#antinft

Hey there, Sparklers. Long time no "Mystic feels the need to open a discussion about this thing that happened that she's not happy about." Let's change that, shall we?

TL;DR: A new "social media for artists" app lured a lot of artists in without making it clear they were going to turn into an NFT platform, and I'm mad about it. If this dissection does not interest you or you've come here specifically to tell my why I should not be upset, kindly go somewhere else that is not here.

Some of you remember back in September I posted this Works-In-Progress (WIP) image that contained, among other things, a sketch for a Draw This In Your Style [DTIYS] challenge that was taking place at the time on Instagram. In the WIP Description, I mentioned the event had introduced me to a "pretty neat app," but I didn't want to say much more until the final art was ready to post.

I had a lot on my plate even when I posted the WIP, and of all the things I had a choice in cutting out, the DTIYS made the most sense, so that sketch now sits abandoned and will either never be finished, or if it is, it won't be for the original DTIYS anymore and I'll repurpose it for another project. So, likewise, I never got around to discussing what that "pretty neat app" was. Until now, though I regret this is the way things turned out. 

You see, the DTIYS in question had joining the app and posting there as one of the entry requirements, so when I first came across the post and thought I'd get around to entering, I went ahead and signed up so I wouldn't have to worry about it later.

The app in question was Bubblehouse, and the main reason I thought the app was so neat because it features two different ways to post art that I haven't seen anywhere and I hope DESPERATELY that more social media platforms adopt, especially considering the point we're leading up to today.

Among the "normal" ways to post--As a single finished picture, or you can post multiple finished images at once--You had two other options: A. Post a "before and after" image where the idea is you post the beginning sketch or the art alongside the full finished version, and the viewer is given a slider a the bottom of the image to expose more or less or either the sketch or the finished art. B. You could select 3 or more images, each one showing a different stage of the art in-process like the sketch, the lines/inking, the flat color, and then the final finished image. (Though most artists, myself included, would usually opt to put the full-finished piece at the beginning and then worry about the process shots, since the app would use whichever image you placed first for this method as the thumbnail.)

Beyond that, the app didn't really strike me as anything special. Or, at least, not anything more note-worthy that one of the dozens of "art-focused" social media attempts we've seen in recent years.

The only other thing that managed to catch my attention about the app is the comments. I could go into great detail here explaining why exactly the comments I've received on Bubblehouse gave me pause in the first place, but the bottomline to that tangent is there just seemed to be too many "gushing" comments that still said very little about the artwork, to a point where I become suspicious as to if the app had some kind of deal with bots or the employees in an attempt to artificially bolster the user experience. 

And in my efforts to google Bubblehouse and see if anyone else had similar suspicions (which, for the record, I did find at least one other person who thought the app's use of bots was overbearingly obvious, if that means anything to you), I discovered that apparently Bubblehouse has taken major steps to turn itself into an NFT buying and selling platform. 

Subsequently, you might say my "bubble" had "burst." 

Before we continue, please know I am not an expert in NFTs, Cryptocurrency, or how any of that stuff works and therefore am not the person qualified to explain those things. If you would like an explanation from somebody who understands those things far better than I and thus can more effectively explain why NFTs are generally not a good thing, please see this rundown via Reddit.

That said, I assume a lot of people who choose to read this will at least be able to understand that at present, a large portion of the art community is completely against NFTs for several reasons including the fact that the NFT marketplace is currently rotten with art theft--People just grabbing whatever art they can find on the internet and minting it as NFTs to sell, where the real artist never sees a dime and usually isn't aware this has been done. 

To be clear, NFTs are not the only instance of rampant art theft on the internet and shouldn't be treated as such [and art theft isn't the only thing wrong with NFTs), but I think it's telling even DeviantArt saw the problem and has made at least a few steps to try and do something about it, even if there are holes/flaws in their plan(s). 

Anyway. My point is that it was one of the rudest awakenings I've had in a while to discover this was Bubblehouse's fate; That this app, which had appeared on the scene originally marketing itself simply as another art-based social media alternative, had just pulled such a cruel bait-and-switch.

And if you don't want to take my word for it that that's what happened--A Bait and Switch--I implore you to do as I did: If you start searching for "Bubblehouse" online, you'll notice articles about the NFT nonsense don't start popping up until September 28/29th of this year. I told Google to only show me posts from before September 25th, and sure enough--there were a few links about the Bubblehouse app that popped up, but they were generally positive and speaking of it as an alternative to Instagram. There were a few Reddit posts, and none of the replies mentioned anything about NFTs. 

