I only keep my dA because people still fave my old art from time to time. It happens pretty rarely, but it still happens, so I stick with it, even if I barely check or update anymore. I never had to deal with trolls, so sorry about your experience. But kudos for developing a spine because of it! I feel like if I had to deal with trolls now I would so not be prepared.

Honestly though, you might be better off on Instagram, Twitter, or heck even Tumblr, if you don't have those already? And if you don't have too adult-y content. I quit my Tumblr for that reason, but I know a lot of artists who stuck with it and seem to be doing just fine.

I would say there's not harm in branching off to different audiences on different platforms.Trolls will always be a given and is something that should be ignored (people are stupid sometimes). Sounds like you're thinking too much about it too. If it goes south then just abandon that account and continue your usual routine

No, no if you want to join again just for your comics because DA is the house of the fanart, beside the groups I don't think the site works to promote webcomics... unless your comics were about canines with mystical powers, fetish or Pokemon/FNAF/MLP FIM
just check the home page, the're the same popular artist of everyday or fanart/dogs
and about trolls, sadly they're in anywhere...

I've gotten more attention on there than Tapas for my webcomic. I have 120 watchers on there compared to only 9 on Tapas. I draw other artwork on there as well. It feels refreshing to have a better chance at getting my content noticed.

well DA has changed drastically, theres this new layout that looks like Art station. its almost just... dead.... i think thats it

I only stick to DA for it's Sta.sh private gallery and for having a fairly organized gallery system in an established art platform.

I also still have some attachment to all the roleplay groups on DA where all the good artists sometimes gather, so I visit once in a while.

Are you planning on starting a new account? Because all the new users are required to use the Eclipse version of the site, which is (a) unfinished, (b) buggy, (c) ugly, and (d) not very functional.

If you haven't been back in years, I'd suggest waiting a few more, at least until this Eclipse project is finished and everyone has a chance to see whether it's actually any good or just sad ArtStation-wannabe garbage like we all suspect.

As for the environment, I guess it's the same as always, namely because (according to the older users) the admins don't care about any of the major problems so they never go away. The atmosphere has had a bit of a pessimistic tint lately...^^;

I've got a pretty active DA account but have only been on for 4 years, so I'm sure my experience won't line up with the old timers.

I really haven't met any trolls on DA and I interact with hundreds of people per week. Spammers yes. Trolls? Maybe like three over four years?

Promoting webcomics, well I'm doing that, I can't say the audience on DA is super interested in webcomics. I'm using art as a feeder for the comic, that said, the people who are willing to give comics a chance usually give mine a chance.

Daily Deviation isn't something that brings in a lot of traffic, so though everyone really wants it, it's not as big a deal as you might think. I'll only get maybe 100 extra people coming per day if I get a dd.

Like any social site, you've got to build it. A long time ago I heard someone say that it takes an equal amount of time to go from 0 to 600 subs as it takes to go from 600 to 6000. I can confirm on both counts.

It's not got the greatest format for hosting comics, but I've made it work for me. Link navigation in the description works fine and the galleries are great for organization.

The DA site redesign Eclipse is a rolling disaster in progress which might cause you a lot of frustration in the short run because it's really unprofessional. I can't confirm whether new accounts are required to use it. If so, I'd hold off until they fix it, particularly because Eclipse makes new comics really hard to discover. I'm submitting bug reports to the staff weekly over this, and they've been relatively good about trying to go through the enormous bug list on Eclipse and address them so I have hope that someday they'll get around to making it good for comics. Everything's up in the air over this, and lack of certainty makes things difficult.

I have been on deviant art for almost a year and so far I have only gained 1 watcher. On twitter I get a bigger response. Im trying out the groups but from what I have seen you are better of drawing fan art of popular properties which I personally don't like doing. I haven't interacted much with the community as I steer as far as possible from the forums as from afar I can already see some toxic fumes. Example one of the people I watch seems to have some sort beef with a couple of user that looks pretty nasty, they just insulting them out of no where in their own comment section (yikes). I don't think new accounts do all that well there.

NO!!

If you are looking for a place to share your creative spirit, do not go to DeviantArt. The “artists” that make up this horrid place dedicate themselves to nothing else except spreading hate. They will not just hate what you create, but they will also hate who you are. They will do whatever is humanly possible to destroy your character and your life. I should know because I regrettably used to be one of their kind. When I first arrived to that place in 2006, I was immediately exposed to nothing but drama. Somebody said this, some people did this, and yadda yadda. To make a long story short, someone viciously wronged me once and I would make fake account after fake account just to get back at her. The anger and negativity of DeviantArt is so infectious that one can easily be transformed into something that they were never meant to be.

I digress, however.

