Eddie being killed at the end of S4 is already infuriating, but it’s even worse when you remember there was another gate nearby that should have opened when Fred was Vecna’d. Assuming the gates have to attach themselves to something physically (they’re never shown floating in the air--Patrick’s gate was at the bottom of the lake, not above it where he actually died) there should have been a gate on the ground, on the road where Fred died. That gate easily could have been used as a backup escape route for Eddie or Dustin to use if/when being overwhelmed by the bats. Also the fact that no one thought to make covers for the gates to prevent the bats from getting through was... a choice

Aight so the discussion of attention on creative content in fandom has come up in my social sphere a couple times again lately (as it tends to do like, once a week lol) and I wanted to go over my.... understanding of the “way things work” on media platforms and such. 

this got really really long and is a lot of words sorry if its hard to read!!! (i added some spacing to make it a little less rough on the eyes)

I don’t have any degree pertinent to like, social media or marketing or anything but I’ve been on tumblr specifically for..... yikes like.. 7.. maybe 8 years on and off? I’m not a fandom “elder” or anything, im fairly young and i dont have much history with like, fanfiction.net or the older forums and yada yada. So, take this all with that in mind. 

Tumblr has changed a lot, but honestly, the content consumption... hasnt really. Only marginally. enough to be noticeable yes, but... its not anything that isnt... new, to me. Fans will find a way to find content. Ultimately, wether or not you get attention for your content, is ENTIRELY up to how much attention you want, and how hard you push to get it. 

Now, that isnt me hoisting the “blame” on artists or writers, I’m just saying that the tools to get attention are in your ball park, consumers only have so many ways to reach you. So how carefully you utilize these tools is what determines the attention you get. Its a MARKET and you have to manipulate the shit out of it. Thats how this stuff works. Its awkward and unfortunate in a lot of ways... but it’s very much a game of strategy. If you want it to be. And I actually DONT do a lot of these things, because I swing wildly between wanting validation and wanting no one to ever interact with me ever again lmfao. And its a lot of work. 

okay so, what are these tools?

1) Tags. (and search function) Probably the BIGGEST tool in your box that is stable and fairly consistent in the way it works. Tag your works with the intention of reaching the biggest audience. There are posts out there that will explain it more in depth, but with tumblr constantly changing how things work it’s a little hard to keep up with it... But basically; 

first 5 tags are your most important, they are track-able, searchable, etc.

as long as there aren’t external (non tumblr) links in your post, the /SEARCH section of tumblr will catalog original posts both from their TAGS and their CAPTION CONTENT- this means if in this text box you write “cookies are great” but you only tag it with “#yaaas” and someone searches cookies, your post might show up! So a relevant CAPTION is just as important as those tags! Use both, with different words, to maximize searchability! I’d prioritize tags, because old-tumblr-folks might just manually go into /tagged/cookies because the search function is kind of annoying, and they wont see those caption tracked posts. 

i think its 20 tags that your blog will have as searchable within your own blog, but honestly searching blogs has never been particularly reliable so, idk. As long as you go most to least relevant while tagging, youre on the right track.

also, dont tag ship hate or include tags that you DONT want your post in. INCLUDING caption if you can help it. This is why you see people sabotaging words with punctuation or awkward spacing, its to keep it out of the hands of search functions. (ie; being like “i love co.okies” or smthn.) 

2) Timing. Unpredictable, hard to get used to, even less logical with new filter systems and shit. just... fucking.. idk. wing it. hope it works.  Basically my point here is usually; the note count on your post relies entirely on building a momentum. It needs to hit little “bursts” of notes often enough to keep it alive. If it dies right out of the gate... it can be hard to build that momentum. It works best when you JUST SO HAPPEN to get reblogged on the right blogs, at the right time. Theres not much you can do to like, ensure this happens. But its really one of those things that just.. if it happens, youre golden. if it doesnt..... well fuck. lol. 

3) on that note; note count. For some odd reason, humans just seem less likely to reblog something with less notes. Which is ironic and frustrating. Once its built up a little cushion, its a lot easier for people to be like “oh, reblogging this isnt risky, ima do it! other people like it too!” it makes sense, but its also kind of funny and infuriating as a creator cause ur like U LIKE IT, JUST REBLOG IT???? but alas, humans are humans. So, boosting those smaller note count works is REALLY nice. Do it when you can. be the trend setter!!! 

