I've read stuff in other people's journals (and in the forums, continuously) about dA being a popularity contest, how unfair it is that some people are popular and other, more deserving people aren't etc. And I'd just like to say...umm, no! There is no such thing as 'deserving' or 'undeserving' when it comes to art, because art gains popularity simply from people looking at it and liking it, and there is no one type of art that 'deserves' to be liked more than any other type. Art is about the message it sends out, inspiring the viewer, getting a reaction, making people think. And it doesn't have to be some amazing complex detailed painting that took six weeks to do to have this effect on people who look at it.


I don't want to get into a whole 'what is art' thing here, cause that's not what this is about. It's about dA and the perceived popularity contest. People whine about 'unknown' artists not getting enough exposure. Again, I'd like to say...umm, no! Consider the following. There are numerous journal features by masses of people, clubs and projects, and frequent news articles spanning all genres and media focusing on 'unknown' artists. That's all pretty weighted in the favour of the 'unknown' artist, if that's something that concerns you. And before you get all "Yeah, but unknown, IGNORED, talented artists DESVERE these small opportunities and promotions!" consider this...


Being 'unknown' around here usually means two things. The first thing being that you haven't been here for very long, and the second being that you don't spend hours interacting with everyone else on the site. This is common sense! It has very little to do with being 'deserving' or talented or anything else. It's TIME and EFFORT that results in people being either popular or unknown. Obviously good art helps, but as we've all seen, it's not essential. Everyone on dA starts off the same way - with no art in their gallery, no journal entries, no comments, no favs, no features. We're ALL unknown artists at the beginning, and we all have the same opportunities to become popular or known or whatever it is that whiney people aspire to around here. So there's no unfairness really. Just impatience.*


The ONLY thing that causes problems regarding the popularity contest thing is that people think of dA that way! Regardless of whether you have 10 pageviews or 100,000, 5 watchers or 50 or 500, if you have decided that dA is all about popularity, that's ALL you'll see and you'll miss some amazing art! Yes, amazing art that actually has (gasp!) comments and favs already! Cause there is some amazing KNOWN art here too, you know. If you instantly look at the amount of comments or favs a piece has before you give it your full attention, or you look at the pageviews an artist has before deciding whether or not to comment on their work or their journal, you are missing out.


So here's an idea. Keep clicking the random deviant'link. Keep checking out the new stuff, not just the Popular section. But try NOT letting the number of comments or favs a piece has put you off commenting on it (or full-viewing it and giving it your attention). Don't assume that an artist won't be bothered to comment back, or won't reply to your comments because they have over whatever-amount of pageviews. Don't assume that your comment isn't worth something just because a particular piece of work already has 100 or 500 comments. Just IGNORE the stats and ENJOY the art! Don't think of looking at art as a means to an end if that end is only bumping up the number of comments or favs a 'deserving unknown' artist has (and/or receiving attention in return from these grateful unknowns). Think of looking at art from the point of view of your OWN pleasure and enjoyment.


Enjoy the art here. Take it in, love it hate it, critique it, praise it...just for what it IS as a piece of art, not what those little numbers on the right hand side of the description say.


_{* I'd like to state for the record, I am aware that mass-appeal subject matter DOES have an effect on the amount of attention that you or your work will get around here. Certain things - fan art and artistic nude photography spring to mind - will always have more viewers due to the nature of the subject. Please have the decency NEVER to gripe at someone "You're only popular because you take pictures of naked people/draw Naturo fanart/paint pictures of Sonic the Hedgehog". Everyone has the right to create art that they enjoy creating and they shouldn't be made to feel bad about that simply because lots of people like what they're doing.}