A curated hallucination of perfection

The other day someone who’d read a couple of posts from this blog, told me that he was amazed at the things that I write, and that there are people who read it. I agree, it is amazing: In 2024, this site got an eye-brow-raising 99,075 views, and an even more surprising 78,724 visitors. That’s way more people than the number of subscribers.

Visitors or no visitors, there’s no denying that this blog, and my music blog, are my original creations, written with absolutely no consideration for the potential readers. Every word, picture, and video on it, and every mistake in it, over the past eleven-plus years, are mine (unless it’s a quote, or reproduction of a cover or illustration). As such, it is as weird, and as flawed, as I am. Take it, or leave it.

Nobody’s that perfect

My friend’s observations led me to ponder: for the purposes of publicity, should I be more visible on social media sites, Instagram (IG) for instance? At the moment, I only post the occasional music-related reel. Then I read this on IG:

“First of all, let’s take a deep breath and step away from the Instagram rabbit hole. That place is a carefully curated hallucination full of lies.

Because no one’s posting their bad angles, their existential breakdowns over laundry, or the nights they eat peanut butter straight from the jar while watching reality TV. (Trust me, even the marathon-running, dog-fostering goddesses have those nights.)”

I’d love to be able to attribute this quote, but it is a reprint of a reprint of a reprint of a quote. Where the original was posted, and by who, heaven knows. But it is precisely what I have observed about IG.

Nothing is that perfect

Let’s exclude posts and reels about science and engineering, but consider that, in art, for instance, there is just no way that artists work as perfectly as they do on IG. No-one can produce a painting or illustration, so fast, so perfectly, so balanced, and each line precise, clean, and in the right place, in one go. Real people mess up, their hands wobble, they misjudge, they over-work or under-work something, they smudge and spill. They despair, rave, rant, and celebrate. So, I can only assume that those reels with perfect works are the results of years of trying – and multiple takes, and good editing. But the posts don’t spell that out.

On IG, post after post is one perfect work after the next, from Chinese porcelain, to murals painted with special spray systems. Even the dogs and cats are perfect. The people are perfect. The performers and musicians are perfect. The singer-songwriters face the camera with sincerity in their eyes, and open their mouths, and this studio-balanced sound comes out. As if that is normal. I think not.

Where are the dishevelled, normal, self-doubting people? Where are the do-overs and time spent getting to perfect?

There simply is no “ordinary” on IG. The struggle to create, which is real, isn’t shown. Which makes us ordinary mortals feel quite inadequate. No wonder there are so many posts on IG about not having to feel inadequate, about it being OK to make mistakes, by gurus and shrinks and feel-good influencers.

(Hang on – it is some kind of weird self-sustaining ecosystem?!)

IG rabbit hole? Please, Lord, no!

My blogs, of which I am quite unreasonably proud, are in many ways the opposite of the “carefully curated hallucination full of lies” that is IG.

Should the day ever come that I find myself stuck down an IG rabbit hole of my own making, I hope some kind person will get me to step away from my Mac, and select “Delete site permanently” from the admin. tools options.

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