HOME | DD
newklear — The Future of DeviantART?
Published: 2004-12-17 13:56:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 20167; Favourites: 138; Downloads: 12028
Redirect to original
Description
Over the course of the last 23 months as a deviant, I've seen some things that most others never get the chance to, and I've seen the highs and lows of the community. I've seen the transfer from version to version with the each new August; I've seen what it's like to be a deviant; I've seen what it's like to wear the staff hat as well; I've even seen being banned. But, I ask you this: Why am I still here? What makes me keep coming back here, and supporting this place so strongly? What it is I'm yet to find properly and define, but I know for sure, it's slowly dwindling away, fading into the distant memories of better times when deviantART was simply the best website around without the slightest shadow of a doubt. No'urdays, community seems to be taking a backseat to the corporate ventures the site seems to be undertaking at an exponentially quick rate. With every passing day, a new move towards turning dA into exactly what it is not: a corporation.When it was founded in 2000, the basis for this place was community and art; a hub for people to interact and share their ideas and works with one another, and anyone else willing to look. Now, as we near the start of 2005, things have gone somewhat sour of that ideal. Check the news page on any given day, and I'm quite sure you'll see a very limited supply of community activities, all of which seem to be getting put on the "has-been" and the "might look into later" pile, where the more "interesting" ideas seem to be populating that shelf instead. Now, I pose to you this question: At what price does all of this change come? To me, it comes at the sacrifice of not only the morality of the website in the name of money and capitalization, but also, comes with a spitefully redundancy of community ideal and freedom of interaction. You can only hit a horse with a stick so many times before it turns around and tramples you. To me, dA is that horse, and the tolerance threshold is on the verge of being breached.
It's all well and good for those of us who're lucky enough to be subscribed to tell those who're complaining about the DeviantNotice system to be quiet and quit moaning, but really, like it or not, we're all being stuck with mass-advertising in every new thing that happens. I remember a time when deviantART was a truly ad-free for those who pay, when you could open a news article in the Hot Topics without being bombarded with lines and lines of shameless, crass promotion. Now however, you're lucky to see anything recognised as being "important" to the members of the site that doesn't contain at the bare minimum one ad. So much for the features mentioned on the subscribe page, isn't it? While I realise deviantART takes monstrous amounts of money and funding to keep alive as it is a completely voluntary subscription system, we're in desperate danger of becoming an extinct breed, a dieing race at the hands of the golden dollar.
Now, if I may, I shall quote, the meaning of "community", the thing that deviantART is supposed to be, as defined by HyperDictionary. It is as follows:
\Com*mu"ni*ty\, n.; pl. {Communities}. [L. communitas:
cf. OF. communit['e]. Cf. {Commonalty}, and see {Common}.]
1. Common possession or enjoyment; participation; as, a
community of goods.
And now, the exact same source's definition of "corporation":
\Cor`po*ra"tion\ (k[^o]r`p[-o]*r[=a]"sh[u^]n), n.
[L. corporatio incarnation: cf. F. corporation corporation.]
A body politic or corporate, formed and authorized by law to
act as a single person, and endowed by law with the capacity
of succession; a society having the capacity of transacting
business as an individual.
Now, which of the aforementioned does it feel like deviantART is becoming? To me, I feel it's drawing further from the former, and lingering slowly but steadily towards the ultimate outcome of being synonymous the latter. For what? An extra few bucks in liquid funds for dA? That, by itself defeats the purpose this community was founded with. Although deviantART doesn't function as a democracy, it does allow its users a voice to speak up when needed. However, this voice, is seemingly being silenced by the powers that be in times where it is really needed. When Scott Jarkoff, and Matthew Stephens founded this place way back in the distant land of the year 2000, the word "corporation" couldn't have been more antonymous with deviantART if it tried. Now, the seemingly small time of just over 4 years later, the comparison between the two is almost sickening. It truly does make me sick to the stomach to see the rollercoaster spiral out of control, and headed towards the same miserable, hideous fate that the dinosaurs suffered. Now, while I talk of the past, present and future, they're not as seemingly clear-cut as they should be, at least not to those who're outside of the loop. So, I offer you web.archive.org/web/2000081520… this. Take a trip into the past, a time when this place was still, the place to be.
Way back in 2003, when I was just a fledgling around the site, it was hard to spot a thing I could imagine different or that could be done better. As time progressed, that list didn't do much to grow. That is, until about halfway through this year. When things started being exposed, and the true underside to the glossy veneer became more than just a little bit apparent. The truths of a lot of things I'd always wondered become clearer than ever. Unfortunately, things are still clear, and very apparent. Seeing this place dissolve into little more than just an addiction to feed the mind for a few hours isn't a good feeling. Having been on so many different tangents of it personally, it hurts even more. Ultimately, what happens cannot be changed by the miniscule deviants themselves, everything is already pre-defined. That is, unless objection is held and maintained of course.
