The toxic price of being a popular artist on social media

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You may never want to have a social media following after seeing this. Being a popular artist on social media don't realize what they sacrifice, but after you watch this video, you will! Learn how art social media is tainting your artistic purpose, poisoning your potential, and not giving you what you think. On the other hand, you will learn a healthy approach to building a sustainable following on social media for artists!
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00:00 Toxic popular art on social media

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18 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 79

@nonyabusiness3619 4 месяца назад

I hope more kids and teens see this video because I don't feel like this gets talked about enough. This topic doesn't just apply to artists, but content creators in general. There are so many young people out there that dream of being a RU-vidr/influencer because they only see the "fun" aspect of that lifestyle, but don't consider the negative impact it can have as well. And kids/teens lack the mental and emotional stability and maturity to handle the pressure.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Thanks so much for saying that! I'd like this advice to apply to all audience, but especially them. Please share it with someone you know to help spread the good word 😁

@vitowidjojo7038 4 месяца назад

I always wanted some recognition. But after seeing many artists I follow get into troubles such as: False accusations Burnt out Depression Stingy altitude I stopped caring about popularity. I have enough problems, and i don't want to add more. It's fun to see myself experimenting with my art, free from worries.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

That's very noble of you to stay true to your artwork! Not everyone needs that headache, do they?

@Wydrolak 4 месяца назад

Oh, I'm not really into social media. I have Facebook account so I can keep in touch with old friends, but all Discord channels... They distract me too much. Also ,art is something I'd like to focus on.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

good for you!

@Turn-the-Page 4 месяца назад

Man, this is the best drawing you have posted in your videos so far. Fantastic!

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

That comment made my day! I really appreciate hearing how much you enjoyed this. What did you think of the video as well?

@Turn-the-Page 3 месяца назад

⁠very insightful as always. I honestly have been developing a certain spite for social media. I wish I could publish the graphic novel I’ve been working on without using social media to promote it at all. Using it to make our self helpful to others, on the other hand, sounds more motivating though.

@MyNameIsShaunnn 4 месяца назад

Couple things I like here: I had to take a hard look when I was creating videos for my channel... is this what I wanted to do? There was a reason why I have time-lapses in all of them because it's the art that was more important to, so I only make Shorts/Reels now because, for me, it's more fun to just draw and not worry about the algo or whats gonna make my videos go viral. I havent been concerned about subscribers or anything in years. The same with social media... I focus more on community now. Finding my people, because that weeds out the trolls and non-genuine people. To your point about critiques and bad comments, those are the people I don't want in my community, so it doesn't bother me to block or remove their comments. Also constructive criticism from a professional is one thing, but a troll comment isn't even worth the trouble. This is why i believe I've seen some growth over the past year for me, because I'm not worrying or focusing on things I don't want or can't control with my artwork, and I try to not play the comparison game often either.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Awesome to hear you've developed a healthy mindset and attitude towards your audience! how long have you been making content for?

@SerenaMarenco 4 месяца назад

Sean, the character you're drawing in this video is outstanding! I'm looking forward to seeing it colored!

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Thanks so much Serena!

@starsnoireart 4 месяца назад

This spoke to me! I had my own experience with virality last year! I’m lucky because my art never got SUPER viral so it didn’t get waves of hate. the most my reel had was about 250k impressions which was the largest I’ve ever gotten. While most of the attention that project got was overwhelmingly positive, some of it was negative too. But the worst thing for me was feeling stuck in the type of art I could make. I didn’t want to feel pigeonholed in just one niche. While there are many people who like your work or like you as a person, it’s unavoidable that if you pivot you will lose a large portion of your audience. I decided that I would have to pivot, otherwise I feared I would never have freedom. but it was just discouraging. Watching your engagement and metrics plummet day by day, feeling like nothing you create has value, questioning your skill and self-worth - you just feel like you can’t win. So yeah I burned out. Popped like a balloon and ghosted the account. I chose to put my work on social media and move towards content creation because I thought it would give me freedom and fulfillment that working in a professional art career might not allow. Unfortunately, I’m realizing that freedom is elusive no matter what choice you make. I don’t think that it’s shallow, selfish or vain for your goal to be wanting to make art your business. I think it’s mostly about acknowledging that your business / product needs to be valuable to other people, and not just you.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Thanks for contributing your experience! It can all be so disheartening, can't it? And yes, it's perfectly fine to make a decision to sell a product without any shame. It just needs a deeper reasoning why that's helpful for others and why it's meaningful for you in order for that to work. do you also have an art business?

@betsi_jae 4 месяца назад

I completely agree with what you said about going viral. For some reason, my youtube grew insanely quickly in the first four months. I honestly didn’t know how to handle all the comments, both kind and rude. In June my channel will be a year old and I’m only now learning to deal with rude comments (just delete them).