There are hate stamps, hate stamps everywhere not just of what you love about others, but also about what you love about yourself. Are you overweight and satisfied? Are you of a different minority relating to skin color or sexual or gender identity, and concerned with another’s well-being? Are you a female or perhaps on the autism spectrum who feels that you are being misrepresented? If you are any or all of these, then the point will be made that you are not welcome. Your all-around existence is practically invalid because you either are annoying or you’re disturbing the peace. Don’t even think about defending yourself lest you want to be labeled “butthurt.”

If you are looking for constructive criticism, don’t even try. The people on DeviantArt are not there to help you get better, but to help you conform. They won’t say what you need to improve on, but they will tell you to give up. I have met all kinds of “unique” individuals on DeviantArt that are so extreme that I tend to wonder about their mental state. I have met people who say that they enjoy making others feel worse about themselves. I have met people who say that they enjoy pessimism and negativity so much and want to take everyone down with them. What’s worse, they have the most twisted sense of entitlement as if they are allowed to hurt others. I remember once someone calling me a bully and a hypocrite when I got angry at her for telling me that I was going to hell for being who I am. The moderators did nothing to stop it, they even enabled it by saying it’s a sincerely held belief. Well, guess what, you filthy ingrates, I don’t believe I am going to hell, so where is my goddamn care and sympathy?

I don’t know what else to recommend other than starting your own art blog, something that I have no skill in.

I still post on DA on an account which is 11 years old. If you do want to join, I will say that the site tends to have younger users (like teens and young adults). I feel like a sequential comic has no footing on the site, I think comics are best for webcomic sites. Fanart is what most people look for on the site. Which unfortunately the people who get the largest following tend to be those to dedicate all their art to a single major fandom.

Also avoid fighting with people, it's mostly pointless and you don't really get anywhere with it. I don't think you get too many trolls unless you post hyper-political things or you are going out of your way to cause drama. The forums are a blackhole, I haven't looked at them in years but I doubt they fixed the amount of garbage that flows through it. The site unfortunately still has a lot of fetish art and it is unsettling when you click on someone's profile and that's all you see.

If you want, just make an account to promote your comics on Tapas
That's what I did with my old account.

My DA account is 12 years old but I don't get in there a lot since years.
Free to you to join and taste the water but it's hard for new people to get noticed. So if you do, I'd suggest to look for groups to join and make some fanarts.
Also no, troll people are not going to jump on you and make you miserable
There's some bad people and nice people as well. I made good friends with some of them and for the toxic people, just ignore them and it's ok it's not a so big deal.
DA is mostly dead nowadays and people don't even communicate a lot now except for popular artists. Oh and I forgot... all the fetish art. Yeah they probably took all over this website, so be prepared.

Exactly, I also don't have bad feelings about DeviantArt. It was my childhood and it was an experience I love being nostalgic about. I still have an account for like 5 years now but since I don't have the time to do things there right now, it's very unpopular. But otherwise, all the people I know/knew there are very kind and sweet. There are drama queens I've met, yeah, but the ones I saw are just youngsters telling how bad their life is, nothing extremely harmful - I can just unwatch them.

There's a lot of toxicity too, of course, and especially on the forums but as @DokiDokiTsuna said, it's everywhere and nothing can be done about it. DeviantArt did a "great" job hiding the forums (and the chats), so a lot of user doesn't even know it exists.

On the other hand, I don't know what to think about Eclipse but I've also heard that if you sign up as a new user, you forced to use it and don't have the button to switch to the old style, so I'm recommending not doing it right now.

Oof, goddamn Deviantart...

People whom I see gaining lots of followers, good feedback, faves etc:

1. Those who do commissions, adopts etc

2. People who draw big impressive works of art which would also easily get likes on Artstation

3. Mainstream fanartists with art of the same great quality like the previous bunch

4. People who have previously drawn for big fandoms and their followers stuck around for whatever new stuff they make.

5. ayej (aka icpe) and Kate Fox

6. Furries.

I know a few comic artists who post on there and also have good following and get feedback, and somehow are also popular outside of DA.
But I've scrolled back in their gallery and it seems like they also drew fanart at some point in the past and probably gained follows from that. Sigh.

Just to throw my own two cents into the topic, I've been on dA for 12 years and I've never had any issues with trolls or the like. That said, most of my followers/the people I follow are my friends, and I never venture into the forums or anything, so I can't speak much to the community at large.

So basically, if you want a place to post art and keep up with friends' art, I say go for it. If you want a place to gain more followers, I'd say probably not.

I’ve always found it useful to make contacts with other creators... if you decide not to use it you may lose out on some great friendships and connections

Wow did deviant art really go so far downhill - admittedly I haven't been on it since High School - but now I have some morbid curiosity and might just check out one of my old accounts - if it's still there!