Now, take a few minutes out of your oh-so-busy schedule to ponder over the question I'm about to ask you. I mean really think what you would do in this circumstance. What would you do, if deviantART suddenly disappeared? If deviantART became a shadow in the past, never to be seen again?. I want you to reply to this with your answer. It may be as long or short as you like, as long as you like, as long as you've really thought about it for more than just a few seconds. This will ultimately be different from not only deviant to deviant, but vary greatly depending on the amount of time the deviant has been around, the friends the deviant has made, and factors of a similar nature. The older guys would probably be quite distraught by it, and the younger, and in most cases, less experienced deviants with a little less assocciated trauma. For me, although this site doesn't hold as much to me as it once did, it would still be a massive loss. I've made many good friends through the ranks of deviantART, ranging from short-time deviants, through to admins and the longer stayers. Right now I'm trying to hold on to the shards of community still left around, and not lose the friends I've made. Now, inevitably we'll all depart this place at some point in time. Personally, I know that I'd prefer it be out of my own free will, not because of necessity calling a greater shot than my own want to remain behind. How did you arrive? Why are you here? Why do you remain behind?
As I look around the site, I see so much potential for bigger and brighter things for the future. As I look deeper, I see so much of what's occuring, and it brings me to the edge of tears. It's like watching a family member get murdered. At the end of the day, however, one needs to know when to cut their losses and move on with their back to the breeze. Do you?
Related content
Comments: 430
lol
This deserves a fav...
Couldn't agree with you more!
You & works are what keep me going as a writer.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I'll preface this by saying that I never knew dA when it was filled with Jark's yellowy goodness. I joined a mere two months before Jark was so wrongfully uprooted, but somehow didn't see what was happening. But that after doing some extensive research and reading on the subject in the past few days, I've formed a pretty damned solid opinion and I am wholly and firmly behind Jark, the community, and thusly, you, newklear, by association.
After years of blissful ignorance, I'm beginning to see that DeviantART is so much darker beneath the surface, there's so much history and tragedy and anger that's been buried away these past three years. Now that I'm beginning to see, I wonder if I should be supporting dA as much as I do. I want to support the community and the goodness that dA is meant to be, but I don't want to support Angelo and the 'corporation' and the cash-centered place that dA is turning towards. I've seen prominent members resign, quit, and take strong stands against what's happening, but I can't say that I fully understand it, simply because I can only take in so much information in such a short time.
But let me answer your questions, posed three years ago, but still applicable.
What would I do without dA? That's a good question. DeviantART is a place where I can communicate with friends, make new friends, share my artwork with others and see the amazing artwork of millions of others. It's a place where I can find people who share my interests and beliefs, where I can get criticism and tips to improve my own work. It's a place where everybody, no matter how different and diverse, can share the same common goal of art - images that are moving, beautiful, disturbing, and that make you think, feel or believe. DeviantART is not my life - I could undoubtedly live without it, but after three years of relying on dA as my family, my friends, my community, my home, losing it would be a blow to my heart more powerful than I thought possible for 'just a website'.
Just trying to imagine getting online one day and finding DeviantART gone, just gone, makes me want to throw things. It's like waking up from a dream where everything went right, and realizing in a moment that everything was still wrong. Or worse, waking up and realizing it was true, but it wasn't right, it was only wrongness behind a mask of rightness.
I think first I would be angry. I would yell and shout and stomp and throw things and tell everyone who would listen that all my art, pageviews, comments, friends, journals and progress were GONE, that it all meant nothing, that I had to find a new fucking homepage now, that I'd have to find all my online friends somehow through the massive, frightening maze of the internet.
Then I would find other people who were angry, and we'd work out a plan. Probably something that wouldn't work. Perhaps we'd try to create a new DeviantART, a place where everyone who couldn't live without dA could go, and complain, and post art for a while and then lose interest because it would be nothing like dA, never could be.
Then I would find other people online who embarked on such projects, and wholeheartedly support one or two of them, joining their mock-dAs, only to be one of the masses leaving later because, again, it wasn't the same.
Then I would cry. Undoubtedly I would cry. Because ultimately it isn't about the pageviews or where to post your art or whether or not you had all your art saved.
It's about the community, the family, the millions of -children- that dA is, children happily being led forward, wearing blinders, and wanting to be able to trust that our sheperd will lead us right. It's about the followers, it's about the leaders, it's about the plain DIVERSITY that dA represents, from amateur anime artist's to landscape photographers to poets to 3D artists to photo manipulators to even the people only here to SEE art rather than produce it. dA is about art and the artist, and money has no place in that beautiful, perfect relationship.
