Where everyone else is going

i feel this would happen. Reason why I am asking around...even tho -sadly- I sense many people will move to socials because exposure.

With the joy of Idiot Musk and Mark Suckerberg

Even before Musk Twitter was kinda a garbage platform for sharing art. Without a proper gallery anything more than a couple of weeks old just gets buried.

There’s also the fact they allow AI “art” and use content uploaded to the site to train their AI model.

And there’s no way to share any long form written work for us authors.

Very true. People also forget Twitter became a spot because Tumblr screwed up their platform. Beyond that i just use discord or whatever

I think people chose twitter because tumblr died and at the time Instagram didn't allow posting from computers... but yeah, it is horrible for sharing art

Why do people keep saying Tumblr died? It's still there and it works fine. I've been posting stories there for years and the format is perfect for web comics.

Their official policy is still that pornography is not allowed. Many posts don't get detected so some people do post erotic work and slip through the cracks, but your account will be hidden if they do detect it and I imagine most people won't want to take that chance.

It's a shell of its former self u^u
I miss tumblr

I miss tumblr too. It may have been a hell site at times, but i've got too many fond memories of the place.

LiveJournal is still around as well, technically.

LJ always has been the superior social media website.

Definitely sounds like Tumblr is good for people who are mainly posting SFW art, though I know there are artists whose creations may lean more like.... 85% porn, 15% "I can actually post this to Tumblr", so that may be a factor for some. I know that at one point Tumblr announced they were welcoming NSFW content to a limited degree, but it sounded like it was gonna be one of those things where the rules are kind of vague and subjective in a way that causes inconsistent moderation. But I also am not super familiar there so I could be wrong.

All this being said, it certainly doesn't help that Tumblr killed some trust when they kicked people off several years ago. Used to be a place a lot of adult artists thrived. That said, newer management, so people CAN build new trust.

Cohost and Pillowfort are still comparatively fairly new, so I can't really say they ARE a competitor or WILL become one, but they are essentially Tumblr with adult content, so it might look like the better option for people whose art relies on being able to post anything without much of a filter.

Social media is like the sprinkles on top of ice cream; It's pretty awful by itself

Don't forget needing the blessing of the algorithm to see art, even if it's someone you explicitly follow.

I totally share your distaste for these two despicable scumbags..., they and their 'social media' platforms are a blight on civilization!

Thanks for starting this conversation..., very worthwhile overall, although like you I'm hoping FA sticks around and I became an FA+ supporter to aid that happening!

Current project = Patty!

This journal kinda aged bad (luckily) because I could see how many people supported it so... I'm now convinced it won't go anywhere! :)
also... curious for patty! :D

Literally nowhere. Where is there? Weasyl? /trash/?

/trash/ as any 4chan related thing is something that -like inkbunny- I wouldn't touch even with three gloves per hand tbh 🤣

/trash/ was okay for a bit, but Chan shit hasn't been remotely worth it in over a decade, yeah. But seriously, there's nowhere to go if this site goes down in flames. I'm sure as hell not going to DeviantArt, and Discord servers are a frankly miserable experience unless you're part of their inner circle.

So who knows how this is going to shake out. Maybe imvu will buy the site back and inject some Web3 cancer into it. Shit's bleak.

what do you mean "imvu buys it back and inject dome web3 cancer to it"? is there anything I am unaware of about FA

Nothing but speculation and rumors.

Yeah, just idle speculation, honestly. Nothing more; just connecting dots in my head.

What’s the problem with Inkbunny? Genuine question, new here.

Because a lot of cub art is there and a lot of people don't want to be associated with that.

This...

that and not only. having that kind of art it means it has all the people who are into that and couldn't stay on FA (ban, no posts, etc).

