I've seen this a lot myself. A former friend of mine have once lament to me about not being in a clique of a well known artist when said artist was in a multi-stream with a long time friend of theirs. The friend reasoned "looks like they have a lot of fun" and that "they felt left out," despite having myself and another in a small group of friends. Around the time I distance myself from this person I heard they were pushing themselves into the clique of the well known artist to the point they put people off and didn't succeed.

I believe besides art, those who are against cliques are also unhappy about not being acknowledged or included by the cool kids, and are then unhappy about not being able to associate with said cool kids. Not getting traffic in their neck of the woods, not getting that high off of attention that they see others get, etc.

I don't see people having their cliques as a bad thing, it's just a group of friends who stick around each other while not limited to strictly only each other. What I find sad though is where people place so much of their self-worth on who they talk to that they become easily jealous or petty when they can't easily be in the cliques they want. From there not realizing they can be content without the extra bad feels and have fun.

Sorry for tl;dr comment lol

Yeah, this pretty much sums up my feelings in regards to everything. I mostly see the artist bit tho. 'Boohoo, artists are so inclusive and don't want to be friends with all us non-artists' to which I'm like.... idk.
Artists aren't untouchable. I'm dating Deletethestars who is an amazing artist, I'm practically dating Raptorslut who is also an artist- and I'm not an artist? Art wise at least. Just gatta.... treat them like they're not art machines. Deletethestars is super hard to make friends with because it is so ridiculously common for people to use her for her art that it's just like nah. I'll stick to my clique of friends. I know they won't hurt me.

But at the same time, that doesn't have to apply to just artists. People get hurt, or they're anxious, or whatever the excuse may be.... and they have a group of friends they trust. Why look to add others if you're not interested in adding others? Like if you're comfortable where you're at, do you have to expand xD

TL;DR I AGREE

Yeee see I don't see why peeps want to separate themselves with the "artists" and "non-artists" to go as far as to say artists are untouchable. I have a close friend who isn't an artist but an amazing writer, and never really pressured me to draw things for them or gave me the vibe that that's all they want from me.

I getcha and I can respect that. And nothing wrong with that really(though sorry Deletethestarts has had one too many bad experiences :c). I do agree, treat your friends as friends and not something you can use for some crazy reason or another. (Also daww its sweet to see you talking so highly of those two ;3; )

Totally agree yups. if it ain't broke why fix it?

I think it depends honestly. Having a group of friends is fine. We all have them. But making an enviornment that is supposed to be inclusive and not making the effort to include new people is what most people often refer to as cliquish. Sure there are people who get jealous of others, but if you make something like an RPG, a chat channel, or a community related enviornment then admins and moderators are supposed to try to be welcoming, friendly, fair, and inclusive. That's their job when making those types of enviornment and if they just go and play with their friends and ignore their community that is the bad sort of clique that people refer to. I'm not sure what situation you might be referring to in this case, but that's what I usually hear when people complain about cliques and in that case it's justified.

Oh yeah, if you make a group where you're supposed to be inclusive, and you're not doing that, then definitely that's where cliques can be an issue. I've seen it in one group I was in.... tho less admins/mods, and more a group of friends joined some mafia themed group I had and straight up refused to talk to other people xD And it was like... why join the group if you're going to straight up refuse to be involved with the group???

I wasn't referring to anything in general, just rattling on about something that I was thinking about today, but I can see your point 0v0

What is a clique ?

The official dictionary definition is - a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common, who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them.

I've always felt like the outsider looking in, so the topic of cliques usually put a bad taste in my mouth. But that's just how I've been and I know I do it to myself (and am trying to challenge that). What you say makes a lot of sense, though. It's like building a nice home and getting used to it - why would you want it to change? Especially when you feel there are ulterior motives involved? Part of being a group is also feeling protective of that group, and bringing someone new into the mix poses a risk.

The other side is.. even if all that person knows is the artist's work... is it bad to blossom a friendship from that? The initial similar interest is the art, but then it could grow from there. If there are no other interests or if the person just gives you bad vibes? Yeah, throw down the gate and bolt the doors. No sense in wasting time on a friendship that ya don't feel.

There's comfort in sticking with what you know, but there's also taking that chance and opening up a bit to something that could be really nifty. It's really whatever you feel like doing and there's value in each choice. But having someone demand you leave your comfort zone, or demand they be included in your zone, or tries to guilt you into opening your doors, that just throws up red flags. I get they're probably lonely and just want to be included in the fun, but both parties have to be ok with the start of a friendship, not just one side.

GODDAMNIT I wrote up an entire thing and then the internet crashed.

TO SUM IT UP because I don't want to retype everything I typed again >:"CCC (Sobs), yeah there's those people who legit just want to be a pal, and it sucks major balls that you've got those people who pull the guilt trip card that those who just want to be friends are seen as someone who just have alternative motives due to an artist's past experiences.

And it sucks being on the outside looking in, it makes you feel worthless, boring, and a conglomerate of other painful feelings. I've been there once upon a time myself, tho I wish I had any inspirational words outside of... finding something else. That's what I did, but also I know that's easier said than done.

Ahh yeah. I do appreciate your words about cliques, though! It has definitely opened my viewpoint. :)

You can't be bffs with everyone, you can still be friendly with new people . I don't see the reason to relate to that Level with everyone ir be open to it everyday. Cliques is not something you just one day wake up and decide to get i guess. I don't see the problem as long as you don't isolate from the world around you. People come and go.

For artists i Guess it's a bit harder to open themselves because more times weve found people that expects something from you when you reach that Level , Ive read stories of people demanding Even discounts on coms, like wtf. Personally Ive Been "betrayed" by Friends who once that Got closed demanded art and left me after i failed to deliver.

Personally, I feel like it depends on the person wanting to be friends with the artist. A lot of people try to push and shove their way into friendships with well-known artists. Which is a bad idea, considering you can't force a friendship. It never works out the way it's intended.

ON THE OTHER HAND, there are a number of genuine people who want to actually be friends with an artist, not because they do good art, you know what I mean? I feel like the difference is, the genuine people don't try to force their way in, they try to find opportunities to let the artist know they'd like to be friends in a way that makes the artist feel like they're not being forced to talk to that person.

I'm a really open-minded person though, and there's two sides to every coin. Don't discard the whole batch of apples on account of the bad few. My best friend's a fairly well-known artist and we became friends just because she was willing to have casual conversation even though the risk of being used for her art was a thought in her mind at the time.

Though I do strongly believe that no artist should feel like they're required to talk to someone who wants to be their friend. It's just a big gamble when it comes to making new friends, and it's a gamble artists should take when they want to, not when someone else wants them to.