Is social media over for creatives? Or have we just woken up to what it is?

"The numbers don't lie Fontwerk founder Ivo Gabrowitsch frames the problem. 'A 'successful' post today might reach 10% of followers,' he begins. 'In my view, that means the concept of social media is simply dead.' It's hard to argue with the logic. If you're only experiencing a tenth of the thing you signed up for, what exactly are you participating in?"

"As UX consultant Becky Colley puts it: 'It's not so much social media as the expectation that we're all constantly online and available. I spend my days replying to Slack messages, Teams messages, in meetings, and on calls. Since social media stopped feeling fun, the last thing I want to do is spend my evenings and weekends continuing to connect with people through a screen.'"

Social media once served as a free portfolio and global gateway for creative professionals to find audiences without gatekeepers. Platform algorithms now sharply reduce organic reach, with some posts reaching only about 10% of followers, undermining the premise of open connection. Instagram and ad-driven feeds exacerbate the problem by prioritizing content that fills ad space rather than promoting creators. Creatives face growing pressure to become constant content producers, audience builders, and algorithm managers. That pressure produces fatigue and makes online engagement feel like an obligatory chore rather than a creative outlet.

Read at Creative Boom