Art Social Media in 2023 - A Comparison (Patreon)

As of April 2023 (the time I finished writing this post), the internet art sphere, and maybe just the internet in general, is in kind of a whirlwind. Twitter is about to implement its "verification preference" features which heavily encourage paying monthly for verification to gain viewership on the site, and TikTok is in a brawl with the US government just to stay online. Instagram and Facebook, both of which are owned by Meta, have had a decreasing public reputation for a long time now, too.

I'm not here to give my two cents on those issues, as they're pretty far outside my area of expertise even as an active internet user. But if you know me or have read my posts from the past few years, you know I like to spend an abnormal amount of time trying things out to see where they stand. Whether that's drawing programs, brushes, random settings nobody uses, etc. etc., you can bet I've probably sank a few hours into seeing how they work. And art social media is no exception there.

Given how fragile the art ecosystem online has been lately thanks to current events, I've seen a lot of my fellow artists and creators anxious about the future of their art online. Some artists are sticking to their guns and holding onto the sites they've been using and building audiences on for years now, while others are venturing out into the unknown to try and spread themselves out across the web. But for the latter group, knowing where to put down roots can be a challenge, as lots of sites are out there trying to be the next "artist hub" site. It sucks to waste time setting up an account somewhere only to realize after the fact that you don't care for the site features enough to bother using it.

So, in my usual fashion, I've decided it might be helpful to go over a few of the choices artists have for platforms in 2023, and discuss the pros and cons of each, as well as my overall thoughts on their use for creatives.

A few notes before we begin:

• This list mainly applies to visual artists, but many of these sites can also be useful for writers, musicians, and other creatives! I'll try to include whether each site is accessible for other forms of art during each breakdown.
• For the sake of cohesion, I'll only be discussing the desktop versions of each site. I'll try to include whether each site has its own mobile app during each breakdown, but if you're interested in seeing what the app looks like for yourself or how it compares to desktop, you'll have to check it out for yourself or look for a comparison elsewhere.
• This is not an all-encompassing list of every single social media relevant to creatives, just a good chunk of the popular options out there at the moment. It's still early 2023 at the time of writing this, so it's possible a new site could pop up at any time and make this list "incomplete." I'll also be excluding primarily video-focused platforms from this list, as I want to keep it focused on mainly image and text-based art. That being said, there are huge thriving art communities on some of those platforms, so if video is something you have an interest in as an artist, it may be worth doing some research on them as well.
• I am not endorsing nor sponsored by any of the platforms / their creators, nor am I encouraging anybody to spend any money on them!! I'm just putting the basic info out there so you can make the decision for yourself, but I highly encourage doing additional research if you want to know things like a site's community guidelines, creators' reputation, or the worthiness of any paid features.
• Finally, although I will attempt to post as much objective info as I can on these platforms, a lot of this will be subject to my opinion! They say one man's trash is another man's treasure, so some things that I find to be great about a platform might be terrible to you, and vice versa. And I want to be super clear that I'm not a journalist, so while I've done as much research as I think is necessary to describe the utilities of these sites, I may leave some things out or be unaware of other things. As I already said, please use your own judgement and just use these reviews as a starting point for your own research!!

These are the rating criteria I'll be using. I don't plan to make a rank list of all the sites since their use cases are so widely different depending on each artist's needs, so instead I'll just be going off of these few criteria and you can make your choice from there:

• Image Tools & Viewing Experience: x/5
• Social Elements: x/5
• Usability for Non-Visual Artists: x/5
• Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: x/5
• Ease of Use Overall: x/5
• General Vibes (in my opinion): x/5

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General-Use Social Media Options

This first list will focus on "general-use" social media sites - as in, sites that are not made by or for artists, and are used by people from all walks of life. The ceiling for viewership and engagement is a lot higher on sites like these, as you're much more likely to have non-artists engaging with your work, but they generally lack features dedicated to art and tend to have the least accommodating algorithms.

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Twitter

Twitter is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, social media site out there right now. And despite the shaky operating conditions it's been under as of last year, it's still going strong (at least for now). As such, it has one of the highest theoretical engagement ceilings of any social media site, meaning those who manage to do well can do very well. But, like most very popular platforms, there is more "competition" as the site is extremely busy. And with the recent introduction of a visible post view count, you can see just how many people are looking at (or overlooking) your posts in semi real time. I'm not going to lie, though - I use a browser extension to hide that metric (as well as some of Twitter's other annoying quirks) because I personally find it more demotivating than anything else.

But how does it stack up from the artist's end?

For visual artists, Twitter's image posting and viewing is pretty bare-bones, but it gets the job done. You can post multiple images at a time (up to 4), including GIFs, and they'll be viewable side-by-side, though you have to upload them in the proper order since you can't rearrange them after. You can also upload short videos to show alongside art, which is nice for process videos and speedpaints. There are some very basic image editing tools, like a crop feature, the ability to add alternative text, and a very simple content warning system.

It's worth noting that, at least at the time of me writing this, images will usually post in the same quality you upload them in, which can be good unless you worry about your art being lifted and saved by reposters. It can be a good practice to reduce the image quality a bit before posting, or make sure you watermark your work sufficiently.

There's also a scheduled post feature, which is really handy if you try to post your work at optimal hours.

Twitter has a tagging system, but that system is mainly used for chiming in on trending topics rather than for organization and taglists. In fact, many artists don't even bother using tags at all when they post art, since it's both non-essential and non-productive in a lot of cases. Still, when the site has an artist trend going on like #PortfolioDay or #MeetTheArtist, it can be a fun and easy way to contribute to the trend and get a few new eyes on your work.

Finally, it's worth acknowledging that there's a letter count on tweets, so you can't write long paragraphs and have to keep things brief. You can make threads of tweets, but the first tweet will almost always be the one getting the most views, so it's not always worth making a thread of artwork.

Twitter does allow some level of NSFW content if it's put behind a content warning filter.

Twitter does have a mobile app for iOS and Android.

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 3/5
Nothing too exciting, but it's nice that it has accessibility features and some simple adjustment tools. Being able to upload video and photo together is also very handy.

Social Elements: 4/5
Since Twitter is primarily a social media site above all else, it's pretty much guaranteed to rate highly for this one. I can't give it a full 5/5 though, since the recent developments with the site have led to some features being axed and others being put behind a paywall. Still, it is absolutely functional for talking to friends, finding new artists to follow, and

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 1/5
As of right now, Twitter doesn't really have many features for embedding things besides images. For creatives who want to post their writing, music, or other projects, the best (and pretty much only) option is to just link to another site in a tweet. But it's worth noting that Twitter can stifle posts with links that take users off the site, meaning there's a chance you won't see as much traction on those posts. It's still a good option for getting some eyeballs on your stuff, but it's tough to recommend Twitter as your only platform.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 5/5
Like I said earlier, Twitter is one of, if not the biggest social media site today. The vast majority of its users are not artists, and as such the art community is just a tiny sliver of what the site has to offer. This can be a great opportunity for artists who want to get themselves out there to a non-artist audience and discover other artists like themselves. Since it's one of the most popular platforms, the pool of artists you can discover there is huge compared to the rest of the list.

Ease of Use Overall: 4/5
Twitter is pretty simple in terms of usability due to its extremely large user base. While it lacks a lot of robust features, it only takes a few minutes on the site to figure out where everything is, and there isn't much you have to set up before you're ready to get posting. The only thing keeping me from giving it a full 5/5 is that, again, some features are now barred behind a paywall, and because of the shoddy leadership going on with the site right now, more and more features seem to be getting stripped away from free users to add to the premium list seemingly out of nowhere.

