Is the art of poetry dying? I don’t think we have to look very far to deduce that the answer is no, not exactly. That being said, the way in which poetry is written, presented and responded to is changing rapidly, thanks, principally, to the arrival of the internet and social media.
I attended a gathering recently in which poetry readers and writers discussed the importance of poetry and their favourite verses. Being the youngest person there, I considered how my response to poetry differed from everyone else’s; had my experience of growing up in the digital age given me a new perspective on the art form? I thought specifically about Instagram – how has a platform, established primarily for photographers, lent itself so strongly to the written verse? The site is home to over 31,600,000 posts tagged #poetry, and it has been credited with introducing poetry to the masses.
Instagram lends itself well to a short, accessible, visual form of storytelling. Poets such as Rupi Kaur have led the way in terms of publishing poetry on the platform that is both concise and evocative, tapping into Instagram’s potential and capturing the imaginations of millions of readers.
Who is a poet?
The answer, in this day and age, is pretty much anyone. What seems to be taking place is a democratisation and expansion of the traditional limits of poetry. Just as photographers no longer have to look far in terms of circulating their work, poets can bypass traditional publishing methods by posting their poetry on platforms such as Instagram.
Poetry itself has also arguably adapted to social media, with traditional techniques and styles being deployed less stringently by young poets, and instead being replaced by more experimental formats complimentary to the intimate, informal nature of Instagram poetry. Speaking to Stylist Magazine, poet Hera Lindsay Bird says “The kind of poetry I like was actually shaped by the humour and playfulness of social media…I always have erratic punctuation and capitalisation in all my poems now”.
Who is a reader?
Just as today’s poets can find new ways of reaching out to audiences, readers themselves can discover new ways of connecting with poetry. Digital poetry can instigate new relationships between poet and reader; relationships which are arguably more tangible, intimate and instantaneous. Audiences of poetry are also expanding and diversifying, thanks to the far-reaching nature of Instagram.
Along with this new relationship between writer and reader comes the desire to see ourselves reflected in art. When we look at history’s most popular poets, it becomes evident that poetry has long been the domain of white men (and some, albeit fewer, women). But in an age of social consciousness, audience demands are evolving, and with traditional poetry facing a lingering diversity problem, enthusiasts have turned to digital platforms in pursuit of a more diverse range of voices. Tackling questions about identity and belonging in a poignant, personal way has become a recurring theme of social media’s growing poetry phenomenon.
Is poetry struggling or thriving in the age of Instagram?
Overall, Instagram and other social media seems to be challenging and shifting the boundaries of what a poem should be. Of course, not all poetry out there can be deemed ‘good quality’, and there are those who may argue that the sheer amount of content out there is resulting in the loss of poetry’s significance and meaning. But the fact that anybody can write and express themselves in myriad ways is promising and positive – and there is no reason why new forms of poetry cannot exist alongside more traditional ones.
But for those still fond of the pen-and-paper approach, never fear: statistics suggest that sales of poetry books are actually thriving. In fact, this can even be attributed in part to the rise of Instagram as a poetry platform, with work by ‘Instapoets’, such as Kaur, driving up sales. So does the argument that poetry and physical books are fading into obsolescence still hold up? Again, not exactly – the digital age may have changed how we respond to poetry, but it lives on in different formats.
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