Are artists and creators not welcome in this community?

I decided to do a bit of a dive into this platform, and while I think it is an interesting idea, I am yet to find a space on Lemmy where I am welcome. I am an artist. I have a Patreon that pays my bills and puts food on the table. Generally, I give the majority of my stuff away for free to the community, but that usually comes with a link to my Patreon, which is optional, but is there for people if they want to support me. I need to eat too. As far as I understand, that is not allowed here. Or pretty much any other instance I've come across on Lemmy. The obvious solution is to create my own instance, I suppose, but I am already running two communities on Discord, and generally work ungodly amounts on my art, so adding running an instance on top of that is just not feasible. I also lack the needed technical skills to run something like that. In the meantime, I am constantly seeing people complain that there isn't a lot of content here. Guess who's good at creating content? Creators. But you need to allow us to eat in order to create content for you. Am I alone on this?

JohnDClay,

Hmm, I haven't seen any rules that disallow self promotion aside from nsfw. Could you point me to where you're seeing that?

Domille,

I believe this instance has the rule against ads, which I believe self-promotion is one of those. I might be wrong?

kersploosh,
@kersploosh@sh.itjust.works avatar

I'd say just go for it and see if any mods squawk. If it's really your original art, and you aren't aggressive about asking for money, then you might be fine. It's a matter of the text of the rule versus the intent of the rule.

JohnDClay,

Hmm, I'd clarify with the admin what's the difference between an ad and linking to additional content, some of which is paid. Also, I couldn't find the ad rule with some quick browsing, maybe copy it here for reference? Is it just the '*No ads' in the rules? If so, we definitely need more clarification

Domille,

The instance rules literally just say this: No Ads / Spamming.

PriorProject,

There is a no ads and no spamming rule in the sidebar of the homepage of the instance at https://sh.itjust.works/

spark431,

I really doubt that applies to patreon links.

socialjusticewizard,

I don't think most people would consider linking your patreon in your community or your bio to be advertising. It's true the rule could use some clarification though.

it's fine to ask, but also note that if you get booted from the instance for it, you can always go to a different instance that allows it.

JoeKrogan,
@JoeKrogan@lemmy.world avatar

I'd say make a community and I'm sure others will join. Cool artwork by the way

Domille,

The problem is that the entire instance has rules, one of those rules is no ads. So even if I create a new community, the instance rules still apply.

JohnDClay,

I don't think starting an instance of your own is too difficult, but I understand why it'd be nicer to host on sh.itjust.works

JoeKrogan,
@JoeKrogan@lemmy.world avatar

I think its more so related to product placements. Cool community art is encouraged and I guess its no harm to link to your portfolio for users to check out. If people can link to their games or code why shouldnt you be able to link to your art.

EmptyRadar,
EmptyRadar avatar

I personally don't mind seeing a link to the artist's patreon or website or whatever on a post, as long as it's not over the top or inserted clearly as an ad for whatever is being sold. I feel like it's OK for that to be there for the people who want to see more of your work or purchase something. What I don't like to see is my feed getting filled with what I perceive as advertisements. So I think there is a happy middle ground.

Cracks_InTheWalls,
@Cracks_InTheWalls@sh.itjust.works avatar

Middle ground: Put your Patreon link in your bio and point people to it if they're interested in supporting. Comes off a little less spammy.

Though that said, like others mentioned I don't think anyone would truly take offence to an innocuous link. It's low effort, not-in-community-spirit crap that I think people are trying to avoid. Worth shooting a message to admins directly if you want clarity on this.

JohnDClay,

Right now they just have it as the watermark and in the hyperlink as the source. They don't even mention it in the text of the post. I think that's definitely fine, but I guess we'll need to wait for the admin to weigh in

zalack,
zalack avatar

That should probably be clarified in the rules then. I'm sure OP isn't the only one who looked at the rules and thought they couldn't post their work. They are just the one that made a post about it.

manitcor,

do you want an art community? Ill add one to my instance, a lot of my work involves tooling for artists, im just neckdeep in AI right now.

Domille,

The art that I create is specifically TTRPG / D&D / battlemap related, so a general art community wouldn't necessarily work for me specifically - although it might be a good idea for others. I appreciate the thought!

SlowNPC,
SlowNPC avatar

I'd be surprised if the D&D communities had an issue. The D&D subreddits allowed artists to link their socials on art posts.

manitcor,

start your own instance then, this is going to be the requirement for anyone with particular needs, these instances will not cater to everyone by design.