General Vibes (in my opinion): 2/5
When I say the vibes are only 2/5, I want to be clear that I'm not talking about the users, but rather the atmosphere of the site due to things like the site design and the algorithm + what it favors. For one, without the use of browser extensions, you are frequently bombarded with potentially distressing news stories, completely random posts from people you don't follow, lots of sponsored ads, etc. that can clog up your feed. Shadowbanning is also something that happens from time to time, so keep that in mind if you're an artist who posts NSFW or any kind of "non advertiser friendly" content. There is even some speculation that certain phrases like "commissions" and links to other sites can cause a post to be obscured from the algorithm in some way.

Another more insidious issue, at least in my opinion, is that the algorithm very clearly favors arguments and controversial content above all else. You could argue that's true on every popular social media site, and I'd agree to some extent, but it's a noticeably higher level of tension on Twitter in my opinion. If you've ever noticed those "What's your CONTROVERSIAL art opinion????" type tweets circulating every few months with wild success and tons of quote retweets both agreeing and dunking on them, this is why.

There's also the very large elephant in the room, which is the way the site is currently being operated by a certain someone. It leaves a lot of artists feeling bleak about the future of the site, and uncertain users means the site is unlikely to grow in a positive way.

All that being said, there are some incredibly wonderful and kindhearted people in the Twitter art community that are doing their best to spread positivity in spite of the site's overall atmosphere, and that alone makes it worth checking their stuff out. If you're willing to put the time into curating your following list, you can definitely have a good experience there.

My Twitter, if you'd like to check it out!

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Tumblr

Tumblr is a blogging platform that is often seen as the "house of modern fandom," as it's one of the premier sites for fanart, fanfiction, roleplaying, etc. Lots of artists started out there when they were younger, and although many people both on and off the site joke about it being "dead to the world," it's still a thriving place for any kind of creative media, though it's notably less populated than the huge social media behemoths like Twitter.

Tumblr has a huge variety of posting options, making it friendly to creatives of many fields, not just visual art. It also has an impressive amount of formatting options, too, like colored text and gradients.

When posting images, you can upload up to a max of 30 images per post, and they can be rearranged into a variety of layouts upon uploading.

When uploading an image, you can embed a clickable link and add alt text for screen readers. With the "For Everyone" dropdown, you can also add community labels for NSFW and violent content. You can also schedule your posts to upload in the future via the Schedule option, or add a post to your Queue which automatically adds the post to a group of posts that will be released intermittently.

The tag and search system on Tumblr leave something to be desired in my opinion. Posts can be tagged both as an organizational tool and for taglists, so it is encouraged to tag things whenever possible, especially if you're posting potentially triggering content. It's also common practice for people reblogging posts to use the tags as a place to leave their commentary on a post, so if you've posted a piece of art that's been reblogged a few times, be sure to peek at the tags!
Where it begins to fall flat for me, however, is the search system. For whatever reason, Tumblr's search is a bit disjointed and seems to cater to people just opening the tag for the very first time rather than those who want to see new posts, at least compared to other sites on this list. Tagging your posts definitely increases the changes of your post being discovered, but unless the people looking through the tag go out of their way to fiddle with these default settings up top, it's unlikely that your post will be visible.

Fortunately, Tumblr has added the ability to follow specific tags, which will allow you to see the latest posts more easily. This can be good for artists who post fanart or very specific content, but it's not likely that most users will follow more general tags like "art" and "OC" so that's something to keep in mind when tagging.

One other niche but very useful element of Tumblr's platform is that you can have a custom blog theme. By using a custom theme, not only can you totally personalize the look of your blog, but you can essentially turn it into a high quality, fully organized portfolio. If you don't want to pay for a portfolio site, this is a really good alternative, as it has a relatively simple URL format that doesn't look ugly or have ads. Some themes on the official Tumblr themes page are pay-to-use, but there are tons out there that are free to use and look very professional, so if Tumblr interests you as a potential platform for your portfolio, do some searching around for free themes before deciding to buy anything.

One final thing I think is worth mentioning here that doesn't necessarily fit into any other category is that Tumblr, unlike many of the other general-use social media sites, doesn't really censor or impede its users' words for the sake of advertisers, aside from some tag bans for iOS users on the app. There's no need to self-censor with words like "unalive" and "c0mm1ss1ons," as you can just go ahead and say what you want as long as it falls under the terms of service.

That being said, though, the rules regarding NSFW content are a little hazy. You may have heard of the "Tumblr NSFW Ban" that happened a few years ago, where the site pretty much nuked all visual adult material from the site. This was one of the big migration moments for social media, as lots of Tumblr users who either created or consumed adult content felt shunned by the decision and ultimately left the site for Twitter or other platforms. Today, Tumblr has somewhat walked back that ban, though the limits of it are unclear. The staff has made it clear that they cannot go back to the site's "go nuts, show nuts" era of free-for-all NSFW content, but it seems they are working within their limitations to allow some level of freedom with adult content.

Tumblr does have a mobile app for iOS and Android.

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 4/5
Tumblr has some really great posting features that make uploading images, especially sets of multiple images. There are no image editing tools, but those aren't especially necessary when most artists will edit their work in their respective art programs to begin with.

Social Elements: 4/5
If you can ignore the asinine search and tagging system, Tumblr is widely known as a great place to share creativity. The ask box system, which allows users to send each other public messages (sometimes anonymously, though that can be disabled in settings), is a fun way to engage with other artists and answer questions. The ability to tag and block content you want to hide, as well as follow specific tags, means it can be catered very specifically to your interests.

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 3/5
Of the options on this list, Tumblr is a solid choice for non-visual artists, as it allows the upload of formatted text, music, external links, GIF sets, etc. without much compromise. Unlike Twitter, which stifles posts that link elsewhere, Tumblr is entirely neutral to external links, meaning you can use it as a place to promote yourself and redirect people elsewhere without worrying about any kind of ban.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 3/5
Tumblr's main claim to fame as a platform is fandom, so the majority of its users are at least interested in art and media, if not creators of it themselves. This can be a good medium between an art-only platform and a wide-net social media site. That being said, although lots of artists use the platform, it has less networking potential than something like Twitter, and you aren't likely to find your average Joe on there if they have no fandom or art interests.

Ease of Use Overall: 3/5
Tumblr has a wide variety of options for its users, and most of them are plainly visible and accessible. One tip I have for new Tumblr users is to go into the settings and make sure you give them all a good read though, as there are a lot of useful settings in there that are not set as a default.

General Vibes (in my opinion): 4/5
Of the sites on this list, I think Tumblr has one of the most unique and interesting communities. It has the most standout "site culture" of the bunch, as the heavy interest in fandom has led to lots of in-group jokes, memes, and rules of etiquette that the majority of the userbase gets some fun out of. Still, none of that is necessary if it doesn't interest you, and most people wouldn't hold it against you if you decided to just use the site without engaging in the more silly elements of it. If you do decide to participate, though, you can expect to have some fun with it. The staff of the site also participates too, and they're generally pretty receptive to feedback from users.

Overall, it has a really dedicated community that appreciates art of all forms, and if you can find your niche there, you're likely to have a good time.

My Tumblr blog, if you'd like to check it out!

