Instagram Tragedy
CNY, Overreacting, and Comic
Happy Chinese New Year!!
Last week we thoroughly cleaned the apartment and Yvonne made a humongous, delicious CNY dinner:
My job as the supportive figure in this event (other than doing the dishes) was to illustrate a menu.
This is what was requested:
And this is what I made:
Another day, another Billy themed menu lol.
Originally, we spelled his name as “Billie,” and that’s how it’s documented on his pet insurance, but I like “Billy” better. The Y adds more silliness to it I think.
Memories
It’s been a full week since I posted Episode 5 of “memories” on Instagram.
It performed really well, like definitely one of my top performing reels… and then it stopped. This is the performance insights, taken today:
The post reached 50k likes, +300K views in the first three days and on the fourth day it went radio silent. My mom texted me asking where the audio went. I immediately check the video and Instagram MUTED it.
I was so peeved. I tried to contact instagram support to no avail. I googled, reddited, and reached out to the social media manager at my day job. I even resorted to paying for META verification to get better Instagram support! They told me it was because the song I chose violated their licensing rules (THE SONG I CHOSE FROM THE INSTAGRAM LIBRARY).
Licensing Smicensing is what I say. The Man just wants to keep you down is what I really think.
Obviously I’m pretty annoyed at the abrupt and unjust halt of performance on this video. Mostly for vanity reasons, but also because I was really proud of the work. I spent a long time on it and want it to shine on my feed.
In times like these, I’m reminded of the harsh truth that my career and visibility is at the mercy of amorphous social media technologies.
But also, it doesn’t really matter.
I created the video series to share the magic of comic retellings to those that hold the memories. Asher loved the video. It transported them back in time to that memory and that was the goal. On top of that, 50K likes and +300k views is ridiculous and PHAT! I would have prayed for performance like that back in college. All in all, this video had a great reception.
Also my parents really like watching it. That’s a huge win.
The Imbalance
Rex
Every time I sit down to draw, I scroll on Youtube for live performances I can play in the background. Here are my favorites as of late:
Thanks for reading. May all your dreams come true <3