I don't know the entire context of any controversy, and when viewing InkBunny (unrestricted) this content did appear on the front page as 2 images in the total. eww... However, here are a few points:
1. InkBunny is improving their rules, even though they still wont change their stance of allowing all kinds of art (inclusivity)
2. FA's history did allow Cub art, they changed their stance after 4 years (2006-2010) when their funding partner was going to drop them. This shift was why those degenerates went to InkBunny. But, this may be an indicator that the policies on InkBunny could change if the community or their funding becomes vocal about it.
3. From a (very) small poll I did a while ago, InkBunny was a place that non-artist viewers did go to see art.
4. People who use InkBunny prefer the structure of the site more than FA and comment on how nice the community is.

Take this for what it's worth. Personally, if FA were to go down, I would try InkBunny to see if it would be a good alternative

"Don't quote old magic," "was there when it was written," etc.

Note that none of what you said counters what I said. He asked what the problem is with Inkbunny, and I answered it.

Moreover, you're speaking to an Inkbunny user. I do like its system, especially how I can filter content so effectively that I can forget the content is there. Therefore I think it is unfortunate that they are known as "the cub site" which is a reputation they earned by happenstance more than intent. I know all of that. However, while I personally don't consider it a dealbreaker, I do understand and respect why other people don't want to use it, and am capable of framing their position fairly, because I am capable of doing that.

I wasn't trying to bring any kind of hate. I just wanted to bring another perspective to the conversation as I was noticing an influx of one-sided comments towards the subject. What I said doesn't downplay content that is upload on the site, but it shows that the site has potential and could change for the better.

Have similar thoughts on inkbunny. My guess would be Tumblr, Bluesky and maybe DeviantArt? Although I haven't been checking what's up with the last one lately.

IB also super into letting users post AI art too. It's a well structured website that's filled with 800 billion Cub AI art pictures.

It's really cringe

Yeah...
Weasyl is dead as well as Furiffic and in all honesty, I wouldn't touch Inkbunny with a yard long pole.

SoFurry, dunno... seems more something you list characters oh like toyhouse

SoFurry is more of a writer's site, but it's also pretty good for art.

Itaku?

Probably make a cheap website to host my crap like furries did in the Stone Age. Then keep hanging around in Discords like everyone does now.

There was always FURNET, it could be reactivated if someone wanted too.

I host my own gallery which integrates via ActivityPub with all the fediverse apps (mastodon et al), so, probably, that. It can be followed, faved, boosted, and commented.

Everywhere I can make an account aside from my own hosting is essentially rented space, and subject to the whims of who I'm renting from, free or no.

After pillowfort, dunno... i have doubt about decentralized realities like Mastodon. It takes one person to take an instance down and make you lose all that you did

pillowfort was a disappointment. Maybe it'll be better in a few years but for now, I no longer have an account with them.

Pillowfort: the website where you could name your account "Log Out", click on your name and log out for real 🤣

Sure, one person, but I know him, he's me.

To a corner, where I would cry.

heh

This question never crossed my mind... the fact I can't think of anywhere else is a depressing thought.

This may also be a good occasion for someone with skills and cash for it to make a new place for furries tho

And then abandon it as soon as the flood of new users comes in and they realize they're expected to do actual work running it. I've seen that happen a couple of times now.

Thought about it as a thought experiment. What i came up with.
Tiered accounts to help pay for the site past initial start up costs, also to head off possible future legal challenges. aka future proofing.

Ads if any will be limited to non animated images, no js or html5 etc. No nagging about ad-blockers either.

Free: 500mb storage size. clean art only posting and viewing, 5 piece a day upload limit. No video or audio. no pictures over 4k(resolution) in size.

Tier 1: 2gb storage. Adult side access(will require major credit card, and anything else to comply with local laws ie scanned in id's**). 10 a day upload limit(5 per hour to prevent flooding) Audio allowed if under 10 mins mp3/ogg only per work. 192kbps max or eqiv of codec. video 5 mins or less per work, under 720p. 8k(resolution) in size. ~8 dollars a month.

Tier 2: 20gb storage. upload limit is 20 a day, still limited to 5 an hour. Audio up to 30mins, same codec restrictions. up to 10 mins of video, same codec restrictions. Access to the commissioner* system(commissions won't be banned for other accounts. this is an added perk) 16~20 bucks a month.

