Seeing as I haven't posted really anything worthwhile in almost a year...or a few years depending on who you speak with...I don't expect many people to read what I am posting here, but there is no time like the present to do my part in opening a can of worms here at deviantART.

The ever popular (positively or negatively) lolly has, through the use of the journal system, start a little movement over the past weeks about grievances in relation to this website. Some of that movement has been outright shit throwing, while some of it has been through detailed discussion about the pros and cons of this website. Regardless of his delivery, I agree with much of what he is saying. deviantART is not the same site I spent most of my day on all those years ago.

From hardcore deviant to casual lurker, I have watched much of the evolution of this site over the past decade. It has grown from a fairly close knit art community to a massive corporation. In a way, I am proud of the success that the site has achieved, but for many years I have felt like the "community" aspect of the website is being left in the dust. I have no doubt that those in places of power at devHQ feel nothing but pride and commitment to what deviantART is, but the writings on the wall are beginning to make it clear that the pride lies in the size, popularity, and bankroll of this site, rather than a well functioning community and the perks that come along with it. Meaning quality critiques of work as well as countless community driven events that really did something to spark creativity.

When deviantART was much smaller, you didn't go a day without getting to see the inner working of what was going on in the community. This was long before Llamas, Points, and the things that you used them for. Heck...this was before the Print system was even a little pea in Fella's stomach. You could log on to the forums or the shoutbox and have real conversations with the people making the decisions around here. You actually felt like you were a small cog in that machine. Now, you are much more likely to get an almost robotic response from the administration or nothing at all when a topic is discussed. With that said, and what ever else flows out of my fingertips, I fully acknowledge that there are people here with funky symbols in front of their names that have done as much for the actually community of this site as anyone else. I also fully acknowledge that there are some people who are simply employees of dA who have an account as novelty. Any administrator that works for deviantART has a job that they were hired to do, and I respect everyone of you who do that. A job is a job, and working here certainly has its trials as well as its perks. But I digress.

I have never¹ faulted deviantART for trying to make money, but it seems to me (and many, many others) that those in charge of deviantART have realized that the shear size deviantART has built it self to will allow for sales to climb while the original intent for this site is largely neglected.

There are other issues that I have with this site, including heinously invasive deal that the powers that be made with Amazon.com in relation to our EXIF information, as well as the appointment of volunteers to oversee and judge art while having little to no credibility to do so (notice I didn't say talent)...but those and about 90 other things could be discussed ad nauseum. I'm just doing a small bit of venting here. I have very little interest in this site these days, as it offers me very little. The few friends that remain are essentially my only motivation to lurk.

I leave you with this. Don't make it your mission to harass the fine people that work for this website. You're not going to beat anyone into submission. Don't consider it your place to wreak havoc, as it does nothing more than break deviantART apart. Rather, take this time to voice your concerns. Act like a well trained surgeon when you discuss what is going on around here. Take it seriously if you feel serious about it. Organized chaos never changes a thing...look to Occupy Wallstreet as an example. You want people to take you seriously? Trade your sleeveless flannel shirt for a button up and comb your damn hair. The same applies here. If you want the administration of deviantART to take any of you seriously, act like you're serious. Don't just jump on a bandwagon behind lolly because he's awesome...do it because you have your own issues and convictions.

Thanks. Happy holidays. More updates in 11 1/2 months.

Note¹: Really? This site as the most talented artists in the world as members and your entire line of clothing looks like the front window of Aeropostale? Maybe if you could do without a paint splattered dA logo on every piece of clothing that comes out of this place...you could destroy sites like Threadless, Teefury, and Redbubble...and take the millions of dollars in revenue that they bring in every year. Stop shooting yourselves in the foot.