OMG. Okay. I have to rant about Instagram and Algorithms. Bad. It's terrible.

So I got an Insights Email from Instagram about about last month. In which I've been REALLY TRYING to post Regularly and Engage. Really trying. Posting and talking and. TRYING. HARD.

...and I got. 39% LESS engagement in September than before (in which I posted NOTHING).

ALGORITHMS ARE FUCKING BULLSHIT?? ☠️☠️☠️😭

I'm so tired. I'm a small indie creator and I'm so TIRED. 😭

So it's been a while since I did that original 'hELVETICA' coin and I've improved a little since then so I did it again real quick.

Original from when I was starting out:

One I did today:

While, yes, this is a bit of a flex it's also to show that, when you start something you're going to suck at it, but if you keep working through the sucking you'll get better. I know it looks flashy but I can see several mistakes and things I'd do differently on the second version

NB: you don't even have to get amazing at something for it to be worth your while. Just once you're having fun and enjoying it. I didn't get started in engraving to get work out of it, I just did it for fun and got *extremely* lucky.

So instagram is promoting threads using super nationalist, transphobic users as examples of content. Very Cool. No way to hide the ad or report the content on display, any engagement with the post just takes you to the App Store to download Threads today ✨✨✨

Absolutely fucking disgusting.

i dislike how some people act like you're some backwards Luddite if you acknowledge that the impacts of technology and social media are nuanced and not 100% positive and perhaps having rich, conventionally beautiful people beamed directly into our eyeballs constantly is not great for us

will I ever look at a tortoiseshell cat and not immediately start sobbing? only time will tell

apparently I can only be successful on one platform bcs while my art acc on instagram has been getting more and more attention, the notes on my tumblr blog have been getting lower and lower

 some recent and not so recent stuff // ig

I used to think the worst parts of being a writer were the creative blocks, having to face every past mistake while editing, the fear of negative criticisms and so on, and so on.

No, the worst part is that nowadays writers also have to be influencers.

;; between tumblr changing their layout and twitter implementing government ID verification requirements soon, it’s becoming harder and harder to have a safe space to create online

edit: added source

I'm done with Instagram forever. I will just post my arts only here, on DeviantArt and probably on Pinterest.

Link for last post on Instagram with explanation: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1nnPddom13/?igsh=MTFweGFzMHd5MjY3Mg==

Fuck these these algorithm.

I'm very normal about nettles. I found a patch of winter retted nettles that were the perfect level of dead for fibre extraction! Will do an update video about what I make with it soon :)

God I hate trying to advertise anything on Instagram. I started posting again after taking a couple months off for my mental health and the app LITERALLY does not show my posts to people. like I have 9,500 followers on this account and my posts are getting shown to MAYBE 300 at a time. it's such bullshit. I hate how the app is designed to get you addicted to the attention and then fucks you over until you prove you're gonna spend hours on the app every day. I hate that it's the best way to sell my shit. I hate feeling pressured to do dumb fucking tiltok trends to get any engagement. I hate that I can't just post pictures of the stuff I make, I have to ✨market✨ and 🌸engage🌸 and 🌼film myself looking awkward and stupid🌼 instead of just posting a picture of the shit I make saying "look, I made this shit". I hate Instagram so fucking much.

I crave validation so strongly. I wish I could help everyone in the world and yet I am unable to help myself.

Idk who will read this rn as I made this account yesterday because I decided to quit Instagram and move my art here. But I swear that I love the fact that Tumblr doesn't have a stupid ass algorithm that doesn't let most people see your creations, or the fact that hashtags are actually useful here.

For those who don't know, Instagram made a new update were you can't see the recent posts in hashtags unless they're popular (top posts and recent top posts) . So now it's only the algorithm that decides which posts it will let you see. Horrible.

i see a lot of artists escaping twitter listing discord servers as alternatives and honestly that just spells disaster

doesnt matter how organized and civil you try to keep it, it just seems like a disaster waiting to happen

I need to stop going on Instagram it just makes me mad at this point