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Betrayed
3 years ago
I am unhappy. If I'm being totally honest, I feel like I've been betrayed on a level that's hard to describe. DeviantArt used to be my motivation. DeviantArt was the reason I got excited to do art! As soon as a picture was finished, I was sure to upload it! I could spend all day uploading things, eagerly waiting to see the comment pour in! It's been a long time since DeviantArt's been like that, in fact, it's gotten to the point that uploading art at all has been soured for me. I've only recently started trying to pull myself out of this funk where uploading feels like a chore, and then I find out after my work shift ends that DeviantArt is outfitting the site with an art AI, one where you're automatically set to "Yes, use my art!", and you have to go through and tell it no for each picture (at least until they add in a better system for saying no, if they do.)
Now whether or not they add features to make it easier to opt out of this is besides the point. The fact that the initial choice was to sign you on to it, to decide that YEARS worth of pictures belonged to them to use as they saw fit, that a supposed component of the art community would ENCOURAGE a system whereby the future of artists is some dystopian existence where their passion, their art, and their style is trivialized down into cutlets to feed to an algorithm that'll regurgitate it ad infinitum upon command, savagely curtailing the ability of artists to survive off of, and acquire commissions!! How many people will we expect to choose to pay an artist when for free or a low monthly fee, you can just click a button and tell a machine to steal little bits and pieces of other people's passions!?
What's worse is the deceased among us. It's always kind of scared me in a way I can't find the right words to explain, that the things I leave behind, these sites, these galleries, could easily become some mausoleum for me, as they have for so many others. One day, the art, the replies, the comments, the faves, the rps, they all just stop and go silent, with only a gallery left behind for those who cared for them. They can't stand up for themselves, so unless they have family members watching their accounts, all their memories, all those pictures are defaulted to the grinder to be fed to the machine! Like I said, it doesn't matter if they give an easy option to opt out, the fact they default to consent is repulsive, especially for those who can't speak up for themselves.
When I was little, the excitement at being introduced to the idea that there was a community of supportive people doing what I was doing, supporting each other, potentially making their dreams come true with their art and hard work, meant something to me that I couldn't explain. DeviantArt is filled with so many memories, so many comments, so many moments, and nostalgia for me that I'll never not think about it in some way. But this is like being in am abusive relationship! I've lost all social elements to the site, pageviews that don't take 24 hours to load are behind paid membership, they ignored and ridiculed opposition to the vomit that is Eclipse, and now I've been made aware that if I'm not constantly vigilant, all that I am creatively, and all that I have been to get here, will be fed into an art generator, it's crossing a line. How much more of this can I be expected to take? I don't know how much longer I can keep my DeviantArt, or how much longer I'll want to at risk of losing what I've worked so hard to make. Please, if anyone isn't already, please, if you want to follow me on my creative journey, make sure you're following me elsewhere!
Fur Affinity http://www.furaffinity.net/user/jyoocfroot/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/TheApprentice225
Twitter https://twitter.com/LowBudgetFonzy
Picarto.tv https://picarto.tv/TheApprentice225
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.ph.....00075916636078
Damn you, DeviantArt. Damn you to Hell! Damn you for taking 14 years of my life! Damn you for betraying all artists who managed to find their dreams in making a living off of art commissions of you! Damn you for pretending that silence is consent! And DAMN YOU for what you've become!
Now whether or not they add features to make it easier to opt out of this is besides the point. The fact that the initial choice was to sign you on to it, to decide that YEARS worth of pictures belonged to them to use as they saw fit, that a supposed component of the art community would ENCOURAGE a system whereby the future of artists is some dystopian existence where their passion, their art, and their style is trivialized down into cutlets to feed to an algorithm that'll regurgitate it ad infinitum upon command, savagely curtailing the ability of artists to survive off of, and acquire commissions!! How many people will we expect to choose to pay an artist when for free or a low monthly fee, you can just click a button and tell a machine to steal little bits and pieces of other people's passions!?
What's worse is the deceased among us. It's always kind of scared me in a way I can't find the right words to explain, that the things I leave behind, these sites, these galleries, could easily become some mausoleum for me, as they have for so many others. One day, the art, the replies, the comments, the faves, the rps, they all just stop and go silent, with only a gallery left behind for those who cared for them. They can't stand up for themselves, so unless they have family members watching their accounts, all their memories, all those pictures are defaulted to the grinder to be fed to the machine! Like I said, it doesn't matter if they give an easy option to opt out, the fact they default to consent is repulsive, especially for those who can't speak up for themselves.
When I was little, the excitement at being introduced to the idea that there was a community of supportive people doing what I was doing, supporting each other, potentially making their dreams come true with their art and hard work, meant something to me that I couldn't explain. DeviantArt is filled with so many memories, so many comments, so many moments, and nostalgia for me that I'll never not think about it in some way. But this is like being in am abusive relationship! I've lost all social elements to the site, pageviews that don't take 24 hours to load are behind paid membership, they ignored and ridiculed opposition to the vomit that is Eclipse, and now I've been made aware that if I'm not constantly vigilant, all that I am creatively, and all that I have been to get here, will be fed into an art generator, it's crossing a line. How much more of this can I be expected to take? I don't know how much longer I can keep my DeviantArt, or how much longer I'll want to at risk of losing what I've worked so hard to make. Please, if anyone isn't already, please, if you want to follow me on my creative journey, make sure you're following me elsewhere!
Fur Affinity http://www.furaffinity.net/user/jyoocfroot/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/TheApprentice225
Twitter https://twitter.com/LowBudgetFonzy
Picarto.tv https://picarto.tv/TheApprentice225
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.ph.....00075916636078
Damn you, DeviantArt. Damn you to Hell! Damn you for taking 14 years of my life! Damn you for betraying all artists who managed to find their dreams in making a living off of art commissions of you! Damn you for pretending that silence is consent! And DAMN YOU for what you've become!
Though, to be fair, I feel AI can be useful. I haven't found a decent free one yet for what I'd want to do, but I think it could be useful for referencing and brainstorming for an ACTUAL art project. But again, I haven't found a good free one, and it comes with the downside of people just uploading the "art" and taking credit for it. And because the AI samples legitimate art, I really don't think they should cost money.
I used to love DeviantArt so much.
So... near as I can say.. everyone should just abandon them... boycot it outright... destroy it and make it set the example of how not to treat content creators.
I've already submitted a request for my account to be opted out, but apparently that takes a while. In the meantime I'm going to go through and see how to remove permission for individual artworks.
What a mess >:(
It is quite an ugly mess.
Vix