This is something obvious but that we often seem to forget.

Let’s repeat that:

JUST
AN
APP

Specifically in relation to tattooing, younger artists and collectors that haven’t been exposed to the tattoo world for long, subconsciously absorb the idea that Instagram is what tattooing is, the ultimate guide to relevance.

Definitely not the case.

Often I see or hear mention of the best tattooers alive, the IG hotshots, if you bring up let’s say Filip Leu..  ”Who?”

You don’t judge the level of a tattooer by the followers but by the CONSISTENT CONTRIBUTION they brought to the craft as a whole.

EXPOSURE vs. CONTRIBUTION, different game.

I’ve seen apprentices with 50k followers and tiny linework tattooers with hundreds of thousands… that shows the flaw in the system and should tell us not to take it as a reference. Sad thing today is the redirection of work and PERCEIVED VALUE based on biased perception(marketing) and not competence.

That’s why we should look into tattooing (if we’re serious about it) not within the app but searching for:

-who’s been putting out solid work for years

-who published/sold good books for years

-who ran good conventions for years

-who has an INFORMED opinion about this (not tattoo pages/platforms run by non tattooers where too often butts and likes make the cut at the expense of experienced work).

All of the above is backed by a thorough and extensive RESEARCH on the subject, not an algorithm.

This is JUST AN APP on your phone, like the one you use to order food or buy train tickets. Incredibly useful and fun to promote yourself and build a network but still just a tool, not a reference or even a truthful representation of reality.