Edit: a lot of people keep misunderstanding me or assuming that i am pushing conversations with people or trying to force friendships and that i feel that people are obligated to be friends with me if I’m nice to them . Let me make it clear that it’s not the case. I’m always the one to go with the flow of the conversation and make sure the other person isn’t uncomfortable.
So this might as well be only applicable to me, because in my experience the forum community has always been extremely helpful, sweet and open to be friends but on instagram I haven’t had many similar experiences.
It’s not like anyone was rude to me or ignored my messages, they were really alright, most the ones I’ve talked with.
I mostly reach out to DM episode artists and popular authors whose work I really admire, to tell them how much I support them. The popular authors often just like the DM and don’t reply and sometimes they’ll say thanks and then if I try to engage in further conversation (all normal and with the flow, nothing annoying like “when will u update” , “do u wanna be friends” etc) and I’ll very quickly sense that they’re not that interested. And trust me, I completely understand. But in my opinion there’s kinda a power imbalance of sorts where they’re much more popular than me and I’m like… just a fan? Idk how to explain it.
However if you leave me on read when I’m only being nice and supporting you, that kinda hurts my feelings, cuz I’m not just saying all that sweet stuff to gain something from you.
This is not the case with artists, as every single one I’ve reached out to has been really friendly and kind, but still there’s that kind of vibe I get that I’m just a fan?
And here’s why I think so. Feel free to disagree with me. Follower count in a thing on instagram. I currently have 13 followers on IG (@shara.episode) and most of the people I’ve talked to have like 500+.
I’m not saying a higher follower count makes some people think they’re a celebrity who don’t want to befriend smaller accounts. But I’m saying it can create a complex that the other person with say, 2 followers is only interacting with you as they want something from you (free art, story shoutout, etc) which in many cases like mine, isn’t always true.
I really want to make friends within the community. But I haven’t found anyone on instagram where I’m most active.
I hope that this post didn’t come across as me trying to force friendships on people or bashing the instagram episode community as I’m jealous that they have more followers than me. Because that’s not the case at all. I’m simply sharing an experience and I hope that I’ll make friends there someday.
And my main point is that in my opinion the forum community is friendlier and more inclusive. But know that I can only speak for myself.