As a creative person on the Internet, I spend a lot, a lot, a lot of time on social media. I have stopped letting my screen time deter me, and I now scroll to my heart’s content — stopping only when my eyes give up (I am obsessed with tarot readings these days and am trying hard to quit the habit).

So when I saw a few reels that were speaking about a piece on Substack by Nynoshka R that was titled “The Scroll is Killing Your Authenticity and Creativity”, I was intrigued. The writer says, “Back in the day, the artist’s creative process was treated like prayer. It was never rushed, unless insanity took over. Leonardo da Vinci worked on the Mona Lisa for years, never fully declaring it finished. Vincent van Gogh painted obsessively, producing over 900 works in ten years, most of them unseen or unappreciated during his lifetime. Art came from authenticity, and that sometimes became an obsession. But even this obsession came from devotion, not demand.” She compares it to what is happening now, and says, “Analyse the views. Go back and perfect. Do it all over again. See what’s trending. See what the comments say. Make art for the people in the comments.” She also says that most creators now first build audiences, and let that audience decide their content. Hence, it all boils down to creators losing their authenticity, creativity, and their “spark.”