Jumping on bandwagons.

[bladespark]

I've been following a peculiar trend in one livejournal community. It's a place meant for people to warn artists about deadbeat customers, and for customers to warn also about deadbeat, cheating, or delinquent artists. Occasionally it's also a sort of last-ditch goad, in that one can say "finish my commission or I'll be forced to list you there as a cheat and ruin your reputation."

Every so often, however, somebody posts a post and instead of saying "I'm warning you all that so-and-so cheated me," they'll say "I'm warning you all that I just got sick/had a car wreck/am having finals week/whatever and I am going to be a dead-beat for a while."

Over the last couple of days, however, there have been around half a dozen posts of the "I'm warning you people about me" nature that aren't related to any specific problem, but are just "I'm awful in general, just so you know," and in a couple of cases "here's what's bad about me as a commissioned artist, here's what's good." These puzzle me quite a bit.

I theorize that these posts are about one part wanting to advertise; "Hey, all these people will see that I do art, maybe I'll get more business," about three parts insurance; "If I post that I'm awful, then nobody can complain, I warned them!" and two parts just plain band-wagon following.

I'm waiting to see if we get any more, of if this will die down, given that none of those posts have gotten a particularly good response. But I have to say I find the whole thing really weird. Why go out and publicize the fact that you have flaws? I can understand having a list of them somewhere in your commissions info, I have a few disclaimers and warnings about compeltion dates being approximate, and so on. But to list all your shortcomings publicly is just weird to me.

Comments

[aloda.livejournal.com]

My guess would be attention whoring, I know a few people that will say there horrible and that there work sucks. Mainly just for the attention.

[westly-roanoke.livejournal.com]

Actually, I did it as a way to publically apologize for my lateness, and yes, warn those people who are going to comission me that I am slow. Oh noes! I've got people who want to comission me, who don't look at my website (They see SGC.com or the charity work I've done)

::shrugs:: doesn't matter to me if I get comissions or not. I've got the things I wanted to get with my art money, and I've also got a real job.

And why not tell people you have flaws? Is there something wrong with being flawed?

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

Nah. But why capitalize on the negative when you can focus on the positive? I find it more fun and rewarding. Be aware of your flaws, but so that you can combat them, not so you can wallow in them. That's my philosophy.

[westly-roanoke.livejournal.com]

It's not wallowing, it's admitting.

I'm a slow artist. Should I pretend I'm not? People would be sorely dissapointed if they wanted something by say...the holidays...didn't tell me, and expected it by then...

The positive? I'm a good, cheap artist. I draw for the love of drawing (hence the free stuff I'm doing.) I'm decent with what work I do...

But I am slow. There is no getting around that.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

The wallowing thing was made as a general statement, not as something applying to you! *shrugs*

[gungho-squirrel.livejournal.com]

Hurrah for something getting done about it now, huh?

I was getting really dang sick of those posts too. I'm also sick of the positive posts. If I wanted happy good artist plugs I'd be a member of "artistreccomend"... but I'm not. I want warnings and I want dirt. I don't care whose good- I want to know who to avoid and how not to run my business. lol.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* Yeah. Well, there didn't used to be a good artists community. Looks like now that there is, and it's been brought up, they're going to do something about that too.

[spurkycreations.livejournal.com]

*vbeg*

i felt like such a brat.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

Your icon rocks like a rocking thing and totally beats the dragon one

[spurkycreations.livejournal.com]

why thank ewe!

[loweko.livejournal.com]

It quietly nerfs the site's effectiveness and credibility, by the sound of it. Neat trick.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

I second the attention whoring. And possibly fishing for compliments - you know, say you're crap and wait for your fan lemmings to run and protest your brilliance to the world.