And even after that novel of a post, I still don't know what to do or how to feel.
I want to do something besides put a yellow stamp in my journal and link to Jark in my signature. I want to be able to say more than that I'm a newbie to the cause, but I'm willing to learn. I want to be useful and proactive, and I don't know how.
And after speculating so carefully on what life would be like without dA, I also kind of want to cry. Or hug dA, mutated and sick as it is, just for still being here, for everyone who stuck with it and knew we had to keep trying.
Damnit.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I would probably stay off of the internet more. I mean, once I've checked messages, there's not much else to do. I like looking up pics on da and seeing the different styles. It'd be a shame to lose it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
If DA dissapeared, I know I'd be upset. I mean, I've made so many good buddies whom have been good in return to me, and I wouldn't want to lose that. The friends I've made here aren't only friends, some are inspirations, some are students that learn from me, and I'm inspiring to them. If DA dissapeared tomorrow, It would be like losing my only good site I go to. because it is. DA is the only real site I'll spend time with. This site is a site for an art community, And I'd like to keep it that way.
How exactly can I help at all?
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I agree with what you're saying about the new developments being towards corporation not comunity 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
If DA vanished, I'd have WAY too much spare time and I'd go crazy. I'd also miss the nice community, or what's left of it, because people here are SO much nicer than the people on Newgrounds. The people on Newgrounds are mostly pinheads and assholes with no tolerance, 30-second attention spans, low IQs, no sense of decency towards their fellow man, and very bigoted viewpoints, whereas, the people HERE are NICE, UNDERSTANDING, DECENT(if not sometimes a bit crazy), often with COMPASSION, UNDERSTANDING, INTELLIGENCE, and, above all, the one magic word, TOLERANCE!
The point is that DA is the best community I've ever been a part of, the best WEBSITE I've ever been part of. It's just a shame that it's called DeviantART. A "friend of mine" has taken a personal vendetta against the site, all because of the name. D= Even worse, he's brainwashed a fellow Deviant(and real-life friend of mine) into thinking that DA is evil...and all just because of a name. He lacks what a true Deviant lacks: understanding and tolerance.
If the best community I had ever been in disappeared, I would sorely miss it. But my "friend" would probably jump for joy>
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
If DeviantArt disappeared... I would die. I would just fucking die. This is the best online community I've found, ever, and being the internet whore that I am that is saying a lot.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
It happened to the Old Republic in Star Wars. It's happening in our very government. It's happening on DA. What is "it?" The metamorphoses of an organization created on moral principles into a corrupt and fatally flawed system.
Now, I like capitalism, but not corruption. Corruption is what happens when an unfit leader takes control of a country. Corruption is also the passing of laws and rules to restrict our freedom. Governments lead to events. Events lead to news. News lead to tabloids. Tabloids lead to conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories lead to paranoia. Paranoia leads to government coverups. Coverups lead to exposes. Exposes lead to more restrictions. More restrictions lead to mysterious events. Mysterious events lead to information leakers. Information leakers lead to outraged masses. Outraged masses lead to more restrictions. More restrictions lead to...
Tyranny...
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
It happened to the Old Republic in Star Wars. It's happening in our very government. It's happening on DA. What is "it?" The metamorphoses of an organization created on moral principles into a corrupt and fatally flawed system.
Now, I like capitalism, but not corruption. Corruption is what happens when an unfit leader takes control of a country. Corruption is also the passing of laws and rules to restrict our freedom. Governments lead to events. Events lead to news. News lead to tabloids. Tabloids lead to conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories lead to paranoia. Paranoia leads to government coverups. Coverups lead to exposes. Exposes lead to more restrictions. More restrictions lead to mysterious events. Mysterious events lead to information leakers. Information leakers lead to outraged masses. Outraged masses lead to more restrictions. More restrictions lead to...
Tyranny...
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I haven't even been here a month. I originally found this site at the Coldplay message boards, because I had just gotten a scanner, and wanted to post a drawing of Gwyneth there. So, now I post some drawings and stuff here. And this place is cool. I may not know about the "good old days," but I do know that everything seems to look better through the distorting lens of memory. That is not to say that things don't suck, only that they dont suck as bad as they could.
If deviantART left, or broke, or something, I'd cry. WAAAAAAH! I have already made lots of friends and had cool chat sessions, and got to see LOTS of cool stuff. So, yeah, it would suck. Don't have to be an old-timer to answer that one.