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Instagram

One of Meta's social media sites. Unlike its sister site Facebook, Instagram primarily focuses on images and video. It's worth noting that although the desktop version of Instagram is usable for browsing, it has been historically pretty barren compared to the mobile app, which is updated much more frequently. Still, though, they did recently add the ability to upload from desktop, which is a huge win for artists like me who just can't be bothered to save their art to their phones just to upload to one platform, and it has been catching up to the mobile version over the years with its number of features. Just be warned that there are some small things here and there that do still require the mobile app to use.

One of the benefits of Instagram besides its wide general appeal is that you can turn your account into a professional account, which allows you to add additional business-focused features to your account. Still, even this has some limitations, and the requirements are not always explained clearly. I remember being very confused when trying to convert my account back in the day, as they were trying to tell me I had to have a Facebook business account already existing to link to it, but seemingly not everyone had the same experience as I did?? I have no clue if they've streamlined that process since then, so take that with a grain of salt.

You can also disable like counts on your posts, so if seeing that metric causes you any stress, you can avoid it altogether.

You can add up to 10 images per Instagram post, which can be dragged to reorganize.

Compared to the other general social media sites on this list, Instagram has a pretty robust image editor in its uploader, which is fitting since that was the original purpose of the platform back in its early days. You can crop, zoom, and add filters to each image in a post. After that, you can add a caption, alt text, tags, and adjust the post settings to allow or disable things like comments and like/view count.

Instagram has a more heavy focus on tagging than the other platforms mentioned here. It's not uncommon to see posts with huge walls of tags since that's the primary way to have your work get discovered. It's a common theory that you can have better success on Instagram by trying to use less common tags - instead of using #artist, it's better to use #comicartist to find your niche audience that way.

It should also be noted that, like Twitter, Instagram has an enormous pool of users, the majority of whom are not artists. This can be great for finding an audience of non-artists, especially if you're looking to sell commissions, but the drawback is that Instagram is heavily saturated with images and videos, to the point that it can sometimes feel like swimming against the current trying to make your work visible to others. There has also been a noticeable shift recently towards making Instagram feel more like TikTok - a heavy emphasis on reels, which are just TikTok videos with a different name, and less emphasis on static images overall. There was even a petition a while back that got a lot of attention from users complaining about this shift in the nature of the platform, but that ultimately ended with a "Sorry, but it is what it is" from the head of the platform. So that's something to keep in mind, I guess? It's hard to predict whether that'll actively scare off artists in the future or not.

Regarding NSFW content, there is an existing community of NSFW artists that thrive on Instagram - the general consensus seems to be that, while the content isn't technically allowed, you can censor out the "problematic" areas of the work and usually get by just fine, as they DO allow for "artistic nudity" according to their terms of service. That being said, not every artist wants to have to censor their work, and you do still run the risk of having your post removed or flagged, so it'll be down to personal preference whether that appeals to you or not.

Instagram does have a mobile app for iOS and Android.

My Instagram, if you're interested in checking it out! (needs updating, orz)

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 4/5
Instagram was created with photos in mind, so naturally it has a pretty strong lean into the image tools and viewing experience. The tools are simple but effective, and will work just fine for the majority of artists without much issue.

Social Elements: 3/5
Instagram is fully image and video based, so the majority of socializing and interaction comes from engaging with each others' posts. There is also a direct messaging system, though it is privy to spam and has a confusing organization setup.

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 1/5
Instagram is pretty inaccessible to artists who create media outside of visuals, but it's not impossible. Video can be a great format for demonstrating musical talent, and for writers, if you're willing to paste and format your writing onto a pretty background, that can have some appeal as well. Still, it really isn't ideal.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 5/5
Like Twitter, Instagram casts a very wide net of appeal, with a massive userbase from all walks of life. What gives it a slight edge over Twitter is that the entire platform is image and video based, meaning the people on there are already looking to engage with artwork in some capacity.

Ease of Use Overall: 3/5
Instagram is incredibly simple to use, with the majority of its features and settings on full display. The only downside that keeps me from giving it a higher rating is that it is very clearly designed to work best on mobile, and some settings are locked behind mobile altogether, so artists who want to use it on desktop are pretty much required to have it also downloaded on mobile to get the full experience. Still, if that isn't an issue for you, it's very easy to use.

General Vibes (in my opinion): 3/5
Ultimately, I find myself struggling to say much about Instagram. It's got all the necessary functions of a social media site, but it never really drew my attention for very long and my account tends to sit half-abandoned for years at a time til I remember I have one. But ultimately, the art community there is very broad, diverse, and easily accessible, making it a really good entry point for a lot of artists looking to spread out onto a popular and simple to use platform, so it's one I can recommend.

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Mastodon

Often considered the "alternative" to Twitter, Mastodon is a unique but somewhat niche option for posting art - to even begin using Mastodon as a platform, you have to understand the concept of the Fediverse.

I'll be the first to admit that my overall knowledge about federated instances is pretty basic - I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me could give a much better explanation for this subject, so keep that in mind while reading. If the topic interests you going forward, I highly highly recommend reading up on it to get a better understanding of it than I have.

Simply put, the Fediverse (short for "federated universe") is a collection of web servers that are independently hosted, but publicly visible online and able to interact with each other. Your "identity" on the server (aka your profile) can interact with other identities across different servers - the easiest way to think about it is to compare your Fediverse identity to an email address: even if you're using Gmail and your friend is using Yahoo, you two can still send each other emails and interact across the greater Internet, despite being from two different sources.

Mastodon is a social media site that is built upon the Fediverse, so when you join through a particular server, you have to operate under that server's rules, rather than the encompassing rules of Mastodon itself. If you're a Discord user, it follows the same logic as being part of a Discord server, wherein Discord itself isn't the one actually moderating the space, but rather is just the platform those servers are hosted on.

As an example, I have an identity on one of the art-focused Mastodon instances, Mastodon.art (here's my profile if you want to check it out). I can see and interact with posts from all across Mastodon and the Fediverse by checking the search tags or going to the "Federated" timeline. I can follow people from any instance I want, and their work will show up on my feed just like any other platform.

For some artists, this might already seem like too much of a hassle to consider. After all, why go through the hoops of private-yet-interconnected servers on a public platform when we can all just share one big server instead?

The benefits of Mastodon are subtle, but important. For one, the nature of it being federated means that there isn't really one person who "controls" the platform or is in total control of making decisions on it. If you've recently been burned by the shoddy leadership over at Twitter thanks to a certain someone taking charge of the place, then you may be someone who can appreciate the more democratic approach to social media that Mastodon takes.

Similarly, the sub-categorization of Mastodon into instances helps keep things focused onto specific topics, like art in the case of an art-focused instance, but still grants users within that instance the freedom to check out and interact posts from non-art instances too. And if you're looking for another artist to follow or interact with, you'll know where to find them.

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Now, to get into the nitty-gritty of posting your artwork.

Firstly, before even making a post, it's a good idea to check your instance's rules for upload, as well as any recommended formatting and codes of conduct. In the instance I'm currently in, it's highly encouraged for all artists to add alt text to their posts and flag posts with warnings accordingly.

When uploading, you can add a max of 4 images. By clicking the "Edit" option in the corner, it'll open up the space for adding alt text and adjusting the thumbnail preview for the image. The CW button at the bottom of the upload panel is where you can add any content warnings.

Mastodon has a slightly more purposeful use for the tagging system compared to Twitter, as it not only allows users within your instance to find your work there, but also users from totally separate instances as well. So it's recommended to take advantage of tagging when possible.

