Is social media robbing the fun from our hobbies?

Driving north to our parent’s house for New Year’s Eve, I announced the monumental news to my older brother that this year, I would finally be starting my own side business. As it transpired, my brother confessed that he too had been grappling with ideas for his own money-making side project; feeling pressured to milk his existing hobbies for cash. From our discussion, it was obvious that we both felt compelled to have a side hustle and that we were not fulfilling our potential without one. All that had to be accomplished now was to figure out what the heck I was going to do. Unfortunately, my initial plan to purchase a fifth-tier, professional football team from Wales, had hit the proverbial cross-bar.

Giving it some thought, I wondered whether social media was to blame for setting this expectation that we should be going above and beyond our full-time jobs. The rise of influencer culture has set an expectation that we should be living life to the full at all times; pursuing several foreign holidays a year, attending festivals and eating out at expensive restaurants - where we can also get a new profile photo from the top of The Shard! The portrayal of living a lavish, active lifestyle is no longer reserved for models, rich kids, bloggers and sugar babies. It has now become the norm for everybody - regardless of class or status - to portray a certain lifestyle on social media. People want to be seen as interesting. They want to be seen as multifaceted. Therefore, if our reality is working a nine-to-five job, five days a week and spending the remainder curled up on the sofa gripped by the Crocodilian Death Scroll - also known as Tik Tok - it is now commonplace to feel guilt in our waning self-actualisation.

Social media compels us to flaunt all aspects of our lives, and hobbies are no exception. My Instagram feed is filled with photos of dog walks, wild swimmers, spin bikes and embroidery hoops. Hello world, here are the aspects of my life that make me interesting! And yet, being creative and busy - or at least being seen to be - was still not enough. My brother and I have had hobbies for years and yet we felt as though we ought to be maximising these activities for profit. Social media has hoodwinked us into believing that a lavish lifestyle is wholly achievable if we can generate supplementary income from our hobbies. We live in a world where clothes are sold on Depop instead of being donated to charity. Nobody puts paint to canvas anymore, instead they create digital art that will sell better on Etsy. We are surrounded by the products of other people’s hobbies and as a result, we cannot help but feel that we are on the wrong end of the transaction.

Perhaps we consider that the efforts expended on our hobbies warrants some form of financial recognition. If you are going to upcycle furniture, repair guitars or sketch in your free time, there is a satisfaction in being able to sell those products which you have poured your time and energy into. You can recuperate the cost of materials you are using whilst also obtaining tangible recognition that your skills are appreciated by others.

For some, the desire to commercialise their hobbies may be rooted in pursuing a new full-time career. My younger brother has always played guitar on the side of his full-time job, and he is now finally able to pursue a career in music on a full-time basis - something that would be much harder to achieve had he not developed his hobby for profit several years ago. Perhaps subconsciously, I am searching for a fallback career in case robots really do replace lawyers?

The pressure to portray a lavish lifestyle not only encourages us to go above and beyond our day jobs, but also convinces us that our current income is inadequate. I have certainly considered options for increasing my monthly income in light of rising living costs. Creating a side hustle from my existing hobbies feels much more achievable to me than renting out my non-existent property, and significantly less seedy than selling my sweaty socks to middle-aged men on the internet.

In my endeavour to find a USP for my first business venture, I quickly realised that setting up a small business is no mean feat. Approximately 60% of small businesses will go bust within the first three years. Therefore if you really want to pursue a business venture, then you need to be prepared for failure. It requires resilience and commitment, something that comes from a passion for what you are doing, and not simply the desire to make money. You will also need the financial backing, which may prove tricky in today’s turbulent economy. (It was for this very reason that my side hustle as a digital artist never took off; with my bank account rudely opposing my proposed purchase of a drawing tablet, laptop and printer-scanner simultaneously). Running a small business takes a great deal of time and dedication. It imposes deadlines and a standard of care above what you would produce simply for your own enjoyment. You will need to comply with the laws that regulate the commercial sphere and learn how to file your own tax returns.

It is achievable. I have friends who have turned their creative passion into a successful business. They are incredibly talented at what they do and their skill and passion shines through. Social media has even played a huge part in the success of their businesses, by showcasing their work, creating their brand and building their customer base. Yet despite what capitalism may tell us, running a business does not have to be for everyone. You can absolutely keep hobbies for yourself without exploiting them for profit - and you can even keep them off social media if you try hard enough!

The pressure to portray a lavish lifestyle not only encourages us to go above and beyond our day jobs, but it also convinces us that our current income is inadequate.

Recently, I have made an effort to pursue hobbies outside of work that have always appealed to me. I am taking piano lessons, I am learning to rock-climb, I write. Each of these hobbies allows me to explore aspects of my personality and to focus on personal growth. I can unwind from a stressful work day by exercising my body and my mind in ways that I would not otherwise know were possible. Most of all, because these hobbies stem from a genuine interest and build on my existing skills, they make me feel like my truest form of self. Whether or not I decide to pursue a small business out of my hobbies remains to be seen. For now, I am simply grateful for the many other rewards to be gained from partaking in activities that bring me so much joy in this otherwise tumultuous and overwhelming world.

Society today promotes capitalism at its most extreme; the only valued purpose of business is its ability to make money. When this societal attitude is combined with the pressures of social media, we are made to believe that we should be exploiting every aspect of our lives for profit. Yet as humans have always done and will continue to do, we can choose to acknowledge and oppose societal pressures in pursuit of our own interests. Many of us will have legitimate reasons for converting our hobbies into a business, whether financial or otherwise. Yet we must not underestimate the benefits of having a hobby. They enable us to relax and unwind, to explore our personality and make friends along the way. There are also proven mental health benefits to having a hobby, which can reduce stress and improve your mood. In our social media dominated world, it is more important than ever to prioritise our mental health and engage with others face-to-face. Hobbies allow us to achieve both of these things. Having a hobby allows us to create and cultivate a space in which self-care and self-development are assigned priority. A valuable space, that in my opinion, extends beyond the worth of any business.