Professional Practice Two

I am going to look at analytics and see how I can make my posts more successful on my Instagram account. Firstly I need to understand what they are.

Analytics: Its the analysis of data and statistics

It is understanding the performance and account overall.

The five most important Instagram metrics to track are:

• Follower Growth
• Audience Demographics
• Website Clicks
• Reach
• Engagement Rate

(Falcon.io, 2018)

Instagram metrics are individual statistics, and Instagram analytics help you interpret the statistics and see patterns in them. Your follower count is a metric statistic, while follower growth rate is an analytic statistic.

This is a view of my Instagram account:

Now if I follow the instructions of how to find this analytic information I should be able to get a better idea of what is happening to my stats…

I have followed the instructions of how to see me stats, to click the ‘insights’ link in my account. But there is not this link, looking further into this it looks like I need to be set up as a business or a creator to look at my stats as I have a personal account at the moment…

What kind of accounts are there?

• Personal account
• Business Account (best for retailers, local businesses, brands, organizations and service providers).
• Creator Account (best for public figures, content producers, artists and influencers).

So it looks like a creator account would be the best kind of account for me. I will try and convert my personal account into this.

Reasons to switch to a creator account:

I have switched to a creator account, now I can look at the ‘insights’ of my instagram account.

References:

Falcon.io. (2018). Instagram Analytics Explained: 5 Metrics You Need to Understand. https://www.falcon.io/insights-hub/topics/social-media-strategy/instagram-analytics-metrics-and-insights/#:~:text=1%20Go%20to%20your%20profile%20by%20tapping%20your

I have an Instagram account for my art practice, before looking to try and promote it further I would like to make sure that the site is environmentally sustainable.

I know we have to look at the bigger picture, that the amount of promotion to keep public informed about environmental activism on this social media platform is very important.

But it does have to be taken into consideration, the amount of energy used. Overall the internet uses around 10% of the worlds energy demand and produces around 2% of global emissions. The same usage as the aviation company. (bulb.co.uk, 2021)

Data centres are large buildings for computer servers that control global internet traffic.

They need lots of energy because they cannot be turned off. Which means they also need lots of cooling equipment to stop the machines overheating.

Data Centre, location unknown

Researching whether social media platforms use renewable energy, the only platform I could find information about is Facebook who also own Instagram. I am pleased to see that Facebook are supported by 100% renewable energy and they have reached net zero emissions and has reduced greenhouse emissions by 94%. (Campbell, 2021).

Though more digging I have found out that Instagram is not a zero carbon emmission status as yet, I do feel a bit uneasy continuing with this platform, but its the best visual platform for my work…  I realise I need to make adjustments and only post relevant work and not lots of unnecessary posts, and hopefully Instagram will catch up with this ethos soon.

Moving on, I would like to understand more about how to promote my posts more, is there a better time of day to post, is there certain hash tags that are better to use? Does the amount of hash tags mean more views or does this put the viewer off? …

References:

bulb.co.uk. (2021). We’ve worked out the carbon footprint of our emails | Blog | Bulb. https://bulb.co.uk/blog/weve-worked-out-the-carbon-footprint-of-our-emails

Campbell, M. (2021). Facebook global operations are now supported by 100% renewable energy. euronews.  https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/04/15/facebook-announces-global-operations-now-supported-by-100-renewable-energy.

Social media began in 1996, it has tripled the number of users from 970 million in 2010 to over 4.48 billion users in July 2021.
The numbers are starting to slow down and it now relies on the continous gain in the number of people that has internet access/smart phone. (Your Art Empire, 2019)
On average social media users spend time on 6.6 various media platforms.

Social media sites:

Facebook (started 2004)
Instagram (started 2010)
Twitter (started 2006)
Linkedin (started 2003)
Pinterest (started 2009)
Snapchat (started 2011)
You Tube (started 2005)
Tik Tok (started 2018)
Reddit (started 2005)
Whattsapp (started 2009)
Of the above social media platforms, it is only Instagram that I use to showcase my art practice, is this the best platform to use?

Instagram logo

From a google search I have found out that: One billion users upload 95 million photos and videos a day to Instagram.

Two other sugested platforms for artists, written in an article by ‘Your Art Empire’ are:

Pinterest, in that you can make your business part of a network of more than 250 million users and  175+ billion pins (Your Art Empire).

Or Twitter who have more than 320 million regular users who send over 500 million tweets a day.

40% of all internet users worldwide use social media for work purposes.

I will be researching in more detail the top three social media platforms, of how you can reach the audience you want for your work, and looking at the pros and cons of using social media.

References:
Your Art Empire. (2019). Social Media For Artists: Top 5 Platforms for Creative People. Available at: https://yourartempire.com/social-media-artist/?msclkid=4b87fa3db9ae11ecaaf88297f084c3d3

Art Empire. (2019). Social Media for Artists: Best Way to Extract Value From It. Available at: https://yourartempire.com/social-media-for-artists/?msclkid=1c445facb9b111ecb1c612b5123b22d2

As part of my Professional Practice Two module, I will be trying to gain a better understanding of social media platforms and trying to understand how they function to promote artists work.

I would also like to look at whether social media and digital technology play a part in the problems we have with the climate emergency.

For example when I first heard about NFT’’s I thought they were a great idea, even considering that I may look to promote my practice this way.
I didn’t realise that they use so much energy to keep them running.
This has created a discussion and has become quite controversial.
Famous auction house Christie’s sold the first NFT in October 2020,
it hit headlines with an NFT by Beeple’s, Everydays: the First 5000 Days when it sold for $69 million in March 2021.

Mike Winkelmann, Everydays: the First 5000 Days, 2021, 21,069 x 21,069 pixels

The Art Station has cancelled its plans to give a platform for
NFT’s because of the backlash from people that thinks it is environmentally unethical.
Calma, J. (2021). The climate controversy swirling around NFTs.

My practice focuses on the ephemeral, being mindful about the environment with the materials I choose. This is something I am very interested in to explore so I can have a better understanding about my future practise and what direction it should take,
keeping in mind the importance of sustainable art and processes.

Understanding social media and the technical elements of it will help to give deeper knowledge to my professional practise as it is being brought more and more to my attention the cost to the environment, using social media and digital resources.