That mess of vowels that served as a title stands for Expelling Unnecessary Accounts And Altering Existing Ones. Because that’s basically what this whole bit of news is about. I was originally going to have it split into multiple parts, but they’re all similar enough that I changed my mind.
So, straight to the chase: I find that I have too many social media accounts and I think it’s time to change the ones I will continue to have. Now, I know that it’s a good marketing strategy to have as many social media accounts as possible, but honestly? I’m willing to risk my marketing taking a hit in exchange for maintaining my sanity. And actually? I’ve not gotten rid of as many accounts as you might think (not as many as I want to, that’s for sure). Only 2, Wattpad and Fanfiction.net.
Yes, my longer being on Wattpad means I no longer have access to stories posted there. But I never honestly liked using Wattpad, whether for reading or posting, so I really only held onto the account because I felt I had to. Really, I just needed an excuse to delete it. There are some stories there that I am sad that I’ll never get to read again, but *shrugs* that’s something I can live with. As for fanfiction.net, I just don’t feel like risking going against their rules, particularly when it comes to rating. I know that some have gotten away with posting lists or explicit smut and stuff on there, but still. It is a risk, and I’d rather not end up pushing my luck too far and facing the wrath of FF.net’s admins. So, there’s that. Also, no, I didn’t actually delete my FF.net account, because they don’t actually let you delete accounts over there. But I have altered it so I can’t sign in there anymore. On the plus-side, this means the stories over there are still up so you can still read my first 20+ fics over there if you want. Just know that I won’t be able to interact with anyone over there.
Next up are some accounts that I’m not deleting, but I will no longer be active on as a creator: DeviantART, YouTube and Facebook.
Yes, I’m still very unhappy with DA Eclipse and I would rather use it as little as humanly possible. So, even after my hiatus, I won’t be posting there anymore save for rare exceptions (like if I made a post for/inspired by/in collaboration with my brother, who is still on DA). I also won’t be super-active there in terms of messaging and chatting, partly because I just prefer Tumblr’s PM method now. So, yeah, as sad as I am to mostly-leave my first ever platform, I’ve finally settled on this decision and I’ve made my peace with it. I like to think of it as my “growing up and leaving the nest” kind of thing. Again, not abandoning DA entirely, but it will no longer be my primary and most active social media platform.
For YouTube, it’s more that I just don’t want to make AMVs anymore, and, quite honestly, I think a lot of that has to do with Raptor of the Opera. It was just such a long, grueling and so negative experience that it just put me off making AMVs and soured the whole hobby for me. Video-editing is a lot of work and I sincerely applaud those who make it their livelihood! I also know that it can be very fun work, and I will admit that I had lots of fun moments when making AMVs in the past. But it’s not quite enough fun for me in comparison with all of the effort and work that I have to put into it. Add onto that the negative experiences and emotions now associated with AMV-making for me, and I hope you can understand why I’m not doing it anymore. But another reason I don’t plan to make videos anymore (at least for the foreseeable future) is because that’s just not the content I want to focus on. It’s not my most important content or the kind of content I want to be famous for making. I’m a writer. My writing is what I care most about and, when I get back from my hiatus, I want to focus more on writing and making more written content. It won’t be easy, and I admit that I still love drawing and will doubtless continue drawing a lot, but this is what I want to put more time and effort into, and I feel it’s more worth it than any of my videos, whether it’s AMVs, MFMs (dear god, someone please explain to me why those are my most popular videos *epic facepalm*) or Speedpaints. So, yeah, I’ll still be on YouTube a lot (maybe more than I should be, honestly, that site is just so distracting) to comment and like and stuff, and my old videos will still be there. I just won’t be posting any new videos, at least not for a LOOOOONNNG time. BTW: I’ve put all of my old videos into a playlist, and I’m thinking of making said videos Unlisted, so you can only view or find them via the playlist. Maybe. I haven’t quite settled on that decision yet.
As for Facebook, I think I’ve made it no secret at this point that I just DO NOT like Facebook! Honestly, if I felt I could get away with it, I would delete my Facebook account entirely. But I still need it for IRL stuff on occasion, so *sigh* better safe than sorry. Someday, though, I’ll be happy to kick that account to the curb.
Which leaves the sites I will be remaining very active on: Pinterest, Tumblr and ArchiveOfOurOwn. Pinterest because I really like it and it’s a great place for me to gather images that inspire me or that make me feel better when I’m down (I have an entire section of one of my boards dedicated entirely to Keith Kogane because that boy is my self-care and I’ll be making a similar board for Karna because he is my emotional-support-husbando). Tumblr because, despite being a hellsite, I’ve come to enjoy my own little corner there, because I met my best friends there (and because I like the PM system there, though not as much as Discord), because I can find a surprisingly huge amount of good content there and because, since I’m dropping DA, it’s the next best thing I’ve got to a place where I can post all of my content. And ArchiveOfOurOwn because…actually, do I even need a reason? As long as people are smart enough to tag everything appropriately, it’s pretty fucking fantastic! So, yeah, when my quasi-hiatus is over, I’ll be back to posting frequently on these sites.
Until then, I’m afraid I don’t have much else to say about this. I guess I…hope you guys will follow me on Tumblr, Pinterest and Ao3 because that’s where you’ll see me most once I’m fully back? *shrugs* You do you, guys. Thanks for reading/watching this, stay safe and take care of yourselves in this crazy world of ours!
(oh, and if you’ve been reading/watching all of the parts so far, stay strong, there’s only one left, then you’re free)
