Do you also get the impression that, while scrolling through an endless news feed, you are more and more often overwhelmed by a sea of content that exists just for the sake of existing? Just to be published. Someone created it to please the algorithm, posting “something” just to keep accounts active – without a plan, a goal, or even an idea of its purpose. What message does it convey? What value does it bring? We believe this phenomenon can be called – digital l’art pour l’artism.

And while l’art pour l’art as an artistic movement gave us names such as Gustave Flaubert, Charles Baudelaire and Oscar Wilde, whose contributions and purpose in literature are undisputed, the question arises: Is it acceptable to create content for the sake of existing?

The answer is – it depends on who creates it, in whose name, and with what goal. If the content is part of marketing activities, it must contribute to achieving business objectives. And here we do not mean only direct sales. Business objectives are also supported by brand recognition, building community relations, strengthening brand image…

How do you know you’re already practicing digital l’art pour l’artism?

If you create and publish content because:

  • Everyone else does it
  • You need to fill the account with something
  • It looks nice on the feed
  • It’s a trend, and similar reasons.

… There’s a big chance you’re already practicing it.

But why do we create content without purpose?

There are two dominant reasons why brands and businesses fall into the trap of creating content that is an end in itself:

Quantity vs quality / Fear of “silence”

You can’t shake off the feeling that “something always has to go out”. Instead of strategically thought-out posts with a clear goal, you produce a stream of posts that look alike, all following the same template, and in the sea of similar content online, they leave no trace. This principle often leads to diluted focus, missing the target audience, and, in the long run, damaging brand perception.

FOMO effect of trends

The fear of missing out on TikTok challenges or the latest Instagram reels effects creates pressure to follow and try everything that’s “trending”. The problem arises when the trend has absolutely no connection to brand values (which is usually the case) and can often harm it.
We all remember the case of a certain brand that published a video where several employees danced (provocatively) while their supervisor watched “from the corner of his eye” with pleasure – accompanied by a caption about asking for a raise. The video drew huge attention from the community and was soon deleted, but the damage was already done.
There are countless such examples. An endless stream of funny videos that may bring out a smile but don’t deliver a message or provide value to followers. Even if you feel you’re on the right track because you have short-term engagement, such posts can be disastrous in the long run for brand perception, credibility, or can steer the narrative far from what really matters.

Why say NO to digital l’art pour l’artism?

On the one hand, by creating content that is an end in itself, you’re well on your way to delivering less and less value to your target audience, slowly but surely losing their trust and becoming less relevant.

At the same time, if we all create content by the same template, we lose authenticity and struggle to stand out from the competition, let alone be unique. And through the lens of budgets and costs, you’ve wasted resources investing time and money into something that doesn’t support your business, and often even harms it.

How to avoid it?

To help you ensure that you’re not creating content without value or purpose, we’ve prepared a short checklist of steps and questions to ask before creating and publishing posts:

  1. Ask “Why?” before each post:
    Start with what you want to achieve – raising awareness of your brand/product/service, informing your audience, educating, nurturing community relations, establishing collaboration/sales?
  2. Define the value for the audience
    Every post must provide some value: to educate, inspire, inform, or entertain – but always in line with your brand and business or communication goals.
  3. Choose trends carefully and wisely
    A trend is good only if it “works for you”, and the first condition is that you can naturally and authentically connect it with your brand.
  4. Think about long-term goals, not likes
    It’s better to have a few strategically placed posts in a month than 15 generic or purely aesthetic posts that only serve to collect likes.

To sum up

Digital is not here to “fill up the feed”. Content is a tool for communication, relationship building, and brand positioning. And it largely shapes how others will perceive you – whether you think about it or not. The audience doesn’t reward quantity; it rewards relevance, meaningfulness, and authenticity. And algorithms, no matter how demanding they seem, always end up favoring content that genuinely delivers value to people. That’s why, before you post something next time, pause and ask yourself – what value does this bring to your target audience, and what value does it bring to your brand? If you don’t have a clear answer to both questions, maybe it’s better not to post anything at that moment, rather than fall into the trap of digital l’art pour l’artism.