Just to make sure I wasn't imagining things, I even checked the App Store page via the Wayback Machine. I lucked out--the page had been archived all of once, on April 5th of this year (I assume when it was added to the store in the first place), and you can see for yourself that there are no mentions of NFTs anywhere, whereas if you look now, the app page specifically says NFT stuff is "coming soon." 

Personally, I don't believe this is a natural progression of business, either, because in my opinion, there are two options as to how we got here:

1. Bubblehouse was conceptualized to be an NFT platform from the very beginning, but whoever is running the show realized they needed to draw people to the platform first to establish a user base and look more attractive & trustworthy to potential customers. Considering the generally harsh feelings artists have towards NFTs, the solution was simple: Market the app towards artists and build up an audience...while not mentioning the eventual NFT implementation. 

2. Bubblehouse was conceptualized purely as the art-centric platform it originally marketed itself as, but somebody running the show saw greater, more lucrative potential in the NFT market and decided to jump ship with the established user base already in tow. 

The second option isn't impossible, of course. There is also the possibly there's an Option 3 that I haven't considered. 

Why then do I believe Option 1 to be correct? Aside from the suspicious comments I mentioned earlier, and the fact you currently cannot delete your Bubblehouse account (at least not easily from inside the app) there is one semi-glaring more complicated reason.

Inevitably, whenever a new art-focused social platform pops up--usually marketing itself as an alternative to Instagram or DeviantArt--a specific problem other social media outlets don't really have pops up: How do you attract non-artists to the site so the artists can find an audience and the people running the website can benefit from that? 

There's a lot of logistics and inner-workings as to why that's a problem, but the gist is that "Artists supporting Artists" can only get a platform so far. 

This, and again I point you to the fact that NFTs are not terribly popular with artists at present, strike me as very good reasons why Bubblehouse would plan to become an NFT-centric platform but hide that information until they were ready for the big reveal. 

Think of it: How do you make your platform look trustworthy both to artists wishing to share their work--maybe some of them even have a passing interest in trying to make some of these NFT things they've heard so much about just out of sheer curiosity--and NFT customers that have never heard of your platform before? 

Answer: Don't tell the artists what you're planning on doing and make yourself a very attractive new place to post, so they'll come post their work and fill the platform up, bring in more users and make it look trustworthy. Surely with so many artists already posting there without NFT integration, it must be a good place to be! [Said with heavy sarcasm.]

Just as a legal disclaimer, I have no proof that's what Bubblehouse's intentions were. This is just my opinion based what information is available and the current state of the online world. 

Even so, you Sparklers can probably tell how infinitely frustrated and angry I am by this move regardless of how it came about based solely on the fact that I'm bothering to post about it at all. I'm not usually one to bother with big public displays just because some big company that doesn't care about my opinion did something I don't like, because if I were I'd have no free time for anything else.

However, I make an exception this time because it seems to me on top of everything else, Bubblehouse may have used manipulation and deception in a more direct way to accomplish its goal. 

Remember how before I said--One of the requirements for participating in the DTIYS was joining Bubblehouse. The hosting artist was specifically partnered with them, per the Instagram caption. And they weren't the only one in that situation, either. Another DTIYS where the hosting was partnered with Bubblehouse concluded just a few days ago, and while for their DTIYS, joining Bubblehouse wasn't required, it was greatly encouraged. 

I couldn't confirm if either of those two hosting artists had made it clear publicly how they felt about NFTs  beforehand, but I suspect whatever the case that Bubblehouse didn't tell the artists in question about their plans anyway, so I'm not sure it mattered. [This is also why I'm not naming these artists here--if they don't support NFTs and Bubblehouse didn't tell them what they were planning on doing, it's not their fault. And if they support NFTs anyway...well, partnering with Bubblehouse actually works out for them, I guess.]

Of course, Bubblehouse is very clearly partnering with NFT-making and -favorable artists now that those features are starting to roll out, which muddies the waters a bit, but I digress. 

The takeaway I'm getting at, based on the popularity of those DTIYS' (the one that ended most recently in particular) along with any other pre-NFT news partnerships that Bubblehouse did, in my opinion, make all the sense in the world if I'm correct about their plans to bait-and-switch the app's purpose. 

To add to my questions from before: How do you draw (no pun intended) artists to your new platform and get the word out in artistic communities to build it up?

