The Future of Creativity is Decentralized
A quiet shift is happening online.
The platforms that once felt like creative playgrounds now feel like corporate arenas. Ruled by algorithms. Designed for engagement. Optimized for ad revenue. The internet, once vast and experimental, has become a walled garden where visibility is pay-to-play and reach is rationed.
But maybe that’s changing.
In The Great Decentralization, an article published in Noema, Renée DiResta explores how the internet is fracturing. People are leaving centralized social networks like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, opting for smaller, self-governed spaces that better align with their values. Platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky aren’t direct competitors. They are alternatives to the one-size-fits-all platforms that have dominated the past decade.
But this shift isn’t just about technology. It is about how we gather, how we create, and where we choose to belong.
What This Means for Creatives
If digital spaces are decentralizing, where does that leave creativity? If mass social platforms are no longer the best place for depth, originality, and long-form engagement, where do creatives go?
For years, artists, designers, and writers have relied on Instagram, TikTok, and Behance to share their work. But these platforms weren’t built for us. They were built for advertisers. And as they shift toward algorithm-driven virality and monetized distribution, creative work is increasingly being forced into formats that serve the platform first and the creator second.
What thrives isn’t necessarily what’s best. It is what fits the system.
But what happens when we step away from the algorithm? When we stop optimizing for reach and start thinking about resonance?
The Great Creative Migration
The internet is splintering into smaller creative enclaves. Private Discord communities. Newsletters. Federated networks. Self-hosted platforms where creators engage with their audience on their own terms.
This is where the real shift is happening.
Creatives are moving away from mass platforms in favor of owned spaces. Newsletters, community-driven sites, personal domains. ( as you can see, I’m sharing on my own site)
Curation is becoming more valuable than virality. People are choosing depth over reach.
New creative economies are emerging. Patron-supported work. Invite-only creative spaces.
Not everyone is leaving social media, but they are using it differently. As a teaser, not the main event.
The era of centralized social media, dictated by engagement metrics, is giving way to something more fragmented. But also more intentional.
This is exactly what’s been on my mind.
This blog, my ZinaZine, has been about exploring. Outside of trends. Outside of noise.
Outside of whatever is being optimized for the moment.
It feels like entering these platforms is stepping into the global arena of dance monkey dance.
Perform. Stay relevant. Keep up.
But in an era- and a pace- designed for the global stage, I feel an equally strong desire for the opposite. A need to claim your own space. To be somewhere specific, rather than trying to be everywhere at once.
The internet is decentralizing.
Are you on this wave?
And do you see your creative practice shifting?