If you wanna draw fetish porn or take grainy pictures of your genitalia it's the place for you

Otherwise no point.

It's a pretty decent place for fan communities. I make lots of fanart so it's great for me. I also find almost all my clients for commissions on there (all my other clients come from either furaffinity or tumblr)

If you only make original content, it's harder to make traction there.

Maybe a simple answer could be; DeviantArt can't hurt you. I won't break your bank. It won't make you less of an artist or storyteller to post your stuff there, and there's always other sites to compare and contrast. And you can always, always opt out if you wish. You have the freedom to do so. That's the good thing about the internet, even if the perfect site to share creative works has yet to exist

To be popular on DA you have to cater to a selected group of people or category and be highly active and post every other day. If your a really good artist it would only add to what I said above.

Here's a list of popular DA things I've came up with over the years.

Top DA fandoms
Anthro
Anime
Sonic
Pony
FNAF
Undertale
Lion King
Pokemon
Nintendo
Steven Universe
Wolves
Cats
WOW - World of Warcraft

key subcultures
brony
furries
goth
vampire
emo

DA community contributor - featured collections on front page, featured artists, daily deviations, art contest, role play, community projects, active in the forums, art raffles, contest prize giver.

Active Weekly

Anti or Hate page of fandom's - trolling, drama

YouTube famous or famous on other websites

Dedicated llama trader

Being really Good + Fan art and/or anything on this list, furries goes double

Being really Good + Specializing, robots, women, muscle men, muscle women, spooky art, feral animals

Arts & crafts – knitting, stuffed animals, Paper craft

Cute art style's like anime chibi

Mature Content

Fetish

DA designer - making buttons, animated gifs, backgrounds, banners

Fanart Comics, SFW, NSFW

Hard Core Fan - with tons of fav's and MS paint artwork

You could become popular on DA by just flooding your gallery with 10 minutes colored fanart using MS paint.

Very nice list and great tips, @gurugeorge1111, the only thing I'm not sure about though is furries - I would say anthros because that's how everyone calls them who wants to separate themselves from the furry community but in reality, most feral animals are also anthropomorphic when they're having the human ability of speaking and expressing human emotions with gestures and mimicry.

Anyway, that's not important now, what matters is that I'm seeing the growing tendency of artists who are not exlusively furry artists moving their furry art out to other platforms because even though it's a popular topic it also generates a huge amount of hate from "regular" users. I've never seen it happen though, I've only read a few journals from my favorite artists doing it and telling where to find their furry stuff.

I keep forgetting that I have a deviant art account. As far as I can tell, you can't get a huge following unless you make fanart. I've heard of some people being able to flip fans of their fanart to fans of their OCs, but those people must also be bigfoot and the loch ness monster because I've never seen it happen.

Also it's insane to me that any art community wouldn't adore the furry community! I have never seen any other community pay for commissions the way the furry community does! Most people try to nickle-and-dime their artists but I have actually seen furries tell artists they aren't charging enough and leave big tips! Bless those anthropomorphic angels!

Ah, yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. Maybe the best thing to do is not being a 100% fanartists but having a nice balance between fanart and OCs and keep it up for a long while, so people can get to know your characters. The big flip from fanart to OCs and keep being popular is something I've seen happening only once (but keep hearing it too). There's this girl, SleepySundae who used to be very involved in the Miraculous Ladybug community and worked on a very popular fancomic but one day she stopped doing anything ML-related and launched a webcomic about deers. It got a positive response and she was able to keep her fans.

About the furries, yeah, it's pretty insane how much hate you can get for it at some places on the internet. And the funny thing is when they say they hate furries but they love the furry movie Zootropolis. (It didn't happen on DA, I've never had a problem with this myself there since I'm not a furry artists myself). I also had similar experience like the one you mentioned, when the commissioner (furry) said I'm not charging enough and gave me a tip. Such nice people!

Honestly, as far as I can tell it's not a place for community or building anymore. I've been on it since 2006 and I used to have a modest following of people that would engage and interact with me. That's gone now.
And the layout isn't conducive to reading comics. It's tough to navigate and discourages new interest. People likely won't bother to go back and forth through folders and galleries unless they already know and like the comic.
The best way to use it is put up standalone art, strips, and supporting material and if you manage to gather an audience then direct them to a place where they can read the comic in a more streamlined format.

This is just my thoughts. I really like Deviant Art! There are a lot of amazing artist on that platform! However It can be a real struggle to get a following using your own original characters. At least for me. I do notice I happened to get more likes on fan art instead. But hey at least that works! But it would be nice for others to appreciate us artists original work a bit more. But maybe some day!