Content anxiety?
- Locked due to inactivity on May 23, '22 3:54am
Thread Topic: Content anxiety?
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Anyone else have this thing where, they want to share the things they make, but are super afraid that it isn't good enough, or it isn't complete, or people won't like it, etc?
There's a ton of stuff I could post on here, and in other places, but I don't because I often just don't see the point when it doesn't feel like my work will be seen or cared about. -
yeha i get tht a lot, it can be ?? kind of frustratinf like mostly i thnk " oh no one will notice " or " people wnt like it / thnk it’s cool " etc anf it just gets in the way of me sharinf things i like or do :/
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I think that sharing your art can be really scary, because even though you might feel one way about it, other may think differently about it.
I had a lot of anxiety when posting my art, and honestly I never really got a ton of likes, other than like luck and stuff.
My recommendation is to post only what you think is the very best of your work, and not to post too often. I used to post like 10 times a day, and at one point people just stopped liking it. Also, don’t put WIPs with finished art. It’s better to organize your work so that people know what’s what. -
Posting art to the discord or GTQ friends might help too because people can actually like it so you can see the physical validation. It's a double edged sword of course, but I noticed photos I post in those places get commented on more than the ones I post in gtq. It's really about the space and how accessable it is for others to see and appreciate your work.
One negative comment can really ruin a person for life though so although it should go without saying seriously don't ever say something mean about another person's self expression. I had someone be mean about my voice one time and I haven't sung in front of anyone since. Objectively I know my voice is great because I did honor choir and got leads in musicals but even still I can't sing anymore because one person messed up my confidence that bad. -
That is true, yeah.
Yeah, pretty much the only engagement I usually get is from friends, primarily one.
I mean, the thing is, because of this anxiety I rarely post it to begin with. I've got a huge backlog of not just art, but music and other stuff I want to post but can't find the confidence to. I never properly post WIPs, only sometimes send them to friends to get their opinions, and that's usually just for music. -
Feeling like people care is important. If your comments are always being ignored you can easily stop posting because you believe no one cares. The problem with that is that it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. If you don't ever post or put yourself out there no one will know who you are and then they really won't care. You gotta engage.
That goes for anyone on gtq who feels like people don't care about them or they get ignored. We're just screen names. Most of us don't know what each other looks like or how we sound. It takes that extra effort to get people to remember you. But it's also a blessing that this is online. That means it's a super safe place to post whatever stupid weird thoughts you have because again, no one knows who you are.
As long as you're mature and respectful you can post those 4 am thoughts or that weird art you don't know how you feel about yet. -
I am really working on my confidence because I used to have really terrible self esteem. One thing I've learned is it really is about faking it. If you act like people care about what you have to say they'll start caring more. If you post something like it's something that people want to stop and admire it they will. Also talking like you're already friends with someone. You think no one likes you but the truth is that they're just introverted too and waiting for you to make the first step. If you're both waiting on each other to extend the olive branch it'll never happen.
It's cliche, but being friendly really is the best way to get friends -
Not preaching to anyone 🙏 just sharing my thoughts and what I've learned through my own journey dealing with this..
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Yeah, I may try the discord. I also have a lot of trouble in other places too, for instance, I don't post on my ArtStation nearly as often as I should, or like I said above, I have a huge backlog of music I haven't released.
Yeah I definitely get that. We as humans do generally pay more attention to negativity. The closest I come to that sort of thing usually is when someone already thinks they're bad at something, and I remind them that improvement is always possible, no matter how good or bad you may be at something. That isn't something to feel bad about, it's an opportunity. As for your experience, I hope you're able to work past that. Personally I'd love to hear you sing, I always loved your voice before. -
EXACTLY! And if I'm gonna be honest, that's exactly whats happened to me.
That is very true.
And I may try to start doing that. It's just rather hard to get past the urge not to.
Wow, that's really good, solid advice. Thank you.
Nah I understand, and even if you were, preach away friend :-) I made the thread to talk about stuff about this and that's exactly what you're doing haha
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