Git Gud

[rynling]

I'm going to say something that's awful, but it's also true.

It doesn't matter how kind and friendly I am - no one is going to support my work just because I'm kind and friendly and putting things out into the world. No one is going to say, "They've supported me, so I should support them too." Social networking is great, but only if you can manage to convince people that you're worth their time and attention. The only way for me to be supported, basically, is to be worthy of support.

My goal for the summer is to improve my art skills to the extent that I can manage to trick people into liking my work. I will readily admit that this is shallow, but improvement is improvement.

My ultimate goal is to get to a point where I'm doing what I do simply because it brings me joy. I'm going to have to work to get to that point, and it's fair to acknowledge that it won't necessarily be fun or make me happy. Until then, I'm going to need to rely on discipline and the borrowed energy of hardcore motivational playlists.

Comments

[runicmagitek]

Social networking is weird and yeah, it's less about finding good, decent individuals and more about whether or not that person is worth your time. I really hate it, but that seems to be the norm. Yet another reason I've been dissuaded with pursuing a professional writing career.

[rynling]

SOCIAL MEDIA IS AWFUL.

Let me tell you a (very short) story.

I put a lot of thought and care into what I retweet and post on Twitter. I do my best to create a good balance between art Zelda jokes and links to interesting articles and new book announcements, and I pay attention to the overall flow so that I don't overwhelm anyone (including myself) with a feeling of "everyone else is doing and making good things all the time." Basically, I try to curate a positive yet easygoing Twitter feed, and it doesn't get much attention, which is probably for the best.

But then, every once in a while, I'm like, Something Bad Has Happened™ (in the most recent case, receiving a shitty editorial review of my book manuscript), and suddenly I'm getting all sorts of likes and retweets and comments and shares on Facebook and and and...

...and Jesus Christ, people really love misery and outrage on social media. Like, I appreciate the solidarity and support, but holy hell.

Is that how people get popular on social media? Really??

[runicmagitek]

I hate that about social media! You want to share a cute selfie or adorable cat pics and people are meh. The minute your life is shit? Everyone comes out of the wood works to support you. I had something similar happen on Facebook when I first opened up about acquiring an autoimmune disease that almost killed me. Like everyone want to say something and be supportive. Which was great... until a year after the fact, a majority of people only came out to say something if I had a health update and not like... if I was doing well and wanted to share a cute/silly thing. That and I knew a few people like, 8 years ago, who were super anti-selfies and vaguebooked the shit out of people who took them, let alone post them. And I was going through a phase where I was taking a lot to help boost self-confidence while I hated how I looked (dysphoria was real and I didn't know then) and my confidence died thanks to those idiots.

But yeah. Social media is like that one drunk relative who keeps coming to family gatherings or something. You want nothing to do with it, but something-something ~family~

[runicmagitek]

Also I read your post about your editorial review for your manuscript while I was waiting to see Endgame and I was SO MAD because of that ASSHOLE and then I sat in a theater for like almost four hours and forgot to make a proper response, but yeah THAT SHIT WAS FUCKED UP AND EVEN MORE MESSED UP ABOUT THE SOCIAL MEDIA RESPONSE D:

[rynling]

I once published a negative-leaning review of someone's book because they were mean to me on LiveJournal, so this could be karma. I'd like to think that I grew out of that stage of my life, though. Now I politely decline to review something if I feel as though I'm unable to be fair or helpful. You know, like an adult.

I've read that the "privileging misery" aspect of social media is partially due to algorithms that track what people are most likely to respond to and therefore show users more volatile posts instead of more chill and happy posts, but I also suspect that the opportunity to perform certain social dramas online gives energy to extroverts... and this makes me so tired.

[lassarina]

I believe in you.

[rynling]

I BELIEVE IN YOU TOO!! Put some pixie dust on us, and we can fly to the goddamn moon.