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Upload Policy 2.7 Response
2 years ago
Just for preface, I don't claim to fully understand the motives, inner workings, and purposes of the recent changes. These are merely my personal opinions, perspective, and understanding based on the experiences of others affected.
After going through the information regarding the new policy, the vague wording, and lack of clearly defined parameters regarding content that would fall under the changes. I've come to the affirmation that this is a blanket policy of which the only true guidelines to follow are at the whims of the ones who enforce it. I believe it goes without saying, but that's not really a good way to handle policies regarding content made by random users. I'm not going to drudge up the myriad of content made by FA team members themselves as that's already been well covered by others. If you are unaware of it yourself, and want to inform yourself, then I recommend looking at posts by others regarding it. That all said, this is all my opinion and perspective.
It has come down to things like this being a part of the reason I often don't bother posting my own stuff anymore (among some other important reasons), and have lost much of my motivation to draw in general. This isn't simply a cry against the restrictions to NSFW content, I could certainly post anything SFW and be perfectly safe in terms of content restrictions. It's the fact of the matter that many places have become this "Guilty until proven innocent" mentality in terms of content restrictions. Creativity and personal interests becoming stifled, moderated, and weeding out what a select few don't like. Power of the vocal minority and all that.
I personally do not draw cub, cub related, or anything that could be considered child-like when it comes to NSFW content. Yet there is a large amount of what I like to make, and what content I consume, that could be considered vaguely fitting those guidelines. I find asking what each place considers breaking these terms, and every one of them gives a different answer. It's not just limited to these terms either, each place wants to police content in its own way that excludes certain creators. There is no central place for anyone, it's long since become a problem that has increasingly affected more creators. I wish it was simply a question of legality, but even that is screwy at best. It's just a black market of content now, and you could be struck down at any time regardless of innocence.
After going through the information regarding the new policy, the vague wording, and lack of clearly defined parameters regarding content that would fall under the changes. I've come to the affirmation that this is a blanket policy of which the only true guidelines to follow are at the whims of the ones who enforce it. I believe it goes without saying, but that's not really a good way to handle policies regarding content made by random users. I'm not going to drudge up the myriad of content made by FA team members themselves as that's already been well covered by others. If you are unaware of it yourself, and want to inform yourself, then I recommend looking at posts by others regarding it. That all said, this is all my opinion and perspective.
It has come down to things like this being a part of the reason I often don't bother posting my own stuff anymore (among some other important reasons), and have lost much of my motivation to draw in general. This isn't simply a cry against the restrictions to NSFW content, I could certainly post anything SFW and be perfectly safe in terms of content restrictions. It's the fact of the matter that many places have become this "Guilty until proven innocent" mentality in terms of content restrictions. Creativity and personal interests becoming stifled, moderated, and weeding out what a select few don't like. Power of the vocal minority and all that.
I personally do not draw cub, cub related, or anything that could be considered child-like when it comes to NSFW content. Yet there is a large amount of what I like to make, and what content I consume, that could be considered vaguely fitting those guidelines. I find asking what each place considers breaking these terms, and every one of them gives a different answer. It's not just limited to these terms either, each place wants to police content in its own way that excludes certain creators. There is no central place for anyone, it's long since become a problem that has increasingly affected more creators. I wish it was simply a question of legality, but even that is screwy at best. It's just a black market of content now, and you could be struck down at any time regardless of innocence.
Having multiple places to share creativity and all is fine, but which one site could you say for sure wouldn't have some stipulations, strings, or restrictions attached? I personally cannot think of any except Pixiv, but that's not exactly a bulletproof option either due to community factors and ease of access/use. Additionally who is to say they won't eventually follow behind the others in this restrictive manner? Additionally, community backlash is also a point of contention. Go to Twitter, you have the loud minority that gets mad at the slightest thing they dislike, whether it actually affects them or not (Things like people being harassed for little to no reason, or even fault of their own.).
Inkbunny is a good place, just to reiterate. How long will it stay that way? Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking at this with any amount of pessimism. I'd rather there be some silver lining, but I'm a realist too and can't ignore other factors, thinking logically. Time and time again I've wanted to build a site for people to just be their self, create what they want, express their selves. However I can't code, I don't know the first thing about building a website, and moderating things in a way that satisfies all parties. To that end I feel like the FA team has a hard job. However if a job is too difficult for them to handle appropriately then they need to step aside and let the right people handle it. Ego and pride are stubborn pieces of this kind of puzzle, and the users have no control over those pieces.
It's an unnecessary obstacle course, and the more popular that content becomes, the more eyes on it that might dislike that content. On IB that's not a problem, on FA it is since just having the right person dislike said content can spiral into more problems from community backlash. Case and point the current vague policy update. The same thing happens on Twitter for example. The point is, everyone is tip toeing around restrictions that keep changing on a whim. Sure this may not apply to you, or others you're familiar with, but it's a problem nonetheless.
So how does this all bode for a new creator? If you were just starting out, or even starting over with new content. Would you be happy about the idea of being required to make accounts on multiple sites just to get started? Granted yes, I understand that answer changes depending on the individual. However, even if someone is ok with that, the ones who aren't are alienated. It's a hard ask for a site like this to have consistent, clearly defined, rules and restrictions for sure. Some things are just subjective. Hence the problem with FA right now. Subjective material should be handled on a case by case basis, or alternatives for haandling it should be made accessible to the users. Blanket statements only serve to exclude users, alienate others, and cause backlash. They should only be a temporary solution until something more effective and clear can be offered as an actual solution.
For the sake of this example, lets say FA made an announcement that they were restricting content causing contention, while not directly affecting current content already posted, until a solution to their problem is worked out. Then gave the users the option to give feedback, weigh in on the decisions being made, and worked towards something that would be more satisfactory to the broader scope. Do you feel that would have been more acceptable?
Meanwhile FA has done the opposite of that, Twitter is all over the place, Pixiv has accessibility issues, IB isn't a one stop solution, Imgur has put many users into hiding their content, etc. the list goes on. How many times do people have to uproot their content and following before someone puts their foot down and says "I've had enough of the bullshit."
I've been on FA since 2001, despite what my profile says. I've seen this place get hammered repeatedly, each time worst than the last. Pixiv used to be a massive hurdle to even create an account on back then, it's gotten easier for sure, but it's far from all inclusive. Tumblr used to be a very open place, and they stomped out a massive chunk of their traffic. AGNPH, SoFurry, Wildcritters, F.A.P. (Formerly YiffStar), etc. There have been so many different sites I've seen rise and fall to the same problems. FA has somehow survived all of it and has some of the largest following, but it just takes one person to make decisions that make it crash.
Last thing to add, I have friends who specifically refuse to use IB or FA for these types of reasons among others. I'm not saying there has to be a place that literally anyone can post anything they want to. A place they can feel confident in knowing they won't have to just uproot their self unexpectedly would give peace of mind though. However I also realize what I'm speaking of is probably a fantasy site at best.
I have all my eggs in one basket because no other site allows me to post my content without the risk of a ban.