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

wow I'm so happy for your success! BTW your channel looks like it's still doing great and is very interesting. What got you started here?

@rcguy2175 3 месяца назад

When I took drawing class in high school.I drew faces on a drawing pad,and had fun.my one aunt was into art,and I showed her my art she said keep at it,and you will get better.the rest of my family said art is not a realistic career.that had a mental effect on me.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

I feel like your experience is a popular phenomenon, isn't it? I had a similar background with a majority discouraging my art and one or two encouraging

@zinzolin14 4 месяца назад

Glad to see you touch on this topic, definitely something all creators should think about when starting up a social media presence. I think it's good you set boundaries for yourself, and just block things like AI bros and unwanted criticism.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

thanks, and I'm glad you agree! What's been your opinion on this topic prior to this video?

@zinzolin14 3 месяца назад

@@TheArtMentor I think we have similar views in this topic, that it's ultimately unimportant. People basically place too much importance on social media and obsess too much over numbers and not on themselves. Your growth as an artist is more important than your 100K+ account will ever be.

@Pizza874 3 месяца назад

I remember trying to garner a big following on social medias for very vein reasons a few years ago mainly because i thought followers = more commisions. I failed at this very quickly and got burnt out and still to this day struggle with my relationship with art because of it. I don't want to make art thats hollow and only there to get likes. I realized honestly I more so cared about comments. And people interacting with my art. And after all these years i've realized, i more so want to share my stories of my original characters with other people. and by gosh insta is definetly the worst place to go for that sort of thing in my opinion.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

I resonate with this so much! There's such a strong compulsion to engage in this accumulation of eyeballs, but it never does really help your art, does it?

@Wendy_de_Boer 4 месяца назад

I've been thinking about this for the past few days since you posted this. Objectively, I know that as a studio artist, I don't need a lot of followers. All I need is a place to store my portfolio. But still, I have actively been trying to gain a following. Perhaps it could be useful in the future, if I ever decided I wanted to sell tutorials/mentorships. But that's not even why I'm really doing it. I've realized that I put a very high value on significance. I'm not sure what to do about this. Wanting recognition is one of our most primal desires. I've long felt invisible and unrecognized.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

I appreciate your input on this topic given your experience and perspective! Can I give you some advice? Why not just focus down who recognizes you into a smaller pot to begin with, since that's more attainable, and see if you even need anything else beyond that. Like for example, you're very active on our discord server, so I wonder if you would still feel compelled to need more recognition beyond a smaller crowd outside of your professional endeavors. Have you ever considered that?

@Wendy_de_Boer 3 месяца назад

@@TheArtMentor Discord does make me feel a lot better overall. But all my favorite artists have had a much wider impact; for example Todd McFarlane. It makes me feel like I took a wrong turn in life somewhere.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Well who's to say it's too late for you? I think you're amazing enough to start that journey

@zanna8207 4 месяца назад

Fantastic video! Love the lineart greyscale image as well. Super useful to watch and learn to implement in my own work. Looking forward to seeing more of your original characters :)

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Thanks so much for saying so! You know, I actually don't like this process much but I felt curious enough to try it. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

@LillenArt2 4 месяца назад

50k to 100k is my ideal. If I ever became bigger than that, I would have a social media assistant to handle scheduling. I would avoid reading comments regularly for mental health reasons. I've already experienced harassment online, unfortunately. Don't have to be popular for that to happen. Yes, I can handle socials, but I think it's healthy to have some boundaries.The platforms I am active on are Cara, Artfol, Reddit, Toyhouse, BlueSky, Mastodon, Instagram, and a few art related Discord / forum communities. I left DeviantArt and Twitter.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

That's a great list! What would you say are your top three, and why?

@ROZENGIL 4 месяца назад

Came upon your channel in search for antiAI vids and enjoying all the other themes you touch 😊

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Thanks so much for watching, and I'm thrilled to hear you're enjoying my content! Have you ever wrestled with the compulsion or push to grow yourself a following as well?

@magicimaginations 4 месяца назад

Wow love the sketch you did!!! This is really good advice, I really want to make social medias for my stuff but yes you're right it's sooooooooooo overwhelming!!

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Thanks for your kindness! So what advice did you hear in this to help you not feel overwhelmed any more?

@reltcstone2 4 месяца назад

thanks for the video. it was good. you make good points that ive talked to friends about plenty. also the character design you did turned out great.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Thanks so much for watching, and I'm glad to hear this resonated with you! Which points of mine in this video aligned to your own thoughts?

@reltcstone2 3 месяца назад

@@TheArtMentor i think its very important for an artist to primarily be motivated by their own artistic taste and interest than by the desire to get popular on a social media and the obligation to feed that machine has distracted many artists from a path that would benefit them and their art more. Often times it leads them to make hollow work that doesn't appeal nearly as much as whatever that person might make if they were outside of that influence of social media. I myself havent been publishing much work at all on platforms for the last few years. I'm going to return to posting again soon but i will also be using something like glaze and or nightshade on my work as well. Its a strange climate we are all living in now with publishing work.