But being new surely doesn't stop me from running my neck! Me 
And, more from the neck. I don't care about pageviews. I don't care if I'm never featured. Who wants to see a gallery full of Gwynnies, anyway? Mostly, I like the comments I receive, because then I have a new page to visit to check out someone else's efforts. That's the fun stuff. Seeing new things, meeting new people, getting new insight. Stupid little ads I just ignore. Actually, I'm impressed there aren't more. For now, me 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I am not an old deviant. I guess I don't really know what I'm talking about. I only found out about this Jark thing today. So bear with me, but this is how I see it:
So Jark's gone. And now everyone's talking about dA in the past tense, and saying that dA has died. Since when? I've only been here since March, but I think that dA and the community spirit is very much alive. I know a lot of people on dA- I've met a lot of people who are now my friends. Maybe dA has become commercialised. Maybe it is going through a bad patch. But the community dead? This is what I don't understand. The community is very much alive in my opinion. I wasn't there in the good ol' days when there were no adverts etc., but I think that deviantart is a very much community-minded site, though there are more ads and subscriptions. So what if people are trying to use dA to make money? Why should that matter? It's not the admins and the leaders that make deviantart what it is- it's us, the masses. If we keep the community message in our hearts and heads then there is no way that it can become a corporation.
I don't know really what I'm talking about, so if I've completely got the wrong end of the stick, please tell me. But that's how I feel.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I'm here because of friends. I don't let advertising get in my way of enjoying the site, because well, they don't stop me with an ad or a popup every time I try to visit a single image (though I fear that now I've suggested it, Angelo's Asses will be planning to put those plans into action).
I'm also here because of the fantastic quality of art, especially anime art which I try to reference every now and then, and the tutorials. It's just great.
To be honest, I don't know what's going on. I don't know why people are getting really worked up. I've seen that there are some things disgustingly wrong with the terms of agreement...something that according to my vastly stunted understanding means that someone can waltz in, pay DA Inc. and take my art without me knowing or getting paid.
I don't think I'm well informed enough to make an opinion on the matter. Either that or I'm informed enough but I don't like taking sides.
Either way I'm sticking to this place because of the friends I've made here. They're like a second family almost. Although that doesn't really make much sense, seeing as I only have like 200 page views....mind you I did move my account and didn't upload half the things from my old account...but that's a whole different story.
I guess all I can really say is nothing can really stay pure forever, it will always somehow be munched up by the corporate machine. I only trust that somehow I'm not going to be screwed over, and that the community will stay alive and well despite the over-corporatisation of the site (e.g. subscription service etc.)
Guess that's my two cents.
~Phoenix
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
well, i hope it never comes to this, but if deviantart did end, it would be like part of my life dying.
i probably would never have tried to make a career out of any type of art had it not been for this site. i thought it was incredible just how big this community was, and i loved it. but watching it over the time ive been here it has started to center around things that shouldnt mean anything, like today's favorites and pageview numbers. its almost as if deviantart has become some sort of huge competition. and you're right, a lot of the community is gone.
i dont really know as much as i would like to in this situation. i dont even know who's at fault anymore because at every turn theres a different story. but its become very obvious that something has gone wrong, we've lost one of the most important people on this site, and it all revolves around money. i guess thats where corporation comes in.
this piece certainly has inspired me to participate in `justthorne 's plan, if no less. its certainly going to be hard hiding my gallery, all the art that the community of deviantart has helped inspire me to create. but what has to be done will be done. i hope the admins see to that.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I don't know about pageviews and "today's favorites" are a good thing, they give artists like me something to strive for. A goal, if you will.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I would be REALLY angry, and very sad at the same time.
This is because DA is such a promising place!
It helps people gain more confidence, and strive [even if it's unhealthy] to improve to be a much better artist! DeviantART seeks potential, and helps shape many artists in most cases. Exposing them to new things and ideas. If not for DA, I would have never improved as an artist, and I would not have learned so much about art. Not only about improving my own art, but other people's art too, their styles, and their technique...
You really learn! And you get some really good feedback, and help with your art from others who might know more than you, or have a better eye. Or others with diffrent prefrences might give good refrences, or give a whole diffrent perspective on a certain piece.
Also, it's a wonderful exposure for social situations, sometimes people can make very good friends here! I know I have met some of the best people! And even if it sounds silly... I've met one of my most best friends here! [I like her alot better than alot of my friends in real life.] People can experience things like that online, and can more freely express themselves because sometimes it's easier to speak up online.
Over all... I can't even begin to describe how amazing DA is, and how big it is in my life...and how much of a diffrence it is for me.
Please... don't let DA be taken away from all of us. It's unjust...
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Without deviantART, I would not be an artist. Without this community, I do not think I would have developed my weird little pictures into something worthy of the name "art". On dA I have been lifted up by great art. I have learned to be an artist. I have met a number of people who mean quite a lot to me.
The loss of dA (which I realise is entirely possible) would mean two huge things to me:
1. I would lose a lot of interest in making art. It is very difficult (if not impossible) to be an artist in isolation, let alone to grow.
2. My dream of making a living from my art would be moved further from me. My planned business depends on the deviantPRINTS service.
