_{Because we haven't had an insane amount of fractal artists submitting news articles lately...}

And I'm not talking about the mental condition (also known as the 'Extreme Laziness Syndrome' you acquire in your last year of high school.

But senior members on dA seem to be appearing in droves lately, metamorphosing from meek little users, subscribers, and beta testers. Just in the past 30 days alone, there have been an astonishing number of deviants who have climbed into the ranks of seniority. Now, some of these people truly deserve their tics, as they've tirelessly served the community in a positive manner for some time. Some have just served the community in a positive manner.

What's the difference, and why is `Nestalgica bringing this up? Why should we listen to him?

I've silently observed the manner and methods in which seniority is awarded over the past year or so, and I've seen two ways: You can step down or be removed from official staff, or you can "earn" it, and that second one's definition has varied greatly.

But what comes from senior status on dA? Nothing. No responsibilities beyond keeping yourself presented as mature. Just a little ` on the left side of your name that's supposed to signify a lasting commitment to the betterment of dA. And maybe the admiration of the non-seniors. And envy. I know I've felt that before, the envy: wish I could be a senior member, I thought. I wish I could be like them: mature, respected, admired maybe. Community involvement would be key.

I don't profess to know the inner workings of the admins' minds, or the motives behind their actions, but often I wonder just what compelled them to do that. I've never seen that artist actually do anything for the community, I would think, not anything beyond their posting of amazing art, at least Their merit for seniority was inspirational pieces, submitted over a span of years on dA, which I think is a fairly valid reason, but it's something very unjudgeable. How can one judge how much an artist inspired another?

My point is this: I don't think single instances of brilliance and community involvement, or long periods of very small, intangible contributions should constitute worthiness of seniority. I think consistently extraordinary commitment to dA as a whole, be it in a certain gallery, or in the dAmn, or in journals, comments, what have you, should set off a light in the admins' minds that "Yes, this person does deserve the tic, the respect, and the 'responsibilities' bestowed upon senior members."

I'm not trying to tell the admins how to do their jobs, and I'll keep my opinions to myself regarding the choices, but I think there needs to be more consistency in the decisions made.

In the end, I want to be looked at by the art I make and the stories I write, not by the symbol in front of my name.