Just wanted to let you know why I decided to turn comments off on my social media channels. Its not because I am being anti-social. In fact, its to avoid anti-social behaviour!
For years I have left comments open on all platforms and in all the time I could probably count the genuine, meaningful ones on one hand. Mostly there was a strange absence of any activity, whether on Instagram or YouTube. People would occasionally comment on this - why have you not got more views? I don't know, you tell me!
I got a lot of "nice" comments, usually from fellow musicians, but no real interaction with my work. The more elaborate comments were often from trolls and very often with a passive agressive tone. Congratulating me but at the same time insulting me! Ha! It's not that I can't take it, its just that it gets tiring and pointless. On Instagram I'd rarely get a comment at all but often people would DM me with weird stuff. This year, I noticed an increasing trend on YouTube of spam and bot comments, and at one point it was happening on every video I uploaded and was usually the ONLY comment I got. So I decided it wasn't worth the hassle and was easier to just switch comments off.
Of course, amongst that nonsense I have had some truly encouraging and heart-warming feedback from genuine supporters, those who listen regularly and appreciate the Music. To those people I am always grateful and that is why I continue to look for ways to remain accessible. This is probably the best place to interact with me, where we can hopefully have meaningful, genuine interactions.