When it comes to artistic feedback, Pollot noted that Reddit’s impulsivity can manifest in one of two ways: “Sometimes you’ll get a lot of praise. Sometimes you’ll get absolutely annihilated.” He said the site is a great place for artists to get constructive criticism, assuming they have “thick skin.”
Justin Leduc, a video artist whose
rendering of the grim reaper looming over the Golden Gate Bridge went viral in 2018, noted this as a defining feature of Reddit. “On Instagram, I would dare say 99 percent of comments are not longer than a sentence,” he said, while “on Reddit, people will give you criticism on every single aspect of your art form.”
Since he’s found more mainstream success, Leduc has swapped Reddit for Instagram, where he can connect with big-name collaborators and self-promote freely (Reddit is known for being hostile toward self-promotion). But he still returns to Reddit and said he’s drawn to its “textual aspect.”