Anatomy of a Facebook Post

 The anatomy of a Facebook Post

Anatomy of a Facebook Post

This week we also have a bonus article, and it is something different. With all that’s going on in the world, we sometimes have to be reminded to laugh about the things we can’t control in life. The things that irk us, or wind us up, the things that no matter how hard we try, we just can’t seem to fix. We need to be reminded that we can turn off social media and take the occasional break because when we go back it will still be there and still the same.

Yes, sometimes Facebook can be brutal. Most of the time it’s fun. It’s where our friends hang out to look at cats and Christmas elves in little green hats. Sometimes it is a dark reflection of the world in which we live, sometimes it is a reminder that there’s still some love to give. That’s the kind of paragraph that would get all the likes on any social network.

We’re artists, it’s a serious business. We give everything we have emotionally in the hope that our work will resonate with some other soul just enough that they might want to buy it. We spend hours of our lives creating, and even more hours of our lives using social media to market what we want to sell. So inevitably, we join a group!

We use the tools we have with the limited budgets that remain from constantly replenishing our art supplies and the inconvenience of having to eat. Still, we persist and battle on, but sometimes we post an innocent question that the world can’t seem to deal with. It’s all part of the journey of becoming an artist and for the most part, we don’t really care, we’re all in this business together.

We are artists, we are one and mostly we are always trying to be our best and perfect selves. But sometimes, you post something on Facebook in one of those groups and no matter how creative you are, you really can’t make this shit up.

So this week we laugh at the antics of a Facebook post and pose the much-asked age-old question, how many artists does it take to change a lightbulb?

Buckle up, hold on, you’ll laugh, you might cry, you might think I have lost my mind, but you can’t say that you haven’t noticed the conversations that people have in the comments of social media posts too! Well, here goes...

The anatomy of a Facebook post...

POST: How many artists does it take to change a lightbulb on Facebook?

COMMENTS:

1 to change the light bulb and to simultaneously post that the light bulb has been changed while carrying out a marketing campaign, whilst at the same time finishing off a last-minute commission and preparing the family lunch while brainstorming a new title and praying that at least one artwork will sell this year while having to also explain to family members that becoming an epic artist can take a little time and that planned vacation might have to wait until next year. 

74 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.

27 to suggest using gesso to change the lightbulbs hue or that adding more pink would fix it.

1 to suggest that using studio quality acrylics would have meant that the light was brighter without having the need to change the lightbulb in the first place

3 to agree that preparation of the surface is key to a good result

19 to debate that acrylics are evil, oil is good

1 to claim a sensitivity to gesso and peanuts

1 to bravely mention that they’re a digital artist and don’t need a lightbulb with their shiny new screen

1 to ignore the digital artist's comment and denounce their creative ability to everyone else

4 to not be interested either way. Art is art. You legends.

17 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs next to paintbrush water.

2 to suggest that it is irresponsible to even suggest changing a lightbulb next to paintbrush water because people are stupid enough to do it.

1 to reply that’s what duct tape is for.

1 to mention the benefits of natural selection.

307k to react with a WOW emoji in relation to the natural selection comment.

0 to respond directly to the natural selection comment.

307k to silently agree about the natural selection comment.

1 brave soul to react with a laughing reaction to the natural selection comment.

22 To say an artist should first go to art school and study hard to change a lightbulb.

2 to suggest that their local gallery might be interested because they know a friend of a friend of the owner's second cousin twice removed.

12 to ask if there are any artists who can paint a lightbulb for free in return for great exposure.

17 purists who use candles and are offended by light bulb discussions because lightbulbs remind them of digital art.

91 to argue over whether it's 'lightbulb' or 'light bulb' and to ask where the Oxford comma is?

91 to condemn those 91 as stupid.

297 to tell THOSE 91 to stop being jackasses.

1 who has been lurking in the art group to reinforce the jackass’s argument meaning that the jackasses win by default as for the others, well, they shouldn’t have got involved.

1 to offer IM support in the posters hour of great need

4 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is 'lamp'.

2 opportunists to ask if there is a print on demand site that lets you put your painting on a lightbulb

1 to agree that’s a great idea

5022 social media gurus who promise to extend your organic reach to the wider light bulb community

6000 social media gurus who promise they can get you more followers

6001 social media gurus to PM the original poster to sign up to their services today for the offer price of just $25

4 to include the words ‘thank you hun’ because they feel they must and because they can

22 to type shared

39 to type thoughts and prayers in a sarcastic tone

1 to sincerely type thoughts and prayers x

1 who says the anti-vax movement is worried about nothing not realizing they shared the comment in the wrong group, oh wait, no, they didn’t. They were just throwing it out there.

