For those who have many watchers, and for those who don’t have many, it is hard to know how one retains that interest as well as receive more. This article explores the basics of watchers and how we react to certain situations. Although it does not affect some deviants, and the tips are generally common sense, we hope the article is a worthwhile read and that the majority learn something from reading this.


1. When uploading deviations, do not bombard your watchers. If you upload only one or two a day, or even one or two a week, you will get more comments as well as more attention. People will have more time to comment and more time in general, whereas if you upload all in one go, they will most likely delete and just comment on a few.


2. Spend time on your artwork. Once you’ve finished a piece, it doesn’t stop there. You’ve got to consider the title, which impacts the piece significantly and the artist’s comment. Is art ever finished? Ask yourself that question and see how you can improve your piece. Likewise, having a variety of pieces keeps your watchers engaged. Don’t just stick to one genre of art, delve into other types! Even if you have watchers that watch you for that specific type, they aren’t true watchers if they don’t watch you for the other types too.


3. Going from Tip 2, the artist’s comment can convince someone to post or convince them not to. Keep it short and include relevant information. More often than not, a long artist’s comment will not be read unless you’ve got faithful watchers who have the time. Likewise, having nothing at all puts people off too. Informing people that comments are appreciated is never a bad thing, but telling people that your work sucks and that you’re going to scrap it soon is. If you don’t have faith in your art, who will?


4. Comments are never a given thing. Never take comments for granted. That said, appreciate and answer all feedback! A "Thank you" doesn’t take one minute to type and it means a lot to a person who’s spent more than a minute to comment.


5. One great way of maintaining watchers is to comment on their pieces if they’ve commented on yours. Constant support on both ends of the relationship makes the world go round, no? If you want to gain watchers, be active on deviantART! Nothing lands in your lap, you have to go and seek it yourself. One good way of gaining watchers is to comment on other people’s work, watching them, and continuing that support.


A few useful FAQs:

FAQ #18: Who selects the Daily Deviation and how is it chosen?
FAQ #56: How can I get noticed on this site?
FAQ #81: How can I make links to other deviants, deviations, or websites?
FAQ #104: What HTML formatting can we use on deviantART? And what is the format for these codes?
FAQ #511: How do I post thumbnails of my art on the Chat Network or Forums?



Nothing above is 100% certain; they're just a few things that I’ve noticed. That said, if you have any questions with anything, whether it is to do with Project Comment or deviantART in general, don’t hesitate to contact *ProjectComment or myself.


Thank you for reading.

=3wyl on behalf of *ProjectComment