I don’t really post on Instagram anymore and when I meet people in person who knew me from that era they ask why. They inquire in hushed tones as if there may be something seriously wrong. Some just mention that they miss me on there. Honestly, I’m flattered that people even notice my absence with all the awesome new alt fashion creators on the scene now. It goes over easier at indie fests where most artists aren’t trying to follow an “artist to content creator pipeline” but people ask for my Instagram occasionally.

When I made the decision not to post entirely I meant to write some heartfelt send off and leave my grid in some way that people could tell who I was/where to find me. I kept going back and forth on what any of that should look like. Is something heartfelt too much? Like it’s just a social media profile. Should I explain why or just matter of factly announce I’m leaving with a link to my newsletter? What are my final grid posts going to be?! 

I’ve ghosted other platforms like Facebook and Tumblr without a peep but everyone did that right??? Instagram is different. Everyone is still there. No one I know from my jfashion community is leaving at least from my knowledge. If you’re not active there or on TikTok are you even in the jfashion community anymore??? That’s a topic for another day. 

Anyway, this is my attempt to do a proper send off. This blog post will be the long form explanation and the Instagram post will be short but point to here if they care that much lol I’ll start with my why’s then hit y’all with what I’ve decided to do. Of course all these opinions are my own. No need to do what I’m doing. 

Does that sound good? Good!

It Doesn’t Feel Like It Used Too

In 2019 I noticed that I was not feeling well on social media and even wondering if the direction I was taking my art was the right one. When I started my profiles it felt fun and personal. I was encouraged from all the validation I got on my pages from people I met irl and beyond. Like many others at the time, the goal was to get 10,000 followers. Once you got there anything could happen it seemed. 

Fast forward to 35K+ followers and feeling like my entire life was in the phone. If a post didn’t do well enough I was feeling embarrassed to downright distraught. Every outing was turned into an opportunity for sms photos and I couldn’t have fun until I got a good one. Again if the photos sucked to me I was all broken up. I wasn’t dressing up for me anymore. If I looked cute in the mirror at all I felt anxious because I felt the pressure to capture that assemble in a way that would garner attention online.

On the way to 35K I got advice from others to (and would see how others would) study similar accounts to see what posts worked aka compare themselves to others constructively (or negatively) in hopes of doing better in the algorithm. I followed the culture of course. I would get unwanted advice all the time on how I could monetize my audience in ways that weren’t aligned with me or my art at all. 

I started posting once a month however the landscape had changed drastically to favor short form video. 

I don’t enjoy creating short form videos and don’t watch much short form content because it’s too much of an attention drain. I made a TikTok account a while back…I tried it. In order to “do well” you have to watch the trends or create one and I just don’t want to worry about “doing well” anymore.

I Was Radicalized!!!

During one of my social media breaks I read “10 Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Right Now” by Jaron Lanier and that was the beginning of the end for me haha! I wanted to become a “creative entrepreneur” so I could have freedom to create what I envisioned but it turns out that freedom is just working for Instagram or whatever platform for free or damn near it. If the way you want to market your work suddenly doesn’t align with their new direction you’re SOL. It’s just a different rat race. I wasn’t escaping anything. Plus I’d be feeding my face and art directly into Meta’s Ai mouth. That also attributed to the change in feeling I had about posting.

Even using it casually brings up a feeling of lack because there was always something new I needed to buy whether it was an ad or an undisclosed ad or an independent creator with cool shit! At first I could be inspired but after the 100th thing in 10 seconds I just would feel a sense of lack and definitely overstimulated. 

In the meantime I was going to indie publishing fests like Midwest Perzine Fest. I saw how their community didn’t center social media as much. Most artists didn’t have or pursue large followings online. No one was clout chasing or clamoring to make videos together in the corner. It was so refreshing! I had long conversations about the artistic aspirations behind their zines and the conversations continued through their work because each piece was so extremely personal. 

Having large bodies of work and long time local community contribution was worth far more than a follower count. None of it was particularly instagramable. 

That’s when I realized how freaking insta-pilled I was!

This is Personal

This isn’t a PSA to tell others to get off sms or that they are inherently toxic to the jfashion community. This is just the relationship I have developed with sms. No matter the breaks I take coming back to it starts the negative spiral again. I think it’s my mental state combined with the built in mechanics that negatively affect me. There are no guardrails that help at this time for me. 

I see others all the time that absolutely love the influencer lifestyle or expressing themselves in a way that works for the platforms or will tolerate it because it’s the only income they can sustain. No shade to them. Do you. It just no longer aligns with me and since I could never depend on it for income (despite my attempts lol) I’ve made the skillful decision to leave it. 

What I’m Doing Instead

This could probably be its own blog post if I explain my personal and business “strategies” off insta but I’ll just go into the HD outlook briefly. 

I’m tabling at indie zine/comic shows almost every month with my newsletter sign up clipboard. I host two active jfashion discords. For one of them I pass out cards personally to invite people to the local meet ups. I don’t watch my newsletter subscribers like a hawk. I wear jfashion almost every day with no external expectations just the personal goals I create. I buy alt fashion magazines. I host this blog! I believe more in marketing reflecting how you already like to connect.

I’ll keep my Instagram account as sort of a business card or archive. I may make a static grid to drive that home. I still check for DMs consistently. As for social media, I’m not currently looking for a new platform. I’ve looked at Bluesky (I don’t connect with it). I kind of like substack but I don’t align with the direction of that platform for a multitude of reasons. I don’t think another platform is the solution to be honest. I like the idea of owning my own space despite the decrease in attention. If another platform aligns with me I’ll consider it. I’m not holding my breath though. 

Outfit posts will start going up occasionally on my kofi for free. And I hope to do a seasonal mini zine of my outfits too. 

Links to everything I mentioned are @ allthings.harddecora.com

So there you have it! My long awaited “social media” post! A big thanks to everyone who has followed my work and style so far! I know joining my newsletter and getting different art from me might be a big change. I also know that some people really liked my fashion posts on insta. I hope you can meet me here too. 

Have any of you considered leaving social media or tried it? What was your experience?