'Popularity' on deviantART

Popularity. It's something most people who don't have it crave, and who have experienced it hate. On dA, it can be seen as very good or bad, depending on who you are talking to. Some people think all of these popular artists are snobs, while some of them might be tolerable, and some you flat out love. But what is this "popularity"?

This has kind of been a topic I've been thinking about for awhile. I've been browsing more on the deviantART community, and seeing other people's opinions about various subjects. Especially with the recent hacking of accounts, some of dA's staff and members true colors have been shown. Some popular artists have been getting a ~special~ treatment by the dA admins, only people they are popular. (Aka, their accounts have been reactivated when everyone else was denied help) I've seen some people rage about popular artists to the point when someone rips off a popular artists character, I've gotten replies like "they're too caught up in popularity to even care". Seriously? Is this the stereotype we have on deviantART? So what is exactly a popular artist?

In a common idea of this "popular" artist is defined as someone who has tons of pageviews, get tons of comments and favs and is just overall... popular. They get a lot of attention, and give a varied response back to their watchers and people who give them feedpaint.

But what makes these people popular? Is it their art quality? Is it the type of art they draw? Is it the type of people they are? Is it because they create drama? Well I would say all of the above.

Let's face it, we're deviantART.We have our crazy fans. For instance,  fanart. Fanart is a big part of what makes up dA, and if you draw fanart, usually you'll get more watchers/comments/favs. I can say for certain this is the case because as an artist myself, the moment I draw fanart for something, the more views I get. Hey, we all love looking at art and literature and other types of media for our fandoms, it's natural. So let's say this "popular" artist draws fanart. Most of the time, the more popular artists may be on the professional level and be able to draw quality stuff. Sometimes, they can be popular and not draw quality stuff. So is the type of art you draw the only thing that makes you popular?

Well let's see, think about it this way, the more drama you cause here, the more people be interested and look at your page. Because guys, let's be honest, we're all curious in drama and stuff that are happening around us. So is it the "bad" artists who have tons of art thefts and trolls and stuff that are popular? Then there are some artists who are amazing and produce extremely good art, but are quiet, shy, and just don't want to make a big deal of their stuff. Why on dA do we overlook these artists? There are groups and stuff to help get people known, but half the time, it doesn't work. Does this really go back to the fact that you need to speak up just to get your voice heard? Does this mean the people who draw crappy art and create drama on dA are popular?

And leading into this, there's also the taboo of popularity.

Ah yes, popularity. The things the unknown artists secretly want and the popular artists hate. This big taboo no one wants to talk about.

Typically when you're a more popular artist, you may get some art teft cases, you get tons of fanart, a messy and constantly moving message center, tons up suckups, tons of trolls and just stupid people harassing you, and on top of it all you're usually trying to do art. Sounds fun, right? I could name a bunch of "popular" artists who feel this way, and hate it because they can't freely express themselves.

So how come there are the artists who have this "popularity", and don't get nearly enough harassment as others? How come some people are troll magnets while others have some, but seem to handle the stress on being dA better. Why do you think that's the case? Does this all lead back to the creating drama aspect? In my opinion, it's all about the person. If the person is nice, respectful, and has the place to ignore all the drama, then the trolls will go away. "Stop feeding the trolls" in this case. Some people do get a little immature and throw their watchers around, and it becomes one huge fest of butthurt people. These artists have described it as being "chained" or not being able to freely express themselves the way they want to. So does that make them evil? Does that make their watchers all rabid fans and suckups?

Some popular artists, I have to agree, can be a bit "in your face" and snobbish. Not ALL of them, but it can be annoying. One of my biggest peeves if you're trying to ask someone something and then ignore you. Yes, I do know you have a messy inbox and it's hard to reply to everything, but can you give a reply to a question who needs it? Also, another peeve of mine is when the artist only talks to their friends... other popular artists. It almost feels like they CAN'T talk to anyone lower than them. I know, I know it's not the truth all the time, but it has happened, and I have seen it happen.

Though some people do dehumanize the popular artists though as some sort of god, I know. I'm sure it becomes kind of creepy on their part, and very frustrating. When a watchers constantly makes you fanart, comments and favs all your stuff, and tries to suck up to you for your attention, chances are you'd be flattered but disgusted at the same time. We're all human, we're all equal.

Leading into these "fans" and followers, typically they're the "unpopular" artists, and the people who look up to or like the art of the "popular" artist.

Some of these people are almost BITTER over not being popular, or that they think this artist is some robot who doesn't have feelings and demand things of them, and expect them to do what they want. As I said with a quote above, do people REALLY think popular artists are too caught up in popularity to care about anyone else? Is this popularity some sin?

But then there's the opposite side to popularity, which I don't think I've ever seen any "popular" people ever mention. Why does popularity have this huge taboo? When you're popular, you get tons of feedback with your art and whatever else you decide to put on dA. You never have anybody to ignore you, you're always able to get critiques, and usually end up being able to get commissions from your watchers. Wouldn't it feel good to be a role model to someone whether it be as a person or for their art? Shouldn't you be thankful for the attention someone who just joined dA and looking to use it for it's intended purpose would never get? Would you rather get 100 pieces of feedback than nothing at all?

This is my personal opinion here. Commissions is a huge thing for me, because that's been one of my goals right along. I am in no way a "popular" artist, but I'm lucky I have a few watchers and good friends to help me out with some feedback with I need it. Thing is, most of these watchers cannot commission me, and I don't have that much attention coming to me. That would make selling my art hard, no? he "popular" artists usually get the commissions, and therefore the money. Shouldn't they be thankful for that? I'd probably never admit it a little while ago, but I do wish for some popularity. Not to be snobby like "haha I'm better than you" but almost to ENJOY dA more. More feedback, more friends and a bunch of crap I'd never normally get. Does that make me a bad person now? To want to earn a little extra money as a personal goal and get more feedback?

Another thing. Recently, the two deviants MasterMindMan and Kikariz met on deviantART and started dating. I am a watcher of both these people, and I thought it was very nice. I do support both of them, and wish both of them the best of luck. They wanted to meet, and they set up a donation box to see if anyone would ever get some people helping them raise money for plane tickets to see each other for Christmas. See, they are both very popular deviants, and people donated a little bit. I do not know the exact amount they had at this time, but closer to Christmas Kikariz posted a journal about how badly he thought he needed to see Zak and asking people to donate. See, I'd love to give them money if I could, it would be a great cause. But this desperate plea made more people donate, and then a few days later they had enough. I believe the grand total was around 2500 dollars just from people randomly donating.

Please don't get me wrong on this, I think it's wonderful they ended up meeting. But you know, they're not the only ones in need of money. There are tons of deviants in need of money, and they're not getting half as much attention as they need. I have met wonderful people online, and they're all my best friends. They mean so much to me, and I'd give anything to meet them. Hell, I'm in an LDR like Zak and Kikariz. I'm not begging for money. It just... doesn't work that way. I don't have the attention nor really the nerve to go randomly asking people for money. Because Zak and Kikariz were that popular, they got away with it. Where's the downside to the popularity now?

Overall with this article I'm trying to say... dA is a very interesting place. We have a community that is complex and just what is popularity? Why is it perceived the way it is? I'm trying to raise awareness of different ideas more than anything.


<sub>note: this is my first news article lolol. I apologize if it sucks, is boring, or whatever, but I hope someone enjoys this and it brings some light to different views. This is my opinion, and if you disagree, I do not mind. In fact, if you disagree, I'd love to hear what you think. Also, give me some feedback on my news article...ing.

PINE GTFO OFF THE INTERNETS</sub>