Way too often. For so long, I've been inspired by multiple artists and animators on social media thinking, "I want to do that stuff too." Starting in May, it will have been 6 years since I started trying to get a following for my art and animations.
Just about 6 years later, and I barely have gained any traction.
I know it's easy to say "You shouldn't care about numbers! Your value doesn't lie in how many followers you have or how many likes you get!" It's true that you shouldn't let numbers drive you or else you'll lose your passion for your dreams, but when you've been trying so hard, it really starts to bring you down. You put your all into the thing you love, making it just to make it, and when you share it to the world, no one wants it. It makes me question if all the work I do is even worth it, or if what I make is even any good.
Especially now, I am a freshman in an expensive art college, already starting to accumulate a lot of debt which is really scary. My family and friends told me I should follow my dreams, but I have no idea how I'm going to pay it off. That's been a prime factor of me trying to build up my social media presence as of late. I still love doing the thing I love, but I also need to start earning money from it too. But nothing has really done much. My sister keeps telling me, "you need to improve." Which is pretty discouraging since I've been improving or so I thought I have, and I'm pretty happy with how my art style looks. I know I will keep improving, but will it even change anything? Plus, with how a lot of social media algorithms work now, it expects creators to have the time and energy to post consistently, which isn't an option that everyone has. The system itself causes a lot of burn out that I have begun to feel a bit.
I'm a small content creator who has struggled to make their mark anywhere in life really, but what's weird is that I still haven't given up. I've been told that I'm quite a stubborn person, and I'd like to think it's one of my better attributes. Despite feeling like I'm going nowhere, I want to keep trying, after all that's all I can do. If I give up, I'll never know if I could've made it. Of course it's a bit childish (for a lack of a better term) to complain about something like this, but I guess most creators kind of go through that kind of thinking too. And plus, I'm already pretty lucky to have gotten the support I have received thus far. It makes it a bit easier to know that at least some people have your back and know that you're not alone as well. As creators, we all have to stick together and bring each other up