Tier 3: 200gb storage. no daily upload limit but still 5 per hour to prevent feed flooding. 1 hour of audio, less lossy and higher bit rates allowed. video is still 30min but up to 1080p. full access to the commissioner system(possible es-cargo system for physical commissions). ~50 bucks a month. more geared for those who'd benefit from the commissioner system.

Possible additional storage can be purchased. Thinking about $1 per 1gb.

Commissions will not be discriminated against, once you have a tiered account that allows it it can be as clean or nsfw as you want, the only restrictions will be the site's content policy.

*commissioner system: Tier2: A dedicated system for tracking commissions. providing web shop like interface for both parties to conduct their transactions, allowing a direct upload from the commissioner of reference material, if any, to the artist. these do not count against either parties storage allocation. Distinct and easy to read way for both parties to conduct such transactions, providing an easy to use form system, no more having to piece out details from large blocks of text sent by email or pm. Dates for works can be exported in any popular calendar format both online and off. The artist will also have the ability to set the completed digital commissioned work to be encrypted. In which case the file will stay that way on both accounts(in case of account breech of the artists account), till the commissioned artist indicates full payment has been made. At which point the site will release the decryption key to the commissioner. The artist will always have the key(gpg key or something similar).

on top of that the artist will have an end of year, easy to export summery. for tax purposes. of their earnings breakdown. who, when, how much, via what payment method. with links to the digital receipts.

(possibility) Tier3: Everything as tier 2, but the site will do physical goods(art/fursuits etc). holding onto them till the artist indicates full payment has been done. then professionally shipping them to the commissioner.

**if required, the scanned images will only be kept on the hot storage(online storage) for as long as legally required. they will then be transferred to long term cold storage(offline storage) for safety and privacy. Deleted upon request of account deletion or account abandonment(no account activity for 1 year).

Bluesky i guess. i cant believe how everyone is already ready to jump ship. its only been a day

Same it's actually pissing me off a little bit, this is Dragoneer's legacy why is everyone being so pessimistic thinking they're going to close FA? Stop

Because FA was Neer's passion project. It is not a profitable business and it is unlikely that any successor will be willing to sacrifice what Neer didbto keep the site did.

The realistic long term path for FA now is either shutdown or enshittification.

That's making assumptions. It's entirely possible that this place could get better.

It's entirely possible that I never connected the internet before today and have not seen enough websites turn to shit that I've gotten a good grasp on how it happens.

You are also making assumptions.

Of course I was also born this morning.

Does assuming the worst get us anywhere? Your prerogative, but that attitude is not productive.

You don't find it productive. That doesn't mean it is not productive.

Meanwhile, I don't consider this productive.

Explain how assuming the worst is productive?

And you're right. This does not seem productive either.

Yeah, people are making assumptions that it's something official, when it's not yet

Exactly, I think it's better to wait and hope for the best. This website is like home to me, I would be extremely sad trying to build everything again somewhere else.

Yeah. But i won't be surprised if that happens

oh no i am not willing to jump at all!
I am wondering just in case FA closes for good.

It's prevention: as putting lifeboats on a ship because safety

well in that case i would recommend newgrounds as a healthy alternative. they have been reliable since the 90s

Newground in my opinion is pretty niche. I wonder how the art section is doing since I left them a few years ago

Since someone linked it in my journal, evidently this may have started because someone on a Discord server decided to give a warning of "Hey just so you know, maybe back up all your FA content, some scary change is probably coming". Which is being labeled as hoax but, to me it just reads as panic.

Understandable to feel that the head of this site passing away, who personally funded some chunk of it, might bring about some dire change. But I also can't even imagine what the business side of a site like this even LOOKS like so I'm in the dark as far as realistic speculation goes. I'm just linking my socials in case people are leaving and remaining to post here.

I have my Weasyl account so I'd probably swan off there. I doubt FA is going to close honestly.

Probably standalone platforms like Discord.

DeviantArt

Besides, I wouldn’t worry about it, FurAffinity’s not going anywhere.

oh I am sure too... I'm the devil's advocate here

Oh wow.

translates: I am Assuming unpleasant scenarios in a hypotetical way

Yeah.

