INTERARTS MATRIX WORKS ON REGIONALIZING SOCIAL MEDIA
“Social media does not place you in a specific geography[…]it’s very hard to curate one’s own experience in one’s own city by scrolling through Instagram,” Sheila McMath, artistic director of Inter Arts Matrix, said.
“[Social media] creates an illusion of social connection, but ultimately you don’t end up showing up in your own community because there’s no way to sift through all of the information,” she said.
Inter Arts Matrix is a local arts organization producing and incubating interdisciplinary arts projects in the Waterloo Region. Regionalizing Social Media is an ongoing research project creating a strategy for the local arts community.
The research team taking on this work includes McMath, artist/researcher Stephanie Florence, and a six-person advisory council made up of local cultural workers and scholars. This project is in collaboration with other arts organizations including MT Space, CAFKA, Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound, the Willow River Centre, Green Light Arts, NUMUS Concerts and Neruda Arts.
Florence articulated guiding questions for this local project.
“What does it [art] mean for the community, and how can we make those connections and distinctions? What social media or communication forms are appropriate to actually build community?”
Florence described how other places they have lived, such as Lethbridge and Edmonton, AB, fund and resource their arts infrastructure to be the centre of community through structural backing like municipal funding, resources and centralizing arts events.
Regionalizing Social Media addresses this dearth of infrastructure, as well as the overwhelming reliance on Meta-owned social media platforms.
“Even if you are following all of your favourite artists, all of your favourite organizations in a specific area, you might not see those events happening,” Florence said.
Florence points out that for artists, there are additional implications.
“So, we give away ownership of our artistic work[…]when we post videos and photos,” Florence said.
In response to these issues, Regionalizing Social Media commits to developing multi-pronged approaches to increase public access and awareness of local arts events.
“I think we need to look towards social media applications that are owned by the public, that are billionaire-proof,” Florence said.
“[The infrastructure] needs to be largely funded by the municipalities[…]but I don’t think that it should necessarily be controlled by them,” Florence said.
“This brings me hope,” Florence said. “As an Instagram-less artist myself, I have often felt disconnected from the local arts scene in which communication and promotion occurs predominantly on Instagram.”
Lastly, McMath voiced that Regionalizing Social Media intends to strengthen relationships across the cultural sector.
“I hope this project brings us closer to being genuine colleagues,” McMath said.
“When you have true reciprocity and true community building, there’s a sense of cohesiveness and giving,” McMath said.
One quote from Stephanie Florence has been removed in the online version of this article at their request.
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