Abstract:
This paper explores how ceramicists have engaged with Instagram, with discussion of the supportive networks and community engagement found on the social media platform. The paper gives context to challenges facing the contemporary Australian Craft sector, while acknowledging the resurgence of interest in the handmade amidst an era of digital innovation. Focus is given to the Australian ceramics community, and discussion on how use of the mobile app has enabled industry growth, engagement and support.
The ceramic community and Instagram: How traditional makers have embraced a digital platform for industry growth, engagement and support.
Ceramics has seen a resurgence of interest that parallels the popularity of social media, with this most notably seen on Instagram. The social media platform has become a key component to a maker’s toolkit, both as an important marketing tool, and as a third place for the ceramics community to engage with each other and a larger audience of public supporters. This paper will give some context to circumstances surrounding the contemporary Australian ceramics community, and explore how the industry has adapted and grown in the face of challenges. The embrace of social media, particularly Instagram, has enabled key support networks for ceramicists, with high levels of engagement and connection.
While other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and more recently, TikTok play a part in some ceramicist’s social media presence, they will not be discussed in this paper. Many creatives still use Facebook as promotional tool, though Instagram has become the preferred application for ceramicists and other makers to share their work (Luckman & Andrew, 2020b). Posting regularly with a wide reach is perceived to be more accessible within Instagram’s format than other social media and online communication methods. While the topics discussed in this paper can be connected to the wider international ceramic community, and arts and crafts practitioners in general, focus will be given to Australian ceramicists, defining them as a sole community, interacting with wider communities on Instagram. The overarching Australian ceramics community can be subcategorised by its members in many ways – professional, hobbyist, student, full time, part time, casual, geographical location, urban, regional, rural and remote.
The Australian ceramics community is relatively small in a global context. An Australian Bureau of Statistics report in 2012 noted 294,000 people engaged in “Glass, crafts, pottery, ceramics or mosaics” (Heath & Pascoe, 2014, p. 12, citing the 2012 Australian Bureau of Statistics report, ‘Participation in selected cultural activities, Australia, 2010-11’). The National Craft Initiative’s report Mapping the Australian Craft Sector further referred to a study by Throsby and Zednik (2010), which found only 3,800 ‘craft practitioners’ (such as ceramicists, glass artists or metal workers) met the criteria of a professional practitioner. While a small community, often fragmented through the rural and regional locations of its members, Australian ceramicists remain connected through their shared interest. Prior to the rise of social media, the community developed connections and relationships through events (trade fairs, markets, workshops), education (apprenticeships, traineeships, university and TAFE courses), industry bodies (a long list including The Australian Ceramics Association, and members of the Australian Craft and Design Centres network), retailers and galleries.
In Australia over the preceding sixty years, the visual arts and crafts sector has enjoyed a relatively stable and vibrant cultural terrain, underpinning the growth of ceramics courses, practitioners, galleries and museum collections. More recently, the viability of ceramics education has been the ‘elephant in the room’, its future exposed and threatened by university course closures and recent cuts to the TAFE sector.
(Bamford, 2013, p. 26)
Within Australia, crafts education, studio training, and funding gained major success during the 1960s-1980s (Heath & Pascoe, 2014). However, policy changes and defunding of industry bodies by conservative federal governments have had a severe impact on the industry (Luckman & Andrew, 2020b). Closure and defunding of tertiary study pathways have put pressure on Australian arts industries, particularly the studios still teaching traditional crafts such as ceramics, tapestry, glass and jewellery and metalworking (Bartholomew, 2019; Grishin, 2020; Heath & Pascoe, 2014; Tracey, 2016). It should be noted this industry pressure is not exclusive to Australia. Bailey (2018) discusses the closure of traditional centres for making ceramics throughout the United Kingdom, while Luckman and Andrew (2020a) draw further parallels to obstacles to handmade crafts in earlier periods of rapid technological revolution in their book Craftspeople and Designer Makers in the Contemporary Creative Economy.
Given the context of challenges facing the industry, training and development in traditional mediums are now “increasingly being provided by industry organisations and bodies” (Heath & Pascoe, 2014, p. 4). Bridging the gap left by public-sector education providers is the rise of independent, privately funded clay schools and teachers. In a discussion at the Clay Push Education Forum on the challenges facing ceramics education, master potter Greg Daly acknowledged that this new model is similar to that successfully practiced 60 years ago, while emphasising the need for self-advocacy by the ceramics community (Bamford, 2013). The gap in the education market has led to high demand, with independent ceramics education encountering booked out class terms and long waiting lists of potential students (Bamford, 2013).
