1/18 Thoughts about artist Twitter following a string of dramas. Making a living out of art is difficult. It's skilled work that's physically & mentally draining, but not active in a healthy way. It causes occupational injuries that many don't recognise until they're chronic.

2/18 That might be manageable if it weren't for the fact that practice, skill and effort aren't enough to guarantee making a living. Artists are often exploited, both in employment & while freelance, and many don't make enough money to live comfortably or take regular breaks.

3/18 All THAT *might* be enough to bear if it weren't for the fact that finding work at all isn't guaranteed. You can make no mistakes and still find no work. The market is full of artists looking for jobs who are often pitted against one another, and not everyone is picked.

4/18 And all of the above is true even if you're a straight white male - throw prejudice into the mix, and it's impossible to tell WHY you're passed up for work or don't gain traction... discrimination could be holding you back on top of all of this.

5/18 Now, let's add the internet. If you can't find work, you could find a different career, but there's another possibility - what if you can do it part time and gain enough popularity to make a living with Patreon or Only Fans or Kickstarter or something?

6/18 Artists with no regular work chase this goal, and are assured by those who have succeeded that all you need is quality and regular output - but the truth is that a online following that you can live off is pretty rare and takes as much luck as it does effort.

7/18 The final blow is that art is a difficult field to self-evaluate in. Quality is subjective, but there are still standards that you need to meet (arbitrary or otherwise) to be picked for jobs or find popularity. Figuring out if you meet those standards is deeply difficult.

8/18 But the way Twitter works makes it very likely that you'll come across lots of artists who are more successful than you. The basic mechanics ensure this. Even without algorithms involved, the act of liking and retweeting pools attention unevenly, and favours popularity.

9/18 And there are plenty of people to see online who ARE making a living from art, either from careers or from online success or a mix of both. EVEN despite all the above. Even happily, healthily and with a decent income! It is a real and viable career.

10/18 So artists on Twitter and other platforms are constantly presented with glimpses of popularity, prompting them to stay online to seek it themselves, but when you're here every day, Twitter is a HIGH STRESS place to be even at the best of times! Even for popular people!

11/18 On any given day you're likely to see: Promotion of art and projects people have spent days, months, weeks or years on that they need to be a success. Confessions of depression, burnout, hopelessness & failure. Accounts or videos of harassment, discrimination and violence.

12/18 Justified callouts for dangerous or awful behaviour mixed up with unjustified callouts for minor issues. Vital professional/political news, often with potentially disastrous outcomes. Hot takes, often written in a state of emotional distress. Arguments about all the above.

13/18 This is just too much to deal with for anyone, especially on top of a global pandemic causing huge amounts of job loss. It's a recipe for emotional instability, self-doubt, frustration, jealousy, personal and existential uncertainly, recrimination, anger and depression.

14/18 Now, consider that the people feeling these things are constantly exposed to the rhetoric of the repressed seeking justice, the downtrodden punching up, the righteousness of the exploited. All in a place where high emotion & venting is often rewarded with attention.

15/18 It's no wonder that our emotions prompt us to misfire. On one day we might unleash all that angry rhetoric correctly at a corrupt billionaire CEO suppressing harassment reports. On another we might aim it at an artist who can afford a nice room with lots of houseplants.

16/18 And then we get another stage in the cycle as scorn is directed back at the people who lash out inappropriately, even though this environment and vocation create all the conditions needed to make that misplaced anger completely understandable.

17/18 This is all difficult & unfair. We should all be living in a system where housing, food and healthcare are basic rights, universally provided, where art is a pursuit of passion. But we don't. Right here and now, trying to be a successful artist is an unforgiving gamble.

18/18 So all this is to say that we've got every reason in the world to be empathetic and compassionate. To go easy on each other. Go easy on people with no popularity and on people with lots of popularity. Go easy on people who lash out or mess up.

Go easy on ourselves.