My first news entry. Here goes! It was a couple of months back that I started reading some news articles here on deviantART. I noticed straight away that pageviews are a big topic. Everyone seems to be very sceptical about pageviews. The first news post I read that bashed pageviews was this very sarcastic one by *KeroTheHetetic. A couple of months later, deviantART officially started a poll about pageviews. The most popular vote was in favour of deleting pageviews. To top it all off, `emmil made this stamp. And those are only a few examples of pageview bashing.

Defining the popular view on pageviews
From the looks of it, everyone seems to have a feeling that they’re being treated in an unfair way. After all, pageviews are often seen as a very rewarding concept. The higher your pageviews count, the more people love your art, apparently. But people who upload a lot of fanart seem to have an easier time getting pageviews. Naturally, artists who don’t generally create (much) fanart feel left behind.

As a result, fanart and pageviews have become hated things.

The truth about pageviews
The truth is, pageviews are not an accurate representation of how good and great you are. The pageview counter tell you how many times your page has been visited. Nothing else. The way you perceive your pageviews is up to you. But there is absolutely no need to get so worked up about them. In the end, they’re just a little extra that might stimulate and motivate you to do your best on creating your art. And if it doesn’t do that for you, then that’s where it ends. But getting jealous about them is just a very bad way to interpret them.

And the truth about fanart
In fact, fanart is seen in a much worse way than even pageviews, for no reason at all. Sometimes I’m quite shocked at what people say about fanart. It’s become the scapegoat of people’s jealousy over eachother’s pageviews.

I mean, where is the evil in fanart? 100% of my gallery is fanart and I draw it because I'm a big fan of whatever I draw. It inspires me and I really enjoy doing it and I'm sure people enjoy seeing it. And I don't feel I should stop enjoying it just because it hoards pageviews more easily.

Besides, I think fanart is also a way of being reserved. The artist acknowledged that they’re not really good enough yet to make my own creations that might interest people, and it's more or less a tribute to something they find really great at the same time.

I have no idea how you readers will receive this article. I hope I’ve changed some of your views on the topic, but I’m also prepared for a lot of flaming. I hope deviantART doesn’t remove pageviews altogether because of the popular view on them. I love deviantART and I love my pageviews. I hope you love yours too.