Is social media destroying our creativity?
Do you know the difference between inspiration and creativity?
Creativity - The use of imagination or original ideas to create something.
Inspiration - The process of being mentally stimulated to do something creative.
I have watched the industry grow over the last 15 years and the past 5 years have seen it become a tighter community, where everyone is available at a click of a button.
A blessing? Social media has enabled us to reach far and wide and speak to fellow nail techs on the other side of the world, making new friends instantly. It has expanded our businesses, allowed us to network and learn. We have had our eyes opened to new styles, products and application methods. The changing trends from different continents has given us knowledge we wouldn’t have had access to before. Social media has opened other avenues of awareness to help us build our own empires, like marketing and the beauty, hair and make up industries collaborating to expand what we offer to our clients and students.
Social media and our need to share and show the world what we know has opened up a whole new way of gaining information, expanding our knowledge and learning from others for free, instantly.
There is an influx of FREE video tutorials in abundance on the Internet. I have not only watched them, I have posted my fair share and I will continue to do so. I’ll be honest with you here; for me, posting free video tutorials is all about marketing my brand and getting my message out to you. I’m guessing this is the case for other people who post their videos too, but who cares its for free right?
Learning online for free is something we all do in general whilst traveling, watching TV or waiting at the Doctors surgery. However this new information and inspiration is all lost the moment we browse onto the next video.
So in reality, we learn nothing at all. We just watch a nice video and think to ourselves, 'must try that one day' or, 'I wonder where she got that brush from?’.
What we think and feel about other people’s nails, products and even the attitudes towards clients is shouted at us in big bold capital letters, with different social media groups for just about everything.
There’s a battle to be noticed, to shine brighter than the rest of the posts, to be innovative and come up with something new and different in order to stay ahead of the competition.
Because of this fight to be distinctive, our timelines have been filled with so many different things, the attention span of an individual constantly being diverted and tempted towards something else more exciting and glittery.
Nail technicians are getting drowned in self doubt as they look at art work and video tutorials they hope to recreate by watching a quick 2 minute video, with no practical step by steps on how to succeed.
There are so many new avenues to education today; when I started there was limited internet, no YouTube and definitely nothing like Facebook. My only source of new information was magazines, workshops and shows. With videos and images coming up on our news feeds everyday, are we at risk of inspiration overload? We are suddenly caught like a deer in the headlights not sure where to start when it comes down to doing the work. The mixed messages and techniques floating around our heads making no practical sense at all.
You will never be innovative or unique if you can’t learn to listen to your inner creativity. We all have it, the source of that creativity will not come out unless you’re sat in front of your nail desk, and not in front of your computer.
Stop looking to be innovating and different. Start looking for the right tools and information to build your own style, enhance the fundamental applications and develop the skills you need. That is what will make you unique and distinctive, standing out from the social media crowd.
I would love to know what you think about this article and how you find your inspiration? Does this translate to being creative?
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