Answer: Pick a few fairly popular artists on a competing platform (like Instagram) and offer to do a partnership with them where they encourage their followers to join the app, especially if you can work in it being a "Draw This In Your Style" event. This would mean the new app users are very likely to have at least one thing to post and create a false sense of a pre-existing community that's already thriving with widespread challenges and events. It makes the app look more trustworthy because they partnered with "your favorite Instagram artist" with seemingly no ill intentions whatsoever, just a desire to build a user base...

Of course, without the bait-and-switch context, that plan actually sounds pretty harmless on paper. Heck, if anything, it's a good idea for any new artist-based platform trying to build itself up.

The issue hinges all on that alleged NFT bait-and-switch, particularly if they didn't tell the artists they partnered with what they were planning.

But for better or worse, this is all just speculation. I have no proof Bubblehouse was planning this bait-and-switch from the beginning. Just a feeling and suspicions based on what facts are available to me.

Whatever the case, whether this was planned or not, whether Bubblehouse intentionally kept their plans a secret from the artists they partnered with beforehand or not, whether the choice to not make it very easy and very obvious how to delete your Bubblehouse account was a calculated move or not...I'm still angry and frustrated this is how it has to be. 

And to add insult to injury...As far as I can tell, hardly anyone is talking about this. It seems the majority of the artists posting on the app have no idea the NFT push is happening--And why would they? Bubblehouse appears to have made no in-app announcement (I'm sure they recognize that would've been a terrible idea), and unless you have reason to believe there's something the app isn't telling you (and you downloaded it before the App Store page was changed to mention NFTs) what reason do you have to google it and potentially be exposed to the news? 

Perhaps most frustrating of all though--Bubblehouse will get a way with it. Even if once NFTs become un-ignorable on the app, even if enough artists leave that it's no longer viable, there will be no apology issued. There will be no sympathy for the people that feel blindsided by the bait-and-switch nature of their decision. By that point, the damage will have already been done and the only thing to do will be to move on and try to forget it happened. 

I don't want to move on. I don't want to have to forget this app that had such cool posting formats went out of it's way to support something I simply can't on principle. 

But what else can I do? Is it really worth it to keep posting there just because they have a couple of unique formats, when supporting that also means indirectly supporting what seems to be their main position going forward? 

I have made a lot of exceptions and overlooked many disagreements with various companies over things like this over the years, because you can only boycott and refuse to support so many companies before you start running out of "safe" options altogether. This time, I don't think I can. Not because this the worst thing that could've possible happened, but rather because even I consider the only reasons I'd have to stick with Bubblehouse as incredibly flimsy reasoning. 

So then, consider this my open letter to other art-focused social sites to please work to implement Bubblehouse's "Before/After" and "Evolution" posting methods so I can still use those features without also having to support a NFT-focused platform. 

Aside from that, maybe obviously I also just wanted to put the word out that this was happening, even though I'm quite sure it won't change anything. And I suppose you can consider this something of a disclaimer in the event someone finds my as-of-yet-un-delete-able Bubblehouse account and assumes my presence on the app means I support NFTs 100%. I don't, in case that wasn't clear enough for you. 

Admittedly, I am considering making a series of images to post over there using their unique posting methods that say things like, "This App was a Bait-and-Switch" or "Did you know Bubblehouse wants to become an NFT focused platform?" And other such things "exposing" the app's real nature to its user base, for however little good it would do. 

I still might since I can't delete my account anyway, but I have much more important things to worry about where I'm sure my time would be better spent. If you already have a Bubblehouse account and find yourself wanting to do much of the same, I encourage you to try. It likely won't affect Bubblehouse as a company in a meaningful way, but at the very least it may enlighten some users who are anti-NFT and push them to leave/stop using the app as intended to the same effect. 

And with that, I think I've said all I can on the subject. I'm tired, dear Sparklers. Forgive the cliche, but it is just so exhausting that nearly every day the internet does something like this that reduces my faith in humanity just that bit more. 

To anyone that made it this far, thank you for listening to this overly long rant that probably isn't going to amount to much in the grand scheme of things. If nothing else, I appreciate that you took the time out of your day to do so--it's the little things that restore my faith in humanity, and that's far more valuable than whatever damage Bubblehouse has done.

Really Useless “Knowledge”: A Political Critique of Aesthetics

Tony Bennett, 1985

(that I did for art class last week)

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