I don't count the loss of friends, because I don't think I would lose the real friends I've made here.
Regards,
Patrick Heddles (deviant since December 30, 2003)
Incidentally, my most recent journal entry (on changes demonstrated to me by the Wayback Machine) might interest you.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Aye, it truly is. Sadly, this exact situation is what I was writing about. I wish I could've said more at the time.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I want jark and the community back, like most people, the way it should always be
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I think, first of all, I'd probably cry. dA has given me so so much. I started taking pictures when I was 12. Over the past six years I've worked my way up from a simple film point-and-shoot camera to my first SLR to a digital SLR. Why did I move up to the SLR? How did I even know what an SLR was? deviantART.
I joined in February of 2003 initially to comment on some friends' works, but then I started submitting my photos. And I realized, hey, I might be kind of good at this. So for Christmas, I got my first SLR and really began learning about photography. A year and a half later, I got a digital SLR as a graduation present, and here I am. I know more about photography then I ever have before and love it more than I eveer have before.
For a long time, I'd wished I were artistic. I can't draw. I can't paint. I can't play an instrument. But here, I discovered photography and discovered that it's something artistic that I don't totally suck at and that I love. It was wonderful finding that missing part of myself, because for so long I'd wanted a way to express myself artistically, and I found it in photography. Because of deviantART. And why did I keep going? Because of deviantART. Because I knew people would comment on my photos, and that I could learn and improve.
And for that to be gone....well... I'd still keep taking pictures. But I'd just be putting them on my website, so they wouldn't get nearly the exposure they do here. Posting them here really forces me to examine them critically. I guess I could join another art site, but I don't really know of any. So I probably wouldn't improve at the same rate, especially since I've enjoyed participating in contests here lately with the inspiration they've furnished.
In addition to getting critiques on my artwork, I'd miss seeing art by others. I've got some really great photographers on my devwatch that not a lot of people know about, like ~jshagam . I love logging in every day and being bombarded by great art. I'd miss that.
I just feel like dA's given me so much and I have not given back enough. I love this place. It created a real turning point in my life. When I was going through difficult times, the art was here. I could drown myself in the art and the community, because dA was here. And is here. And I sincerely hope it stays that way.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I have had so much fun on DA. I am still green to it in the grand scheme of things, but I have learned through community comments here on how to better my art. I have made a number of friends, and even met somebody whom I consider much more than a mere friend. If DA were to suddenly be gone, I would feel just as you put it, like I lost a family member. Community is a big part of my life, and for the most part, this one is the best I have ever known. With the loss of our dear Jark, the true depth and strength of this community has been shown. With the termination of just one person, a huge wave of upset has been created, all for one person... that is a true community. I will continue on DA, for the community, but if Jark decides to give it another go, I will leave DA to become a part of his next project... and I have a feeling that I am not alone in this feeling. LONG LIVE JARK!!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
if DA dissappeared into the either? get on with my life. It's been on hold for years!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
If deviantART dissapears, it'd be like, everyone I know just dissapeared into thin air.
Over the 3 years that I've been here, deviantART has changed my life in ways I would never imagined, from walking blindly in life to seeing a path, a clear defined path of what I wanna be and where I wanna go. I now consider it as a foundation to a bright future ahead, and if that foundation one day dissapears the future will be history before it even started.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Even if I don't really make an impact on this site, it still makes a huge impact on me. Even if I don't update much and I don't feel like I have a lot to contribute, this site has given me the chance to meet amazingly talented people. I spend hours on this site whenever I have the chance. Before this whole fiasco started, I'd probably have ended up as depressed as I was a few years ago when the roleplay community I was part of closed. Now I'd still be sad, but I think I'd almost be relieved that it ended before it got any worse.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
- I came here at the end of 7th grade (about 3 years ago). And it's been the staple of my daily internet rountines, with every other site surrounding this one....During my stay, I have infact noticed these changes. The fact that you now have to pay to get the benefits that was once free to the average member, the constant ads, the prints, etc.......It's a mixed answer I suppose. Should devART discontinue...I'd probably end up developing my personal site and going to forums more often to connect. No other online art community is as good or as distinguished as this one in my opinion. It would bug me, but stuff like that can happen and I try not to dwell too much upon that.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Seriously, I think $spyed is trying to make this into a pay-only site.
Now I feel bad about dumping in my $30 a few months ago, just to see it start running down the drain.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
If devart disappeared? I'd crawl under the covers and hide from the big bad corporate world.
DeviantArt is motivation. If I didn't have a place like dA to post my art, where people would see it and comment on it, I wouldn't have the motivation to produce art. What's the point, if you can't show it to your friends? Art is not supposed to be boxed up and shoved in a closet, it's supposed to be displayed, critiqued, and improved on. That's what dA does for me.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
A lot of comments yes, but I'm answering your question.
