How do you know that you have improved?

I bought a dslr almost a year back, and have only starting to go out to take photo and learn lightroom 2-3 months ago. I posted some of my photo on social media (facebook, instagram) and my friends/families told me they like those photo and that I have improved a lot since beginning but there's a very high possibility that they just said so to make me feel good.Which is why I start joining some photography facebook groups and asking for critique. But what frustrates me is that nobody really say anything meaningful to me besides the occasional 5-10 likes I got while other members that posted photos of their pets get hundreds or thousands like and so many comments complementing their pets.To be honest, I don't really care about the facebook Likes. All I want to know is how to get people to look at my photo and give me a constructive critique or feedback, so I can have an idea how good or bad my photos are and how to improve further.What about you guys? When you started to learn photography, how do you know if you are on the right direction and that you have actually improved?Thanks. If this post doesn't belongs here, kindly let me know where should I post this. And sorry for any mistake as english is my third language. via /r/photography https://ift.tt/2lFVSKE