It is an intriguing dichotomy that a time of industry pressure in education and funding is corresponded with a strong surge of interest in traditional crafts. Luckman (2013) notes that “in the digital age, […] the analogue becomes Othered, different, desirable” (p. 251). Appreciation and demand for handmade and locally made work has grown substantially, with a resurgence of interest in craft-based mediums, activities and markets (Gauntlett, 2018; Heath & Pascoe, 2014; Luckman & Andrew, 2020c). The internet, World Wide Web, social media and mobile apps have made sharing creativity easier than ever before. These virtual spaces allow for collaboration, support, information and entertainment for users, and have been successfully embraced by many makers (Gauntlett, 2018).
Creatives sharing their work online, particularly through social media, has enabled an immediate, engaging and dynamic form of visual communication. As Luckman and Andrew (2020b) state, “maintaining an online professional identity is now a core part of the work involved in being a contemporary maker” (p. 208). Importantly for isolated makers, access to the internet – and the development of social media and mobile apps – has created a ‘third place’ for creatives to connect over their preferred medium with a supportive network of peers.
Oldenburg and Brissett (1982) proposed the notion that a third place (a social space separate from the ‘first’ and ‘second’ places of ‘home’ and ‘work’) is important for socialisation, fostering community and emotional expression. The third place emphasised localised community, was accessible, and a social leveller (Soukup, 2006). Oldenburg (1999) further states in the second edition of The Great Good Place, “the First and most important function of third places is that of uniting the neighborhood” (p. xvii). As Soukup (2006) observes, “[Oldenburg] is not using the term ‘neighborhood’ metaphorically or abstractly (e.g., a ‘virtual’ or ‘wired’ neighborhood) – he literally means the homes and businesses along intersecting city streets” (p. 427). However, in a contemporary application of this theory, it must be acknowledged that accessibility of the internet and ubiquity of social media unites people of common interests from across the globe into a digital third place. Much as McCarthur and White (2016) presented the notion of Twitter as third place, with ‘regulars’ present in conversation, Instagram itself fosters a community of regulars, connected by common interests, hashtags, and analogue relationships.
Instagram has provided creatives the space to present their work to the virtual community, often intertwined with their own identity. It is now expected that makers have not only a professional website, but a social media presence, with image important to success. As a primarily visual social media, Instagram has become the preferred platform for many creatives to share their work (Luckman & Andrew, 2020b). The immediacy of Instagram, and it’s focus on image – with less onus on descriptive text – has seen it become a popular social media platform amongst makers, often time-poor and preferring to focus their energies on their studio practice (Luckman & Andrew, 2020b).
From a marketing perspective, “the identity of the maker as an identifiable individual with a story is key to the way the handmade is positioned in the market” (Luckman & Andrew, 2020b, p.208). Hashtags and the simplicity of sharing accounts and posts on Instagram make it easy to discover new creatives, with comments such as “I found you on Instagram” often heard at designer markets (Luckman & Andrew, 2020b). Successful ceramicists have used Instagram to build large fanbases, followers and returning customers, performing to a large audience.
A widely used platform like Instagram – with “more than 1 Billion monthly active users” (Abidin, 2021, pg. 6) – holds incredible power to the vast majority of professional craft practitioners who work freelance or are self-employed, operating a small or micro-business centred on their craft (Heath & Pascoe, 2014). Beyond the marketing of work, Instagram allows makers to share their process. This cultivates interest and friendliness from followers and customers, giving insight to different processes and engendering appreciation for skills and growth.
The rise of social media and e-commerce has also encouraged a significant change within creative industries, with independent artists now able to market and sell their own work direct to consumers without a third-party (Luckman & Andrew, 2020b). Community-instigated shopping events, such as pop-up shops and boutique markets, utilise the fanbase of the Instagram accounts of organisers and participants to generate interest and excitement. In 2017, Instagram recognized the increased demand for shopping online and integrated with e-commerce capabilities. Users were now able to create shoppable posts within their feed, linking directly to their own e-commerce (Caliandro & Graham, 2020). Instagram became even more important for income amidst Covid-19 lockdowns, where mass-gatherings such as trade-fairs and markets, and even galleries, shops, and studios were forced to close. Designer maker markets such as Handmade Australia (@handmadeaust, 36.9k followers) pivoted to a digital market model, and heavily rely on Instagram for promotion and engagement in a now virtual-only event.
