Is DeviantArt making a comeback?

[ble]

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[punkarsenic]

mass exodus-es from site A to site B are understandable, but we need to realise that none of these sites' algorithms are working for us. they have overheads, they have investors, they have employees - they need to make a profit, and if that means pushing us down then so be it. thats true for dA, its true for tumblr, its true for twitter.

i havent used dA since i was 14 and dont have much interest in going back. really, i think if we want social media that works for us we need social media that belongs to us. stuff like mastodon sets an example of how this can be done, but also i dont like the culture on mastodon haha. so i dunno how to develop a social media by and for artists, but i think its the ultimate solution. all else is bandages

[joannekwan]

also i dont like the culture on mastodon

How is it over there? :0

[punkarsenic]

so its like, from what ive observed, all the people who were too woke for both tumblr and twitter. just a bit weird to me. insular.

that said, mastodom works in like... lots of different Bubbles with different rules and layouts, so perhaps cultures vary? theyre like twitter and discord had a baby. i felt the UI was crowded and overcomplicated, but it essentially works the same as twitter

ill admit, i didnt put a lot of time into figuring it out. thats the problem with mastodon, its pretty unintuitive and takes work. maybe if we made a tapas mastodon bubble we could create a comfortable space to get started? iunno

[Carossmo]

My dA was my very first platform to post art ahahhah still alive sorta :'D

Carossmo on DeviantArt

[Wumbl]

It's a good place to find freelance jobs (because of the forums) and there are some very active fan groups on there where your fanart can get plenty of clout... but for comics and things like that? DA is basically useless.

I basically only use it to post my art, follow one or two artists I really like and find work. The profile features are decent and it's a good place to host your commission sheets etc.

Actually browsing and using the site really isn't for me at all. When I was younger maybe, but nowadays my use of it is tapering off. On occasion I might visit a group for a fandom but that's rare nowadays.

[sushy00]

I am glad it is making a comeback. I never left, still active on DA!

[bakasama25]

so its like, from what ive observed, all the people who were too woke for both tumblr and twitter. just a bit weird to me. insular.

Sounds like a hugbox. I consider that one of the worst things to happen to any social media.

[punkarsenic]

oh nooooooooooo not a hugbox at ALL. like, breathe and ur cancelled kinda thing.

uberwoke teenagers will take any chance to throw eachother to the dogs. they are the dogs.

besides that its just like, a group of people who are pretty disconnected with the real world and really have their own vocab and ways of interacting that are overall really weird. basically just, tumblr in 2014 + more furries?

[inkycharland]

I have a DA site that I really don't focus on anymore, but I still post on it. I've never been good with Twitter, and Instagram's algorithm is as much of a bias mess as Facebook. Still gotta post on those. I just try to get it out there as much as possible. I guess I don't believe any single site is a magic bullet for views.

That being said, I use ArtStation and love it. I mean, I feel like the quality is better there. It's not as social, but I guess that makes it feel more professional. I don't know. I just like it.
(Here's mine: https://www.artstation.com/inkycharland.)

[Iris-Grimoire]

Artstation is good as a gallery but not as a community. Too many people's first impressions of it are that they're a 'serious' artist area and so don't ever make an account, even if it's just to like and follow their favorite artists. I still use it, god damn it's nice for inspiration.

I don't know how it is today, but back in my Spyro comic devouring days, the place felt worse than any comment section on big Webtoons. Don't update every day(not even week)? Harassment. Don't draw the fandom's decided ship? Harassment. Put OCs in your comic that don't cater to their fetish(whyyyyy)? Harassment. I actually followed some artists that made those comics to twitter and they straight up don't draw much Spyro anymore under the fear that dA users will stalk them - which has already happened when some tried to switch accounts.

One big case was an artist that was REALLY into gore. The fancomic had a ton of it but put proper warnings, they didn't hate any characters, but because the subjects were the fandom's little darlings, they were pretty much chased off the site. Another one made one of the biggest fancomics and has been trying to migrate their OCs to their own world for years, but people keep stealing their art for being "perfect" for their spyro fan characters.

[inkycharland]

Yeah. I mean, I don't mind Artstation not being as communal as other sites. I kinda like a place to find good art and post without having to worry about a ton of interaction. You're right about the inspiration. I know it's probably intimidating for some and I think that's okay. Hopefully, though they can use it as a goal to strive for.

Do you think Artstation is that bad socially or are you referring to DA? I haven't had a lot of interaction on DA or on Artstation, so I guess I don't really know. Maybe I'm not social enough in general to garner much attention. lol.

[ble]

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[Iris-Grimoire]

Artstation is good socially, it's just very little interaction("nice work" "is this from X franchise" and not much more) because of how it's built. DeviantART is the one that's bad socially and encourages harassment and art theft.

[azzy-m]

No, fuck no. I'm not touching dA again. If the ImmatheDeer situation and every single one of those "DeviantArt Cringe" channels taught me anything, it's that dA's community is toxic as hell. I want no part in it, lmao.

Besides all these changes being made feels like it's like, 6 years too late?

Also, this is something I've seen from one of the artists I follow on Twitter: "an artist only website will never give you the reach a platform like twitter or instagram can (no matter how much they suck)

I do like to occasionally check my old dA page though. It's a nice trip down memory lane.

[MK_Wizard]

I don't know...

I gave DeviantArt three strikes in the past and it was like giving a bad boyfriend chance after chance. Things got worse never better and in the end, the site was causing me stress and it left me with emotional scars that took a decade to get over. I'm better now, but DeviantArt is still something I don't trust because of what I went through. From what I here from recent members, it hasn't changed it is actually getting worse socially.

I want to trust it again because I have seen good people there, but the bad people are very loud, very relentless and get away with everything.

[inkycharland]

Ugh. Sorry. I don't think you should tear yourself down over it. You're rarely as hard on others as you can be on yourself. That being said, you have to keep your mental art space safe and on track. I wouldn't want other people's work to derail you.

But I like AS because they are so talented. It's something for me to aspire too. I think it's important to look at pros and evaluate their work. ArtStation often has some "in proceess" posts that can provide new methods, tools and things you may not know how to do. That's what I really like about it.

In the end you need to do what makes you comfortable. Just try not beat yourself up comparing yourself to others. That's a dead end road.

[inkycharland]

Oh okay. I'm tracking. It's a shame that there's that much vitriol. I don't post often enough on DA I guess. No one expects me to be regularly posting. lol

I don't blame you for not being a fan of DA if you had to tolerate all that nonsense.

[Typh]

I haven't posted anything to DA in months and possibly a year. I actually stopped uploading my art on the net overall. Maybe it'll change, but, we'll see.

[Darth_Biomech]

ArtStation looks like a portfolio of hollywood profesionals.

Well... It kinda is.