DeviantArt is a AI infested shithole now.

True, but there’s still some who do some real art.

mah... not less than X or IG tbh... at least their AI tagging system works xD

I’ll take your word for it. But the acceptable amount of AI on a website that advertises itself as an artistic community is none.

I'm 73, I'll just wander down this hall into the darkness. Not like I'm going to be around much longer, even NAF is shutting down. Guess I'll watch Deviant Art but I RARELY post anything there.

Nowhere. I'd open a mastodon thingamagic server and host my art there. if people prefer selling their info to Twitter instead of a small server in a decentralized network, so be it.

I imagine it will not happen, a lot of people are fearmongering for attention and egoistic panic attacks. Furaffinity is - as far as I know - a company that brings profit so I'd be very surprised if there weren't some agreements in place.

However... I'd try to consolidate my followers around something more independent during some transition period between platforms, for example via Twitter (where I'm posting actively) and discord.

I'd wait to see if any of existing platforms get any sort of activity spark or remain dead or half dead as they do and - ofc - avoid using inkbunny whatsoever (xD). Perhaps something new would appear. If not - I'd just focus on staying engaged with followers via discord and Twitter... and that's basically it. Unless some new site would pop-up.

That's it. Let's just wait. A good lesson in not putting all eggs into one basket for the artists who weren't doing that earlier.

never keep eggs in one basket indeed

I'll just say that FA doesn't make significant, if any $.

'Neer's passing is not a reason to panic, though.

Oh yeah, I don't imagine it is a very lucrative business neither. Just more like, stating what it is perceived as a 'business unit' thingie. Sorry, not a native speaker here.

Not a problem.

I got no idea... Best I can do is sharing via discord.

Probably find some other site that lets me make an archive, since that's pretty much the only reason I'm here. But in terms of presence, I've already been posting damn near everything to my Bsky and Twitter. That and Discord communities, but I'm not sure I could handle trying to establish myself in a bigger server than the one I'm primarily on. I like that place though, it's nice and cozy, and all of my friends are there

This clears up the whole ownership thing: https://twitter.com/timmyfox/status.....12858429890911

what i needed to hear!

I crosspost here, dA, SoFurry and Discord, as well as keeping backups... :)

Into a depression.

Given the options at our disposal, InkBunny really is the statistically versatile option, ever since Furiffic shut down in 2022. Community tagging and working filters shouldn't be as bafflingly rare as they are, but somehow it is.

Everyone who talks about "hosted content" overlook that their suggested alternatives also host said content, they just haven't seen it. (Not going to bring attention to those that have been banned on this site for trying to expose it, either.)

But this site isn't going anywhere. After all, Twitter still exists. Though it would be cool if SoFurry became active again. Also, notably Newgrounds isn't in that list, but I've seen some people mention it in other instances of this topic.

From a (very) small poll I did, InkBunny was used by a lot of non-artists more than artist; Another reason to use the site. The only issue artists have is all the controversies that have happened on the site...

I've only heard objections of content when bringing it up, to which I would point out the percentage as well as the total number volume of said content, and then compare it to whatever alternatives they had suggested which would turn out to be the lesser. They'd usually stop talking about it at that point.

Annoyingly enough, I do also notice that the people I watch over there (which are majority people who left FA recently from the last "policy update" this past year) don't actually use any of the extra features that people always seem to complain about not having. It is what it is, I guess.

What can you do. People just want to hate on something while parroting the same thing everyone else says. In this case, controversies that FA has also had from what I understand. They forget that if FA drove those people out to InkBunny, InkBunny can too if the community becomes vocal enough. People also fail to make their own informed decisions, or look at the current changes happening, which IB has been slowly doing to their rules.

A very large percentage of the artists here would rather go nowhere than go to IB, and I do not blame them. If you could copy their site's setup and start something elsewhere without the z & p gabbage, that might have a chance, as I admit I prefer IB's setup and UI to any of the other alternatives.