Domille,

Running an instance is just not in my capabilities. I don't have the necessary skills and time needed to not only host, but also moderate one. It is a massive time sink.

menemen,

Then you shouldn't complain, but just wait till someone makes something suiting (will happen sooner or later). People do it for free, so, yeah, complaining is kinda not so nice. Asking kindly would be OK though I guess...

zalack,
zalack avatar

Pointing out that the current rules are deterring content creators who make whatever they make professionally isn't complaining for the sake of it. It's good feedback the community should consider.

manitcor,

the internet did not make itself.

zalack,
zalack avatar

Expecting everyone to run a server

JohnDClay,

Do we have a battlemap community here? I saw one that someone had made around somewhere, but I don't remember where

Domille,

yeah, we do. It is what made me ask the question. The instance rules apply in that community as well.

JohnDClay,

Cool, I love what's be going on over there. I hope we can include artists like you, your art looks great! And the patrion integration is super natural and unobtrusive.

Domille,

Thank you!

I just don't want to put effort and time into a platform only to get banned lol.

ShadowAether,

Do they have a rule against self-promotion? I thought there was only server-wide rules for ads and spam.

Domille,

well, self-promotion can be considered an ad.

ShadowAether,

I guess you could make up ads for your content but that doesn't sound like what you're trying to do. OC is OC. If someone else found your art and posted it with a source, would it be considered an ad to you? Cuz people have been doing that in fanart forums for forever (the artists often have stuff for sale on their pages) and we don't consider that be ads

laxidaisy,
laxidaisy avatar

Just try it. You'll be fine. Better to ask forgiveness than permission.

iAmTheTot,
iAmTheTot avatar

Pretty dumb rule to not allow content creators to not link to their own patreon.

Wander,
@Wander@yiffit.net avatar

I'm pretty sure there is instances that would not only welcome you with open arms but even have communities so that you can promote yourself.

Choosing your home instance is the most important step. Or you can choose a neutral instance and use it to post on artist friendly communities that might be hosted on remote instances.

exohuman,
exohuman avatar

I don’t know about sh.it just.works, but on kbin I doubt anyone would have an issue with you putting a link to your patreon in your content post. It’s not spamming and asking for donations for your work is not an ad either. After all, I see people who post their Steam pages and App Store pages up and no one complains (and that is far closer to an ad).

BaldProphet,
BaldProphet avatar

Us KBeans are pretty chill in general.

slicedcheesegremlin,
slicedcheesegremlin avatar

Lmao at KBeans, worst one i've seen was keebinetters.

elouboub,
elouboub avatar

This isn't the only instance. You have a bunch more and maybe one maybe OK with linking to patreon. It's probably easier than creating your own instance.

Btw, if you want an instagram alternative that's on the fediverse, try out pixelfed

iorale,

This post could have been a message to the admins. Just contact them, ask if you could have a community for the kind of art you sell and how you plan to keep it from being/becoming too spammy with the links.

nickajeglin,

Seems like this post is helpful for other people with the same question, and a good basis for discussion about what the community sees as acceptable norms with regards to self promotion.

Parallax,
Parallax avatar

Come on over to the kbin instance. I see at least one magazine so far and no rules about Patreon links: https://kbin.social/m/art

Personally I would WELCOME you to post your Patreon. It's just a link, it's not an ad or spam. You put a lot of effort into your work and that's only fair. In fact as we push for a more decentralized web, I think it's critical content creators are able to receive funds independently of ads or platforms. Many of my favorite YouTube channels are only possible because of Patreon subscribers.

BilboSwaggins,
BilboSwaggins avatar

Couldn't agree more. You throw a street musician a coin in their hat when you walk past, and I think the same is only fair on the web. You make good art, something I enjoy and want to see more of, I make a small donation to you (which I like a lot better than having 'sponsored by evil corporation' written left, right and across your picture)

demvoter,
demvoter avatar

Agree with others that I believe kbin will welcome you with open arms. Personally, the more artists the better. Having a patreon or some other link to support your work only makes sense. Heck, all the admins ask for donations to keep the instances running. What’s the difference if you do the same?

thesoloist,
thesoloist avatar

This is dope. Our dnd master uses a lot of influence from art like yours. He would love this

redsky,
redsky avatar

Would love to see more art popping up around here. Just the thing we need.

j4yc33,
j4yc33 avatar

And more folks using Patreons or less-enshitified Patreon-alikes.

Literally the owning of your own labor.

speck,

Are there any concerns around image hosting? I'd be up for more art too, but curious if a standard should be put in place around image hosting - namely to not overwhelm an instance's servers during a period of already meaningful growth

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