A problem I have with art on social media is, unlike in art communities with dedicated areas for different types of posts/needs, it's usually unclear what the artist wants out of each art post. Do they want appreciation? critique? sympathy? numbers? to bring out fellow [subject] enthusiasts? Hardly anyone bothers to say, and "getting it wrong" tends to lead to unpleasant experiences.
The result is that I tend to just not respond to art posts on social media.
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@eishiya possibly a problem more with microblogging specifically than social media in general? To wit, U would assume that posting on a Lemmy or other Reddit-like forum/channel would make it more clear what the intent was (based on forum theme). I would say that still counts as social media. I guess in theory this would be possible also on microblogs, using relevant hashtags like rateMyArt or whatever?
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@oblomov This is a problem on Tumblr, Reddit, etc too. People could use tags and could use specialised subreddits, but they usually don't, perhaps due to microblogging setting the norms. On Reddit, it seems like people are more concerned with reach and go for the most generic, vague option instead of choosing a subreddit appropriate to their other intents.
Other services don't force this problem, but they still have it, if only due to microblogging's influence.
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@eishiya you're right, there's definitely been a cultural shift, and now that you make me think about it more than because of microblogging specifically it was due to the shift from “topic-centered” social media to “user-centered”. After all, already MySpace or even just blogs changed the perspective to “who you follow” from the “what do you want to talk about” that was characteristic of newsgroups and fora.
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@eishiya I'm always unsure myself.
I do know, that at least in terms of critique, if people want critique they'll almost always directly state it. Receiving critique without a blatant "I'm looking for advice" "what can I do better on this" etc, feels like a violation to a lot of artists.. though I just personally find it rude and annoying if people critique random art that's not asking for it.
I think more often than not though it's pretty easy to work through misunderstandings outside of that
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@eishiya Like unless people come in saying things like "oh this character reminds me of so and so" most people like talking about art stuff so asking questions or leaving a compliment are usually pretty good place to start, and if nothing else like you can always leave an explanation/intention of your comment as well just to make doubly sure if you don't want to be misunderstood.
but from like decades of social media art stuff yeah the critique or comparison comments are the only big issues imo
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@CosmicRot I probably shouldn't have included critique in my list of examples because the replies are focusing on that and that's one where the situation is usually clearer.
A more typical scenario is, for example, someone posts fanart of a popular character, and it's impossible to tell if they want praise of their art or if they'd find that off-putting because they just wanted to gush about this character. Or maybe they'd find gushing off-putting because they just thought the design was cool.
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@eishiya Usually the artist wants an audience within, or even outside of the art community. Sometimes for appreciation, to have their ideas validated, or as you mentioned - find fellow enthusiasts. Mostly just the same reasons people would look to have their work published pre-Internet.
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@PepVerbsNouns The "or" is the key there. It's rare that someone wants all of the above equally for a given post, and without clarification by the artist, it's hard to know how to respond appropriately.
Pretty often, I see artists being upset that all anyone cared about was how well their meaningful painting was made, or the opposite - the hard work they put in was neglected because people were just interested in the subject. Such communication issues are eternal, but are exacerbated by socmed.
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@eishiya It likely does vary from piece to piece or person to person. What's worse is if an artist were to outright state their intention with sharing a piece, it comes off as telling the viewer how to interact with the work, rather than letting them form their own conclusion (which could includes having a conflicting takeaway, or skipping the piece entirely)
That's mainly why I think art posts can come off as ambiguous. Also some artists likely don't think that far and post for the sake of it.
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@PepVerbsNouns Before this became such an issue with social media, it was decently common for artists to talk a bit about their art when posting it. This gave people an idea of what they cared about the piece, and thus helped avoid completely off-base comments without actually limiting what they could say.
When artists talked about their struggles getting the colours right, I knew that if I liked the colours, that would be worth mentioning, for example. These days, that guidance is very rare.
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@PepVerbsNouns Outside the Internet, galleries and art books often include brief artists' statements. These can guide interpretation and feedback if the viewer wants them to. Some artists don't want to offer that guidance, and that's fine. But I think on social media, that lack of guidance isn't usually deliberate. People have feedback preferences, but don't think to or can't include them.
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@eishiya Social media definitely did a number on this, especially since lengthy posts meant less people paying attention. Or even worse, someone could re-upload the work with less or no commentary at all, and get more engagement because the work itself is front and center. And if the process or struggles were moved to the replies instead, no one would see it.
Doesn't help that social media feeds meant it's too easy to just fly past someone's work while infinitely scrolling.
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@eishiya thank's for that input - I never thought about it when I posted an image anywhere. I hope to remember to add some little text where I state what I want, like feedback, please share, your thoughts... that helps with two things: people know most likely what to do, and it helps to engage with people who see that post and to get more eyes on that piece of art :)
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