You know, one of the users above said about personal website. That's actually not a bad idea. Altho it will require some efforts from the user side, and some money, but it will look pretty cool. If something will happen to FA (very unlikely, there's still team that maintains the site and as i understood fifnancially they are okay so far), i'll start seriously considering creating my own place with it's own microbiome.

neocities has free hosting

Itaku, Newgrounds, Pixiv, sofurry, and Inkbunny are all good suggestions

Weasyl

Quick! Someone blow the dust off VCL! 😂

It's been read-only for several years now, last I checked.

I really hope this site stays the way it is right now, but you never know...
I am neither an artist nor a proper author...
I am a consumer with just a sprinkle of uploads here and there...

I am here... and I wills tay as long as it will work...
But I am also on SoFurry...

I know, I know... SoFurry is in nowhere comparable to FA... but it works at least somewhat decently and perhaps (I have npt looked at it yet) the new version will work a bit more decently...
For as little as I upload contend the site works... more or less fine... I do not like the text-editor they use, but I have been told the new site will work better in that regard....
Perhaps this might be at least a tempory home for some... if FA goes under...

Let's hope that will not happen!!

R I P Dragoneer...

Uumh the same places everyone said they were going to run to the last time like Weasley ect

i am in deviant art ad if that goes down well bad luck another hobby that is gone, one more but well is like everithing

The thought did hit me last night. Saying that, I have already been trying to set up a Weasyl account for the last two weeks, haven't received a single verification email. Inkbunny is the only uncensored option I can think of. However, user interaction seems very limited over there.

Weasyl has been resting at rock bottom for a while. I'm not surprised you can't get a verification code, but I am bummed to see that it's hit that point. The place peaked in 2013-2015 during the 3 FA Exoduses, then activity on it just dropped. For artists that get normally 200+ favs on their submissions, they can only average the teens on Weasyl. You're not missing out on much growth on there. I also remember when rule enforcement was a thing, like no bulk uploads. Now all that's ever on the front page is bulk uploads, but that's what happens when the entire staff turns over.

Inkbunny I admit I'm out of the loop on so their rules and code of conduct may have changed in that time, but in 2010 it became the refugee site for cub artists who were fleeing FA after they instated a cub porn ban. I wouldn't touch that site with a 10 foot pole, but again I haven't exactly kept up with their site policies over the past ~10 years. The damage was done and I have avoided it since.

Mastodon would be the only honest to god recommendation I can give. You'll have to do some legwork to find a domain you want to join, but once you do that you can post to your heart's content. DA, X, Sofurry, Tumblr, Toyhouse, Cara, Art Station, Threads, Instagram, and so on all either have policies against full uncensored, are meant to be taken seriously, are a mess, or are intertwined with content outside art.

X is a sanity tester and Deviantart takes some re-learning. It isn't the same as it was pre-2019, and there's still some questionable design choices, like your chat messages showing up in your inbox, but you have to hover over the messages icon to pull up the chat icon. If you just click it, it takes you to your Inbox page. It's probably easier for people who only know the new UI, but being someone who remembered DA being minty green, there's so many flaws.

I really hope for the best for this website, it's been an absolute savior for me and others in many ways. Even if we all collectively decide to move to a common new place, what will happen to existing art galleries? Funny chat interactions and so on? This is like loosing history to me. Yeah, maybe you could find or even found a website which could have galleries and such, some artists could reupload their stuff, though, is a very ludicrous task. And what about artists who is no longer there or just inactive? I just don't want this day where I could no longer see their work to happen. I don't wanna forget about them

Pixiv isn't a bad alternative. You can favorite and post galleries. Newgrounds is also fine, but I haven't used it like furaffinity. Last I checked, Newgrounds actually cares about preserving itself

Pixiv is very anime focused and requires censorship on NSFW content due to it being Japanese owned. Even if you don't live in Japan, it's wise to obey by their rules to not have trouble down the road.

Unsure if true but I've heard people say they've seen underaged nsfw artwork (sometimes the hyper-realistic type) on pixiv so if thats true it's def a place I'd avoid...