4) Direct Engagement. Building relationships is the like. fucking.... idk. pinnacle marketing strategy and just best thing in the whole world. Every single business class, marketing thing, anything trying to get attention, NEEDS a stable social circle. And as much as it is a manipulative marketing strategy, it is that BECAUSE thats what we need as PEOPLE, THAT is why it works. Make friends. Make friends naturally. Foster relationships. Try your damn hardest for it. I suck at this personally, im ridiculously antisocial. But like, commenting on other peoples works, saying hi, wishing people happy birthdays, just ENGAGING with people, directly feeds peoples happy meters. And if they like you, they are more likely to want to love and support you!! hell yea! all the love!! Which means, basically you can rely on those people to at least BOOST your stuff, even if they dont like it personally. which is an AMAZING THING. So yes. make friends. they’re great. I love the people who stick with me and try to be friends. and that isnt the sneaky marketing talking... im actually really bad at it so i cherish every single person who tries xD But yes this is highly effective. If you have enough friends, and they happen to be high profile friends even, you could magically get more notes then the best tagged work. miracles. i hate it. its hard. LOL.

5) Exploit trends and big fandoms. Like I said, if you want to be big... you can get really strategic about it. If you make work for a fandom that is ~500 active people strong (hannibal) or a fandom that is ~10,000 people strong.... you’re going to see a RIDICULOUS jump in activity. And im not saying like, you have to pretend to like stuff. I’m just sayingthat like, diversifying your content isnt always a bad idea. I segregate my fandom content off onto blogs because I like the organization, but if i was smart about it i WOULDNT. Because a blog that progresses through fandoms naturally will gain followers from every fandom that stick around. a lot will leave as you change fandoms, but a LOT will stay. Because assuming you’ve done the previous thing, they now look at you fondly. They like your work, your personality, your style. So they might tolerate art from other fandoms. And you’re fandoms might sync up again. so diversifying is a great way to build a strong following. and that goes not just for fandoms, but for in-fandom trends and stuff to. If you can manage to sneak in something that is relatable now and again, that is on the top of peoples radars, even if its cheesy, it adds a little burst of activity to your page. Keeps things fresh. 

6) Keepin things fresh! Stagnation is a bitch to steady activity. Consistently, actively, posting content, even if its not like, your main attention getters, keeps people engaged. So if you can MANAGE TO. Posting like, a big art/fic a month, with a few smaller things every week, and a text post every day or so- will keep you in peoples heads. Out of sight, out of mind. If you’re around a lot, you’re feeding peoples brains positive associations (assuming you’re not posting negative stuff i guess) its like a “oh! hi! friend!” dose. Very effective at maintaining engagement on an individual level. 

7) Reblog your work! especially with tumblrs new algorithms, its hard to catch everyone at a “prime time” so space out a few reblogs of your work, occasionally pop an old work back up with a “hey remember this” because you never know who is going to see it for the first time. Or maybe a second time, and realize they didnt reblog it before. Or maybe its their 4th time seeing it today but you’ve finally caught them at an awake enough moment theyre like “oh yea reblog button exists” (i do that a lot..... please spam me with your work im tired and forgetful) oR maybe they just REALLY LOVE that thing and will reblog it AGAIN because YES. 

8) on that, also, post to other platforms! Works best if you actually stagger the posts. I dont cause i forget to post shit if i do but. yea. Also, cross linking. Not necessarily on the post itself, but having CLEAR OBVIOUS links to places you WANT people to go, on your various platforms is VERY VERY SMART. Be that including your twitter on your tumblr, or a shop, or whatever. Make it as EASY AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE for viewers to be intrigued by other things that are YOU. 

9) Do! What! You! Love! Fandom content is an easy in. People love the characters already, they KNOW stuff about those characters, they have head cannons, emotional connections. So that ground work is already done. BUT!!! if you’re making anything that ISNT already an established, well loved thing, YOU have to build up that relationship. Which means you cant just draw your original character standing there giving a thumbs up one time and expect people to love them.  You love them, because you KNOW them. So you gotta let your audience know them!!! which means drawing their personality, their history, how they interact with people and things, what makes them so lovable?! people want! to! know!!!! Its rough but its literally like building a friendship between you and another human, you have to do the same thing with your characters. they have to have substance! intractability!  It applies to things that arent characters too, like, if you display and explain your love for something, people are out there who want to share that vibe. You just gotta be loud and be proud and just fuckin go for it. 

//end// my attention span is officially fried though so i might come back and add more later.... but i gotta give up on this for now cause my train of thought just crashed completely lol. 

point being; you can manipulate your market if you pay attention! Or you can also not. Cause it is hard sometimes. But seriously like, attention on your “products” has VERY LITTLE to do with the quality or effort put into the work itself, and a lot more with how effectively you manipulate people. I mean look at how shitty products sell in the real life market place. half of them are garbage. but you get brand loyalty and being strategic and sneaky and like, suddenly every damn person needs it. So why not do the same with your PROBABLY GOD DAMN AMAZING products.