Ceramicist Vipoo Srivilasa acknowledges the power of Instagram in developing his career. In 2013 he set up his account (@vipooart) to showcase his work and a glimpse of his making process behind-the-scenes (Srivilasa, 2019). Vipoo notes how mutual following, liking, and commenting of posts fostered ‘insta-relationships’, allowing connection directly “without going through a middle person” (Srivilasa, 2019, p. 58). Other enterprising ceramicists have engaged with the platform to create accounts for the ceramic community, such as the tongue-in-cheek @ceramic_casualties. With 20.1k followers (and the byline: “The Daily Ceramic Grind That Can Make You Cry, Laugh or Sigh. It Happens To The Best Of Us!”), @ceramic_casualties becomes a place to commiserate with a community who understand the trials and tribulations of clay. Northcote Pottery Supplies, a major ceramic supplier in Melbourne, use Instagram not only for marketing and communication at @northcotepotterysupplies (14.6k followers) but have set up an additional account (@npskilns) to exclusively share updates from their popular kiln firing services, directly communicating to the localised ceramic community.
When discussing the Australian ceramic community on Instagram, it is imperative to acknowledge the work of The Australian Ceramic Association, a “national, not-for-profit organization representing the interests of practicing potters and ceramicists, students of ceramics and all those interested in Australian Ceramics” (Heath & Pascoe, 2014, p. 22). As a peak body, TACA are industry advocates and producers of the Journal of Australian Ceramics (Grima, 2020). Joining Instagram in August 2013 as @australianceramics, their presence on the platform has grown substantially, with 63.6k followers as of April 2021.
In 2014 Shannon Garson, then President of TACA, noted that Instagram “is particularly effective in keeping regional artists in touch with their peers” (Garson, 2014, p.13), and suggested use of the hashtag #australianceramics on their posts would enable artists from across Australia to be included in an international community while showcasing their work. The @australianceramics account regularly shares work that has been tagged as #australianceramics, showcasing both the work of Association members and that created by the wider Australian ceramic community. While initial use of #australianceramics often referred to the Journal of Australian Ceramics and TACA, the hashtag now has frequent and widespread use on posts by Australian ceramicists sharing ceramic work. As of April 2021, over 270k images have been tagged #australianceramics on Instagram.
Figure 1: Vipoo Srivilasa’s initial call out to ceramicists wishing to participate in #clayforaustralia fundraising project.
Note. From @vipooart Instagram account, published January 9 2020.
Caliandro and Graham (2020) observe that “communities of users [connect] via hashtags” (p. 3). A strong example of the power of this network is the creation of large successful fundraisers, instigated by ceramics community members and banking on the popularity of ceramics on Instagram. Amidst the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires, Vipoo Srivilasa leveraged his community connections, network and social capital to create #clayforaustralia (Figure 1). Regrammed by many other large ceramic accounts, including @australianceramics, #clayforaustralia had an incredible response from the ceramics community, with assistance in the organisation and running of the event by community members, and donation of “482 works from 477 artists from 30 countries within a span of three weeks in January” (Somsuphangsri, 2020, p. 101). The fundraiser was a large success, with over $49,000 raised – 73% of which was donated towards wildlife charities. During this time, the @australianceramics account became a focal point for updates on community members who were severely impacted by the bushfires (Figure 2), as well as sharing ways for followers to give aid. Like other social media in times of crisis, Instagram became a way for ceramicists and their followers to directly communicate and discuss ways to support where needed.
Figure 2: The Australian Ceramics Association acknowledging and offering support to community members impacted during the
2019-2020 bushfires.
Note. From @australianceramics Instagram account, published January 6 2020.
While the Australian ceramics community has a solid analogue foundation, the integration of digital means and virtual community has strengthened supportive networks. Hampton and Wellman (2018) acknowledge this change in how community operates, that while “technological changes are again reshaping the structure of community” (p. 649), they are not limiting it. It is now common to network with other makers on Instagram for information and guidance, feedback and comments. Social media, and Instagram in particular have encouraged community-building and community participation (Luckman & Andrew, 2020b).