Had I no deviantart? I would have no inspiration for my photography. My poetry would never be read, or even written. My drawings, though few and far between, would never improve. Without dA, I would have no real means to be on my computer on a daily basis, rendering it a useless pile of junk taking up space on my desk.
dA is home. Feeling corporate for now, but who says a little temper tantrum can't fix the matters? Parents often give in soon enough, we just have to keep nagging.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
You hold a great arguement, I have made friends here and have, I feel, improved. What I don't understand is why after building such a great community they are going to destroy it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I draw because of deviantart. I'm not good enough to do it professionally--I don't even think I'd pass a college intro-to-art course. But here on deviantart, I can share my doodles with my friends and make new friends, and generally laugh it up and have a ball. Deviantart is my reason for doodling.
Tegu
(I Am Never Broken)
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
What would you do, if deviantART suddenly disappeared? If deviantART became a shadow in the past, never to be seen again?
Well. It needs be said I've only been a devient for maybe a year. But honestly... I would just move on. I've been in Jarks position before in one of my Roll Playing Comunaties. It sucks, and I'm stil bitter at the people who not only denighed me a position but banned me from a place I helped establish. But dwelling on things when there gone doesnt do anygood... so I would just... move on.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I've probably spend quite a bit of time fuming..ranting..raving..
I'd likely try making my own website to move all my art onto, since Elfwood is so slow these days. But it wouldn't be the same.. There wouldn't be much traffic for such a site--I wouldn't improve nearly as much. Of course, in the end, I'm just a minor.. There's not much I can do.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You wont always be a minor. Read all of this and remember it....
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
deviantart has been the outlet for me artistically for the last several years, it has guided my development. i'm now a much better artist than when i joined, and i've found so much wonderful art and so many wonderful artists, it inspires me every day. If it went away, it would cost my artistic side greatly. I would lose the ability to share my art with the world. i would lose the feedback that is so valuable.
If deviantart disappeared, never to return, i would lose something that i've grown around, it would undermine my personality. It wouldnt end my artistic career, i'd try to find another artist community. (there are others) but none of them have the opportunities or the features, or most importantly, the people i've met here.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I joined here looking for a place to make some friends and share my art--including my stories, which mean the world to me. In my time here, because of the drive to post one of my drawings ([link] ), I got a comment on him suggesting I had a "believable", viable backstory for him. That spawned a full-length novel I'm in the process writing, called The Way of the Shadow Blade ([link] ). The writing of this, and the friends I've run into along the way, have been tremendous for me.
I also admin a club, which you can see in my sig, for Ayreon. I've enjoyed the club system, letting me see fanarts to bands I love, and other themed arts. These mini-communities have been the greatest source of joy on DA, and even if I leave with my main account, I may well keep ~Minstrel-Ayreon going for the benefit of my fellow Ayreon fans who may or may not agree with the possibility of leaving.
For now I stay because of friends, whom I truly enjoy, and because I have yet to find an alternative with the same scope and functionality of DA (though I am looking). I am also waiting to see if the situation will resolve--if Jark can get his site back. If a good alternative comes up, I may use it. If not...we'll see.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
You know, I'm really awesomely, fantastically proud to be a part of the community which DA has become to me this thing while tragic and unjust has really pulled the community together and I think if the corporate DA wants to do these things they will be making a mistake and have pretty much stained the name of Deviant art.
to answer the questions if DA was to disappear tomorrow I don't feel that I'd be lost and have nowhere to go not right now, if DA was the same as it was a year ago I would be crushed and probably have stopped my art. but the way it is now all the deception all the corporate dealings I'd rather leave it and start fresh and perhaps make it better DA has made me love my art, creating it and looking at it if DA was to leave I would never stop my art DA has made me what I am today an Aspiring Artist and now "the corporation" wants to take it all away.
I was introduced by a mate of mine he only mentioned it in passing so I checked it out and loved the place, I've been hanging round for a few years now under a few various names which I forgot. and now my art is just getting some recognition and this happens it makes me sick...
WE CAN REBUILD IT WE CAN MAKE IT STRONGER
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
i joined DA at the extream encouragement of a friend of mine at the end of 2003. DA had just celebrated its 3rd Birthday 2 months prior and there was still a sort of 'comming off of the high' feeling about it. i felt shy and unsure of myself when i first logged on. lets face it, i was just another guy...(not like thats changed too much...). now, i must say that after almsot 2 years here (one of them being spent in Iraq), my artwork has improved a degree or two. ive tried new things ive met people (not RL unfortunatly) and had some good friends. many of these friends are still around.
im not so active on DA anymore due to a varity of reasons. some of which i guess could stem from the fact that...well....it just doesnt seem the same. sure, the nice, neat shiney addons and other coolness that has been added over time is astoundingly great...but it just somehow seems hollow. its almost as if the other members of the community arent community members any longer...but rather cogs in a great corporate machine...