Mastodon also has a slightly higher letter count than Twitter, coming in at 500 words.

Mastodon has a relatively small but dedicated userbase, and for some artists that can be to its benefit. What it lacks in overall reach, it can make up for by having more close-knit communities within each instance, and sticking to an instance that caters to your artwork means you're more likely to find people who want to support you there. Still, if you're looking for a place to self-promote for commissions or gain visibility among your fellow artists online, Mastodon may not be busy enough for your needs.

If you're a NSFW artist, you'll have to read the specific terms of service for an instance before joining up there, as they all have different rules and requirements for posting.

Mastodon does have its own dedicated mobile app for iOS and Android, AND there are third-party apps you can use to view your instance feed with a variety of unique features. Be sure to do some research before giving your login info to a third party app!

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 2/5
Mastodon is functionally very similar to Twitter, but with no image editing tools. That isn't an issue in most cases, but for artists who do rely on those image editing tools before posting, it may be less than ideal. However, what it lacks in image editing capabilities it makes up for with much better accessibility tools. Visually, image posts are pretty much identical to Twitter's.

Social Elements: 3/5
Mastodon has most of the bells and whistles of Twitter, and no paywall barriers. The fact that it's part of the Fediverse and broken up into instances can be polarizing, with some seeing it as a triumph of independence while others seeing it as a confusing waste of time. For me, I think it's a niche benefit that can be overcome if you're willing to check out the rest of the Fediverse to diversify your feed. Still, though, it being so niche means there are less users overall.

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 3/5
Mastodon allows the upload of images, video, and audio files, making it a cut above Twitter but still far from ideal. For non-visual artists, you'll probably still end up having to link to things off-platform if you want to share anything lengthier than 500 characters.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 2/5
Since the nature of the Fediverse and Mastodon is so inherently polarizing due to its learning curve, it has less base appeal than something like Twitter or Instagram. As such, it's less of a mainstream choice and more of a niche underground one, though that doesn't mean the quality of the site is anything to sneeze at. Because of Twitter's recent issues, Mastodon has been growing regularly and has started to gain a bit of a foothold online, so it's totally possible that this may become a more worthwhile platform to post your art on in the future.

Ease of Use Overall: 3/5
The platform itself is pretty easy to use once you get over the initial learning curve and wrap your head around what exactly a "federated universe" is and what it means for the platform. If you can understand how to use Twitter, you should have an easy time with Mastodon.

General Vibes (in my opinion): 3/5
I think the vibes you get from Mastodon can vary a lot depending on what instance you're in, as some have very lax rules while others are pretty strict. If you join up and find yourself unhappy with the rules you have to follow, fortunately it's easy to just swap over to another instance. Still, generally speaking, I think most users of Mastodon are passionate about or at least fans of what the platform represents, and having a tight-knit community to belong to can be a really validating feeling for artists of all kinds.

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Pillowfort

Pillowfort is the first of a few Tumblr-esque blogging sites on the list, and one of the few that are still in active beta. It has a small but dedicated userbase, and a big focus of its existence is its Communities, which are groups you can join focused on specific topics.

Since the site is still in beta, you can't simply make a login and join right away. Rather, you'll have to choose an option from their list:

Historically, there have been periods of downtime in the distribution of keys on the site, which depends on how many users are applying at once. If you're not sure about committing to the site enough to pay for it, I recommend checking out tags related to Pillowfort on other social media sites or asking anyone you know who has an account for a key, as there might be people out there with keys available to give you. Still, though, the site is in beta and runs off of community support, so purchasing a key not only supports the site and its team, but also guarantees you a key immediately.

Due to the site still being in beta, it's worth noting that some of its features can run pretty slowly at times. Namely, uploading images of any size larger than 2 MB can take a LONG time, as the site reduces the file size down for you during upload. This problem can be even more noticeable on posts where you want to upload more than one image at a time, and in some cases I've had posts just stop uploading altogether.

(This is the uploader - I quite literally could not even take a screenshot of multiple images being uploaded as it just got stuck uploading indefinitely, LOL)

So if you intend to upload your art here, I highly recommend making sure the file size is reduced BEFORE going to upload.

That being said, the uploader itself is pretty robust in its formatting tools and gives users a variety of control settings for who can view and interact with the work. Pillowfort allows for multiple upload types, including text, images, video, and external links. Uploaded images are also "tiled" the same way they are on Tumblr for better viewability, though you can't drag to rearrange them.

The tagging system is fairly standard, so I would definitely encourage using relevant tags on your work whenever possible, though the search engine leaves a LOT to be desired. Aside from being very slow and not always working, it tends to show no results on a search term that most definitely SHOULD have results. If you want to navigate a certain tag, you're usually better off manually putting the URL into your address bar, or by clicking the tag itself from someone's post.

For NSFW artists, one of Pillowfort's benefits is that it not only allows NSFW content, but it even has communities dedicated to it. The team at Pillowfort has made it very clear over the years that they want to keep the community open for adult content, so long as it's appropriately tagged and gated to keep the site safe. Their terms of service covers any adult content that isn't allowed, so if you aren't sure, I recommend taking a look.

As one final note, Pillowfort has its own version of a customizable blog - though you can't change the formatting or layout of anything, you can change the colors and add cute little badges to your bio, or a frame around your icon. It isn't an incredible amount of customization, but enough that you can feel like your blog is catered to your own aesthetic.

Pillowfort does not have a mobile app. However, it can be viewed through your phone's mobile browser.

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 3/5
Pillowfort has no image editing tools and its uploader, though equipped with a lot of good formatting features, still feels like it could use some more refinement. While scrolling down the main feed, I appreciate that the site dedicates a pretty wide area to posts and images, as it allows you to really see and appreciate the quality of other artists' work without having to zoom or click through.

Social Elements: 3/5
Due to its small community size, you won't find too much intense activity going on at Pillowfort, at least not yet. But, similar to Tumblr, Pillowfort is a blogging site that encourages sharing and engaging with artwork, with all the features and tools necessary to do that. I think once the site leaves beta, or at least becomes more widespread overall, it definitely has potential to become a really solid social media option for those looking for something a little different and more community-focused.

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 3/5
Pillowfort's decent formatting tools make it easy and quite accessible for writers to use the platform for posting. For musicians, you're still stuck just uploading a video or external link for the time being. That being said, the built-in communities on the site add a bonus incentive for creatives of any variety to join, at least compared to the other options on this list, as you can easily find others with the same passion as you to share your work with.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 1/5
At the time of writing this, Pillowfort is somewhat like the younger, less experienced cousin of Tumblr - the majority of its users are either artists or appreciators of art, and you probably won't find too many users outside of that sphere just yet. And of the artists I know who have Pillowfort accounts, many of them are just camping on the blog URL until a time in the future when Pillowfort becomes more mainstream as a platform.

Ease of Use Overall: 4/5
The site is very minimalist in its visuals, making it pretty simple to navigate. Truly the only gripes I have about any of it are the loading issues, which can be frustrating while trying to experience the site as intended.

General Vibes (in my opinion): 2/5
As of now, the vibe I get from Pillowfort is that it's still got a long way to go, but that doesn't mean it won't thrive eventually. But in its current form, it's a niche choice at best for those who are patient enough to withstand the site's limitations.

