How do you feel about posting your art on social media?

[cookieroach]

I guess most people here post their stuff at least on tapas, but in a lot of other places as well.

Are you ever afraid of posting, worrying what people will think of your art? Or have you gotten obsessed with numbers? Or maybe you just do it for fun and don't mind it?

I'm curious because when I started posting my first things I was sooo afraid of what people would think, I getting negative comments and all sorts of stuff. Once I started posting I stopped worrying that much. What about you?

[WillowTree]

When I first start posting, I didn't really care if anyone like it or not. Like I wrote it for fun and that's it.

Then I started gaining subscribers, and now I'm getting a little nervous lmao. Like, I'm going to be posting a short story that is an explicit romance and I've never posted explicit stuff on this site before. I'm always worried that I'll post a chapter and all of a sudden everyone will decide that they actually don't like my writing. It's funny how much more I worry about it now that I have people following and enjoying it

[Legendofgenii]

I’ve tried Instagram and Tumblr so far. I’m still figuring Tumblr out, I don’t get any interaction at all

I get lots on Instagram. I’m posting WIP and concept art usually.

I’d not even thought about receiving negative comments. I’ve had some random spam and private messages on Instagram but I just ignore and delete those.

[Legendofgenii]

explicit romance

[cookieroach]

@Legendofgenii I tried tumblr a couple of years back, I got no interaction either and I think there's less people on there now.

hmm maybe I'm just an overly anxious person, it's good to hear that you don't worry aboyt it. When did you start posting on instagram?

@WillowTree haha ok so the opposite of me? But yeah it makes more sense, when more people see your stuff there's more pressure I guess. I don't have that many followers so I don't have to worry A bit related to the explicit romance part, I posted an anatomical drawing (of a MAN BUTT) that got flagged for nudity yesterday, felt like I was living on the edge...

[WillowTree]

anatomical drawing (of a MAN BUTT) that got flagged for nudity yesterday

You obviously must censor all the butts!!!

[Legendofgenii]

The end of August. Someone here recommended joining.

The ‘sketch’ tag seems to be getting the most views/likes, and I’m uploading once or twice a day.

I am not far off 200 followers (mostly people from here ) and my posts are getting between 40-70 likes, which to me feels like lots, but some of the creatives I follow have thousands. Still I am happy to get any.

[cookieroach]

Ok interesting! hope you reach 200 soon!

[Lady_T_Musings]

I love the idea of it since it can connect me to people I would never have found on locally. Audience wise, friend wise, and other content that I'm interested wise. Sure it can be nerve racking to branch out, but at the end of the day hopefully your doing what makes you happy and though your audience may change, there's always someone out there who will dig what you do (even if it's just you) haha. That's what I tell myself every time I post something that doesn't get any interaction with. It made me happy, so I try to focus on that. Everything else is icing on a moist brownie.

[cookieroach]

Seems like a good mindset. Do what you love, and if someone else can enjoy it as well that's a bonus! And for some reason I got hungry after reading your post.

[Lady_T_Musings]

It's the brownie talk. I make a brownie called the "mesolonely Brownie" that is just decadence. It's an undercooked brownie (scratch or box) with almond butter, chocolate ganache, and crumbled Oreos on top. Reserved for days where I just need a pick me up or a reward haha.

[NickRowler]

For original works, Instagram works best. For fanart, Tumblr works best. I have had little to no success on Twitter. You might have some success on Twitter with hashtag art challenges or @ tweeting smaller content creators.

[BrambleberrySquirrel]

I post my art on Twitter, Instagram and Reddit. I’ve never gotten any negative feedback amazingly. Even on stuff that wasn’t my best. Overall I think people are more positive than we give them credit for. That or just too lazy to go out of their way to be mean.

[Rhonder]

I have a weird relationship with social media (and art-based in particular).

I have no qualms about posting, general speaking. I don't mind having my work out for people to look at and potentially criticize, that's all good in my book.

But the actual process of using social media drains and tires me out lol I can't bring myself to use it frequently is a must for growth, and so it always just feels like a lot of effort to put in with very little results coming out @u@;; Especially instagram which I have a love-hate relationship with. I have a larger following there than Facebook or Twitter, but it's also the least user friendly platform. So a lot of the time if I can't be bothered to get an image ready to post on Instagram (i.e. make sure it'll crop decently to the ratio restrictions, and get it from my computer to my phone) then I just won't bother posting anywhere because my posts get like 10-20x more interaction on insta than anywhere else xD

I've as a result been on a pseudo social media hiatus kinda? I still check in and browse a bit but I've been sitting on a lot of art that I haven't posted yet because... I just can't be bothered to I've been recently focusing on just making my new comic as well as other platforms like Twitch which I suppose is social media-adjacent in some ways. Maybe once my comic gets closer to launching I'll be able to summon more energy for social media by way of necessary promotion lol

[cookieroach]

@NickRowler Thanks for the sugguestions!

@Golden_Acorn yep I think so too. I felt so silly that I worried about getting hate comments... and relief

[cookieroach]

Definitely takes a lot of work to stay active everywhere. But I think it's ok to not post everything either, and just actually work on your art. It can be so distracting and easy to be sucked into social media (at least for me). Maybe it's a good thing you can focus on your work!

[Rhonder]

Probably true! I would like to find a happy medium though. I should really get in the habit of just taking 1 or 2 WIP screenshots at the end of each work session and that would generate a fair amount of shareable content (even if not to post right away). Something I'll try to think about in the near future I used to basically do that when I would do traditional linework, but it was mroe natural somehow since I could legit just snap a photo with my phone and post right away xD

[MeltingCORE]

I do my best not to get obsessed with numbers. I feel like this can be detrimental to one's mental state. I also don't see anyone as my competition but rather my peers. That's helped me have a solid mindset when it comes to social media. With that being said, I really enjoy posting on Instagram. I tend to get a lot of feedback there and people are just so dang nice! I also enjoy Tumblr even though the only pieces that usually "take off" are my Kemetic pieces (which I'm still highly grateful for - the Kemetic community there is amazing ngl - been friends with many of them for years!) I used to have a Twitter account but this should tell you everything you need to know... I'm American. The politics got waaaaaaaay out of hand and I was seeing legit racism, sexism, etc. The site became a hellhole so I had to leave. But before I left, I enjoyed the art community there. People were generally super chill.

[cookieroach]

@Rhonder sounds like a good idea to post wips and not be perfectionist! I think seeing sketches and following someone's work process is just as interesting as the final artwork (if not more)!

@MeltingCORE I really like that thinking (peers instead of competition). I understand what you mean about twitter... but for some reason I still prefer it over instagram, it feels more like you can have a conversation there (for good or worse) compared to insta, at least for me

[MeltingCORE]

Everyone's preferences are different, no worries! Funnily enough, in terms of actual conversations the forums here are my go to place nowadays! (Also, I love your username haha.)