..i understand the desire to make money. i understand the costs involved in something like this, and i would be a fool to think that anyone hired to work for DA is not making money. but there is a point when the lust for making money destroys the community that established it in the first place. i think that this has been coming for a long time now that i recall. with the firing of Jark and others as well as Matteos resignation and the resignation of others, such things will only get worse. not better.
will DA go away because of this? no, i dont think so. what i DO think will happen is that it will NOT be the same community and group that it is, but rather the same thing as Elfwood or some of these other places that allow the posting of work for free on the Internet. it should be noted that these places are, buy no means anywhere NEAR as popular as DA. DAs popularity and memberships will dwindle and fade. the artists that posted here will no longer do so as they will inevitably seek out other places, perhaps even create their own communites themselves. either way, DA will NOT be the same place it is today, much less what it was a year ago.
you asked what i would do if DA just suddenly popped smoke....well, i would be more than a little upset and hurt. i dont know what i would do with myself really. i wouldnt have any other place id be willing to post my works and thoughts. id prolly just hole myself up again and prolly stagnate all over again or something...
but as the way things are going, this process may already be in the works. it would seem that the Community is leaving and making room for the corporation. i didnt join a Corporation...if i did, i havnt gotten paid for it...and i demand payment. i joined a community so, i ask for nothing and demand less. if, after all of this settles and my fears are realized, DA may go on...but it will go on without AnimeFreak40K. its that simple
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I am actually "Leaving" deviantart until something is done, because I CAN NOT showcase my art in a place that doesn't have respect. In "leaving" I've taken down all of my deviation except two. This is was an extremely emotional process, as (possiably temporarily) taking down my artwork is like ripping a peice of my heart out and putting it on hold. I feel extremely empty with an bare page...
But back to the question at hand;
If deviantART just suddenly left...
I have no idea how I'd go about every day life. This community is such a big part of me, there isn't a day that does by where I don't think about one of the members of deviantart and how they're doing.
The loss of such an influencial group of people in my life would be devastating.
I'd probably sign up for counceling.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
What would I do, and how would it affect me? Honestly, that question has a many layered answer.
My art, in and of itself, would not be affected that much. I'd go on producing, creating, and perhaps I'd find somewhere else to share it. For me, deviantart needs art, not the other way around.
But I have met people on here who have touched my life in countless ways, true friends that I would be devastated never to speak with again. And, since you have posed this question, this aspect of my 'deviantlife' seems to deserve the most consideration. Now that I think about it, I don't have contact information for many of these people outside of deviantart. I'll be sure to remedy that.
One part of this editorial that seemed to jump out at me was, "Right now I'm trying to hold on to the shards of community still left around, and not lose the friends I've made." I personally am glad that I have finally found a shard of that community. It is inevitable in a site this large that unity is lost. In my first nine months to a year here, I felt like one drop of water in a very, very large sea. Then I discovered the fractal community. Yes, community.
I browse the new deviations is the fractal gallery, see a piece I've never seen before, and say, "Wow, that looks like it was made by such-and-such. Oh yes, it was! Wow, this is definitely some of his best work so far." In the fractal gallery, you can stand out from the crowd, not be buried in it. You can still be discovered. You don't have to be popular, or even very known, to get your art on the DTFs. (the fractal specific ones) I have randomly commented on fractalists, to find out that the artist has heard of me before; others have done the same to me. Fractalists know eachother, help eachother, teach eachother... there is not as much anonymity.
And ever since I discovered this, I have almost ignored many other parts of deviantart. Corny as it sounds, the fractal community is my home, and the people in it, my comrades.
And the thing is, there are probably many, many other galleries and groups like this; I am just more familiar with the fractal community. So when one looks at the gigantic mass of deviantart as a whole... the community aspect seems to be in trouble indeed. But when regarded as not one community, but a group of them... there is some hope.
So no matter how corporate, how greedy, how machine-like deviantART in general becomes... so long as the fractal community persists, I will too.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I'd lose a sense of being part of a community that has become a huge part of my life. I've made a large circle of friends, friends that are harder to find in the 'real world', who share my interest in art, writing, creativity, even ideology. I've partaken of the lives of so many new people and that has been the most rewarding aspect of DA to me.
