Social media has transformed and changed the visual ecology in which emerging artists learn, create and communicate. This shift becomes more complex in India, where art education is equally influenced by its indigenous arts and aesthetics, and the increasingly globalized digital technologies. This study examines social media practices and their impacts on creative identity, cultural expression, and artistic self-efficacy among art students in undergraduate and postgraduate programs from various higher education institutions in India. This study adopted a cross-sectional survey approach, using a structured questionnaire, and a sample of 312 art students from government, private, and university-affiliated institutions across four regional zones in India to identify platform-specific engagement style, perceptions of cultural influence, and associations with creative self-efficacy. Results from multiple linear regression analysis show that indigenous art content in social media (β = 0.38, p < 0.001), proficiency with digital tools (β = 0.33, p < 0.001), and frequency of Instagram use (β = 0.29, p < 0.001) were significant positive predictors of creative self-efficacy. In contrast, perceived pressure to conform to Western aesthetics negatively moderated the above relationship (β = −0.18, p = 0.006). The results have implications for art education, curriculum developers, and policymakers in the context of India’s National Education Policy 2020, which places art education and digital pedagogy at the core of education.