I recently came across Hi From A Human who have created a 'mark' that can be used to show that something has been created/designed/written/made etc by a human
You can download the appropriately worded mark free from their website and use it on your website/products/photos etc which as a creative business is proving really useful and I really hope more creators get on board with it and we start to see it more often
The world has changed a lot since I started posting my crochet on socials nearly 15 years ago and set up my blog. I didn't need to prove I was human for a start! This year so far has been particularly challenging. I used to post my makes on my social pages and enjoy interacting with commentors some who have followed me since the beginning and some who had just found me. It was yarny escapism for me and for them.......people from all over the world with a common love of yarncrafts.
This year though has been been different, I brace myself before posting anything and consider if I'm in the right headspace to deal with the response because more often than not I'm going to have to explain/prove/justify myself in some way and I don't think I've ever blocked so many people in the last 15 years as I have done this year!
I have a large number of followers across socials and that seems to make me an easy target to criticise or troll
The reality is that I’m an almost 50 year old woman living in Suffolk, a mum, a wife, a daughter, a self employed cross stitch designer with all the usual real life stuff going on behind the scenes that we all have……health stuff, financial stuff, family stuff etc. No one is more surprised than me that so many people have shown an interest in my crochet!
It’s because I’m just a normal person with all the usual behind the scenes stresses that something has to give.
I removed all notifications for my social media pages several months ago and that provided some relief but Facebook the last month has been something else so it's time to take a break from my Facebook page temporarily while I work out if continuing to post my makes there in the same way is worth my sanity. It is no longer escapism for me, the increased entitlement and rudeness towards me from strangers has begun to impact how I feel about sharing my makes and I don't feel inspired to start anything new at the moment. I'm not a slave to social media, if I don't want to post, I don't post! I need to either find a way to share that will limit the negativity or stop altogether.
I'm still going to post on Instagram (for now) when I feel like it, it's not quite so wild over there and the crochet community there is still a supportive one. I'm concentrating on finishing my current WIPs and will update the blog with my finished makes. The You Tube channel is also still available.
I hope to start using my Facebook page again in future in some way, it's still there, I've not deleted it or anything, but other than adding the odd story when I have a new blog post I won't be posting or interacting with it just for now. I'm sure those of you who have followed me from a place of mutual love for crochet will continue to follow me......your support doesn't go unnoticed.
Thank you for your understanding
Faye x