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- Watcher Interaction -
3 years ago
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“When you shall say, "As others do, so will I. I renounce, I am sorry for it, my early visions; I must eat the good of the land, and let learning and romantic expectations go, until a more convenient season." — then dies the man in you;” - Ralph W. Emerson
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The past few years, I've been agonizing over the lack of interaction on here, and it seems like it's not just here, nor has it gotten any better. I can't help but think it's a me problem. Probably is somewhat, my art just isn't appealing, but it also seems to be happening to a lot of other people.
Personally, I don't give a shit about the watcher count, so long as the people that do are interested. It would certainly be suspicious if I gained no one in a year but I'd at least be happy that the people that are there love my art and journals and everything. But I don't feel that's the case, at least, I can't see that it is.
Some things I have noticed
1. A lot of you watch several hundred people. The problem here is that that isn't new..but it is the most easily identifiable problem. I've always been against that, because I personally think you shouldn't watch more people than you really want to, but people used to be pretty active even when, so I'm suspicious at pointing the finger to it.
2. I have gained very little in watchers, hemorrhaged some, and many more of those in the list seem to not even be around. But many that are are still active, they just fave every now and then, not me, but they do certainly fave others' art, which is strange, but I'm not sure what the problem is here.
3. With little watcher gain, I've thought maybe there just isn't many new people coming to FA. But the problem is that this phenomenon is also on twitter, which is just fine in terms of user growth, least I'm sure it is. It isn't a lack of people.
I don't hate any of you. If it is a me-problem and that me or my art is unappealing in some way, you're free to say it; I want to hear it. Don't feel like you're forcing me to do anything because you're not, I will not do things I don't want to do. PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME "WE SUPPORT YOU, DO WHAT YOU LOVE", because I do that, and I'm not suspicious of any of you. I am just confused and a bit heartbroken, because I love getting interaction, but it seems like less and less and that's it's been nothing but decline for years.
The past few years, I've been agonizing over the lack of interaction on here, and it seems like it's not just here, nor has it gotten any better. I can't help but think it's a me problem. Probably is somewhat, my art just isn't appealing, but it also seems to be happening to a lot of other people.
Personally, I don't give a shit about the watcher count, so long as the people that do are interested. It would certainly be suspicious if I gained no one in a year but I'd at least be happy that the people that are there love my art and journals and everything. But I don't feel that's the case, at least, I can't see that it is.
Some things I have noticed
1. A lot of you watch several hundred people. The problem here is that that isn't new..but it is the most easily identifiable problem. I've always been against that, because I personally think you shouldn't watch more people than you really want to, but people used to be pretty active even when, so I'm suspicious at pointing the finger to it.
2. I have gained very little in watchers, hemorrhaged some, and many more of those in the list seem to not even be around. But many that are are still active, they just fave every now and then, not me, but they do certainly fave others' art, which is strange, but I'm not sure what the problem is here.
3. With little watcher gain, I've thought maybe there just isn't many new people coming to FA. But the problem is that this phenomenon is also on twitter, which is just fine in terms of user growth, least I'm sure it is. It isn't a lack of people.
I don't hate any of you. If it is a me-problem and that me or my art is unappealing in some way, you're free to say it; I want to hear it. Don't feel like you're forcing me to do anything because you're not, I will not do things I don't want to do. PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME "WE SUPPORT YOU, DO WHAT YOU LOVE", because I do that, and I'm not suspicious of any of you. I am just confused and a bit heartbroken, because I love getting interaction, but it seems like less and less and that's it's been nothing but decline for years.
In a sense, in my case, it’s a roll of the dice, and for what it’s worth things lined up for me to chime in here…
So even among the few close friends I have here or elsewhere, they are all still very much walled off from having any decent contact with me on a regular basis because of my job… it’s exhausting, it’s mentally taxing, and I often spend the weekends catching up on sleep if I’m not even scheduled overtime shifts those days…
That being said, I know there’s other people here who got it even worse— sometimes so much they are living in literal war zones not knowing if their latest journals will be their last… so…
I guess I’m trying to say it’s not you… and, it’s not necessarily them, either. I think that mostly it’s a lot of the problems we’re all facing in this world one way or another which end up keeping us from interacting as much as we’d like; every single one of us is facing our own battles that others rarely ever know about, unless informed…
Hang in there, okay?
Thank you though.
also I don't think it has to do with watchers/people over watching too many at once, it's just kind of how the internet is now and days...
I remember years ago id have some good conversations with peeps, make some good connections, it was pretty epic.
as the years went by , connections and interactions seemed to fade out?
I don't really know the reason behind it all but i kind of feel like part of it's got to do with the state of how the world is now and this weird hostile-ish attitude people seem to have these days ^^;
I don't know where it all came from but it's a big mess... people also tend to stay in their own smaller friendship groups and don't like to reach out to new people and get to know them, there's also a lot of people who just lurk these days. i admit, a lot of times I'm too shy to leave comments and reach out to people, I'm still around pretty active on here though.
I'm glad you are. 83
Another thing I remember is that the internet is part of our daily lives now, it's not new and exciting. And unlike rl, you don't need to meet people to appreciate them, so the bar is much lower (lurking is sufficient).
The first time I saw your art and style it stood out. So it captured my attention. To this day I still see it stand out in the new submissions for whenever you upload some new art.
Personally I'm kinda reserved when it comes to interactions with people online (something I've tried to change. Hence this comment.)
Though at the same time I'm also getting older and things in my offline life takes up alot more of my time than it used to. So I'm not on here as hardcore as when I joined.
I've found that I personally start interacting with creators who do alot of YCH or advertise that they are doing commissions. And I've through those YCH (if there are more than one character) gotten a few new acquaintances who's bid on the other slots.
My high following count is mostly due to inactive creators. (It is quite a chore to go through them all. I tried to clean up few years ago and unfollowed a bunch of dead accounts.) My weekly submissions inbox is not too overwhelming and I see everything in it.
And I just don't really use the Favourites that much I don't feel. Just sometimes. I don't know. Usually to boost and help out creators I've gotten to know. Or if I wanna look at a piece of art later because I don't have time at the moment I see it.
I don't know if my personal reasons, and use of FA speaks much for the larger whole. But at least this is how I roll nowadays.
Sorry for the trail of thought comment. I just put down whatever came to mind.
I am always worried my art either doesn't stand out or it does in a bad way, so that's reassuring to hear.
I do see a lot more emphasis on YCH. I never thought much of it, nor that you would find people through it.
Your way of using favorites also seems rather interesting. I never thought of different ways people use it.
Furthermore people might be afraid to comment because they fear their comments are dumb or that their message would get interpreted in a way they didn't intend, they might be afraid that comments could do more harm than good so they refrain just out of fear, or convenience, afraid of getting judged.
Maybe a few, though idk about everyone. Some people used to comment more before, but don't now.