Matt Piper
Sep 9, 2023
A Time for New, and Letting Go of What Doesn't Serve Me
Though we are simply not finished with the website updates, I wanted to note the importance of the updates due to a deactivation of my social media.
After a very long time of being on the fence, I've deactivated my Instagram account. I can no longer access it at this current time and though I will make no definitive statements here (as I tend to be bad with definitive statements) I feel quite good being on the outside of the social media landscape.
Here's a few general reasons why I wanted to step away from social media
I tried to create a positive relationship with social media, my tactics included; Scheduling, treating it less personally and more like a business, post and delete the app, and so much more. I tried different tactics for three years.
The algorithm favors post frequency. Posting every day is a positive thing... for the algorithm, for views. But not for my personal art. I personally believe that valuable art comes from time offered to that art. Posting too quickly might give you more opportunities to catch a lucky break, but once you hit that lucky break, what about all the other stuff you post? Do they all become lucky with the one lucky post that was made viral? Not quite.
I don't want to stay up to date with all 1700 people I followed. The algorithm also gets to decide who I keep up with that day. I want to go about my day and wonder "I wonder what *insert curiosity here* is doing today?" Then I wish to personally reach out to them, preferably in person, but probably over the phone and genuinely see how they are.
To get my time back. Already being on the outside, I'm not scrolling through social media, I'm sitting, bored and somewhat anxious, probably having withdrawals, but now I have even more ideas come to me as I simply sit there allowing that anxiety a presence from me. Not being afraid to sit with myself anymore, or learning not to be afraid.
I feel that without social media I am now held accountable to genuinely good art. Because some people can post some of the worst things and it can go viral, the reward is granted wrongly, and I don't want to be rewarded by simply posting every single day, personally being too afraid of going all in on a select piece of work. Not only that but I personally get to pick and choose what I like and what I do not like, and I feel more free to make that decision, as opposed to looking at what an authority is saying on the topic in video format.
I'm free to make my work, and my new website is a reflection on that.
I've changed my design to something far more minimal, something with a bit more space to it. I've stretched the original image to keep the background as I love the natural lighting Ted Ely used for the shoot and the color of the backdrop, along with the grain that was captured in camera. Take a closer look at the background for each page, it's quite simply the background of the very first picture you see on the home page.
There are still changes needed to be made, and some other things to post up, like my CV, my acting reel, and my current work, but I'm quite happy where it is right now, and hope also, you enjoy.
Will continue with updates when I can and can't wait for this new territory outside social media. I mean, it's funny, I quit for maybe a year, but I have not quite like this before.
I would like to note one more thing about social media, I think it's an incredible marketing tool, I'll do a full blog post of more of my ideas on it, but If I'm to come back to social media I would need to delegate the process. I've quite simply learned that social media does not fit with my personality, and I'm accepting that.
Much love today and every day,
Matt Piper 🐅🌱