After giving some thought to this, I think that there should be a news article around to talk about ways to support the community and drop the hate and drama. I'm quite sure there is some articles of this issue out there, but I thought I'd put one up of my own, for all to see, and give you all some tips and let you know what YOU can do to help stop it.

Now I'm aware that there will always be some drama-inducing attention-whores or whoever, there isn't much we can do about that, but we can however, do what we can to help slow it down, passing the message to other deviants who agree with us.

deviantART has had its share of drama over the past 8 years that it has been running, and although it hasn't reached the point of becoming an epidemic, there is still no reason we can't rise up and defend other deviants, the admins, and ourselves.

We all have faced some kind of drama during our time here on dA, it happens to all of us. And it's the internet, so I suppose it can be expected some of the time. It's very sad, because this is an ART site, not a place to cause drama.

I'll give some examples of drama, big situations or not.

Flamers

Flamers, or better put, people who post nasty and/or insulting comments, that serve no purpose or relevance to deviations and deviants. Something like "This sucks" or something along those lines. It's very disrespectful and absolutely stupid, not to mention a waste of time. 9 times out of 10, it's usually a bunch of jealous douches who wish they could be as good as the artist, and those who just want to gage a reaction and get attention. Other times, like, say, for example, the deviation depicts dislike toward someone or something, like a character from a series, or a pairing, it's someone who is a hard-core defender and flames the artist for it. Or the other way around, the deviation is of support, and someone who is an anti will flame the artist for it.

Trust me, I know you and I all want to go and slap these people silly and flame right back at them.

However, I have some more constructive tips on what to do about that.

~Ignore the comment. A lot of the time, they just want attention, and if you or one of your friends replies to it, you're giving them what they want. So, ignore it, and/or hide it.

~If it's a good opportunity, depending on the flamer's comment, politely get back at them with logic.

~Say something nice, such as "Well I'm sorry you don't like it. I guess I can't please everyone! Have a nice day" or something. Trust me, it knocks them right off!

~Don't argue with them. Arguing over the internet is like a broken pencil; pointless.

~If the flamer continues to harass you, or one of your friends, report them. A lot of the time they may get another account so they can continue to harass you-jeez, they have a lot of time on their hands-so after that, just ignore them.

~Also, if you have a friend who's being harassed by a flamer, don't try to jump in and defend them. I understand you'd want to, any good friend would. But just stay back, ignore the person. Let your friend report them or take care of them.

~If you get very threatening comments, and I mean very, DO NOT HESITATE TO REPORT THE PERSON. It could be an internet predator.

All right okay, before it becomes a "protect yourself on the internet article" (I may write one up in the future), let's move on.


When drama causes someone to leave deviantART

Oh yes, I said it folks. The dreadful "I'M LEAVING dA" situation. No one likes to see that. It's no fun, especially when it's a friend.

Now I know that drama isn't the only reason people leave; sometimes they don't have time anymore, they lose interest, and the like. But yeah, sometimes it is drama.

Here are some examples:

~Being harassed

~Friends always fighting, and sometimes getting caught in the middle

~Being constantly flamed

~Getting into drama with a friend

It's very ugly. I really think something should be done if drama is enough to cause someone to leave dA. It's shameful, and I don't know who in the world would be so proud of such a heinous thing.

All we can really do about that, is hope that it all slows down and maybe the person will come back, even if it takes convincing from his or her friends

Anyway, moving on, I'll give you guys some tips, along with the ones stated above, on what YOU can do to help stop the drama. It's not much, but trust me, what little help we can all contribute will always be of help.

Tips on not causing drama

~Don't flame. If you ever see a deviation of a character, pairing or something you don't like, don't flame it. Just continue browsing and be on your way. Show respect, people.

~If a friend (or it can be a random deviant, although it's not very likely...) says something offensive toward you like in their journal or something, don't start sending your friends out to harass them and make a journal about what happened. Go contact them personally, through a note or on instant messaging or by phone or in person, whatever. Just don't make it public. It just causes drama, and that's not fun.

~Be respectful to other deviants, and the admins. If there's something about the site you don't like, and you have LEGITIMATE reasons to complain, then contact the admins, but BE POLITE. ALWAYS be polite, but make sure to get your point across.

~Don't constantly post journals about your personal life, this is an art site, we should post things that are dA-related or art-related. I know sometimes we all want to post a journal about our days, that's understandable, but we should keep that at a minimum, and use that kind of thing for LiveJournal, or any other site that allows you to post up blogs and stuff. I'm not always saying that it causes drama, but it's just something out of respect for ourselves and the site, since it's for art. I'll give some examples of what's okay and not okay.

I'm not at all telling you guys what to do or what to write in your journals, I'm just giving advice.

OKAY:
"I just got a job, so I won't have as much time to come on dA"
"I'm taking requests!"
"Anyone want to art trade?"
"I'm going to experiment in using oekaki"
Quizzes and tags (because they're fun XD)
"You guys should take a look at so-and-so's gallery!"
"What kind of art should I try next?"

NOT OKAY:
"I'm cutting myself and gonna commit suicide" (Come on people, no one says that in public unless they want attention, someone going through that NEVER talks about it in public)
"This person stole my/someone's art" (We're not allowed to post that information in our journals, it's a dA policy)
"I hate so-and-so, go flame them!"
"I hate all of you."
"My parents are getting a divorce"
"I won the lottery!"
"Here's my address, my phone number, and the name of my town!"
"My full name is ....."
"All my friends' names are...their addresses are...their phone numbers are..."
"I HATE THIS DA RULE SUCH-AND-SUCH!"

I think you guys get the idea. Some reasons are mostly for protection of yourselves, and your friends. Anyway, moving on:

~Don't insult an artist. That's just mean. No artist should be insulted for no good reason. If you insult them for being good at art, or bad at art, and when they clearly didn't do anything to you, you're a jerk and shouldn't be here. This is an ART SITE. Leave them ALONE.

~Don't say something insulting toward a friend or any other deviant.

~If there's someone you don't like here, ignore them. And they'll ignore you. Don't bother each other, it's not worth it.

~Don't post insulting artwork, such as racism, pornography, blood and gore, things like that.

~DO NOT STEAL ARTWORK, AND DO NOT POST ARTWORK THAT IS NOT YOUR OWN. That is probably one of the biggest drama-inducing situations. Read my other submitted article on what to do in the situation of art theft.

~Don't cause a scene, as mentioned before.

Ok, that's about it for now!

If I missed anything at all, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me in your comment. We all need some good ways to help put a stop to the drama.

Thank you very much for reading, I hope you guys learn to take this advice to heart, and support the dA community!