A (Short) Tale Of Too Many Platforms

The Struggle To Juggle Is Real...So Here's Our Deal

Original Photo by Magnus Mueller

A fellow creative asked my opinion about all the shopping and social media platforms we’ve tried during our first year in the business.

Most of these platforms were new to us. We only had prior experience and/or opinions about a few. We now know enough about the following to feel confident sharing our povs about these tech tools.

WINNERS

• FOURTH WALL (shop)

  For us, FW is a near-perfect balance of features, products, and support.

• SUBSTACK (blog + newsletter)
  Didn’t think it was possible, but it was love at first post.

• THREADLESS (second shop)
  There’s a reason this company has been around so long: budget-friendly quality.

• YOUTUBE (mixes + montages + more)
  Our go-to for making and watching videos. Probably yours too.

LOSERS

• ETSY (closed)
  We regret ever trying this predatory pay-to-play platform.

• FACEBOOK (rarely use)
  Lost that loving feeling for this Meta-owned monstrosity long ago.

• FY! (closed..I think)
  Loved the “we do art prints” approach. Hate the “we pay you nothing” reality.

• INSTAGRAM (rarely use)
  Another Meta-owned behemoth that’s turned all pay-to-play. Zuck Zuck.

• REDBUBBLE (closed)
  While we loved their uploader, we loathed some of the ugh-ly crap they sell.

• SOCIETY6 (closed)
  While we hated the uploader, we loved the products. The company? Not so much.

• TEEPUBLIC (closed)
  One of the best uploaders out there. One of the lowest royalties out there too.

• TIKTOK (closed…I think)

  While I think the move to ban the platform is dumb, we wouldn’t miss it. Not for us.

• TOSTADORA (closed)
  Easy and fun way to open multiple “niche” shops. Too bad ours didn’t do better.

• X/TWITTER/XITTER/XXXITTER (closed)
  We like corn, but we don’t like corn bots or homophobic/racist/transphobic bs.

JURY’S STILL OUT

• BLUESKY (nice platform, but is anyone there?)

• PINTEREST (another pay-to-player…useful but not sure how useful)

• THREADS (started strong, but Meta seems determined to ruin another platform)

• WORDPRESS (once-great, WP’s too buggy/complicated for most users/uses)

Please keep in mind these are just my personal opinions. Your results will likely vary. If it’s not listed, we probably haven’t tried it…yet.

While we don’t mind trying new things, we are pretty happy with the mix of platforms we’re currently using.

Now to find a balance in how we use them. It’s an ongoing trial-and-error experiment.

With its handy-dandy analytics, we’re using our YouTube channel to conduct a series of experiments and tests.

We consider YouTube one part art studio, one part broadcast channel, and one part science lab. Mix well…and try not to blow anything up! Feel free to drop by anytime. You’re welcome to like and subscribe too.

Thanks for reading!
Clint

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NEWS + VIEWS

• David Lynch designs gigantic wooden chair within meditative A Thinking Room (Dezeen)

• For Native American artist Jeffrey Gibson, representing the United States at the Venice Biennale is complicated (BBC)

• Salvator Rosa painting stolen from Oxford recovered in Romania after four years (BBC)

• As Seen on ‘The Crown’: A Churchill Portrait Despised by Its Sitter (artnet News)

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