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DokiDokiTsuna
Mar '24

If you've noticed any artists talking strangely/much more seemingly uncredited art on your Twitter timeline recently, it's probably because of a recent algorithmic phenomenon that someone (allegedly) discovered: basically, pretending to be a random reposter who just found a bunch of cool art to share apparently gets you more views and engagement than presenting it as your own and talking about it normally.

The truth of this is...debatable (the original post seems to have been removed https://twitter.com/rsdream12/status/17737828827182739933)-- certain keywords and tags (or the lack thereof) might have had a greater effect on the original 'experiment' than the façade itself. But enough people apparently saw some truth in it to take it to heart/discuss it at length, and I was wondering what the artists around here think. ^^;

Art that's stolen and reposted without credit often DOES get much more attention than it does when the original artist posted it to begin with; that's not really a question. But is the reposting itself actually the reason why? Do people prefer, consciously or subconsciously, to view artwork through a third party than directly from its actual creator?

This thread in particular really hit home for me, personally: https://twitter.com/explodikid_/status/17738362378011857723

I don't think this kind of thinking applies to most media fans, but the sentiment definitely does exist within some of them (toxic gamers and AI bros, for instance, will outright say it to your face) and I could see a social media algorithm being designed in that spirit, to prioritize posts where users talk about "finding" art and saying stuff like "have you SEEN this???" in order to promote mindless media consumption by distancing users from media creation.

It would also explain something that I've been wondering about for years: maybe I've always struggled as an artist on social media because I just talk too much? ¯_(ツ)_/¯
If you've seen my posts on this forum, you already know this. ^^; I love to introduce my work, to explain it and analyze it and compare it to the work that inspired it...which is received very well on YouTube, where I've had most of my success. But on text-based/short-form platforms, it seems to just annoy or bore people more than anything. Even on Tumblr, where long text posts are normalized, I've started hiding my artist rants under 'Keep Reading' tabs just to hopefully give the art itself a fighting chance.

And if this phenomenon is a real thing, at least it would make it all make sense. Like, despite the fact that many people DO like to hear from creators and get insight on their thoughts...the majority are more comfortable with art as a simple stimulus that does not have an origin, or anyone's thoughts attached to it besides the viewer's own. Any artist who talks a lot and is undeniably involved in each and every piece they create is less desirable than an artist who silently churns out 'content' and pretends they don't exist...to the point where pretending to be someone who just "found" your own art might be the best promotional tactic at this stage of the game.

It's definitely still sad and depressing (especially if you add in the psychological dynamic about having skills and taking pride in your work vs. performing "humility" and diminishing yourself for a society that doesn't value the act of creation) but I'd rather know a depressing truth than be forced to guess about it forever. :T

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TheBlacKat333
Mar '24

I just wanna pop in and say that I do agree that the Internet Hivemind™️ thinks like that a lot of times, but I like to think that if the human mind can physically comprehend it, there’s and audience for it. So I think it’s better to post art as an artist, instead of normalizing posting art as a content creator.

DualDragonsMaster of Yeet
Mar '24

Oh yeah I saw that on twitter (and some of my friends trying it as well haha)

That's a interesting reason that might explain why reposted art does better than art from the original source. My guess is most likely the algorithm you mentioned being engineered to encourage more time scrolling on social media.

While I do believe some people out there despise artists because they are good at something I don't believe the majority of people are like that. I think between a post like "what is the artist's @?" versus art from the source the difference may be the first one could spark conversation

KevinReijnders
Mar '24

The best thing you can do as an artist is to quit twitter and stop trying to play the nebulous algorithm.

jmhenry
Mar '24

Sad if true, but I wouldn't take that tweet to heart completely. No big time artists ever have to talk like that to get traction, I doubt it's true across the board. If I could put a positive spin on this, I'm willing to bet the cause is the opposite of what we think.