Self-hosting, perhaps. Between this hypothetical situation and what's already happened to DA, "if you want it done right" comes to mind.

Continue what's left of it on other social media sites where you are active, of course.

honestly I think I'd just call it a day

I'd say someone with web experience could easily start a new domain and admin it. I think there's already contingencies for that. This has been an off-and-on topic for a while.

The power of Google will bring us all together again lol

Now that you say it...
Who will inherit FA?

sadly furaffinity is still the ebst side for me...
twitter too even with all the idiots running it down...

but pages like bluesky and itaku are jsut dead... i can post whatever i want there and enver get any feedback...
so yeah if FA is going down, i might go down with it...

I follow the artists I like on their own art pages. Or I just use social media. FA is a relic from a different internet era you don't need a website like this anymore.

It does need some updates to the UI, but I wouldn't go so far to say that it isn't needed anymore. For example, DVDs are a relic of a different time. They still hold a place today because the alternative is digital which without an internet connection, or direct download, cannot access and can be removed from your account at any time due to a lack of ownership.

Apples to Oranges. DVDs are not a full hosting server of terabytes of data for an art hosting website. The point I meant was the site of FA is outdated and the fact all these years later we still don't even have a proper tagging system is just really stupid.

Digital I never said we go fully into I am just saying give the power back to the artists to do what they want with their art and not the whims of an art hosting website that puts your art at risk of being terminated because they refused for years to modernize the sight up to a better standard.

The way you worded it sounded like you thought that sites that curate art galleries are no longer needed because of social media and personal websites.

I did. I won't argue this further.

Inkbunny maybe.

Nowhere else than other places where I already am. Weasyl, Bluesky, Cara. I do really hope some people will try to keep FA up as usual though I'm not hoping too much.

I'm going to leave Furaffinity not because exposure but because FA policy and hypocrisy concerning some types of contents. Moreover this site is not ergonomic at all and technically obsolete.

I would give suggestions but they're already vetoed thanks to the old rumor mill and other issues, This site is important but it has caused way too much strife and divide in the furry community too

I'm already over on Facebook. I've collected all my friends onto discord into a shared server~. I'm collecting more of them.

FA isnt going anywhere. IB has more risk of being shut down or blocked in certain countries due to the controversial art on the site.

I already post my stuff elsewhere, so I think I'll be okay when it's curtains for FA.

I've thought of making a BlueSky

Pixiv. It already has some anthro artist I follow. 😁

Someone will have to step up. I wonder if Fender will be the one to continue FA?

I'll start with the ones I know you're on, the ones I think you're on, and the one's I haven't seen any evidence of you being on:
Twitter, BlueSky
Tumblr (if you're there, you post there too infrequently to remember) DeviantArt (mostly a hunch based on the overlap between FA and DA, making it overlap with the last category)
Facebook (though I mostly use a side account), Mastodon, Itaku.

To the library to print some... Stuff

Anything that happens here won't happen soon, if at all. There's an established framework and administration. This joint could even get better.

I'll never use surveillance capitalist social media sites. I never have. They're shite for art anyway. Discord has serious flaws as well.

I'm on e6, which is good for archiving, but sucks for basically everything else.

If FA eventually goes down, or possibly sooner, I'll start an IB account. A number of people I like have already fled for there. I don't like censorship. I understand why people want to avoid it, but I find it easy to avoid content I dislike. I do that here, too. I don't believe in moral grandstanding. If you don't like something in particular, be an adult and just move on.

Nothing currently existing does what FA does. It isn't perfect, but FA is a unique balance between an art gallery site and a social media site. I hope that it continues in this spirit, and continues to improve.

Oh, and I do plant to have a Tgram at some point, to communicate with friends.

IB works well. I never had any problems there. They only censor humans.

InkBunny is 100% meh when it comes to hosting cub stuff. Don't really care for it myself. It has blacklist and tagging so I'm fine with it. Only problem to me is weird people on there ('cause funky fetishes attract funky people) and that it doesn't allow NSFW adult humans/human-like characters. Had to take down some stories because of that, which... sucks.

