Art Blog - Calligraphy: A Scribe's Notes

When I first wrote this blog almost a year ago, I said that social media would become a mainstream marketing tool, and it has. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others have changed the way we communicate, sell and inform. If you are not already using these tools to market yourself, your artwork and custom services, better get busy.

As things change, they remain even more the same. Ways of interacting, communicating and building commerce change, but the reasons behind it do not. The means we use to communicate and socialize have evolved according to need and capability. Fifteen years ago, when the computer took a firm hold on our society, calligraphers were up in arms, this would put us out of business, the same way we thought movable type would. We failed to embrace the technology as a tool then, as an addition to our traditional tools. Now, we are more comfortable with the technology and use it to stay in and improve our business. The internet has flung more information at us than we can handle, given us ways to socialize and do business we don't even understand. The cyberfluent are speaking a language we might grasp six months from now. As our world careens toward the virtual, we are romanced by technology, caught up in the hip, the gadget, the "app". We want more of it and we want it now, but we really don't know what to do with it. Internet marketing and social media are the new buzz words of cyberbusiness. Everybody has to blog, Link, Flickr, Twitter and Diggit. Maybe, but not to the extent that we abandon previous methodology altogether. Nothing takes the place of human interaction. We are social beings, we need to congregate, to celebrate, laugh, to protest and to argue. We need to touch, shake hands, hug, caress and high five. The reason I have 30 calligraphers in my Facebook is because I met them at conferences, took classes and ate meals with them. That being said, I have "met" many more around the world with whom I maintain a flow of ideas, support and inspiration. Both are valuable. I maintain that artists are not resistant or slow to use new technology. We are cautious. Before we start spending time blogging, twittering, linking and pod casting, we want to know if it's worth the investment. Is it a fad or an advantage? Where is the balance between technology and craftsmanship? The shift from quills to metal nibs was a new tool,movable type was a tool. The internet is a tool, social media is a tool, not to be dismissed but used wisely. Take the time to learn a little about the advantages of social media now and you will be ahead of the competition when it becomes mainstream.

COMMENTS

 

1

  Manoj Patill

03/05/2013 * 10:44:32

Nice.......excellent points Thanks for the post & Valuable guidance

 

2

  Cindy Yount ( homepage )

03/08/2010 * 13:16:18

All excellent points. :) As with everything, we must strive to find balance! Thanks for the post.

 

3

  Anne ( homepage )

11/13/2008 * 15:54:39

I couldn't agree with you more. Calligraphy is an art and technology is a tool we can use to further our artistic abilities. Thanks for the post

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