EP#44: Feeling ‘behind’ as a musician in the digital age? Surviving social media

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Chances are, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 10 years, social media has become a massive part of your life, including your music. But, many musicians say that if it weren’t for needing to stay visible online for their music, they’d probably jack it in. Why?

Well, it’ll come as no surprise that there’s mounting research into how social media has as many negative effects on us as individuals and society as the positive ones that first excited us when it came into our lives. As well as making connections with likeminded people, growing communities and sharing our ideas and our art with a wider audience, there’s a constant pressure to put out content and keep up with the highlights our peers share online. It’s easy to feel like we’re not doing enough or ‘keeping up’.

So, inside this episode, Isobel explores how we as musicians might survive the effects of social media and three key ways to even better enjoy this crucial piece of connecting technology moving forward. Listen in to find out.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
{0:00} Intro
{02:25} Scroll through my feed
{03:59} The cold hard truth about social media
{10:42} The colder, harder truth about social media for musicians
{18:09} What social media rewards (and what it doesn’t)
{20:39} 3 ways to better enjoy using social media as a musician
{25:36} Episode Summary

References:

• Andreassen, C. S., Pallesen, S., Griffiths, M. D. (2017). ‘The relationship between addictive use of social media, narcissism, and self-esteem: Findings from a large national survey’. Addictive Behaviors, (64), pp.287-293 [Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.03.006]
  
  
• Booker, C.L., Kelly, Y.J. & Sacker, A. (2018). ‘Gender differences in the associations between age trends of social media interaction and well-being among 10-15 year olds in the UK’. BMC Public Health, 18, pp.321. [Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5220-4]

• Lee, A. (2020). How Musicians' Mental Health Is Affected By Social Media. Classical Music [Available at: https://www.classical-music.uk/resources/article/how-musicians-mental-health-is-affected-by-social-media]
  
  
  
• Muqaddas, J., Sanobia S., Nawaz, A. (2017). ‘Impact of Social Media on Self-Esteem’. European Scientific Journal, 13(23), pp.329-341, [Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3030048]

Listen to Episode 23 of the podcast, Why Create if No One’s Watching >>

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Girls Twiddling Knobs has ended, but you can stay connected to Isobel's artistic work here.

Girls Twiddling Knobs was hosted by Isobel Anderson and produced by Isobel Anderson and Jade Bailey from Nov 2020-Jan 2026 and will remain live on all major podcast platforms throughout 2026. 

We are grateful to the British Library who have archived the podcast in their Sound and Vision Collection.

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