15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry before the lights went out due to LEDs taking over, and that 'light bulb' is perfectly correct.

2497 to post memes and gifs of anything that remotely looks like a lightbulb.

1 who went to a ‘real’ art school on YouTube and then researches lightbulbs from throughout the entirety of art history in a lifelong mission to find a light bulb painted by one of the Great Dutch Masters.

7 to post that this page is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to the light bulb page.

1 to share a link to a lightbulb group run by the Brexit campaign.

1 to bring up the name Donald

9 to defend the posting to this page saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant here.

19 to post F.

8 to ask what F means.

10 to make a random comment so that they can stake a claim to a top fan badge

1 to post ‘bumped’ to keep this shit alive

18 to post random comments to keep their top fan badge alive

1 to leave and re-join so they can get their wavy hand badge back

4 to suggest that the next exhibition at the Tate should be dedicated to the art of the lightbulb

1 professional art critic to suggest that the colour of the light is too bright and in doing so ruins a dream

48 amateur art critics who have never seen art in real life to suggest edits without being asked to provide any critique

1 amateur art critic to call out the lightbulb poster as a troll and spammer

3 to defend the lightbulb poster and go on to name and shame the 1 amateur art critic in the next twenty-five comments

16 to post 'Following' but there are 3 dots at the top right that means you don't have to tell us, and you really are a data waster and/or drama queen

447 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty.

1 to ask if Hobby Lobby sells them lightbulb things.

15 to suggest their amazon affiliate links should be used the next time anyone buys light bulbs or art supplies from Jeff.

7952 to finally realise that lightbulbs are cheaper than art supplies and now realise they have options beyond buying paint and canvas

75951 to spam the group selling paintings of the same light bulb while calling it original 24x30 oil, IM me

1 to get electrocuted after trying to literally paint a lightbulb while it’s plugged in

1 to tell everyone to be their best self

74 to ask if the brands of light bulbs used are worth the money.

19 to tell them that if they like this type of light bulb, everyone should buy them.

111 to copy and paste the above review and turn it into a fake Amazon review

10 who suggest that the after-sales service by the light bulb manufacturer is poor or good in a way that sounds like their opinion should really matter.

1 to post a laughing face with tears.

25 People to post pics of their own light bulbs.

1 to post a pic of their pet light bulb in a compromising position.

15 People to post "I can't see S#1!" and use their own light bulbs.

6 to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs in practical everyday use by artists from around the world.

4 to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL's after 2 hours of research on Google.

1 to check the post against the Scopes database of iffy news.

1 to complain that the URLs led them to fake news sites.

13 to comment "Me too" and use a hashtag.

1 to suggest watching the entire 8 seasons of Gods Light Bulb Moments on the Vatican City’s region of Netflix.

1 late arrival who sees a market beyond creating art to sell art-themed lightbulbs door to door who then goes on to become a millionaire leaving his or her painting dream behind.

5 to post to the page that they will no longer post or are leaving the group as they cannot handle the $&cking light bulb controversy.

609 to report the post or PM an admin because someone said "f#&$"

22 to ask if there is a flounce in progress.

349 to post flounce memes.

4 to say "Didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

113 to say "Do a search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs".

1 to bring politics into the discussion by adding that (insert any politician here) isn't the brightest bulb.

79444 more to get into personal attacks over their political views.

5 admins to ban the light bulb poster who took it all too seriously and who is now suing for costs of therapy after the admins failed to lay down their lives in defence of the post against all the negative comments.

1 more late arrival to comment on the original post 6 months later and start it all over again.

99 to copy and paste the post and claim it as their own.

REACTIONS

3 to like the post

2 to wow the post

1 to love the post

1 to react sadly

12 to react angrily

1 to share the post

NUMBER OF PEOPLE REACHED

4

Facebook page tips: 

1 Facebook to ask repeatedly if you would like to reach 9 more people for $99 while showing you multiple ads for lightbulbs, over 50s life insurance, bed mattresses and art supplies.

Lightbulb changed.

We love you Facebook, we really do. Be your best self. Happy Creating!

Mark xx

About Mark…

I am an artist and blogger and live in Staffordshire, England. You can purchase my art through my Fine Art America store or my Pixels site here: https://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com

  

Any art sold through Fine Art America and Pixels contributes towards to the ongoing costs of running and developing this website. You can also view my portfolio website at https://beechhousemedia.com

You can also follow me on Facebook at: https://facebook.com/beechhousemedia where you will also find regular free reference photos of interesting subjects and places I visit. You can also follow me on Twitter @beechhouseart and on Pinterest at https://pinterest.com/beechhousemedia

If you would like to support the upkeep of this site or maybe just buy me a coffee, you can do so right here.