Tbh I doubt FA is going under. There are way too many people here and the entire staff knows this. They're going to do their best. I just hope that some problems can actually be fixed now that the cradle's been rocked a little.

All good points.

Thank you! Honestly I think a lot of people overblow the cub problem specifically. Because... blacklist exists. We're not used to it here on FA, but it does exist and if you wanna avoid it you just shut it down.

FA really needs a blacklist/tagging system but to do so would be nigh impossible with how long the site has been up. Tbh blocking people isn't really up to snuff imo.

I'm on e6, and don't block anything. I don't find it difficult to ignore stuff I don't like.

As far as the future of FA, this is something I've been thinking a lot about for years now. This joint still runs on ancient and creaky code, and has been run on a shoestring.

Eventually all of the data here needs to be ported to something with an updated code. this will be a huge amount of work, and will require more servers, which is a huge investment, but will make it possible for easier updates moving forward.

We need a tagging and blocking system that works. This would require something more akin to or possibly based on the booru system, which, considering the sheer accumulation of posts here, would need to employ user modifiable tags to be at all practical. This, in turn, would require MUCH more work for the admins, and more admins. A difficult proposition, to say the least. A booru system also requires more transparency and more logging of data, such as you see on e6. More expense, but likely a good thing. I think that more transparency would have real benefits.

I'd also like to see the current tags preserved as a somewhat separate thing, because some people have been very creative with those. It would be a bit sad to lose that, and they couldn't be ported over directly because there's too much stuff which isn't really tags.

The FA blocking system doesn't really work either. I have mixed feelings about that. Personally I have a policy of never blocking anyone, but that's just me. People also abuse and manipulate that system. It can be problematic.

I also think that we should have upvotes, but not downvotes.

FA needs so many updates and, honestly, I hope that things change enough to the point where we get even HALF of what you've said.

No matter what, it's gonna take a while and a significant influx of cash.

Back to e621 and twitter i go lmao

but I dont think FA is going anywhere: its not like dragoneer was the only person running the show

Mastodon/telegram
I doubt FA dies anytime soon, tho

Yeah, not gonna happen.

Itaku.
Mostly used by furries, no cub rule, easy uploading system, you can even upload videos, tagging/blacklist system, social media with gallery view, "retweet" feature, mods are usually active.

I still ha DA so I post their but any nsfw stuff I have I post on Bluesky and X

So....Inkbunny or DeviantArt? I'm crap with computers, so I'd go with whichever platform was easiest to deal with.

I'm on Weasly, DeviantArt, Pixiv, Picarto (kinda) and Bluesky, as well as Mastadon and Twitter.

But the answer, "I'll go wherever the furry herd goes" pretty much covers it.

Itaku and BlueSky, probably.

Newgrounds. I'm coming back, Fulp.

heh, I dunno if i'd go there... always had the feeling they prefer that early 2000s cartoon network kind of style... geometric, flat and precise... dunno, not my jam!

It's less about style but more about what kind of a 'internet culture' is still running the place. Newgrounds is still old internet, so was Dragoneer. The problem with a lot of new websites they take the worst ideas from the social media and run with them. That's why you have 'art galleries' that look like failed Instangram copies etc. Or sometimes that tried hard to be furry facebook.

Pixiv is owned by a corporate entity, so is DA, Inkubnny is owned by [REDACTED], Weasyl is on life support and their track record is horrible (I don't think any of the IndieGoGo promises were fulfilled other than the website was up).

I'd consider SoFurry, but that site still feels more writing oriented.

And fuck social media, 'content', and 'engagement' I hear people spout out. They need to get their head examined for brainrot.

Likely focus more time on bsky and twitter.

It's pointless to even do that righ tnow. Dragoneer wasn't even involved with the business of the site.

ehhh you never know!
I wasn't ready for tumblr back then.. since then I always wonder hahaha

I'm just saying. He was divorced from the business like... three years ago or something? I may just be misremembering. But I wouldn't be worried about it.

I personally like itaku.ee a lot. It's got some discovery and resharing features that make it easier to find artists I like.