Overall, I think Pillowfort has great potential to be a decent social platform as it continues its development. The majority of my issues with it can just be chalked up to its unfinished status, so we'll have to wait and see whether it shapes up into something more engaging in the future. I've been a member for a few years now, and watching it develop in a positive direction has given me faith that someday it'll be on par with the other, better options on this list. And I know there are lots of artists out there who prefer an underdog platform

If you're interested in seeing how the site develops and want to contribute, you can leave a donation. I believe the site also has plans soon for adding a premium membership tier, which will not only go towards site support but also give users some extra features.

And here's my Pillowfort if you want to take a look!

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Cohost

Cohost is a relatively new and unique Tumblr-esque blogging site that has some very major goals. Here's their "Core Ideas" section of the site which explains their ambitions:

The site is created by the Anti Software Software Club, a group of nonprofit developers who are very dedicated to the idea of not falling into typical social media pitfalls that ultimately exploit users. One of its big selling points is a lack of visible metrics on posts, like reblogs and likes. I think this is a breath of fresh air for modern social media and I can appreciate an online platform taking this sort of approach for the whole site, compared to something like Instagram's opt-in like hiding setting. You also can't see someone else's follower count.

How does it stack up as a platform for artists?

You can upload a maximum of 4 images per post. The uploader is limited currently to just text and images, so artists of other mediums will have to link externally. By hovering over an image, you can add individual descriptions to each one.

The tagging system is the best way to find new posts, but it's best to keep tags concise for the time being due to the smaller userbase - unlike something like Instagram, you're probably better off using simple terms like "fanart" and "illustration" rather than more unique ones. Beneath the tags bar is the ability to add content warnings.

Right now the uploader is pretty bare-bones, but it works quickly and gets the job done without much issue. If you have any knowledge of markdown, you can at least use that to spice up your body text. One thing I do really appreciate is the ability to preview a post before posting, just to make sure everything looks correct.

Cohost does allow NSFW art so long as it's properly tagged and flagged as 18+ when posted. There are some NSFW terms that they refer to as "mandatory content warnings" which will alter the visibility of those posts: they will not show up in general tag searches, but will still be fully visible on that creator's blog for anyone who has 18+ settings enabled. The list of mandatory terms can be found on the Community Guidelines page.

Cohost does not have a mobile app. However, it can be viewed through your phone's mobile browser.

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 3/5
Like the other blogging sites on this list, Cohost prioritizes having large, clear post images. Though the uploader is still very simple and it lacks any image editing tools, it works quickly and has all the standard tools you need to make a post.

Social Elements: 3/5
Like the other in-development sites on this list, the Cohost userbase is smaller than your typical social media, but that doesn't deter it from being a solid social hub. Like Tumblr, Cohost allows you to send people private notes to talk to them. And the emphasis on comments as the primary "metric" means that, ideally, you will see more comments on your posts than you would on other platforms.

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 2/5
Because of the lack of formatting tools on the uploader, it would be tough to completely endorse Cohost as a place for writers or musicians to upload their work. Knowledge of markdown is necessary for any kind of special formatting, and there is currently no ability to add a read more / cutoff bar. Since text and images are the only accepted uploads right now, musicians are still stuck giving external links off-site as their only way of posting.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 2/5
The public visibility of Cohost is pretty much on par with the other micro blogging sites on this list. Like the rest of them, a big part of their lack of influence just comes down to them being in development, and it's very possible they'll grow to have more public appeal in the future as they go.

Ease of Use Overall: 5/5
I can really appreciate the simplicity and quality of Cohost's design as a site. Everything is clearly laid out and any important site news or words from staff are right on the side of the homepage. On the uploader, a lot of features that would have otherwise been clunky additions on some other sites have been relegated to small little icons at the bottom, which is an easy learning curve to get over and makes the uploader feel much more compact compared to the others.

General Vibes (in my opinion): 3/5
Of the small blogging sites on this list, I think Cohost has the best chance of being successful in the future. It has a really good atmosphere, with the developers being incredibly open and funny with the userbase. The focus on non-exploitation and keeping metrics out of the way makes the Cohost experience feel more grounded than its competitors. Though it's still very small and has a long way to go before it's fully developed, I'm rooting for Cohost to develop into something that stands out among its peers.

Cohost has a Premium subscription for $5 USD per month which goes towards the development and maintenance of the site, and gives you some perks, so if you find yourself enjoying Cohost and want to see its progress continue, consider checking that out.

Here's a link to my Cohost page if you want to check it out!

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Art-Oriented Site Options

This list will focus on sites directly dedicated to or centered around posting artwork. While some of the options on this list are inclusive of other media types like writing and music, the focus is generally on visual arts. The primarily art-focused userbase means that these platforms are some of the best for connecting with other artists, but are less useful for self promotion and reaching a wider group of people overall.

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Inkblot

The best way I can describe Inkblot is that it feels like a spiritual successor to deviantART, but genuinely focused on the wants of the artist community (I'll get to that later). Whether you're an illustrator, a comic artist, someone who takes commissions, a writer, musician, etc. etc., Inkblot has you covered.

To start, Inkblot has a decent amount of upload types.

One unique feature to Inkblot that I find especially cool is the Compare Images posting feature, which allows you to make a back-and-forth scrubber between two images. This is great if you've got two versions of an image, or want to show off the sketch and final product.

Moving on to the uploader itself, Inkblot users are spoiled with a ton of different useful features. You can upload a max of 10 images per post, and as of now there's a daily post limit of 10 posts per day.

The text box has a good number of formatting options, and there are even more post options beneath. One feature I appreciate is the ability to add a "creator's spoiler," which allows spoiler / content warning tagging on a post without that post automatically being flagged as NSFW or inappropriate. This is useful for things like spoilery fanart or smaller warnings like mild blood. My only grievance here is that there's a minimum of 3 tags necessary to use the creator's spoiler option, which works for pieces with multiple points of contention, but if you just want to warn people of a little spot of blood, you'll end up using #blood, #light blood, #mild blood, etc. etc. just to get over that hurdle, which feels redundant, though I imagine it's to catch as many block filters as possible for anyone trying to avoid the topic.

After you sort out the content warnings, you can put the art into categories based on the type of artwork (there's a very impressive range of art types to choose from), and then they can be organized even further into gallery folders on your profile. Since I'm a comic artist and illustrator, I've got folders for both types of artwork on my page.

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Moving on to browsing the site, there's a wide variety of pages and activities to explore. Inkblot regularly hosts Art Challenges, both official and user-made, which you can find under the Art Challenges page in the navigation dropdown.

On the Comics page, you can find other users' webcomics. Although, having actually browsed the page myself recently, it seems a lot of the comics are just placeholder listings from the users, so its existence on the page doesn't necessarily mean there's a comic ready yet.

Like deviantART and Pillowfort, Inkblot has Groups you can join dedicated to specific topics. This is a place to find art from certain fandoms or just find likeminded artists to interact with, so it's worth checking out just in case you find something that catches your eye.

Now, for one of the best site features: a Commissions page. Here, you can browse available commissions or make a listing of your own.

When someone clicks Request on a commission listing, it takes you to DMs where you can discuss the commission from there.

While I haven't had the chance to test this out yet practically as either a buyer or seller, I think at the very least this feature has good future potential to be a great tool for artists taking commissions in the future, if it isn't already.

Inkblot allows NSFW art as long as it's tagged and categorized correctly, and has a full list of their guidelines available on the Content Guidelines page.

As a final note, you can customize the colors of your profile to fit your aesthetic, which is always a nice feature to have!

Inkblot does have a mobile app for iOS and Android.

