I've been on this site for a few years now, and as always there is an influx of new deviants during the summer when school is out. I also frequent the forums and one of the most common question by new or neglected deviants is "How do I get noticed on this site" or some variant of it.


This is actually addressed in FAQ #56: How can I get noticed on this site?


Within good old #56 is an general explanation on how you should just be active in the forums and in commenting on other people's works.



A Link to how to make good comments By `leodadominico


1.^_a The easiest and simplest method to be noticed is addressed in the faq; Comment frequently, and put effort into your comment to standout even more. Don't expect everyone to answer though, if the person is quite popular [has a ton of pageviews and watchers] then they simply don't have the time to answer all the comments they get. Although there are a few out there that go out of their way to answer all or most of the comments they get, not many do. There are also lazy people...obviously they won't comment, but that is kinda hit or miss so I wouldn't worry about the lazy deviant.

1.^_b If you're afraid to comment, don't be. DA is quite friendly, and as long as you aren't a jerk and have moderatly good english skills then you'll do fine. There are always those random angry people out there *cough* *ReallyAngry [I'm kidding he is actually a nice person and it's all just a show for laughs ]


2 Try introducing yourself to deviantART in the Welcome Forum. Although people can be a little flakey sometimes, watch/friend people only if you really want to. Don't feel like you have to becase they decided to watch/friend you. If you don't like their art or they submit too often for you, you could always just add them as a friend and watch their journal, but not their new deviations.


2.^_b I myself got caught up in "making friends" on my first account. Big mistake, I ended up with a bunch of photographers [kinda ironic now ] who submitted tons of stuff and I couldn't keep up. I ened up having to jump accounts for that, and a few personal reasons. Just be sure you actually go into your message center and comment or look at what they submit. you don't want it to get out of hand like mine does from time to time [in the thousands for "deviations" and around a hundred+ messages]


2.^_c Don't forget to take a look at the sticky in the welcome forum, it's a good place to find out where to get Help! And dAmn 1/100 times isn't where your topics go; don't make a thread in there until you know more about the site. dAmn actually means deviantART Messaging Networking most threads are locked because of it's vague description confuses people into thinking that that is the place for their post.


2.^_d Don't forget to take a look at the " The Hidden forums " these are more specific than The main forum listing


3.^_a Clubs are always a good way to help get your art "out there". There are quite a few listings out there, many of them in this FAQ FAQ #673: How can I make a club or group?
Personally I like the look of this one, [link] because it's broken up into catagories.


3.^_b Although there are a lot of clubs out there, there are also a lot of defunct ones. A good rule of thumb is if a club hasn't been active for a long time [lets say 10 weeks or so], and they haven't announced in their journal why they're gone, then it's probably a dead club.There are so many out there that it's doubtful you won't find one that suits you.


4.^_a Participating in contests will most certainly bring attention to you, even more so if you win ....they're kinda hard to find so here are two great places to check if you're looking at entering one One of the few still active contest listings or you could check the
Contest Forum


4.^_b Some people gain some attention through writing news articles [link] .
Most people either write one full of various deviations that they enjoyed, usually with some sort of theme [colors, flowers, animals, cars, etc]. [link] [link]
Others use it for posting tutorials on different subjects [link] [link]
Some advertise their contests [link]
there are quite a few reasons to write an article, just give the different sections a browse [link]


5.^_a Go into the chatrooms. A lot of people don't even know they're there. There are a ton of chatrooms [link] you can even make your own. Although, attracting people to a new chatroom is kinda difficult. There are plenty of established chatrooms and even a few sponsored by DA itself. Just look at the chat description to find one you might like, and if you use FireFox then don't forget to download The Chat Extension for FireFox


6.^_a The Deviant Thumbshare ,thumbshare is your friend, it is the only place thumbnails work. Thumbshare is the place you go if you want to show off your work, just make sure the original poster is actually looking for your type of art and/or medium. Some are kinda picky and will only want one type of whatever, but most only put a limit on how many thumbs you can post. In all actuallity you can post as many as you want in what ever thread you want, but you'll more than likely be completely ignored and treated rudely.


6.^_bThere is also a chatroom equivilant #Thumbsshare [chatroom]

well, I guess that's all I have to say....maybe a few last things. Every forum has different neuances, and they change frequently. Most people are nice, don't be afraid to talk to them a little. Be sure to read the forum description before you make a post, and you might want to lurk a little bit before you start posting your own threads...just to get a feel for them. Ummm...yeah, I'm tired so I think that's it. I'm sure I missed a lot, but that is the gist of it all


tl;dr

How to get noticed on deviantART....

be a douche in the forums like *bagshotrow
be awesome on the forums like !ShadowGamers although if you take it as far as he does sometimes you'll end up banned like he was
be drunk like =jacques-ct
be an admin like $spyed
be an awesome drunken admin like @VernonX9000
do amazing art like `Denis-Peterson
be a complete idiot [or get an ED article on you] like ~chasethehedgehog
do tons of niche art like *bleedman
be cynical like =votemark or *Eldaran [I miss her ]
confuse the hell out of people but still remain witty like *Prince-des-Sots
have a flashy avatar like
Make flashy avatars like =XgAD
be popular in the chats like `InvaderMar [ Fun4Fun chatroom ]
be hot like `FixMeKnow
....I could go on, but you get the point, read the article if you want more