DeviantART is a community of artists; as such, it offers not only the opportunity to showcase artwork but to interact with other artists, receive feedback, offer advice, find friendship and even get a job! If art is the heart of this site, the interaction of their members are the veins that make the whole thing function, without interaction there wouldn't be a community.

And just as blood flows through veins in a smooth way in order to keep everything clean and in order, the interaction within the community should flow the same way, in an atmosphere of tolerance and respect. Unfortunately, we all know that that's not always the case, and just like clots causes problems and interrupt the correct blood flow, harsh and disrespectful comments serve no good.

This article will present what is considered unacceptable commentary, the difference between insults and critiques, and how to respond to them.

What does deviantART consider inappropriate comments?

Prohibited Commentary
Prohibited commentary is typically considered to be inherently disrespectful, aggressive, or otherwise abusive.

We must insist that you refrain from comments which are racist, bigoted, or which otherwise offensively target a philosophy or religion. In addition we ask that our members avoid making offensive remarks based on gender or sexual preference and that you do not make any remark, comment or critique which is intended to be a direct insult to an individual, group, or genre of artwork. Hate propaganda is met with zero tolerance. Comments which are overly aggressive, personally insulting or needlessly abusive are also prohibited.

If you feel that you have been the target of harassment, personal insults or other severe behavior please notify the staff by using the official deviantART helpdesk. Please be aware that the staff will only directly intervene in cases which are considered severe; minor situations may be dealt with using tools made available to all registered members.

Discouraged Commentary
Discouraged commentary is typically considered to have the potential to escalate into an aggressive or abusive situation.

While not strictly prohibited we must insist that all personal arguments, disagreements, and other volatile “personal” issues within be confined to private communications such as Notes, emails, or Instant Messaging programs. Likewise we discourage public accusations and other similar situations; please bring all issues of this nature to the attention of the staff by notifying the official deviantART helpdesk.

Exploitive Commentary
Exploitive commentary is typically considered to be disruptive due to unusual or unique factors.

Do not ‘spam’ (send large numbers of identical notes or comments). Spamming is obnoxious and is typically used for self-promotion, or other unwanted advertising.

Do not ‘flood’ (place large numbers of comments rapidly on a single page or craft a single comment which consumes a large amount of page space) the forums, notes system, userpages or other areas of the site. Flooding usually disrupts page loading times and serves no useful purpose.

_{Taken from The Etiquete Policy (which, by the way, you can find at the bottom part of every page within deviantART.)}

For the tl;dr crowd:
Basically, all this means that:

1. You cannot be disrespectful to another deviant. This is strictly prohibited. Directly attacking another deviant will eventually get you banned.

2. Discussions with another deviant would be better done in private (via notes, for example). It's not strictly prohibited to do it in public, but doing so may still end in corrective action from the administration.

3. Spam is prohibited. I'm pretty sure you already knew that.

That's it! Those are the type of comments you shouldn't leave. It's as simple as that: behave, play nice, and we’ll all be good. Be bad and you'll simply suffer the consequences. Period. It's for your own good, as well as the community's.

Now please notice that I'm not the one saying this, it’s stated in the official Etiquete Policy of deviantART. Those are not my rules, those are the rules of the site. Whether you like them or not doesn't matter, you have to abide them. After all, [you may not remember, but] you signed you agreed to them when you joined the site.

The "you're trying to deny me my rights" issue

"What about my freedom of expression? How dare you try to silence me! D:"

It's not that they're trying to deny you your rights, but who told you that you have limitless freedom? You don't. You certainly can't do exactly as you want anytime, anyplace. Every right you have has a limit, and those limits are set by little things called rules, laws, norms and terms. They follow you wherever you go and may change with time and place. You have to be aware of them because ignorance won't save you from the consequences of not abiding them.

For instance, you have the right to drive a car. If you’re old enough, have enough money and enough knowledge, you can drive a car. But you can't park wherever you want. If you park in a forbidden spot, you'll receive a ticket.

You have your right to smoke, but if you enter a restaurant and see a No Smoking sign, you have to abstain from smoking, otherwise you'll be asked to quit and even asked to leave.

Those are limits you accept. Why, then, is it so difficult to understand that there are comments you can't make on this site? There are sites that have no regulation of language, in some of then you can even post art that isn't yours, or show pornography, etc. But not deviantART.

You already said you agreed with the policy, now it's your responsibility to abide by it.

Now, to make it clear, we are talking about harassment, direct attacks against a person, and constant insults. We are not talking about expressing your disapproval on some matter, we are not saying that you should agree with everything and always be happy. Yes, you can make negative comments, you can disagree and show your arguments, but once again, there are limits, and there are ways, times and places to make them. By reading the complete Etiquete Policy and the FAQ you'll be aware of what you can and cannot do and how, when, and where to do it.

The case of Daily Deviations
Daily Deviations are special cases. Remember that any issue you may have with a DD shouldn't be discussed on the piece
To know what to do in this case check: FAQ #873: What do I do when I disapprove of a Daily Deviation feature?

And also, some reasons to think about before complaining on a DD: I don't like this DD... what to do? by =Thiefoworld

Critiques and Insults: the difference between them

Now some people like to excuse themselves pretending they are making advanced critiques when making harsh comments. The truth is there is a huge difference between them! First of all;


What is a critique?
A critique explores the [in this case] given deviation and offers a description of what is good and/or right in the eyes of the critic. The person doing the critique expresses their opinion and also often offers a piece of advice on how to improve.

