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People used to comment on web comics.
People used to comment on fanfiction.
People used to comment on fanart.
People used to comment on OCs.
I hate “content” culture.
I hate “consuming content” and scrolling immediately to the next thing.
People used to be excited about the art that other people created.
People used to want to share that excitement with creators.
I hate this future.
Once someone tagged art that I made with “woah” and I think about it at least once a week. Someone else said “oh neat” once. Someone else WROTE A WHOLE DAMN POEM IN THE COMMENTS. Anyways even just one word can change how someone sees their art. You don’t even have to think about it too hard. You could put a keyboard smash and I’d probably cry from joy.
I’m also trying hard to interact more, I understand that it’s hard to break away from opening your phone and being in Content Consumption Mode.
Back in the day, people only ever really commented on popular things though? Most of us never got much feedback on Livejournal unless a BNF gave us a cosign. And on bigger pages, the comments section would frequently be a cesspit. Anecdotally, I get as many AO3 comments as I ever did (and I’m new in a small fandom, compared to established in a hueg fandom). You might think that low-effort engagement like kudos and likes don’t count, but as an oldhead, it just seems like the silent majority have a voice now, and it’s nice. I agree that ~content consumption~ is a grim way to experience the world but let’s not kid ourselves into thinking it used to be so much better. You’re still thinking about it in terms of creator and consumer and the proper format of ego tokens. I get it! But it’s better to loosen up that grip a little and manage your expectations.
“Most of us never got feedback on livejournal”
See the thing about that is the type of accounts that got a little feedback back in the day on livejournal (I was there) now get absolutely ZERO feedback here on tumblr.
Same for fanfiction, esspecially, which is what inspired this post.
Back in 2002 I was writing OC x Canon fanfiction for unpopular fandom characters and getting 12 or so comments on each individual chapter. I still have those fics. I can go back and look at them.
The same on deviantart. I was posting extremely amateurish artwork of unpopular fandom characters and getting several comments on each image.
Despite the fact that my art has improved since then, I post artwork now and get met with silence.
I mean…it’s all anecdotal, right? I’m getting more comments now than I did then, you’re getting less. You may have been more popular than you recall – aside from a story here or there that broke containment, I only got comments from friends (much like tumblr is for me now). I can’t speak for the ecosystem of deviant art, I’ve never used it. My issue is with this type of post (sorry to single you out! it’s the straw on the camel’s back) that are all gloom and doom and guilt w/o acknowledging that the venues and methods might have changed. Again, I also hate the content consumption model, but dismantling that involves letting go of the idea that you are the creator who gets correct feedback from the consumer and that’s the only way fandom culture can work
I mean yeah, its anecdotal, but the fact that my personal vent post has randomly blown up to 10k notes in 3 days who feel the same way says something.
I think it says that a lot of people feel the same way that I expressed feeling frustrated in my post.
I’m sorry you’ve seen a lot of posts about it, and I agree seeing posts about the same thing is frustrating, but I think people are talking about it because its an actual issue.
Frankly I think the obsession some people have with getting “correct” feedback, combined with the culture of scrutinizing and policing every interaction of others in fandom for purity and morality is what caused this.
People are afraid to comment now because they’re afraid to do it “wrong” because social media has created a hostile environment where you’re encouraged to be passive.
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