This is a really interesting important point I've found all over the internet. Sometimes, you're not upset or looking for advice, you're just frustrated and want to vent over a situation you're struggling with and many people see this as you either hating on more popular creators or needing advice, and often give out really basic cliche advice that's not really anything to do with your frustrations just what people are supposed to say in this situation.
It's entirely possible to create for yourself. But once you begin showing your work to others, you can never go back to that. That's how it was in my case, at least. Solution: don't show your work to anyone ever :"")
For many years, I was writing and drawing only for myself, never showing my work to anyone (I didn't exactly have friends and preferred my family to not see it because reasons). I was completely satisfied with it - I created to please myself only. But once I began thinking of posting my art online, and started actually doing it... oooh boy.
I started looking at my art in terms of "what could make people like it? what's the appeal of it?" I concluded that there was no appeal to my art, and that if it wasn't my work, but someone else's and I saw it online, I would've ignored it completely. It was good enough for something I created - but apparently, since it was ignored, it was not good enough for others.
For a while, this has pushed me to improve my art, but in a long run proved completely destructive and led to perpetual artblock. I'm an extremely unpopular artist, I consider it a success if I get 5 likes on anything. And yet, I still feel like I have to make good art, so people will see it and like it, so I can finally become known. When I take time off posting art, I feel guilty because how can I become known if I post once every 3 months? It's all so tiring honestly.
I'm in the zone where I still largely, create work for myself to a certain extent. Sure I create comics & stuff, but I dont go around regularly polling my audiences & people to see what they want- the comics I create, I pretty much already have charted and they will end the way I want it to end...and then I'll move on to the next project that I want to do.
Even when doing standalone pieces/projects- it's pretty much me creating what I want. Sometimes I may get some insight on a few things(like color) but for the most part, I already have it figured out. I'm grateful that I do have people that like my stuff...I dont think I'll ever get away from the "creating for myself" unless I start doing commissions.
that's where we all are I think, no matter skill level or how long we've been at it. Comics are a marathon, not a footrace. If you're doing this, you're not doing anything wrong. It's a long journey, but if you keep showing up, time is only on your side.
I 10000% relate to the mindset of CREATING for the self, but SHARING for externally oriented reasons. I make my comic for myself. It is very much tailored to what I want to read. But I post it for positive responses. And posting gives me so much stress, that some days I'm seriously tempted to just make my comic in secret without ever posting another page.
This is a very personal thing, and obviously different people feel differently. But that's how I feel about it. Separate motivations for making vs sharing.
Essentially I'm saying sometimes when a work is posted, people do see it, but it's not to their particular interests so they can't respond and give any sort of feedback to the creator.
my thought is........"why not both?"
i create for myself AND others.
I create stories i love and share them with people and i enjoy when they enjoy it.
Not going to read the thread because I don't feel like it.
I half agree, but it depends on the person. As someone who's had their drawings ignored by friends and family when trying to show it off, and someone who's assignments have been ignored by teachers (I was in a shit school, but I was also a brat) as a child, I can empathize with the frustration. Although as I've grown up I've learned that no one owes you their time, just like no one has a right to your time. Getting ignored for your hard work is just another facet of life, throwing a fit will only push people away more or get you a bad rep.
Not saying anyone here is throwing a fit, I'm just saying as a general analysis thing.
Personally I don't post for attention, just to archive my work, if I'm going to make something I may as well immortalize it on the internet. People can follow if they want, but attention isn't my intention, it's a bonus feature. Feedback is like a surprise present, full on detailed reviews is like when I forget it's my birthday and I walk into my surprise birthday party.
Although my mindset doesn't reflect everyone's, many people do post their work to show it off or to get feedback, and get disheartened with their efforts go unnoticed. Ain't nothing wrong with that, everyone is different.
As for the "create for yourself" thing, I guess it could interpreted differently depending on your outlook, like the "glass half full vs. glass half empty" thing. Also it depends on what it's in response to. If I'm trying to do emergency commissions because I'm about to be homeless and lose my pets to animal control, and I get that in response, it is super insulting. Of course no one is obligated to support me, but low-key telling me to stop trying to survive is unnecessary and rude.
If it's in response to me being ignored when posting something, I won't be mad because I don't feel I have the right to be as someone asking for another person's time.
This is just how I would respond, though! Not telling anyone how to feel, or what to do.
i have watched and read a lot of varying kinds of media so i know what i like. what i want is to write i story i would enjoy and be passionate about so that i can tell the kind of story that would mean a lot to me to someone else. its why i only write a bare bones outline with key story beats and character arcs and just rp out the rest like i'm playing a solo game of dnd. rule of cool is king but not at the expense of believably. i have to set up my cool moments not just whip it out like a drunken frat boy
We are all dealing with screaming into the void. personally, I genuinely find it helpful to focus on the idea of creating for myself first. It reduces anxiety for me. It doesn't mean I don't also care about attention and appreciate anyone else feeling anguish over that topic. I'm just communicating what works for me, usually. It's not intended to be patronizing, or insulting. I actually think of it more about having a growth mindset and as an aspect of internal motivation. (edit: which is potentially a valid thing to suggest someone think about if they are struggling with motivation as a response to lack of attention, which they very often are)
We're also none of us mind readers, and it is often hard to know what to say to help someone. Different people need to hear different things, and for some, there's nothing you can say.