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 5/5
Though it lacks any image editing tools, Inkblot has one of the most impressive uploaders for organization and formatting on the whole list. As for the viewing experience, while I do wish the images were a little less cramped to the center of the page on the home page and profiles, I think on the rest of the site, things are spaced out nicely enough to give them room to breathe, and individual posts give you a full size look at the art.

Social Elements: 4/5
It's clear to me that, like its spiritual predecessor deviantART, Inkblot has a big focus on artists bonding and socializing together. The inclusion of Groups and Art Challenges is a great way to interact with others publicly, while the DM system exists for private conversations.

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 4/5
Inkblot has a pretty robust selection of art types available for upload, including music and writing. And the organizing tools on the uploader show that they want many types of art to be represented, from cosplay to plushie creation and more.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 1/5
As it's an art platform, it should naturally be expected that Inkblot will mainly draw in artists. However, the Commissions page may end up being a promising place for non-artists to venture in order to buy commissions in the future, depending on how notable it becomes as a feature.

Ease of Use Overall: 3/5
Right now, Inkblot is very feature-heavy, which is a good thing. It'll probably take the average user a while to explore the depth of these features, and not all of them are easily visible just yet. But given that the site is still a work in progress, that's somewhat to be expected, and on the whole it's a pretty easy experience.

General Vibes (in my opinion): 4/5
Inkblot feels like the natural successor to art sites of old like deviantART, in that it gets to heart of the art experience and builds upon it. I really get the feeling that the Inkblot developers are artists themselves and know what kind of features users would want most, which is more than I can say for some of the other options on this list. If you want a platform that has the greatest offering of features dedicated to artists, Inkblot may be the place for you.

If you'd like to support Inkblot's development, you can get a Pro subscription for your account for $3 USD per month. This comes with some additional useful account features and a separate portfolio theme for your profile.

Here's a link to my Inkblot page if you want to check it out!

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Artfol

Artfol is an art social media that originated as a mobile app, but recently came to desktop. It is still in Early Access beta, and regularly updates with new features.

The best way to describe Artfol is like Instagram, but dedicated to artists. If you're someone who enjoys the minimalist, streamlined approach of Instagram, then Artfol will probably be appealing to you. However, similar to Instagram, Artfol also has some heavy limitations on desktop that don't exist on mobile, so certain features will require you to have the mobile app if you want to use them.

You can upload images or text.

When uploading, one of Artfol's unique features is the ability to start a Challenge or ask for a Critique. As the name suggests, starting a Challenge will put your art into the Challenges category on the homepage, where people can go to find art challenges like #DrawThisInYourStyle or various art memes. As for the Critique feature, this tells others that you'd like them to give feedback on your work in the format of art critique.

On desktop, you can seemingly only upload one image at a time. There are no formatting tools (unsurprising since it started as a mobile app), and only a basic content warning system. You're limited to four tags per post and can categorize your work in a maximum of 3 categories.

While browsing the site, there are three major categories: Discover, which shows you popular and newly uploaded works, Challenge, which I mentioned earlier, and Community, which comprises of solely text-based status posts.

On your profile, you can set a commissions image and description (on mobile only, for some reason?) and choose from a set of profile colors.

Artfol does not allow full NSFW content, though it does allow suggestive or "mildly lewd" (their words) content as long as it's flagged as NSFW during upload. The full terms of what's allowed can be read on their Help Center page here.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, Artfol does have a mobile app for both iOS and Android.

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 3/5  
The upload and image viewing experience is very similar to Instagram's, minus any image editing tools. The minimalism of it can be appealing in its own way, but the lack of any useful upload features, or even simple formatting options, makes it difficult to do anything besides the bare minimum. While browsing the site, the viewing experience is decent, but pretty bare-bones in the usual mobile-app-turned-desktop kind of way. Nothing wrong with that, but it does end up feeling a little vacant on desktop.

Social Elements: 3/5
The social media elements of Artfol are pretty standard fare: liking, commenting, and resharing. I appreciate that you can reshare work and it'll put it in a separate feed from your personal gallery, so if someone wants to just peek at your work without seeing your reshares, they can do that. There's not much to say here except that it works exactly as intended.

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 1/5
Due to the total lack of text formatting tools, it would be really difficult for me to recommend Artfol to anyone who isn't a visual artist.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 1/5
Like Inkblot, the inherent focus on art means the vast majority of users will be artists. Artfol also has a commissions system, but unlike Inkblot's it's MUCH simpler and lacks its own separate page on the site, so it's less likely to get discovered by non-artists.

Ease of Use Overall: 5/5  
If there's one area I can give full praise to, it's the ease of use. Artfol is extremely minimalist in its design and features to the point that anybody can pick it up and use it straight away without issue. If that kind of sleek, low-clutter aesthetic is important to you when using a site, then Artfol is a good choice.

General Vibes (in my opinion): 3/5
Most of my feelings about Artfol can be summed up as this: it's Instagram, but just for art. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as Instagram is already a solid choice for artists, and Artfol having some artist-focused features like Challenges or Critiques helps it stand out on its own. Still, like Instagram, the abundant minimalism and less-than-complete desktop version does leave something to be desired for me personally. I'd say Artfol is a comfortable choice for artists who want a relatively simple and easy social media experience, compared to more complex sites.

If you'd like to support Artfol's development, you can become a Prisma member (a premium membership subscription) for $4 USD per month to gain some extra features like profile colors and setting custom artwork covers (Also requires the mobile app).

Here's a link to my Artfol page if you're interested!

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Foriio

A somewhat unconventional entry to the list, Foriio is a Japanese portfolio site with some very lite social media elements. Essentially, you can treat the site as a regular portfolio, but posts can be liked, shared, and organized. There is a minimal Discover feature for finding other porfolios, most of which are picked by the site developers, but generally this site is more meant to be used as a showcase than anything else.

Unlike many other options on this list, Foriio puts emphasis on the idea of "projects" rather than individual pieces of artwork, which can be really helpful for anyone who has longer form content like comics, art series, etc. There's also the ability to credit other artists for contributing on those projects, and if both of you have Foriio accounts, you can link them in the project directly so anyone checking out your page can see their info as well.

Since the site is originally in Japanese, there are some pages and features that are not translated into other languages yet.

Foriio has a pretty impressive number of upload options, and boasts a feature that will auto-convert certain file types (.ai, .PDF, etc.) into images for you. Multiple images are allowed per post.

While uploading, you can add a title and description, your role in the work/project, and sort the art into gallery categories. There is a simple NSFW toggle at the bottom, and work can be pinned to your profile.

It's a little unclear what sorts of NSFW are allowed on Foriio, as their Terms of Service only has clear terms forbidding works that are blatantly illegal or harmful. Since there's a NSFW toggle in the uploader, I assume at least some level of NSFW is allowed, but upload at your own risk!

Foriio does not have a mobile app, or at the very least not for international users. However, it does work on mobile web browsers.

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 4/5
Foriio has a simple but effective uploader that focuses on making things portfolio-ready. The viewing experience of images is also incredibly straightforward. I do wish that the grid of images was a little bigger on desktop, but that's just a personal preference.

Social Elements: 1/5
The social media elements of Foriio are VERY limited, but that's by design. It feels like an "ecosystem" type site, where you can get the most out of it if you already know other artists using the platform or are working on a collaborative project together with them. If you're by yourself, though, the social media elements may as well not be there, and other than being able to share links from your Foriio to the rest of the internet, it's essentially a glorified portfolio.

