The year is 2020.
Oops ! not again - the one reaction we saw almost everyday, everyone had.
Another reaction, which a few lucky ones could see was - Oh, wow ! Did you do this ?
This was when every art-lover decided to give the artist in them a chance to create and explore the art world. Having no other option, than to stay at home; we could see a lot of us indulging in art and creative processes, learning new artforms and finally bringing on paper the ideas in our mind.
But, it wasn't a piece of cake. One challenge we faced was the art supplies. With least transportation, and closed markets, it became a little difficult to get the right materials at the right time. But, none-the-less, we are artists, we can create art out of anything, anywhere, when we set our heart to it.
Other than the cases going on rise, another thing that saw a rise was IG accounts. Instagram saw a huge growth in its active users database. Don't believe it, check these Instagram Insights by Hootsuite, one of the leading social media management platforms. Along with this, the constant updates on IG application, the ban on Tik-Tok in India and the introduction of IG Reels at nearly the same time, changed the way the Artificial Intelligence behind the Instagram app works.
The platform uses image recognition technology to assess the content of a given post. If you frequently engage (like, comment, share, DM) with posts/accounts that feature, say, watercolour work, the app gives preference to watercolour-related images and videos when organizing your feed. This is what we call the Instagram algorithm. While most of the Creator Accounts are whining about their content not getting enough reach, the ones who have adopted and understood the technology well, have seen an immense rise in their statistics.
Instagram's algorithm is based on three simple factors - Interest, Timeliness and Relationship.
Interest - How often you like an image/video containing a certain type of work and how much time do you spend on these posts. Commenting or Saving is a bonus.
Timeliness - What time of the day do you post and how consistent you actually are with your content. Are you sharing similar type of content, or are you confusing the algorithm.
Relationship - Who do you tag in your posts, whom are you connected on DM, whose stories do you reply/react to, whom do you tag in comments.
The IG algorithm knows this all, studies your behaviour and then decides what you'll see first in your feed. Yes, the world has progressed this far to have a technology that can understand your behaviour just like how your mother did when you were a baby who couldn't speak.
So, we cannot put the blame on Instagram alone that the reach has died, one needs to introspect the content quality and the usage of other features that Instagram has.
2020 will also be the year to have most webinars.
Though somewhere it sounds boring now, to those who leveraged the use of webinars can see a clear growth in their network and more business opportunities.
Coming to YouTube, it is the second most popular website to be visited. If you are wondering, which is first - it is Google. Also, the google algorithm works in a way where for certain search queries, the top search results are YouTube links followed by webpages.
So, if it is 2020 and you have finally awakened the artist in you, it is also time to understand the platforms where you can share your art.
All of us do miss visiting art galleries and exhibitions and we are waiting to attend a workshop in person. Because as the saying goes, art is the only way to run away without leaving the home. And, sitting in our four walls, we all have been doing the same - finding a creative escape.
So, keep doing what you can do best - draw, paint, sketch; no matter what year we live in.
And, #stayrad