To become the most powerful digital entrepreneur, you must own the means of production!

Anti-digital share-cropping

What is a ‘digital sharecropper’? The basic notion is this:

You are ‘renting’ online space to publish things.

But if we have learned anything about sharecropping in America, we know that the poor share-croppers got seriously fucked in the long-term. They had the false notion that they ‘owned’ the land. But in reality, they were still slaves to the land-owners (except they got paid. But this money still went to ‘pay off’ the land).

The same is happening now with Facebook-Instagram (Facebook owns Instagram). You are given ‘free’ space to publish things online, but you don’t own or control anything.

Now, I still believe that Facebook is a ‘net positive’ to society at large (ability for family members to keep in touch, free and instant communication via What’s App and Messenger– which are both owned by Facebook). But we cannot be suckered. If your desire is to become the most epic photographer, digital entrepreneur, and publisher– you must build your own platform.

Is Instagram a ‘net negative’ for artists and creators?

If you’re super super poor and living in some developing country with no access to publishing means, Instagram is obviously a good place to share your artwork.

Yet if you lived in the ‘developed’ world, or if you earn more than $40,000 a year, it seems that Instagram is a net-negative for you as a creator/artist/creative person.

Think long-term

Why is this?

This is what I think:

By building a following on Instagram and getting stuck on the ‘social media treadmill’ of constantly uploading images and getting likes (dopamine hits), you will end up ultimately pandering to others, instead of following your own artistic gut.

I’ve seen this ‘social media burnout’ happen to so many people (myself included). And this is the irony:

What initially made you different (following your own gut), becomes a formula, which PREVENTS you from re-inventing and innovating!

Will deleting Instagram cause you pain/damage in the short-term? I think so. But will deleting Instagram help you in the long-run? Of course.

Start your own platform

Hosting your own wordpress.org blog means that you can be indexed by Google. Thus, people can discover you (randomly) on Google.

Start your own platform. Own your platform. Begin a website-blog via signing up for a domain host (1and1.com or bluehost.com), and installing wordpress.org. Then start to publish yourself. And yes, blogging is as legitimate as publishing anywhere else. In-fact, I think there is no difference between publishing in print and on your blog. Simply focus on your own publishing goals.

Own your platform, and own yourself!
ERIC