@jamille101 4 месяца назад

Oooo love this artwork!!!

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Thanks so much for saying so! Should I do more like this?

@mvv700 4 месяца назад

It's honestly shocking how many people assume being big on social media means they'll be basking in glory. I do truly believe you need a thick skin and be very confident in yourself to deal with the garbage that comes with it. It's not for everyone and nobody should aimlessly chase it.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

So true! But like any job, it always looks great from the outside looking in, doesn't it?

@carlosquall15 4 месяца назад

There is also a wrong notion that every artist should gain a large following in order to be employable in a company/studio, it doesn't make sense. For artists to be employable, they need a good portfolio, that's it.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

oh yes, that's the biggest fallacy, isn't it? I mean, what corporate exec is browsing instagram all day as a job?

@jeminix2 4 месяца назад

Likes/follows don’t do anything on their own. They open doors and opportunities which is good but I was one of those artists that was ill prepared and too young. To answer your question, artists burn out because they’re stuck in a loop of pleasing their audience that the algorithm has pigeonholed them in.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

definitely! That happens all the time. What was your experience like with that?

@jeminix2 2 месяца назад

@@TheArtMentor OH GOSH! haha, well it depends on the site. Instagram I think was notoriously worse but I was also younger and felt pressured by everyone to prove something. I actually left it for Twitter because at the time Twitter was a lot more receptive to me changing up my content or being more honest in what I wanted to share. I feel it now with Twitter but I at least enjoy the content I’ve been “pigeonholed” into making a little more, and have decided to use RU-vid or a separate acc for anything experimental ! I heavily advise people to not give so much energy into Instagram because the entire mentality is never ending plug in formula grind set there, more intensely than other places! Ultimately I had a lot of cool connections and experiences and I’m glad I was lucky enough to have those, but I did want my sanity back at some point xD

@thgritic102 3 месяца назад

I finally met an art business mentor who's been in the art game since 2001, & she's the only person I know (besides you in this vid) who said people can be an artist w/o social media. She said SM is more for connections than making sales esp w/ the algorithm forever changing, & i agree hard w/ her. SM main job is to KEEP people ON their sites. Of course it wants you to waste you time trying to get popular on there, so its own metrics can be high, not yours. That's why i had to disagree w/ my social media mentor when she told me i have to post every day bc the algorithm on IG don't care. I rather just do emails & YT bc i can make ramble vids about my art thoughts & blog about those thoughts too to connect w/ people than spend soooo much time on IG just to get a small amount of views. I just need to fix up my website & record vids nonchalantly lol.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Sounds like you have another good mentor there! There's definitely a difference between marketing and networking in the art business sphere, and it's good that you know the difference. What are you currently selling through your website?

@nayelimartinez4465 4 месяца назад

Back then where hamilton musical was popular, I was into the fandom and drew a lot of it, mostly ships. I got some recognition for it for some time, but after some time being into the same thing and not being able to properly manage that “popularity”, I got somehow into a very hard art block. It may have come from a lot of factors, but a strong one became for always drawing the same for a lot since it was what I was expected to do, so yeah. It is strange!

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

It''s funny how our interests wane and shift, isn't it? Social media doesn't tend to like that

@ZCoreStudio 4 месяца назад

want large followings to kick start animation projects on a larger scale want to pay the voice actors for their work

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Very cool. What's your project about?

@zinzolin14 4 месяца назад

I started my art presence back during early lockdown to share visuals for my project to hopefully generate interest. Overtime, I became more invested in growing as an artist as a whole, engaging with viewers and other artists, checking out their works and seeking feedback. I try my best to maintain a healthy relationship with socials, and not pressure myself over things that aren't for my best interest. I hope I'm on the right track 😅

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

sounds like you are, my friend!

@zinzolin14 3 месяца назад

@@TheArtMentor glad to hear it from my art mentor ☺️👍

@ArtrichStudio 4 месяца назад

Been on youtube for years, hundreds of videos and have gone through several periods of burnout. It's hard to maintain especially when your seeing any payoff for years. I have over 2k subs and I have developed a small loyal following but also am getting hate comments lately on older videos. I don't get it but I don't delete them, I often argue with the hateful and stupid ones, lol.

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

It's awesome to see you've persisted that long! Good for you! At the end of the day, you make all those videos for yourself though, don't you?

@ArtrichStudio 3 месяца назад

@@TheArtMentor No. I make videos to help others and create a community that will hopefully support whatever I make. I want to make comics/manga, not be a content creator. I understand that to be independent I have to learn how to market though.

@nintai6656 4 месяца назад

How has your day been, Sean?