As has been discussed, Instagram has empowered the ceramics community, acting as an important third place for engagement and support. For the purposes of this paper, I primarily focused on the Australian ceramic community and their use of Instagram. The broader context of ceramicists and digital engagement could be further discussed in larger global aspects, alongside the wider arts and crafts communities. Many issues facing the greater Australian Craft sector have been covered in the National Craft Initiative report (Heath & Pascoe, 2014). It should be noted that the impacts of Covid-19 are still being felt within the Arts, as many creatives pivot to new technologies or industries. While there are many challenges facing the industry, it is encouraging that ceramics is currently within a renaissance period, and that online networking and social media have played a vital role in this rapid growth and interest.
References
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Hi Kirsten,
Thank you for a well-researched and interesting paper. It is clear that the Australian ceramics community is a passion of yours. I was pleased to read another paper which explores how social media has helped the community that the author is passionate about. As you have already read my paper, you know that I cover similar topics in my writing about the stage management and theatre communities on TikTok.
I understand why makers of a visual medium have chosen a visual social media to showcase their work online, however I am curious to know more about their interactions as a community. It makes sense that most markers would communicate with their customers / followers through their posts, however how do they communicate with other markers? Is this also through commenting on each others posts and sharing of each others work through stories? Are their community based design or marker challenges that the artists engage in as a way to communicate and collaborate?
With what I experienced / researched on TikTok, a lot of the communication and collaboration was through duet and stitching other community members content, which encouraged commenting from the original poster and comments from other community members. Some content creators also participated in Q&A forums or live sessions where they would respond directly to community members. As these affordances are less prevalent on the Instagram platform I would love to hear more about how the markers communicate with each other.
Cheers,
Mads
Hi Mads,
Thank you for your comment and taking the time to read my paper! I was thinking of the similarities in our papers and how nice it was to see discussion about creatives online (and finding support in trying times).
Interactions between the community is very much seen publicly in the comments. A lot of this is encouragement over what is shared, but sometimes it will be about the more technical aspects of ceramics. Collective knowledge of processes is huge in this community, so when there is an issue with warping (pieces drying/firing into a weird shape), cracks (faultlines in the clay walls), crazing (glazing issue) or kiln (firing) issues, ceramicists will commonly pop up in the comments offering advice, or sympathising with having experienced similar problems. The @ceramic_casualties account that I mentioned in my paper is cathartic for ceramicists when things inevitably go wrong!
All of this interaction also ties back to how the community has had to adapt with the closure of traditional educational models, while ceramics itself has also gained in popularity. So people are coming to the medium with less knowledge and experience, and end up learning and problem-solving through interacting with other ceramicists online.
There is the occasional ceramicist who likes to live-stream while they are making, but it hasn’t been picked up a lot in the Australian ceramics community. I’ve seen some of the bigger international ‘superstar’ ceramicists use the Live feature with some popularity – including Seth Rogan (not just an actor anymore) live streaming kiln unloadings of his ceramics.
Surprisingly not a lot of artist/maker challenges (in the vein of #inktober) in the ceramics community! I suppose it’s not the most instant of mediums, so would be a difficult one to keep up with. I have seen some self-made challenges like making 30 different cup styles in a set period of time, or development of a body of glazes but that would be about it.
Have you seen collaboration of ceramicists on TikTok using the duet/stitch feature? Lily linked to Dax Newman who appears to more share the making process straight to camera, and less about the final product (which is actually generally reversed on Instagram – final product is shared much more that the making process).
Best,
Kristen
Hi Kirsten,
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
To be honest I’ve never looked into the ceramics community on TikTok but you question had me do some investigations. There does appear to be many makers who are quite prominent on the platform. There is a whole pottery TikTok community it appears under the #potterytiktok tag which has had 86.8 million views.
I even found an australian maker @shelbysherrittart (https://www.tiktok.com/@shelbysherrittart), who was also profiled by The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/feb/28/shelby-sherritt-the-ballarat-cancer-survivor-who-became-a-tiktok-pottery-queen).
I wasn’t able to find much instances of TikTok ceramics creators using the duet/stitch feature. However I did find some examples of them creating their own version of trending videos using specific popular sounds or video memes, such as:
– https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSJUEEwgA/
– https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSJUEEwgA/
– https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSJUoJcaD/
– https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSJUodXdB/
I really felt in the hour I spent looking around TikTok I could find the resources to be come part of this community, with many tutorial videos and handy tips.
