Is Social Media Killing Your Creative Game Bro?

We were created to create and being a creative means taking risks. But there was a time when failure was private. A time when you could write a terrible poem, sketch a lopsided drawing, or launch a half-baked idea—without the world watching. Your mistakes were yours to evaluate for the most part. They didn’t have comment sections, engagement stats, or algorithms deciding their worth or even worse, immortalizing your immaturity or otherwise failure to launch. You simply learned in peace, refined in solitude, and emerged stronger.

Then came the digital age. Now, failure isn’t just personal—it’s public. Every misstep is archived, analyzed, and sometimes even ridiculed. And for a generation raised on instant validation, the fear of failing in front of an audience can be enough to stop creativity before it even begins.

Don't Be Scurred

Before we even start creating, we’re thinking about how it will be received. Will it get engagement? Will it be ignored? Worse—will it be torn apart? Is it edgier than the one that last guy made? That pressure keeps many from experimenting, which is where creativity thrives.

Psychologist Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice, points out that too many options and too much awareness of public judgment can create decision paralysis. The same principle applies to creativity. When we’re hyper-aware of the digital audience, we overthink, hesitate, and ultimately create less. For example, if you've been considering starting a YouTube channel over the past year and haven't produced a SINGLE VIDEO for your channel yet, you're probably in this category. You're waiting to paint the wall for the backdrop or buy the better camera or you're waiting for your middle school daughter to graduate from high school first so that you can use her bedroom as your studio where the videos will record better. There's a good chance that you're stalling.

Real creativity is messy. It’s unfiltered. It doesn’t fit neatly into a well-lit Instagram post. The best ideas—the groundbreaking ones—come from raw, unpolished trial and error. If you never allow yourself that space, you’ll never know what you’re truly capable of. (Shoot the video bro!)

Comparison Traps

Social media is a huge amusement park. It doesn’t just expose our failures—it also distorts success. We don’t see the late nights, the failed drafts, the fights (well ... most times) or the months of doubt. Typically, we see the finished product, polished and edited + airbrushed for public consumption.

According to a study by the Royal Society for Public Health, social media is directly linked to increased anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, particularly among young creatives. Constant exposure to curated perfection can lead to creative paralysis—why start if you can’t measure up?

Perfection is a myth tho. And comparison a the thief. The moment you start measuring your raw process against someone’s final cut, you’ve already lost.

How to Reclaim Your Creativity

1. Create in Private – Not everything needs to be shared. Some of the most powerful creative breakthroughs happen when no one is watching.

2. Embrace the Mess – Let yourself make bad art. Write garbage ideas. The greatest minds in history weren’t afraid to fail spectacularly before they succeeded.

3. Step Away from the Scroll – Limit consumption. Inspiration comes from doing, not just absorbing. Seth Godin once said, “There’s no such thing as writer’s block, only the fear of bad writing.” The same goes for all creative work.

4. Nobody Cares Bro* – People are too consumed with their own lives to track your failures. And those who do? They’re not your people. [*Of course, people care. Just not nearly as much as you think.]

Not Even Gonna Hold You

Creativity isn’t about impressing man—it’s about expressing. If social media is stifling that, maybe it’s time to step away and create something for the joy of it.

Here’s the charge: What’s something you’ve been afraid to put out there? What would you create if you had no fears at all?

Let’s talk. Drop a comment or, better yet, go create something. Love, light, + life. #L3