drawing of the day #2, and the struggle with instant validation
Small caveat before I begin: these drawings aren't really done in a day, but done in the span of 3 days (and one done like several months before) because I was unfocused, but I didn't want to spend that inability to focus with mindlessly doomscrolling.
The prompt: what would my OCs look like when fighting in a futuristic fighting tournament (in this case, the Arcadion raid series from FFXIV)?
Sirius, the one who hates Solution Nine's so-called "futuristic" fashion and decided he'd take matters of the fashionable kind in his own hands.
Nabau, the one who actually likes what he sees in Solution Nine and leans heavily into it.
Rigel, the one who made the mistake of letting Yaana/Black Cat dictate what he wears and is now a little embarrassed about it.
I was admittedly fighting for my life deciding if I want to share these online on bluesky after finishing. The dopamine I'd get from people liking and reposting it would feel pretty incredible, wouldn't it? It would feel pretty great to have that instant validation, wouldn't it? And be somewhat embarrassed if it doesn't get any traction at all?
I realize then that this line of thought is why I took on this journey to maintain a blog and reduce my time on social media in the first place. To try to be a little more purposeful in what I share and how I share things more. To be fair, I've been beginning this because I want more time to spend with my mom, who's currently undergoing chemotherapy for her breast cancer, and I can't meaningfully care for her if I'm always on my phone doomscrolling endlessly, and posting anything that comes to mind - anything at all, even my own personal thoughts that would be more suited for a journal or a therapist - for that instant validation that comes from people liking and reposting my stuff & my words.
There have been a lot of really good videos, blogs and resources about this (I'll be linking them down after this post so you can look through them at your leisure), and how social media really does eat away at the fundamental core of who we are as people, how social media has been like... designed in a way that makes you a little too dependent on it. I'm thinking of my best friend as I write this; the one who, without needing to say it, encouraged me to embark on this path myself. A quick glance at the first 5 pages of the Discover page in the Bearblog space will very easily show you that a lot of people here are also doing it for similar reasons - we all realize how much being on social media is hacking away at the foundations of who we are, and we're trying to step away from it.
This kind of thing admittedly is very difficult to shake off when you're an artist in the age of social media. I feel like I'm in an even worse position because I legitimately grew up in the early days of deviantart - I mean sure, you can argue the faves and comments are all there is to it back in 2006, but I feel like the setup with the page views, fave count and comments were a recipe for disaster (for an unmedicated ADHD teen me, anyway). These days we use social media to advertise our services; if you don't get traction, especially on sites with an egregious algorithm designed to punish you for using even the old "time and tested practices" of gaining an audience, you can expect to find your vision of an illustrious artistic career dead in a ditch ere you began, unless you somehow find a way to make the next viral piece. It's the very sad reason why there are still some people going "bluesky is an awful site because I don't get traction", despite so many posts saying that bluesky in particular needs you to build your audience with those time-and-tested tools: the hashtags, the links, reposting constantly.
It's such a vibe killer, honestly. We share our art to the world because we want people to see what we make - and if that's how we earn a living, of course we want people to peruse our little marketplace (whether you have a physical booth or store, or online) and hopefully get something bespoke from us. Who doesn't? The world is richer for it, but at the same time it's sad how much the state of social media as it is now has pretty much damaged how we see and interact with art, and how much it hurts both artists and people who enjoy art. We've all been led to believe that if our art doesn't get any traction of any "meaningful" figure, we've somehow failed as artists.
If you're an artist of anything at all (Writer, musician, etc - yeah that makes you an artist. AI generated content does not apply) reading this - it's not 100% you. It's the way social media has been structured and marketed, I believe. I feel like a conspiracy theorist for even writing this string of words, but the tech moguls want you to believe being visible all the time online is a good thing and is something you absolutely need to do: be in the know all the time! Never miss another post ever again! Don't miss out on whatever it is your oomfs are doing! I'm thirty three years old as of December 2025 and I already have an embarrassing lack of attention span as it is without social media, please slow down.
I'm not well-versed at these kinds of things beyond reflecting how it has affected me and the people around me, so I don't think I'm equipped to offer a meaningful long-term solution. Best I can do - since I'm doing my darndest to practice it anyway - is suggest stepping back from time to time and evaluate what you're trying to get out of your time on social media. Is it benefiting you? Are you learning something new that isn't some kind of fandom drama or something that should have stayed in the DMs? Does it actually make you feel good or does it make you feel like shit? Maybe by asking ourselves these questions, we can learn to break away from this stifling existence and regain ourselves in meaningful ways (and not in a "I have to be productive as a cog in the capitalist machine" way).
To end this post, here's a small collection of lovely morsels of information and reflective pieces that I like to think has helped me (and hopefully will help you!) in the journey to give myself more mental clarity:
Blogs
The overstated importance of connectivity by ava - actually all her posts about social media are really refreshing to read. My personal favorite related to what I'm lamenting about is her post about hobbies and online recognition.
a sort of rebirth by gabranths - yes, we're shilling our best friend's blog here, but it doesn't matter; Chou reached out to me to tell me that they were deleting their social media except for their art and youtaite accounts. Their first blog post here is sort of the catalyst (as well as their answer when I asked them how much did they change after quitting for a month) that made me start blogging in the first place.
Videos
Let's get you your personality back by Olivia Unplugged. I followed her on tiktok (I think) and the fact that she does these incredibly informative videos in a shorts format - making it easily digestible - is genius to me.
The only thing stopping me from doomscrolling by SwiftFilms - he talks about how keeping a journal and tracking his habits (with the sickest looking tablet I've ever seen) has changed his life for the better when he replaced doomscrolling with keeping a pen and paper by his side (or, you know, that sick tablet that makes it look like you're writing on paper). Something my friend is also practicing, and something I'm trying out myself.
Be well wherever you are!