Love to hear what you think of these examples of community on #potterytiktok.
Cheers,
Mads
Hi Mads,
Thank you (and apologies!) for going down the TikTok Ceramics Rabbithole!
The last Juiceceramics one made me laugh. My impression of TikTok Ceramics is younger, and mostly American, what do you think?
I’ve actually seen a lot of Shelby’s content on Instagram! I first found her on Instagram reels, where she reposts her Tiktoks of the Gumtree slip moulds reveal. I really loved reading more about her as a person in that Guardian article.
Migration of content from Tiktok to Instagram reels seems to happen often. Maybe because there is a bigger/wider audience on Instagram? From what I can see video content creation is much better and easier on the TikTok platform.
In the Australian Ceramics community it is quite noticeably larger and more obvious on Instagram. I had a look at #australianceramics on Tiktok, which only has 12.7k views, vs 277k posts on Instagram. Katherine Wheeler was one of the few notable community members to pop up on TikTok, where she only has 35 followers (while on Instagram she has 68.7k followers). There definitely seems to be a lack of engagement or disconnect with the community and TikTok. Maybe this will change as social media continues to evolve, and younger people join the community.
Best,
Kristen
Hi Kirsten,
I was actually just having the Instagram Reels vs TikTok conversation on my own paper.
Please see my comments here:
“The prevailing theory is that Instagram copied TikTok with its Reels feature, in a similar way that it copied Snapchat with its Stories feature. As Leaver et al. (2020) suggest “if the recently-released Reels isn’t a TikTok clone, we’re not sure what else it could be (para 7). However, while Stories appears to be a successful adaptation for the Instagram platform, I would agree that Reels is an inferior version of TikTok or as Lorenz (2020) suggests “TikTok is better in a million ways” (para 21). I have never really used the Reels feature on Instagram and most of what I have seen uploaded using this feature are exisiting TikTok videos. I found the below article from Chen & Lorenz (2020) and it’s interesting to see the authors compare the two. It would appear that TikTok is a much better platform for editing but also for discovery of videos and other users.”
The ceramics community I came across on TikTok was definitely mostly American but there were a few exceptions. However, they were all in the Gen-Z / early Millennial age group. I’m curious to know from your experiences with the Australia community, are they generally about the age of 25? Is this perhaps part of the reason they have also established themselves on Instagram?
Cheers,
Mads
____
Chen, B. X., & Lorenz, T. (2020, August 12). We Tested Instagram Reels, the TIKTOK Clone. What a Dud. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/technology/personaltech/tested-facebook-reels-tiktok-clone-dud.html
Leaver, T., Abidin, C., & Highfield, T. (2021, April 10). Happy Birthday Instagram! 5 ways doing it for The ‘gram has changed us. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/happy-birthday-instagram-5-ways-doing-it-for-the-gram-has-changed-us-147039
Hi Mads,
Replying to your comment below. Thank you for linking those articles, I think they might come in handy in my studies – i’m quite interested in Instagram as it’s my main social media.
I’ve had a bit of a think about the Australian Ceramics community on Instagram, and to me it seems to have a very similar demographic online and offline. Gen X and Gen Y would be the vast majority (lets say 60-70%), with Gen Z the next highest. Boomers have a decent representation for a social media, with many ‘master potters’ having accounts – they certainly aren’t as prolific in their posting, but they are there, and do have decent followings.
Best,
Kristen
Your paper stood out to me as I never really considered the extent of the ceramic community on social media before and the implications of that.
It is great that the demand and interest garnered on social media & the support provided by purchasing the creators products means that creators can continue to do what they love. They would likely struggle with monetary needs such as purchasing equipment and materials without the money received from selling their products on social media or through donations. This ability to support creators transcending geographical boundaries makes it a lot easier to bring together the ceramic community, especially seeing as the local ones would likely be quite small in the offline world.
Do you think that COVID-19 changed the way that the ceramic community functions on social media or increased interest in it? I know there was one TikTok user called Dax Newman https://www.tiktok.com/@daxnewman769?lang=en who gained quite a following in this time.
Great work thanks
– Lily
Hi Lily,
Thank you for your comment, and I’m glad you found my paper interesting – I’m aware it’s a fairly niche topic!
