Thank you so much for sharing your experience—I’m also an illustrator and graphic designer (and newly aspiring session singer haha) and I’ve been slow to start making regular posts on Steemit for the same reasons you were hesitant to get yourself on Steemit in the first place. I have so many unused networks/accounts where I had planned to share, or I stopped because I lost steam (no pun intended) and haven’t posted in ages.
I agree with you about YouTube’s changes—I’ve only ever posted one or two videos there, but I can’t imagine as a longtime content creator like yourself, how demoralizing it is to put in all the work and then the rules change and you have to figure something else out. To be honest that is my fear with putting more effort into connecting more and creating more content on Steem.
But seeing your experience gives me hope, and it’s also a reminder that no matter what rules change, it doesn’t change the fact that we all have something to share—and while making money off of what we create is nice, the connections made with other artists and the inspiration gained from reading and watching videos of high-vibe people (or even better, getting to meet and create something together), are priceless.
We also can have the control of our official sites too. One mistake, I don't know if I made it clear, was that as I was devoted to networks I neglected my own official website. So in all honestly mine is now a bit outdated, but I'm updated slowly and will try to make it work in synergy with steemit as soon as possible. So if I want to make an article now I have that "double motivation" that I'm doing it also for "myself". Of course I don´t to them exactly the same, and there is a lot of exclusive content here too but it motivates me. I am not complaining about the networks because as I say, their sites, their rules. They are companies, it's natural they do, but this harsh, quick way to disregard us (despite our long term commitment) was a bad move. I don't know if they will change their mind, but I think they will pay in reputation for this unfair decision. I hope they reconsider, but I will NOT consider these pages my ONLY options, they never were. I am a "creator" and I will be happy to share. So taking this as a new afresh start to a different community I had not connected with before, and encouragement also to keep on doing things :) Also I found, surprisingly that despite my initial fear, and MAYBE because everything stays in the block chain people tend to think twice what they write. And that is good. :) I will be checking later, what kind of art do you make? I do fantasy... talking about undervalued genres LOL :)
I do agree, YouTube's decision is not going to make them popular with creators...we will see what will happen! I can't really pick one thing I like to do, what I've shared mostly online are my paintings (mostly gouache animals and some food and musicians hehe, you can see them at @berrythiefstudios on Instagram), but I also cook a lot and share that, and I'm getting into music again, so...I'm just interested in creating and sharing it (even when I don't really feel like it) and seeing where it goes/takes me! I spend a lot of time planning/thinking about what would make something perfect to put online, and then nothing happens. It's just better to just create it and share it without overthinking.