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Social media activity seems to be really bad for certain kinds of content. On Twitter I frequently see art posts with thousands of likes and less than 10 commen

Social media activity seems to be really bad for certain kinds of content. On Twitter I frequently see art posts with thousands of likes and less than 10 comments. And inevitably a few of those replies will be pussy-in-bio spam bots. Even on Threads, accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers often end up getting between 10 and 20 comments as well. It seems like if you want engagement you have to post some sort of bait content to encourage people to reply. This is often controversial stuff which gets people fired up, or some culture war nonsense. The Internet was supposed to make us feel more connected than ever but it increasingly feels like whatever you create ends up being a shout into the void. If you're sharing content that's primarily outside of the main platform, it often won't get as much reach as platform-native content. That's why every big creator always ends up making their own newsletter, in order to have a way to directly connect with people.

skydhash 3y ago
SM platforms like Twitter and Facebook are Time Squares. People ignore most of the posts, stare at something for 2 seconds if it catches their attention in some way (bait usually), and point to what really interests them (retweet,…). And sometimes you stumble on an active discussion (in the analogy, it would be like pointing a camera to those involved and showing them on the big screen with speakers blaring) Then you have forums which are like lecture halls, IRC like apps (Discord, Slack) which feels more like classroom (without the teacher) and finally, the direct conversations in Whatsapp, Messenger and Telegram.
acureau 3y ago
I also notice that some content like art and music only pull passive engagement. On the opposite end of the spectrum you have platforms like Twitch, where a creator's success is almost entirely dependent on their ability to build an actively engaged following. I think the key to it all is that the creator has to encourage and participate in interactions with their following.
ravelfan 3y ago
What can one really comment about art though? "That is beautiful" or "That is shit". I love art but could care less about the field of art criticism. I use to have a geocities personal site on the old internet and it is not like anyone ever looked at that either. The real difference is I don't remember anyone caring about the number of myspace followers a person had. It only mattered who was in your top 6 or however many it was in your top list. Obviously, that is because there was no money to be made with having connections to people you didn't know.
- TheAceOfHearts 3y ago
  Getting a bit of encouragement and positive feedback can be very motivating. It doesn't cost the giver anything and it can really have a positive impact on the receiving party. Most recently I received a comment from someone asking to buy some of my art and I felt incredibly flattered. Like we shouldn't be constantly seeking validation from external sources, but we're inherently social creatures so getting a bit of positive feedback is good.

skydhash 3y ago

SM platforms like Twitter and Facebook are Time Squares. People ignore most of the posts, stare at something for 2 seconds if it catches their attention in some way (bait usually), and point to what really interests them (retweet,…). And sometimes you stumble on an active discussion (in the analogy, it would be like pointing a camera to those involved and showing them on the big screen with speakers blaring) Then you have forums which are like lecture halls, IRC like apps (Discord, Slack) which feels more like classroom (without the teacher) and finally, the direct conversations in Whatsapp, Messenger and Telegram.

acureau 3y ago

I also notice that some content like art and music only pull passive engagement. On the opposite end of the spectrum you have platforms like Twitch, where a creator's success is almost entirely dependent on their ability to build an actively engaged following. I think the key to it all is that the creator has to encourage and participate in interactions with their following.

ravelfan 3y ago

What can one really comment about art though? "That is beautiful" or "That is shit". I love art but could care less about the field of art criticism. I use to have a geocities personal site on the old internet and it is not like anyone ever looked at that either. The real difference is I don't remember anyone caring about the number of myspace followers a person had. It only mattered who was in your top 6 or however many it was in your top list. Obviously, that is because there was no money to be made with having connections to people you didn't know.

TheAceOfHearts 3y ago
Getting a bit of encouragement and positive feedback can be very motivating. It doesn't cost the giver anything and it can really have a positive impact on the receiving party. Most recently I received a comment from someone asking to buy some of my art and I felt incredibly flattered. Like we shouldn't be constantly seeking validation from external sources, but we're inherently social creatures so getting a bit of positive feedback is good.