Social Media and our Craft
Social media. A technological advancement. Also a time-sucker. A place where both good and bad co-exist. Today we’re going to talk about the positive and negative effects social media has on our craft whether that be crochet, general crafting, sewing, papercrafting, or any other number of craft ventures.
Three problems with social media and our craft
1. Overwhelm and anxiety – when scrolling through social media, and especially in those social media groups specific to your craft, there can be an overwhelming sensation and anxiety. You see all of these fabulous projects and you look at yours like it’s not good enough. Rarely do we think about the person on the other end being more like I us than not. We think they have this glamorous talent or knack for color combinations, and then, well, there’s you. Personal experience on this one.
2. Time Suck – I would be remiss if I didn’t include this one. Social media is a time suck. There’s just no other way to say it. How many of us can spend hours scrolling down social media rabbit holes, with nothing to show for it? It’s mindless and it makes for too easy of an escape, that many times also lasts way too long. Again, personal experience for this one too.
3. Bad habits can be circulated – how many times have you been scrolling and come upon a post of someone giving advice on a particular aspect of your craft and inside you’re going NO! NO! NO! Don’t ever do it that way, and you may even have the personal experience to back it up. I recall one time someone advised that on a crochet project, when you start your foundation row and you have the yarn tail, to cut it AT THE SLIP KNOT you made. ARGH!! I’m sitting here going “Oh hell no, don’t do that. Your knot will eventually (more sooner than later) come out and the project will begin to fall apart.”
I’m sure most people don’t intentionally give bad advice. And there are plenty of times that you can disagree with a person’s approach or technique, but you just scroll on past.
But with all of the negativity social media can cause, there are also some positives.
Three positives about social media and our craft
1. Education in Creativity – Social media provides a utopia of creativity and seeing other people’s projects. Seeing their color combinations, stitch combinations, and how they approached something. Having those ah-hah moments watching someone else’s technique and thinking, ‘Why have I never thought to do it that way?’ When treated with self-control, it can be access to an unlimited education.
2. Community – Social media, on it’s good days, can be a source of community. A place of support and encouragement. You share that you’ve never done something or have a question about, and you receive support and encouragement as people rally behind you. Or maybe you just finished a project and not quite sure you like it. There are inevitably people in the group that will praise it and absolutely love it, making you feel like the champion you are.
3. Easy access – Social media is easy access. Some of us are old enough to remember going to the library and checking out books on various craft topics. Or browsing craft magazines for ideas. But today we have access at our fingertips. Need to know how to do a certain stitch? Want to see a certain set of color combinations together? The questions are endless, and all you have to do is type it in and voila!
Final Thoughts On Social Media and our Craft
What are your thoughts on social media? Do you love it? Hate it? Both? I know I have to monitor myself because I can spend way too much time on it, as it’s so easy to go down rabbit holes only to resurface hours later. So I’ve become more conscious of that and will put my phone down (meaning away from me) during certain times of the day. How do you manage your social media intake? Drop me a note in the comments
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Did you know I also have a series that features new projects I try out from other crafty designers? If you are interested in learning more about my New Project Spotlight series read my New Project Spotlight series welcome article.
I’m always looking for new projects to feature. What is a new project you’ve tried and liked? Would it be a good one to shine the light on in my New Project Spotlight series? Are you an awesome crochet artist with a design you’d like to see featured here? If so, leave me a note in the comments.
In addition to several of my crochet boards on Pinterest, you might also check out my Made It, Did It, Tried It board, chuck full of a random assortment of projects, places, recipes and more that I’ve tried and liked.
