Being an artist on commercial social media.

[thepluff@mastodon.social]

I was always bad at deconstructing mechanisms of algorithms and how SM portals work.

To reach my followers, I had to follow rules I wasn't even aware of. Make reels, make videos, add music, choose the right format, post regularly, reply to comments as soon as possible...

I just wanted to post some drawings and make people laugh.

[blort@social.tchncs.de]

@thePluff

It's because the companies making these algorithms actively don't want you to understand how they work. If you understand it, you can work the system to give yourself better results without paying them as much for those results which weakens shareholder returns.

There's no shareholders here, so no one really cares about that stuff. Want to know how the algorithm for your favourite fedi client works? The code is generally completely public and you can have anyone who understands code explain it to you.

Anyway, until then, looking forward to more drawings and laughter!

[_the_cloud@mastodon.social]

@thePluff I also find the cauliflower difficult to kill.

[omegapolice@hachyderm.io]

@thePluff Welcome to Mastodon!

[ngc_ollie@mastodon.bayern]

@thePluff and BTW nobody ever could check those counters reliable. What if parts of the answers are made up by AI, nobody can have transparency

[murdoc@autistics.life]

@thePluff

[byrnensorg@mastodon.ie]

@thePluff Sounds more like you have a book in you rather than only drawings. Have you considered going old school and putting together a book about your struggles, the vagaries of sm algorithms, and the trials and tribulations of a budding artist with the twists and turns wonderfully illustrated, then promoting said book, in much the same way Simon Stålenhag ( https://www.simonstalenhag.se/ ) did. There's something special about seeing your work when not illuminated by LED.

[youknowjack@social.jackhumphrey.me]

@thePluff That's a follow!

[kittendev@mastodon.social]

@thePluff Hell, Mastodon is trying to remove everyone who opposes ai slop.

[obot50549535@left-bank.net]

@thePluff It has recently become clear to me that, even on Mastodon, there are a lot of things posted by people I follow that I never see. I mean, I'm sure it's all in my feed somewhere, but that doesn't mean I see it.

Not sure how to fix this.

[yojimbo@masto.hackers.town]

@thePluff To be fair, "everyone" won't be able to see your posts on the fediverse, either. But it will be because of your or their decisions, not those of some evil overlord in the middle.

(subtext: mastodon.social is by far one of the largest fediverse sites, but for the same reason, it's also been responsible for far more spam than others, and consequently many other sites have blocked or otherwise limited it's reach. This might not bother you! But it bothers some of your potential audience)

[tidur@hachyderm.io]

@thePluff Thank you for adding more joy to a world that so desperately needs it!

[expiredtoken@mastodon.social]

@thePluff
" I just wanted to post some drawings and make people laugh. "

So be it, and you'll get genuine interest and love from people, rather than a toxic relationship with some robot.

I'm discovering your work, and your comics are great, all the best to you ️!

[naturemc@mastodon.online]

@obot50549535 If you don't want to miss *any* post of a certain account, you can turn on notifications (the bell on a profile page). But if they post a lot, you get a lot of notifications! More tipps on https://fedi.tips

@thePluff

[obot50549535@left-bank.net]

@NatureMC @thePluff I can see how that would help sort it out. Because I think the thing that's killing me is that my feed is flooded with boosts of toots I have already read.

Particularly odd that a toot goes into *my* feed when *I* boost it.

[naturemc@mastodon.online]

@obot50549535 That's because your feed is made only by yourself and the people you follow (no algorithms). If you follow very like-minded people, the probability to get the same boosts from different people, is high.

But you can fine-tune it: block boost from accounts boosting too much (profile, then you get only original posts), mute conversations or single toots/persons for a limited time. Or follow very diverse people or even hashtags. So many possibilities!

@thePluff