Ooh, I agree with you 
Even so we're also playing with platforms that sell themselves as places to socialize, but in reality they are not set to make people feel comfortable and take the time to socialize.
They're set to keep attention displaying unbearable amounts of content, so more ads people consume and more money they make out of it.
We came to a time where socializing became an art. It's natural we're the ones noticing the most that change in society, artists are the ones that give the first step towards evolving, and so towards balance.
It's a good moment to spread awareness about all this stuff, new generations are worried about living a healthier life. Valuable social interaction should be part of that, no? 
Weeeeeell, I have not looked at my subscriber or views stats in months. My projects were not made with the intention of building auidences. I wanted to contribute the library of free-to-use content available to other writers, and that is what I did. Honestly, there was a period of being somewhat grumpy about a lack of readership, but I got over that. I kept reminding myself of my specific original goal, and I outgrew the emotional need for a digital audience. Now, I appreciate that every eyeball on my page is one less eyeball on the pages of fellow community members; attention is a finite resource that I simply do not need. I also stopped using Facebook altogether around the same time, and that helped.
I believe this to be true for me. It's pretty straight-forward. I mean, I do create a lot for myself, but if I share it then I do want a response of some kind.
Though, I am somewhat ok with not getting much of response after sharing. It's annoying and can let me down a bit for a while, but even if I did get nothing by sharing, I did get something by creating, and most of the time that something is enough to keep me happy. Which means that... ultimately, I do create for myself, and anything else is a nice bonus. And I care little about what others may think about that. 
I have a lot of art that I keep for myself. When I cook or come up with new recipes I don’t post them online, when I do make up for costumes or otherwise, I don’t post that online. When I draw on physical paper, I usually don’t share those or half the things I draw on my Zen board. I don’t share my crochet projects online.
But I do share my digital art and comic online, because I want others to enjoy it, and it’s nice to get feedback so you know people are enjoying it. Since most webcomic artist aren’t paid and it takes a large amount of effort to keep such a large project going while also working full time, a little attention is not to much to ask for.
Sadly art and artist are undervalued today. There is no shame in asking for a “payoff” be it attention or money. Anyone’s time is valuable, even if you enjoy what you do, you deserve payment in some form.
I think you meant- you have a right to ASK for attention.
And if your work is worthy enough, there should be an expectation of (positive?) feedback from those that have come across it. If that's what you meant, then - that sounds reasonable.
If it reads the way it's written, then the word deserve needs explaining.
And I would ask an open question, why does anyone deserve anything- in regards to art?
Warning: This is all stuff artists hate to hear.
Art is created by an artist. By ART, I mean the dictionary definition of art.
An artist is 3 things. Or, you can argue, 3 things are needed to be an artist.
1) (Enough) technical skill so the idea of limitations is removed from your work.
2) A keen judgement (or eye [it's called 'an ear' in music] or taste)
3) The ability to work = or great desire to create.
Art at its highest level is purely generated from those three things.
When someone suggests you create art for yourself, they mean stick to those three things.
To deviate is to bring in OUTSIDE CONCERNS and that usually dilutes your art.
The focus on being a successful artist leads to seeking glory and reward.
And in many cases compromises those 3 in an attempt to achieve greater exposure or acceptance.
Thinking about dumb-ing it down to be more popular? (kills #1)
Thinking about doing what everyone else is doing or what is popular (kills #2)
Comparing yourself to someone else and their greater success (kills #3)
I did a video or two about this kind of stuff.
There's a lot of downsides to social media and forums, as a whole, but that's another story for another day.
Artists create art; Van Gogh hardly sold a painting while alive. Lucky artists get paid for their work. Peace.
I mean you “deserve”, I will be so bold as say that. If you went to school to gain a skill and continue to improve your skill then you deserve a payoff. Just as someone who went to school to become a Librarian continues to keep up with changes in cataloging and improves their professional skill, deserves a payoff, and would be understandably frustrated if they continued to be unemployed or underemployed.
There is a trend of belittling or discouraging artist of any form, that have gained an education to not expect to be paid for their work. However in other professions the same “entitlement” is seen as logical. That is simply the point I was attempting to make. Anyone who works at a craft, be it in business or art should not be shamed for desiring “payment” in some shape or form. If that payment is just a little acknowledgment, then well thats rather cheap, and not much to ask for.
Of course I am assume that the artist in theory did indeed go to school, and is attempting to make a profession of their craft, and is taking it seriously, and it’s not just a hobby for them.
I work in a Library, but I share my art online in hopes of getting feedback because my end goal is getting published. Many people use the internet as a feedback machine if they are not lucky enough to have a community of artist around them. If my end goal was to publish a book then I would not have to share it online, because I have many gleeful and opinionated co-workers that would tear my manuscript apart. However many of them are not big graphic novel readers, so I can’t get the same feedback.
Everyone is assuming that the OP is asking for only positive feedback, but they are asking for acknowledgment. That comes in many forms, be it good or bad, one cannot improve their skill in a “vacuum” like started before. Which is why when taking art classes there is always a critique, and why the teacher requires students to speak and why speaking on critique day is part of your class grade. If you get no feedback then you are left wondering what is not working in your craft, and can’t improve it. With lack of feedback one must assume something isn’t working or not translating, but you won’t know if you should let the project go or not, or where to improve because no one has told you.