Maybe the reason Knic's Zelda art did the numbers it did, aside from no hashtags, is because of how excited they sounded about their own work? Just look at the difference in how they speak in both posts:

"Hope you like it" is replaced with "Oh my GOSH!", the all caps for excited, positive, emphasis, the bit about being offline(which is totally fine to mention) is replaced with complimenting their work. From personal experience, I learned that attitude is everything when it comes to putting your work out there, and I think the real secret to this sudden boon in Knic's numbers is simply just sounding proud of what they do, aside from a bit of extra algo luck

[Edit] I guess it also helps that they at least seem pretty well-known and do fanart, which almost always does numbers if you're a regular at it, but I think the above still holds pretty true!

Shanny8
Mar '24

Yeah...no. I put to much time and energy into my stuff to just "disavow it" for likes...I'd be served better just doing what I've been doing and NOT posting much of anything to the former birb site nowdays.

ThunderChicken
Mar '24

I have never had a Twitter account, and since Elon took it over I'd rather eat dirt than post anything on that site now.

RedLenai
Mar '24

This kind of happened to me, tho it wasn't a self-repost.

I'm not mad since the OG Tumblr version had a lot of engagement too but the difference is abysmal.
As you can tell, the Tumblr post is mine

And this is a repost someone made on Twitter (removing their name, they offered to delete the post but it already got way too much attention so I simply let it be)

So yeah, maybe people just don't like artists """"bragging"""" about their creations, usually no words, no links, maybe one or two hashtags should be the next thing to try, after all I've seen several artists putting the minimum effort or literally no words at all about what they made and does way better than when they put the effort to type some words.

VibrantFoxRegular
Apr '24

honestly whether i have a long caption, short caption or no caption the performance of my work on social media is always in flux so i've long since given up on trying to game any of these online algorithms (i'm way too tired and nothing ever sticks lets be real)

there definitely is commentary to be had about how people perceive folks who are able to do things that other folks cant (or in the case of art wont really bother to learn coz it's not some magical gift or talent its a skill built over time) but if there's anything we've all known for a long time it's the old "haters gonna hate" mindset. some people just like to be bitter or cruel or flippant about certain demographics and sometimes for next to no reason at all beyond just existing so i prefer to not waste time or energy making myself palatable to people who wouldn't like me regardless of how i attempt to present myself

its obviously a rather saddening(?) phenomena to have to bear witness to coz you can't help but wonder how on earth has it come to this but we've also observed algorithm bias in a lot of ways and on a lot of platforms where they're boosting or hiding one thing or another based on whatever bias whether internally or externally (tiktok vs certain minority groups for example). it's a pretty demoralizing cycle but it is what it is

thepenmonster
Apr '24

Yes. "The Curator" has been a blight on Instagram since day one, but the phenomenon is as old as pop culture. Nothing can be done because the audience are lazy and selfish enough, and will follow a single source that presents a variety of distractions simply out of convenience. (That's the whole reason for YouTube being what it is now.)

Unless you've developed some degree of celebrity the public will simply not give a fuck about you, your effort, and your need to pay rent. Pathetically, you want to make it as an artist, you need to make it as a public personality first.

hakei
Apr '24

I've also had my fanarts reposted by several Instagram reposter accounts, and they garnered way more attention than my own posts :joy:.

the majority are more comfortable with art as a simple stimulus that does not have an origin

To the general public, reposting accounts serve as an easy place to view pretty pictures of their favorite characters/fandom, that posts frequently. And that's all they care about. It's easier than following individual artists who might post infrequently or share art that doesn't interest them.

Which to be honest, I am also a part of. When I see reposted Tiktoks on Reddit, I may laugh, and enjoy watching it, but then scroll away without thinking about finding the original Tiktok to leave a Like.

voskhodart
Apr '24

I could never imagine actively pretending to not be myself in order to make social media numbers go up.

But, I think it’s interesting to note that this definitely isn’t the case everywhere. My main social media platform is Tumblr, where people will often go out of their way to reblog art directly from creators instead of reposters. I think it’s an interesting contrast, and I think it’s especially notable that Tumblr doesn’t publicly show your follower count to anyone but you. When a platform operates more on community interaction than number games, people actually seem to develop more respect for artists than lazy reposters. Who knew!