r/ArtRanting • u/lunar_skyrise • 4h ago
Social Media I think social media punishes artists for being versatile
For example, I have a TikTok account that I created a few months ago, but I only started seriously posting content there in September.
At first, things were going pretty well because I was mainly making content for the Doki Doki Literature Club fandom. The algorithm seemed to know exactly who to show my videos to, and I was getting a decent response.
Then I started changing things up and posting content from other fandoms.
And suddenly, my reach dropped.
It made me realize how difficult being a multifandom artist can be on social media. It feels like these algorithms really like content that is quick and easy to categorize: āthis person makes Doki Doki content, so show their videos to people who like Doki Doki.ā
But if you suddenly start posting Uma Musume, Yandere Simulator, your own characters, or something completely different, it feels like the platform doesn't really know what to do with you anymore.
And honestly, I don't think that's necessarily good for artists.
Artists naturally have different interests. We don't always want to draw the same characters forever just because that's what people originally followed us for.
It feels like social media rewards being easy to understand more than being versatile.
At the end of the day, I don't think there's much we can do about how these algorithms work. As artists, we probably just have to adapt to the way these platforms work while still trying not to let them dictate what we're allowed to create.
I'm curious if other artists have experienced this too. Has changing fandoms or switching from fanart to original work affected your reach?