Off Script: Why creatives can’t give up on social media
In this week’s Off Script column, Kiwi actor and dancer Olivia Tennet explains why so many creatives, despite hating social media, can’t ditch the platforms.
“I like my phone. It’s not an addiction, I’m not anti-social. It just truly makes me happy.”
This is the line from Job that I find the hardest to play truthfully. I understand why Jane says it, but I feel almost the exact opposite. My phone rarely makes me happy. It usually leaves me feeling distracted, depleted, and creatively fragmented. Yet the challenge of reciting this line has forced me to confront an uncomfortable contradiction: despite believing social media is damaging, I am forced to rely on it.
For many artists, social media is both a necessity and a nuisance. It is an inexpensive and democratic platform capable of launching careers that might otherwise have never found an audience. Musicians can build loyal followings without record labels, actors can showcase their range beyond the confines of casting directors, and dancers can reach millions with a single video. Where visibility was once controlled by institutions, it is now available to anyone with consistency, creativity, and an internet connection.
But this accessibility comes at a cost. The artist is no longer simply asked to perform, they are expected to produce a parallel stream of content that surrounds their performance. Rehearsals become reels, writing sessions become time-lapses, moments of rest become opportunities for engagement. The process is continually interrupted by the need to document itself. There is a growing sense that if something is not shared – did it happen at all?
I often wonder when my career stopped being about performing. Somewhere between auditions, rehearsals, and creating my own work, another role quietly emerged: content creator. It’s not enough to dedicate myself to my work any more. I also have to document it, package it, caption it, and feed it into an algorithm that rewards visibility over artistry. Making the work increasingly feels secondary to proving that I am making the work.
But choosing not to participate in this process can feel less like integrity and more like professional self-sabotage. I have experienced firsthand how, if I don’t participate, I won’t sell tickets. I am acutely aware that if I hadn’t used social media when promoting my solo show, no one would have known about it. Furthermore, when the project is entirely self-funded, a phone can achieve what once required agents, publicists, and marketing budgets. In an industry built on precarity, the appeal is obvious.
I recently tried to leave Instagram. I enjoyed two blissful months off the app, but I’ve come crawling back for the purpose of promoting a play that explores the perils of social media and our tumultuous relationship to tech. Oh, the irony!
Job is unsettling – and so it should be. The play examines what happens when technology is no longer just a tool but a force that shapes identity, relationships, and our sense of self. Jane embraces her phone because it “truly makes her happy”. I reject that sentiment, yet I still reach for mine every day. The difference between us is perhaps smaller than I would like to admit.
This trap is especially insidious because it is one we have built ourselves. As performers, we strive to tell truthful human stories, yet we are increasingly expected to flatten ourselves into endlessly consumable content just to remain visible.
It feels like dancing with the devil when I just want to go back to dancing.
- Olivia Tennet stars in the Broadway sensation, Job, at Silo Theatre from September 3 to 20. silotheatre.co.nz/show/job