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

It's better now that you're here! haha. How about yourself?

@Creative_Calico 4 месяца назад

To answer your questions in around 12:40. I create art primarily for myself and in the hopes that likeminded folks will also find joy in what I create. I like dragons so I draw dragons. Like the other day I went looking up what's popular in terms of keywords, ignored all the ones that didn't interest me regardless of how many other people were searching for it and saw one of them was wendigos. I like supernatural beasts so thought hey, that'll be fun to draw. So I only draw popular things if I know I'll get pleasure from making it. I also had someone try to get me to paint sexualised NSFW for them. I said no. They wouldn't initially accept that I said no and tried to coerce me with "how much I'd make off it." No, sorry, I've got my moral code and I won't deviate from that just for the clink of some gold coins. And my top three social media platforms in order would be: 1. RU-vid 2. DeviantArt (though these first two are kind of linked as I put links to my timelapses in my deviantArt uploads) 3. Bluesky (Twitter's (at least at the moment) less toxic cousin)

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Thanks so much for sharing your perspectives and your list here! I love it when people like you resonate and interact with my content 😁

@Creative_Calico 3 месяца назад

@@TheArtMentor Hey, not a problem. I love watching your videos and learning more about the youtube side of being an artist and the bits relating to art and its connection to mental health and having a healthy approach to art. I've recently found fun in participating in art challenges over on Bluesky and it's helping me in terms of inspiration and giving me new ideas to try out :)

@Elizabeth-lu2tp 4 месяца назад

Hi Sean! Great video as always, I love your content. ❤❤ By the way, I have a question for you. What do you think about the fact that in the art community, "art business" content is becoming more viral, where they teach you schemes on how to sell your art focused on social media and websites like Etsy or Shopify? And where the creators claim to earn $15,000 to $20,000 monthly. In my opinion, it's crazy, but I feel like there's a catch, right? It seems too good to be true. 🔎👀 It sounds like a pyramid scheme to me. I would like to hear your opinion and some recommendations!

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

Hey thanks for watching and I'm always thrilled to see you here in the comments! As to your question, yes, that content is always fishy and click-baity. I have some content some might consider similarly, but I teach actual strategies that are action-based instead of what most of those preach and need a massive following to accomplish. It's annoying, isn't it?

@f8keuser 2 месяца назад

For me personally as long as a get at lest a single view on an art piece I'm happy, sure getting tons of views and likes is great and all but I never cared too much about it as I know it can suck people in and ruin them, as an artist who started when I was 13 I've been drawing for longer than half my life and 60% of that time I never shown my work besides to my family, I guess I am just use to drawing without the need to worry about how much attention it gets. I have a few discord art friends who sometimes complain about lack of exposure to their work and how it is off putting to put so much work into an art piece and get so little attention.. I would tell them, if the point of you drawing is just to get popular then you're gonna fail and depression is the first stage, if you have to draw for attention then you are drawing for all the wrong reasons. I tell myself all the time that drawing is just a hobby of mine and I draw because I like being creative and enjoy drawing and getting commissions and likes and views is just a bonus on top but isn't required for me to like drawing and continue to draw. Personally I believe a lot of what you see online doesn't help either, always see tons of people posting "I do this for 30 days and see how much money I made" or "Learn these basic rules to become a commission god" these types of content suck you in and give you hopes and dreams leading others who watch on a train ride that have tracks that lead to a cliff.

@TheArtMentor Месяц назад

That’s a healthy outlook you have!

@crimsondragon1794 4 месяца назад

I tried being an artist on social media. Got called a bigot and dropped off it because i had no desire too deal with the toxic user base on social media

@TheArtMentor 3 месяца назад

So sorry to hear that happened. How did that occur?

@crimsondragon1794 3 месяца назад

@@TheArtMentor i made an attractive female queen that likes to wear flashy dresses and apparently that makes me hate trans identifying people.

@coralfishnt7663 4 месяца назад

What if the comments (made by the AI bros) don't throw insults around, but instead talk about the likely course of events thats going to transpire due to human greed? I don't mean comments that talk purely for the sake of lowering other people's like for their hobbies, but instead comments discussing likely posibilities such as how art is getting less difficult, making it very likely that artists are going to get paid less and less, and AI will be used on things such as little quick details or street graffiti in the game industry more frequently.

@TheArtMentor 4 месяца назад

I’m going to be honest in this response since I have no shame in my position. Yes, I would delete that comment because it becomes a spring board for toxic ai bro support conversations, as I’ve seen it. Also, that’s not the direction of my channel and there’s no supporter of that position that isn’t grounded in fear of being outdone by machines. There are plenty of spaces for those conversations, but that’s not within the community I’m a part of and want to grow. We can’t overlook the harm of AI image generation no matter what golden egg it promises that it’ll never deliver