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[WARNING] Watch Out On Twitter!
3 years ago
General
Hi, everyone!
I don't normally make these kinds of journals other than some life updates and all, but I feel like this should be something for everyone to consider, especially over on Twitter, as there's a slow trend of some artists asking people to commission them in a rather desperate or unwelcoming way.
Please note that I am NOT here to say that they're scammers or anything as I just recently got a couple of people who have messaged me through Twitter asking me to commission them, and this is all new. I'm trying to raise awareness that not only this is unwelcoming, but it might lead to some scams.
I have made a couple of tweets about this here.
How does this work? And how is this a bad thing?
The way it works is rather simple: You get a message from someone that would be a simple "Hey" or "Hi", and it would sit in your message requests. Normally, you would accept it and talk with them, asking them why they messaged you, and they would tell you that they like your character as they're willing to draw something for you.
So far, so good, right? I mean, someone likes your character and they're willing to draw something for you. Who wouldn't want to pass up on that?
The problem is that they may or may not say that they're looking for you to commission them, which can be a bit confusing as it might sound like they're going to give you some fan art or something. But either way, you're not getting some free art from them as the catch here is that they would ask you to commission (i.e. pay) them in order to get some art. I mean, that's fine and all as we all make money and need to start off somewhere. BUT! The problem isn't about them telling you about this. It's more about HOW they would tell you about it.
Some artists might be straightforward and say that they're a commission artist or something. But others might play the desperation card where they would tell you that they're low on work/funds, in a dire need of help, anything that they can say to try and get you to say yes and part your cash with them. This is the problem that I'm trying to point out here.
Again, I'm not here to say that they're all scams or anything as I don't have a lot of proof or evidence that they are indeed scammers or anything. However, the reason why I'm pointing this problem out is because it really does raise some warning signs due to this type of nature that's slowly emerging from Twitter, which could possibly emerge from here, DeviantArt, Weasyl or any other art site. Rather, this is me giving out a warning that there MIGHT be some bad actors that might join this trend and possibly scam other people.
For me, I kinda find this annoying as this is like the exact opposite of people asking some artists for some free art, and I can understand that as I used to do that some years ago before I stopped. The reason why I stopped is because not only it felt annoying, but it also felt rather rude for me to go around and ask for some art requests. And now we're experiencing the opposite as some artists are going around to randomly message people to commission them instead. While I can understand that some artists or content creators are small and lesser-known than everyone else like me, sometimes it's best to do some art, let people come and ask you for some art or content and slowly build up from there. I know that this is not ideal, but it's always best to start off slow and slowly build your way up from within the community as it just feels rather unwelcoming if someone comes up to you and say: "HEY! I'M AN ARTIST, AND I WANT YOU TO GIVE ME YOUR MONEY!" out of nowhere.
Just be careful out there, friend. The internet is like the Wild West: You don't know who's out there in that digital desert, partner. All it takes is one click and your life changes all of a sudden from those good-for-nothin', rootin-tootin' bandits.
Stay safe!
- Gamertron7500
I don't normally make these kinds of journals other than some life updates and all, but I feel like this should be something for everyone to consider, especially over on Twitter, as there's a slow trend of some artists asking people to commission them in a rather desperate or unwelcoming way.
Please note that I am NOT here to say that they're scammers or anything as I just recently got a couple of people who have messaged me through Twitter asking me to commission them, and this is all new. I'm trying to raise awareness that not only this is unwelcoming, but it might lead to some scams.
I have made a couple of tweets about this here.
How does this work? And how is this a bad thing?
The way it works is rather simple: You get a message from someone that would be a simple "Hey" or "Hi", and it would sit in your message requests. Normally, you would accept it and talk with them, asking them why they messaged you, and they would tell you that they like your character as they're willing to draw something for you.
So far, so good, right? I mean, someone likes your character and they're willing to draw something for you. Who wouldn't want to pass up on that?
The problem is that they may or may not say that they're looking for you to commission them, which can be a bit confusing as it might sound like they're going to give you some fan art or something. But either way, you're not getting some free art from them as the catch here is that they would ask you to commission (i.e. pay) them in order to get some art. I mean, that's fine and all as we all make money and need to start off somewhere. BUT! The problem isn't about them telling you about this. It's more about HOW they would tell you about it.
Some artists might be straightforward and say that they're a commission artist or something. But others might play the desperation card where they would tell you that they're low on work/funds, in a dire need of help, anything that they can say to try and get you to say yes and part your cash with them. This is the problem that I'm trying to point out here.
Again, I'm not here to say that they're all scams or anything as I don't have a lot of proof or evidence that they are indeed scammers or anything. However, the reason why I'm pointing this problem out is because it really does raise some warning signs due to this type of nature that's slowly emerging from Twitter, which could possibly emerge from here, DeviantArt, Weasyl or any other art site. Rather, this is me giving out a warning that there MIGHT be some bad actors that might join this trend and possibly scam other people.
For me, I kinda find this annoying as this is like the exact opposite of people asking some artists for some free art, and I can understand that as I used to do that some years ago before I stopped. The reason why I stopped is because not only it felt annoying, but it also felt rather rude for me to go around and ask for some art requests. And now we're experiencing the opposite as some artists are going around to randomly message people to commission them instead. While I can understand that some artists or content creators are small and lesser-known than everyone else like me, sometimes it's best to do some art, let people come and ask you for some art or content and slowly build up from there. I know that this is not ideal, but it's always best to start off slow and slowly build your way up from within the community as it just feels rather unwelcoming if someone comes up to you and say: "HEY! I'M AN ARTIST, AND I WANT YOU TO GIVE ME YOUR MONEY!" out of nowhere.
Just be careful out there, friend. The internet is like the Wild West: You don't know who's out there in that digital desert, partner. All it takes is one click and your life changes all of a sudden from those good-for-nothin', rootin-tootin' bandits.
Stay safe!
- Gamertron7500
