TikTok distracts us from truly engaging with the world. 

Yet social media can also direct the mind to higher beauty. It’s our most accessible way to guide people toward things that are good and true. 

Art has always been an avenue for mankind to reveal what is important and give depiction to the sentiments that bind us as a people and it’s one of the many ways we communicate who we are to those around us. Unfortunately, in modern American society, social media has been divorced from any guiding rules or principles that inform the fine arts and academics. Everyone can recognize that social media is a tool, but many Hillsdale students shy away from it entirely, despite its potential beneficial impact if used with the right intentions.  

What differentiates great art from aimless doodles is the intention behind the piece and the conventional rules it follows. Great art comes with rules. In the case of modern art, anyone can take a mop, dip it into a bucket of paint, throw it on a canvas and call it a masterpiece. But people don’t usually gravitate toward it because it’s devoid of any deeper meaning. Even the most outlandish works can still be grounded by a common sentiment or attachment to a thing like the idea of home, love, or patriotism. People can spot laziness and bad intentions from a mile away. If you take the time to do something, do it well.  

To be a great and dedicated artist, you need to cultivate the mindset that you are what you do. In academics, athletics, or the arts, this means being driven by mastery rather than status. It’s a drastically different mindset than most of us have today, but it’s an approach to life that requires allowing yourself to be steeped in an appreciation and understanding of the importance and value of what you’re doing. 

Everything that one creates is sharing a piece of your soul, providing others with a deeper understanding of who you are. Therefore, every painting, paper, and even Instagram post is a reflection of your character, not just your persona. A sloppy essay shows a genuine lack of care or respect; a missing or ill-intentioned brushstroke shows laziness; and a brazen post shows a lack of self-respect. 

This summarizes the problem with social media today: it has deviated from its potential and is not held to the standard of craftsmanship. As society continues to lose its concepts of character and craftsmanship, social media will continue to devolve into an unrecognizable weapon rather than a redemptive branch of one’s artistic expression.  

Social media was not originally created to cultivate a desire for ethical art and beauty in the world, but it has the potential to bring people to appreciate the true, good, and beautiful. It can also be a wonderful tool used to encourage those around us to seek it for themselves. It can be an accessible starting place for people to understand the importance of the arts and the idea of craftsmanship without having to sit down in a philosophy lecture to get it.  

This is not a call to go and delete your social media profiles or to start disingenuously romanticizing your life, putting it on display for the entire world to see. Rather, if you use social media, treat it as an art form. 

Assume that it will be viewed as a stand-in judgment of your character and attitude until someone truly gets to know you. Cultivate content and share wisely. Treat it with the same respect that you would a painting, an essay, or a song you create. Social media is the tool we have; why not learn to use it well?