I suppose this is the way many hugely popular communities go - once they expand to a certain point, corporate interests do tend to become more important, if not take over. It's a sad fact of life. For me, the DA died a little death when I was recently disrespected by a member of staff on one of the politics forums. My sense of DA community was shaken, but it has been getting better - and now the recent events happen. I wouldn't call myself a deeply devoted DA member, I've only been around since the tail-end of 2003 - nevertheless I will say that recent happenings have troubled me.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
My reply: -
In all honesty, my self esteem and confidence would fall back into the depths of non existence where they had once started before I had heard of this community. Interacting with people and socialising is very difficult for me outside of the internet and within this community I have been able to slowly gain some confidence by learning to communicate with others - meet new friends locally and abroad, learn from others through their work, opinions and critiques. In the end I'm sure if I had not been able to find such a site with a community such as this, my life would cease to exist.
It's long and may seem confusing in parts but damn it I need to babble. And something like this has brought out the best in me.
Here's to the community of DA
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
As I look deeper, I see so much of what's occuring, and it brings me to the edge of tears.
Just as I was getting to that I started crying. D: If I had never joined, I would have never met atleast half of the people I know right now. Hell I even met my boyfriend here. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I came here because of Jark and what his vision was. I've been visiting this place since day one, even if I didn't become a member until later.
HIS and Matteo's vision is the sole reason for the way this place has blossomed.
Your question can be thought provoking but my answer is fairly simple even though I've been here for years.
If they can get rid of the pillar of this community without so much as a second thought or even a public explaination as to why, then what the hell will they do to me? Little ole me who just participates in the community a little bit. I didn't create this place. I didn't have this idea. I didn't turn this little idea into the biggest art website on the internet.
If they can dump Jark what will they do with me in the long run?
And more importantly, after they dump Jark, why do I care about what this place has become? Them getting rid of a beloved community member like him should tell EVERYONE just how unimportant they really are in their grand scheme. I for one will NOT be a cog in their damn machine.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I came here because of Jark and what his vision was. I've been visiting this place since day one, even if I didn't become a member until later.
HIS and Matteo's vision is the sole reason for the way this place has blossomed.
Your question can be thought provoking but my answer is fairly simple even though I've been here for years.
If they can get rid of the pillar of this community without so much as a second thought or even a public explaination as to why, then what the hell will they do to me? Little ole me who just participates in the community a little bit. I didn't create this place. I didn't have this idea. I didn't turn this little idea into the biggest art website on the internet.
If they can dump Jark what will they do with me in the long run?
And more importantly, after they dump Jark, why do I care about what this place has become? Them getting rid of a beloved community member like him should tell EVERYONE just how unimportant they really are in their grand scheme. I for one will NOT be a cog in their damn machine.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Very nicely written. It certainly seems to have a new validity now in light of recent events on DA doesn't it? I believe my answer to your question was already posted some time ago, so I won't write it out again. ^^
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Nice form in this essay, good job, since you've pursueded me to hate the corporate side of this comunity.
As for your answer, well, i'd take my memories and experiences, bottle em up in my mind.
Reflect on this loss and look for another way to learn how to write stories.
As for my finding this place, my brother ~dregolan showed me it, and from there most of my events and experiences led me to where i am now.
Although if this site does just vanish, everyone who was here should take the memories and skills they've learned and show the world, not just the person on the other end of the wire. Make themselves heard and start up an art community of their own, to replace the one lost, seek out a new way to show off your work.
Well then again, they can just forget all about it and pursue a less artistic life, like work for a corporation......
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I've been here much longer than this username lends to me. More than anything, DeviantArt has been an outlet of emotions. It is a way for me to show the world what I am like without showing the world my face. I know that each time I log on to DA, I'll have something new to excite me.
If DA would cease to exist, I would not push myself to be a better person. I would be caught in mediocrity. DA gives me a reason to push for exellence from myself. Each time I draw or write, I use critiques from other artists and writers that I would not be able to use if I was not connected through DeviantArt.
However, over the time I've been here, it seems that this place may be running for a few of the wrong reasons.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hrm... In order to properly answer the question 'What if dA were to disappear?'; I would have to think about every moment of my Internet-enabled life... Done.
Basically, what I would do is clone dA. I woud make a system simiar to dA; except for some crucial modifications:
1. Open Source Code; the code for the site would be released under the GPL.
2. No Fanart; everything has to be 100% cleared in respect with copyright. YES fanart is a copyright violation. This would keep the n00bs out.
I would basically restart it, but with new people, and knowledge of the predecessor's pitfalls.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I've been here since '02 myself and I've seena lot of great things dissapear from this site. i've also made a lot of great friends and seen some interesting things done here too.
But if dA dissapeared, I don't knwo what i'd do. I'd like to think I'd start up a personal website where I could put my art but I don't think I would. I just don't have the time to do omethnig like that.
Also i think I'd slow down and maybe even stop doing art altogether, even thoug hI love doing art, without a community to appreciate it, critique it and genrealy to caht art stuff with I think I'd still loose interest.
the °jark is gone, long live the °jark
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
| Next =>