That's a complete critique, some critiques may not contain all these elements but we'll go back to this further on.

For a more complete description of what a critique is, please check this Guide to Advanced Critiques by `cypher-neo.

Critiques VS Insults

A critique is encouraging, an insult denigrates
A critique is intended to help the deviant grow. This doesn't mean that you should only say good things about the piece. Correcting errors is also necessary; it's actually what I consider the most important element of a critique. Even if your comment only contains negative aspects about the piece, but it's done properly you'll help the deviant to correct those aspects. Now, saying only what's wrong may be useful to some degree, but balancing it with positive feedback encourages the deviant even more, and remember, saying only what's wrong won't help much, giving advice on how to improve will, after all, if you say that something is wrong is because you know how it should be, why not help your fellow deviant to correct it?

An insult, on the other hand, concentrates only on negative aspects without the slightest intention of helping the artist improve. It's only to express your disapproval and show how wrong the artist is. Remember! Attacking a deviant or the art they do is prohibited and sooner or later you'll receive corrective action if you do so.


A critique requires time, an insult is impulsive
As said, a critique examines the piece in order to offer feedback. This means that you have to invest time to see it and to think of what you are going to say. You have to think on your writing, making sure that it will be beneficial, clear, correct, and even make sense! Typos are the result of writing in a rush or in a distracting way you know?
Insults are often said impulsively, therefore they are more likely to lack fundaments, therefore they lack validity.


A critique says: wrong, an insult says: crap
The use of proper language and terms makes a huge difference on the reaction a comment will receive.
A critique should be made using correct language. l33t speak and expressions like LOL and FTW won't help much (some won't even understand you!) This doesn't mean that you absolutely cannot say something like LMAO on a critique, [especially if the person you're making a critique to is a friend] but remember that by doing so you may be losing a little of your credibility.

An insult often uses expressions like "this is crap!", "what is this shit?" and "what the fuck? Even my grandma could do something better… and she's dead!"
As said before, an insult denigrates, and certainly, these kinds of expressions don't help anyone.
But wait! The fact that an insult doesn't contain bad words doesn't mean it's not an insult. You can be harsh using nice words; "Well, well, well, look at this so called piece of art! I think I've seen better things to look at in my garbage can."


A critique is centered on the piece, an insult aims for the person
When doing a critique you focus on the given deviation, not on the kind of art, style, or on the person that submitted it. You say "This drawing is good, I don’t think this is done right, you could do this and this to correct that", you don't say, "I don't think Anime is art", "I don't see why emoticons receive daily deviations", or "What were you thinking when submitted this? It's crap."
Also, notice that discussions with trolls always end in attacks to each other's mothers.

Some tips about critiques

If you don't know what you're talking about, better not say anything
You have to have at least some knowledge about the subject you're talking about. If you don't know much about photography, for example, you may end up giving incorrect advice and trust me, your fellow photographer will know.
Now, I'm not saying that you have to be a scholar in the given discipline or that you have to 'be exceptionally good' at it to offer a critique. Everybody's opinion is valid. Just be sure that you have valid fundamentals to say what you're saying when giving advice


Give it only if desired
Not everybody wants to receive advanced critiques and certainly not all manage them in a mature way. A few good ways to be sure the person is open to critique are to check if the "Advanced Critique Encouraged" option was selected on the deviation, check the Artist's Comments or even ask the deviant directly if they want to be critiqued.

A matter of attitude
There are some gray areas. Sometimes the difference between a good critique, a not so good one and an insult is the attitude and the way you express yourself.

Think of your motives when posting a comment. Do you actually want to help the deviant improve? Will you say something productive?

And also, don't make comments when you're angry, it's more likely that you'll end up writing an unproductive comment full of hate. Be polite.

How to manage critiques and insults

It's true that sometimes a critique can be severe and you may not like to hear it. Remember that critiques [if done properly] are good and will help you improve.

A recommendation is to analyze the critique, examine if what you are being told is true and discard what you consider inappropriate, thank them politely for it and consider the useful aspects of it.

Insults, on the other hand, are better to be ignored. Yes, it's really tempting to respond to them, and yes, you have your right to defend yourself. Just keep in mind that usually that will drive you to a fruitless discussion, so what's the point? No matter how good your arguments are to prove a troll wrong, they'll never give up because that's their sole purpose: to be a pain in the ass.

In light cases you can hide comments, in more frequent cases you can even block the deviant and in severe and recurrent cases the best thing to do is to report it.

For complete information on how to report a deviant check: How to: Submit a Harassment Report by $hexentanz

A really good article related to how to manage insults: How to Avoid dArama by =thundercake

<sub>Article redacted by: =Thiefoworld
Revised and corrected by: `GaioumonBatou [thank you!]

Special thanks to: =madewithsadness, =omnibob8, ~bah-zero99, ~xelloss100, ~Lumbariel, ~kenshymidzu, ~MatsuoAmon, ~Marira, =KariCamp, *2sday8, ~PunkerSingger, ~Stilogeno, =aniphx, ~Brujitaloveskurama, `TerrorCookie, `dudewithbraces, =heliofobico, =ersi, =necro-loup, ~ZwitterEinfachSchon, =Kerivan, ~actias, =dareme and ~RayofDawn for they help.</sub>