I wasn’t aware of Dax Newman, but he’s a great example of a ceramicist who has found success by sharing the making process of their craft via social media. It’s something a lot of people aren’t aware of when considering a handmade work, and as Luckman & Andrew (2020) note adds a greater appeal to the crafted object. Do you think TikTok users go on to support makers on the platform as they do in Instagram?
I’m not sure if Covid-19 has necessarily changed the interest in ceramics or how the community acts on social media, mostly as there has been more than a decade of growth in this sphere. I’d perhaps argue that the ceramics community has sometimes been even more reliant on social media spaces for communication and support in this time. This was probably most notable amidst lockdowns and changing rules. Big things that ceramicists rely on for income – such as markets, shops, studios, kiln hiring services and teaching spaces -were all affected and closed down (or had strict rules that changed with levels of lockdown). Being able to get messages out via social media, talk and promotion about pivoting to different income streams and directly marketing via their Instagram was so important.
On the other side of things, lockdown made a lot of people appreciate the handmade, pursuing crafts (new and familiar) themselves and enjoying an escapism in watching and viewing what others create.
Best,
Kristen
Luckman, S., & Andrew, J. (2020). Craftspeople and Designer Makers in the Contemporary Creative Economy. Palgrace Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44979-7
Hi Kristen,
Apart from appreciating that my Royal Doulton figurine has some value and looks pretty, I know little about ceramics or the craft industry around it in Australia. I found this paper intriguing and was interested to know that there has been an increase in ceramic craft in recent times–does this pre-date the pandemic, do you know? Do you think it will continue to grow because of the support of online platforms?
I was particularly interested in the example of the fundraiser and wondered if the ceramics community on Instagram regularly supported or engaged in online advocacy of particular causes. I notice you describe this as a community, but would you say this has the characteristics of a networked public or perhaps at best a “thin community” or is this a close-knit group with a few prominent influencers?
Deepti
Hi Deepti,
Thank you for your comment and interest in my paper!
Luckman (2013) has tied the rise in interest in craft and the handmade to the digital age, and from my own experience in the local creative community I believe there is truth to it. The affordances of Web 2.0 was the initial spark in this growth, with e-commerce such as Etsy having a large influence (Walker [2007] noted this in the New York Times). But it was truly social media – and Instagram in particular – that prompted a noticeable change in the industry. Over the last decade appreciation and understanding of handmade really has grown exponentially, with objects receiving a higher place on the market thanks to boutique designer markets and wholesaling to retailers who place value on the product. This is a very noticeable change in comparison to before the social media era. Being able to easily share the making process online has only added to appreciation of skill and design. I think having the maker community online has also established a bit of an industry standard, with it easy to compare, discuss, value, critique, support and promote work. I believe social media and online platforms will continue to foster this growth – I certainly can’t see Instagram losing it’s appeal any time soon.
On fundraising and online advocacy, for a small community ceramicists punch above their weight. The community is very engaged with climate change activism, with seminars on best-practices for studios, and many discussion on ethics at industry events (for example wood vs gas vs electricity kiln firing is a debate many grapple with). #pottersinprotest has seen a few iterations online, and usually consists of potters donating bowls for fundraising events towards climate action. I mentioned Vipoo Srivilasa in my paper, and he has used his social capital to instigate a few different fundraising events through Instagram, including an initiative to support ceramicists during the height of the pandemic when retail, markets and studios closed down.
Part of the reason I see the ceramics community as a community is the empathy and integrity of it’s members. Australian ceramicists are a small community that translates and continue offline relationships into the online realm. Certainly there are more prominent members (the master potters and those with large numbers of social media followers), but I feel there is very little difference to relationships online and off – they are genuine either way, and connected through their craft. The Australian Ceramics Association has had a large part in creating and sustaining the Australian ceramics community prior to social media, and to their credit still successfully advocate and connect members of the community using online and offline channels.
I think the community starts to move towards a networked public when connecting to other creatives, the general public, and international ceramic communities. American ceramics is quite vast and not as tight-knit as the Australian community, but you sometimes see interacting network nodes such as the popular USA-based podcast The Potters Cast reaching out to ceramicists globally (including many Australians).
Best,
Kristen
Walker, R. (2007, Dec 16, 2007). Handmade 2.0. New York Times (Online).
Luckman, S. (2013). The Aura of the Analogue in a Digital Age: Women’s Crafts, Creative Markets and Home-Based Labour After Etsy. Cultural Studies Review, 19(1), 249-270.