Used to be that great art attracts great attention. However I see many bands who are amazing who get something like 2 plays on youtube, or their tweets sink without a trace. I wonder how many of these young kids are gonna give up their artform because of this?
I think he’s saying that you might not be able to attribute success to self promotion but you can definitely attribute failure to a lack thereof.
And in doing so, acknowledges your point about not getting big positive responses when you’re a nobody. He is saying to be proud of your work and to stand by it even if others don’t.
I think this is exactly the point he is trying to make. I made the mistake of letting the algorithm changes on Instagram be the scapegoat I used for deleting my photography-centered posts after a couple of years of constantly pushing my photography. In reality, though, it wasn’t just the algorithm that kept my photography from reaching a wider audience. Sure, I refused to start posting Reels of my photos with corny music, and hashtags became useless. Still, if I had tried harder, my photography would have kept reaching more people as I forced myself into the algorithm. At the end of the day, I was tired of seeing my likes slowly fade, and my reach stopped growing, so I gave up. That’s on me for giving up.