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 4/5
Foriio has a pretty good selection of different upload types that it caters to. I've yet to test how the portfolio actually looks when uploading something like audio or text, but I imagine it's similar to any other non-art portfolio out there.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 2/5
Foriio has the potential to have a slightly wider scope than some of the other art-centric options on this list, solely because it's a portfolio site. As a result, some professionals needing artists COULD end up here one way or another, especially if you link to it from other places. But I imagine the odds are pretty low unless the site becomes more popular.

Ease of Use Overall: 4/5
Foriio is incredibly straightforward in pretty much every area of its design. Other than some unclear wording in their Terms of Service guidelines, there's not much to critique here.

General Vibes (in my opinion): 3/5
For what it is at its core - a portfolio site with some lite social options - I think Foriio succeeds pretty well. It's still a pretty niche choice to use for your primary social media, as there's barely anything social going on there, but that might be a good thing depending on your preferences. Its reach internationally is pretty small, and the majority of its userbase is still based in Japan, but there's potential for it to become more popular internationally if artists find it useful enough to jump that barrier. That being said, if having a portfolio with social options is really important to you but Foriio hasn't impressed you, I'd say Tumblr is still an equally viable choice with a higher likelihood of engagement.

Here's a link to my Foriio page if you're interested!

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The final two options on this list are what I would call "freemium" choices - they exist to encourage your followers to donate to you monthly in exchange for your art. That being said, they can still be used successfully as a social media platform, so I think it's worthwhile to include them on this list.

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Patreon

Patreon (the site you're reading this on right now) is a creator-focused platform that allows them to earn income from followers who subscribe to certain perk tiers. In exchange, creators offer something to those followers, whether that's hi-res or exclusive artwork, extra content, or custom rewards.

I should clarify that there is no mandatory requirement to pay for things on Patreon - many creators, myself included, often post free content to their Patreon and use the site's payment function as more of a tip jar / thank you system. As such, even if you aren't able or comfortable to contribute to an artist's Patreon financially, it can still be worth following them and keeping up with their posts.

Since this is a social media list, I'll be focusing just on Patreon's social media elements, but for more information on how tiers work and how to set up your own Patreon, I recommend checking out their Support page which explains everything.

Patreon offers a pretty good selection of upload types, including livestreams, which hasn't shown up on this list so far.

When uploading images, you can add up to a whopping 500 images per post. They take on the "gallery" format, where one image is the large central image, and the rest are displayed as small versions in a row at the bottom. They can be rearranged by dragging. The text box has some standard formatting (highlight your text to see the options).

One of the really nice features of Patreon is the ability to add attachments that Patrons can download. This has its own size limit of 200 MB per upload, so it may be worth doing multiple uploads if you want to attach large files or a lot of them.

The tagging system pretty much just exists so your posts can be organized within your own page. There is an external "discover" function for Patreon for finding new creators, but it doesn't use tags whatsoever and is pretty much just a name search.

Still, if you use a certain tag often enough during uploads, Patreon will create a set of header links at the top of your page so viewers can find content easily, which is a pretty handy feature.

When uploading, you can decide whether you want the post to be public (aka free for all to view), limited to patrons only, or limited even further to just a particular tier of patron. The Early Access function allows you to set a post as limited to patrons for a set amount of time, and once that time passes, it'll become free for everyone.

Patreon does allow NSFW art if your page is specifically set as an 18+ page and your posts are marked as Mature.

Patreon does have a mobile app for iOS and Android.

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 3/5
The image uploading experience on Patreon is pretty streamlined and straightforward. I appreciate that the number of images allowed per post is so high, as it encourages artists who want to upload large galleries of photos, comic pages, etc. to keep it in one post rather than spreading it out. I wish the image gallery feature looked a little better and had the images at similar sizes rather than delegating one as the "main" image, though.

Social Elements: 2/5
Patreon mainly exists to create a space for pre-existing fans of a creator, so it's not the best place to socialize outside of that circle. Rather, it's a pretty good place for having an insulated community of people already interested in what you create, and one of the best places to learn what they want to see from you next.

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 4/5
Patreon's decent upload selection makes it a good place for writers and musicians, as well as other types of non-visual artists, to post their work. The ability to set posts to early access is a good way to drum up hype for them, too, which can give it an edge over other platforms that barely cater to those media types to begin with.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 4/5
Considering how insular of a platform it is, Patreon is a really popular creator-supporting site. Lots of creators from all fields use Patreon, so it's not just a hub for artists. If there was a better way to find new creators, I think it would really be a good mix.

Ease of Use Overall: 2/5
Patreon is pretty dense with features, and I often find myself forgetting where the hell something is located at. Once I figure it out, it's usually smooth sailing from there, but I do wish they'd rearrange some of their options to make more sense (seriously, why are Post Drafts not located anywhere near the option to create posts, but instead are lumped in with the "Edit page" options???).

General Vibes (in my opinion): 3/5
Patreon succeeds pretty well at being a premium community for fans of creators, but struggles to give those creators a way to spread themselves out to new audiences. I don't see how it could be anybody's one and only social media, as there's no form of self-promotions to be found, but it could certainly be your main form of communication with fans if you have exclusive content to share or just want to hear their direct feedback.

As for my Patreon page - you're already on it! Consider checking it out if you haven't already - I post lots of guides, tutorials, brushes, illustrations and more 💕

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Ko-fi

In a similar vein to Patreon, Ko-fi is another creator support platform for earning income that can double as social media. Unlike Patreon, however, Ko-fi has a much more artist-centric focus, and feels a lot less insular.

The foundation of Ko-fi is the idea of "buying a coffee" for someone - essentially a cute way of saying, "Here's a tip, thank you for what you do!" You can leave tips for artists at preset increments or monthly for extra perks.

Like Patreon, many artists post content for free on Ko-fi, and use the service as a tip jar.

When uploading, you can choose between uploading images, text, video, or audio, or just write a quick status update.

You can upload a maximum of 8 images per post, and it's recommended you reduce the image size before uploading. There is no tagging system, but once a post has been uploaded, they can be organized into individual galleries on your page.

One of the perks that sets Ko-fi apart from Patreon is the ability to list commissions and sell items in a shop.

To sell commissions, go to the Commissions section of the home page. Here, you can make your listing and include your Terms of Service, number of slots, and any discounts you want to add. Of all the sites I've shown on this list so far, Ko-fi's Commissions setup is by far the most detailed and impressive to me, as it takes some of the burden off of the artist to either list out all their information on a separate site, or have to explain things to each commissioner individually.

You can create your own Shop by going to Shop on the homepage. Here, you can list Digital or Physical goods for sale. I personally use this shop as a place to sell my otherwise exclusive CSP brushes, but I've seen some artists succeed in using it as a place to sell physical merch as well.

Ko-fi does not allow NSFW content on their service, not even censored. It's worth acknowledging as well that even using euphemisms and raunchy jokes when sending someone a tip can get them in trouble, so it's best to avoid that as much as possible. According to their Prohibited Content and Uses of Ko-fi page, this has something to do with their payment providers' policies.

Confusingly, though, you can flag your page as NSFW. According to this other separate page on the NSFW tag, they'd consider anything with "revealing clothes" or "suggestive themes" as warranting the tag, which is kind of comical.

Generally speaking, I'd say keep it SFW as best as you can on Ko-fi, or use Patreon instead if you regularly create NSFW content.

