It's nigh impossible to promo on social media but we need social media to promote

[frgmnt]

Bruh... I wish I could give good advice but I have similar feelings.
All those tips that come up in this sort of threads, post consistently, bend down to the algorithm, draw fanart of whatever's popular, use hashtags... I tried them, and was getting very little traction from them. So honestly it just killed my drive to create for a while.
Chasing trends, conforming to the almighty algorithm, making yourself draw fanart for traction, posting in hashtags and promo threads - all that has nothing, nothing to do with actually making art and finding enjoyment in it.

I think social media nowadays is just too huge and widespread. You're competing with tens of millions of artists. Unless you're blessed with godly skills and the content that you enjoy creating is just whatever is the most popular at the moment, getting "out there" is pretty much... winning a lottery... Someone wins it everyday - but statistically it's very unlikely it will ever be you.
In the distant era of smaller, less centralized online communities, it was much easier for artists to find an audience, and you didn't have to have thousands of followers to even be seen at all.

On twitter, I have what, 57 followers? which I gathered over two years of painful grind. I can't see myself ever going over 100, maybe 200... Unless I win the social media lottery and go viral at some point. But even that doesn't guarantee a long-term success.
Even when my art was recently retweeted by an artist with thousands of followers, it got only a handful of likes and I gained no followers from it - which is easy to interpret as incredibly demotivating, because does that mean my work sucks this much? It's just this uninteresting? I should've been happy to be noticed by an artist I looked up to for years (and I was), but I mostly got this bitter disappointed feeling.

I know my art isn't amazing but it's not terrible either and there have to be more people out there who could like it. Just, how to even reach them? Most of my twitter followers are from here, or one discord server I'm in. And while I appreciate those a lot, I feel I've no way too grow outside of these small communities.

...I'm honestly at the verge of giving up on social media altogether. I enjoy sharing my work with the few followers I do have that I know appreciate seeing it. But faced with the choice between continuing to painstakingly fight for every follower, and making art for my enjoyment, the latter is an infinitely healthier option.

So like... bottom line is... Social media bad?

[VibrantFox]

a lot of the frequently recycled advice has become little more than static to me especially when it's coming from certain large accounts w/ already established followings

i think aside from social media becoming so large the influx of major corporations hopping on has also made things challenging because how can one individual compete with huge companies with very large advertising budgets

and yeah the viral tweet but barely any new follows thing is something i've just kind of forced myself to get used to since it happens very frequently

overall though i don't see social media as being bad but the landscape has changed very drastically so without platforms that are actually centered on certain niches and algorithms that arent so shoddy it's tough.i'm too bull headed to quit tho but the de-motivation is hard to avoid

[surenlicious]

No problem my dear, I hope everything works out well for you!

[TheDoublekey]

I totally feel you man, that's why I kinda gave up by now. The only thing I currently do is update my comic once every two weeks and that's about it

[Kelheor]

I don't even want to rant at this point. Instagram is not even a pictures service anymore. Just... this all is so annoying ._.

[Iris-Grimoire]

Yup, I was about to bring up this is just even more topical now that it wants to be Tiktok 2. Which didn't stop being funny since I saw that post, tt is cutthroat, but it doesn't tank my views for missing one day.

Social media sucks, but the only advice I can really give, is that you won't get that time back if you continually chase trends, even if it might work, and you'll find yourself hating art if you get stuck there. Be aware of your burnout, don't ignore your urge to take a break and destress, repost your art (since the sites can't tell the difference) when you're feeling nostalgic. The algorithm wants a content machine, but since we're just humans, might as well stick to what's reasonable.

[Zin_Trollborn]

That hits right in the kokoro bruh. (but imma gonna rant on another side of social media as well)
Years ago, I had a good amount of followers on Deviantart and it was really nice because it wasn't just random people pushing the "like" button, people back here were actually communicating with me about art and stuff.
And I think that sort of relationships with others really lacks, I really can't find back that kind of thing and pretty much get bored with all these social media. It's like... so cold.
I tried to get back in social media to promote and share my art but.... meh. I actually have like 2 regular followers that are old friends and that's all, I have no idea anymore about how to get in touch with new people. Sometimes I leave comments on their art when I like it but I never get any answer, not even a "thanks"

[VibrantFox]

that's something i've been desperately missing from the old deviantart era but for a variety of reasons i really just can't see going back (my only reason for even having an acct now is in case of reposters)

I'd say about the only place i can get that kind of engagement or interactions would be here on the forums but as for actual social media platforms not much comes close save for maybe artstreet and artfol but what both of them lack is non artist/creative audiences which places like twitter or instagram do but their failings is in giving people the ability to reach those folks. it's...so many double edged swords now that i think about it...

[samiluu]

can you send me this discord channel please? sounds great

[Zugaikotsu]

Your rant is welcome and I'm sure many people will relate dont't worry!

As many people said, social media in general are going towards videos, and political drama. If you started like 11 years ago, this might not hurt you too much, but if you are new... well... maybe some black magick might speed things up, because you're basically swimming against the amazon river's current of water...

I don't want to be the bitter uncle at the party, but I'll be honest, social media did piles of nothing for me. What really helped me was merge into the platforms (comics and novels) algorythms, and sign contracts where I would get visibility in such platforms. Then my social media following grew.

Do you want a suggestion from this uncle? merge into the platforms and forget about social media, it will be faster. They are already in crisis, anyways.

[joannekwan]

God I feel you, vibrantfox.

What really grinds my gears most is when people say success is just hard work. And they always play down the factor of luck. It's not enough to just work hard and work on your craft and try all the tips in the world and be consistent, because I'm damn well sure most creators do this.
But it's a matter of chance when the right people see your work and have the ability to share it/promote it to new heights for you.

[sarrowsmith10]

I sent you a PM (I think)

[GumshoeComix]

Been on twitter 8 years and just a little over 300 people following me so I feel that
the algorithm favors videos and politics.

I try to do most of my promotion on the forums since its been more helpful with actual engagement than Twitter is. Honestly I feel like social media is optional when it comes to promoting your work since I've seen comics get successful without a twitter or facebook, and only from being social on groups and forums and Discord.
Most social media seems to be turning against artists too, as you've probably heard whats happening with Instagram. I've heard some good things about Artfol though