Ko-fi does not have a mobile app, but it does work on mobile browsers.

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Rating:

Image Tools & Viewing Experience: 3/5  
Ko-fi's uploader is incredibly simple, with no editing tools or ability to rearrange images. When viewing images on the site, I wish you could adjust the preview image, as I find most images get cropped at the top and bottom just enough to be annoying to me. That aside, though, it gets the job done well enough.

Social Elements: 3/5
Ko-fi is similar to Patreon, but a little less insular. There's more of an emphasis on sitewide community and interaction between creators than you'll find on Patreon, but Ko-fi's search engine is just as pointless as Patreon's unless you already have an artist's name in mind. Still, Ko-fi regularly highlights artists, commission listings, and pieces of art to its users, so that helps expand their reach a little bit.

Usability for Non-Visual Artists: 3/5
Ko-fi has a limited number of upload types, but fortunately they still provide a good range for different types of creators. The "blog post" format can easily be utilized by writers, as it has its own built in formatting tools not normally found in the image and quick status uploads, and the "audio" upload should work for musicians.

Public Interest / Visibility to Non-Artists: 3/5
Ko-fi has become pretty popular in recent years, and although it's less of a household name than something like Patreon, it still holds its own. In many cases, Ko-fi has a better reputation among artists (if you exclude the many NSFW artists who are essentially banned from using the service altogether) for having a better sense of community and transparency with users. That being said, its primary demographic is still artists, so it has less widespread use than Patreon among non-artists.

Ease of Use Overall: 5/5
Ko-fi has an incredibly simple and effective layout, making it very easy to find what you're looking for without issue. I use the site often as both a creator and a regular user, and in both ways it's a breeze to use.

General Vibes (in my opinion): 5/5
Although lacking in some areas, Ko-fi has a similar spirit to sites like Inkblot and Cohost, in that it caters deeply to the interests of its users and seems to really "get" what they want. It has lots of integration options for services like Discord and the ability to add tip buttons to your other sites, making it feel like a natural companion that can benefit you no matter what other platforms you spend your time on. I still wish it had better search functionality, especially when it comes to user shops and commissions, as I genuinely think it's a lighthearted and enjoyable platform to be on and I'd really like to spend more time on it than just when I'm checking out work from an artist I already know.

Here's my Ko-fi page if you'd like to check it out!

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The "Dishonorable Mentions"

This section will be dedicated to some "dishonorable mentions," AKA sites that are designed for artists, but for one reason or another, are either unpopular or controversial. Rather than going into the full site details here, I'll be covering why some artists like to use them, and why others like to avoid them. If any of these platforms pique your interest, I recommend checking them out for yourself.

Also, I want to be clear that even if a certain platform is controversial, that doesn't imply anything about the artists choosing to use it! Lots of incredibly talented and compassionate artists use a wide variety of platforms, so please be respectful to anyone using any of these choices on the list.

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DeviantART

If you're an artist who grew up on the internet in the 2000s-2010s, I'm sure you already know about deviantART. But for those out of the loop, dA is one of the very first art social media sites, and it still has some decent popularity to this day. It was the very first art social media site I ever used growing up (I used to upload my terrible traced-over Naruto screenshots on there before I ever learned how to draw for real) and in some ways, it has a charming nostalgia quality to it even today.

As an art site, deviantART has a really good offering of features that continues to expand as the site marches on. There are features for taking commissions and monthly subscriptions, selling prints, customizing your profile and gallery, journaling, participating in groups and challenges, and the list goes on.

If you read my review for Inkblot, you may be wondering, how could this site possibly be a dishonorable mention if it meets all the same criteria, and then some? Well, unlike Inkblot, which seems very in tune with the wants of its userbase, deviantART has a known history of making weird and unpopular decisions on the site without user feedback. There was the time when they overhauled the entire site to make it look more "professional" and put longtime features behind a paywall, or the common accusation that their "points" system for commissions directly contributed to the devaluing of digital art commission on the internet for years to come, their history of being stubborn about removing abusive works when requested... the list goes on. And recently, they made a blunder so big that it permanently soured many of its longtime users for good.

In November 2022, deviantART unveiled a new feature that enraged a huge chunk of their userbase: its own AI database called DreamUp, which gathered its data by scraping from the art hosted on its own site. The worst part of it was, initially all artwork on the site was defaulted to be opted in to the database, and you had to manually request to have your art removed for each individual upload. You can imagine the pandemonium this caused. In only a few hours they backtracked on this and swapped it so all uploads are defaulted as having opted out of the database, but by then people had already heard the news and swamped the site to deactivate their accounts.

DeviantART didn't help their case when they began arguing back with concerned users online, cementing themselves as untrustworthy and uncaring of their users' wishes.

Personally, I feel that the big issue here is less about the AI database itself, though that is egregious in its own right, but rather that deviantART failed to protect the interests of its users and was willing to use them for its own gain. In a time where many artists are feeling uneasy about the prospects of companies abusing and exploiting them for a profit, this was a step too far.

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Artstation

Artstation is an art platform that is considered the "professional" standard compared to its peers. Many artists use it as their online portfolio, or a marketplace to sell brushes and 3D assets, and you'll notice that the majority of works featured on the homepage pass a certain threshold of "professional quality." Many professional artists see this as a good place to find fellow artists in their field, or to seek out jobs. And for all intents and purposes, it does this incredibly well. You can find some of the top professionals of many different artistic fields on Artstation, and many of them provide some resources there that can be invaluable to artists looking to take the same career path in the future.

Like deviantART, Artstation made a controversial decision in late 2022 when they decided to allow the upload of AI artwork to their platform in their Terms of Service. Though they claimed to welcome feedback for this "rapidly evolving topic," that was not the experience many users had with them.

Understandably, many Artstation users were upset at this decision, as it not only felt morally bankrupt, but also went against the whole point of Artstation as a showcase of industry talent. As a result, a number of users decided to protest by flooding the homepage with Anti-AI themed images.

(above image taken from this Kotaku article about the subject)

However, as a result of the protesting, Artstation began cracking down on these posts, insisting that the protests went against their Terms of Service, and that they didn't want to "stifle AI research and commercialization when it respects artists’ choices," as though that wasn't contradictory to the entire point of the issue.

Like the deviantART controversy, this issue is less about the AI rule itself, and more that Artstation did not consult with its userbase on a very controversial rule or understand what the site represented to others. Using their own words, they didn't "respect artists' choices" when those choices went against what the site developers wanted. Ultimately, many artists across the professional field ended up deleting their accounts on the platform for good, disappointed in Artstation's failure to respect the wishes of its userbase.

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With that, the list is concluded!

There are definitely some other sites I could've added to this list (Behance, Reddit, Pixiv, Waterfall, etc.) but considering how long it already is, I think this goes to show that artists have other horizons they can explore!

It's easy to feel as though there's nowhere left for artists to go in the modern age of hyper-massive social media giants like Twitter and Tiktok constantly bearing down on us, but fortunately there are more and more artists and creatives taking the matter into their own hands and creating sites to host us by the day. With so many choices available, we can all hopefully find a home for ourselves to be creative and share our work with others.

And as I mentioned earlier, if any of these sites have piqued your interest, consider throwing them a donation as well to help with their funding! The support or artists will be the biggest help in getting these platforms more notoriety.

Thank you for reading! ✨ This post took several days to write and research, so if you found it helpful please consider joining my Patreon or sending me a coffee over on Ko-fi !