The only other place I watch/post is Weasyl. It's not optimal but optimal has left the building.

I'll be unhappy but ill get my dose from telegram channels

Back when people started making social sites to leave Twitter, I made accounts on Blusky, Cohost and Newgrounds. But for the most part, Bluesky has been my primary place to post things. I can't speak for what is most ideal, it just worked out that way for me. I do feel like there's a good amount of traffic on all 3 of these examples though.

I also cannot speak for algorithms and such, but it at least FEELS like people can see what I'm saying on these sites, whereas I always feel this sense that no one can see what I say on Twitter. Like admittedly I've barely posted on there in a long while but the last reply anyone ever gave me was December 2022 lmao

OH, in all the panic of whether FA is still sticking around, I have learned there is a Discord server for this community, so I guess that could end up being a home in of itself, or at least a place to keep up with where people are going.

I'd go to Itaku

https://itaku.ee/home

as a contingency, I've spread to several platforms including twitter/x [but not for long I hope.], bsky, weasyl and furrynetwork.

I'm still on DeviantArt, SoFurry and X, so if FA gets shut down it's not the end.

bluesky, cohost, and most of all neocities

I'm here pretty much entirely to follow the creators I like, so I'll probably wind up going wherever they wind up going. When it comes to my own content, there are other sites more suited to what I wind up actually making; AO3 and Blogger for the writing, and DeviantART for the art, considering how terrible I am at that.

I'm establish already in two other sites, thankfully. I won't care if this site die in a fire, but i'll feel sad for some of the artists i follow on here, who has this as their main gallery. Thankfully, i'm following you outside of this site :)

i still use twitter even if elon is breaking i stop or rarely post on tumblr same with facebook even tho looking at some post there hurt my brain.i stop uploding on DA even before the whole AI crap they allow there i did't really uplode here either so i would't know.

i like sheezy art, but its more strict than furaffinity on certain topics. but i appreciate the tagging and filtering system a lot more than FA

I highly doubt that this site will shut down because of that due to the fact that it's effectively one of the main hubs of the community, but in the off-chance it does I might see if the hosts of pawb.fun and pawb.name would be willing to host a furry-focused pixelfed instance.

Hell. I got nothing else, pretty much.

Unless one is an old, prude, boring boomerfur, the AUP of that site is an authentic repellant for any "healthy" member of the Furry Fandom

I'm not. Save your reverse psychology bullshit for someone else, dude.

Go to heaven and have fun, if you'd like.

Thank you very much for your kindness; Go and take care of your integrity, and keep living many years on~

That site gives me pretty heavy furrylife.online vibes.

What are the realistic options out there?

1. Bluseky and/or X-Twitter
2. Pixiv
3. Itaku
4. SoFurry
5. Deviart
6. Tumblr
7. Inkbunny 💀

I have a X and Bluesky account, and an ancient Deviart page. Its definitely wise for artists imo to have more than one site to foster engagement if their main gallery/journal hosting site is scrapped. But alot of the available options have their pros and cons. Though the biggest ones tend to be active user base and user interface.

E621, is cool as an image hosting site but for actual engagement with specific artists, not so much.
Discord, sure as a messaging platform with options for multiple channels for chatting and group engagement. But need active followers and personalities to keep channels from falling stagnant.
Facebook, data and privacy issues drive many away. Its groups features are promising but leaves much to be desired in the way of an actual gallery with features that mirror other sites.

Highly hilarious how he wiped all of his art from E621 just a couple days ago lmao
Like, he wants a backup platform, but he has issues with every single available option out there

Also Pixiv is crawling with underage porn drawings; if he doesn't go to IB (the rational and superior choice here) because of it, he won't go to Pixiv either. All the other sites are either dead, or a shithole of AI, or both at the same time

Did they state why they wiped their art from E621? I feel like I saw it mentioned somewhere but probably didn't read to deeply into it.
I've seem a small wave of artists doing it for one reason or another. Either for what's posted alongside it (questionable host site content) or because they want to control its distribution and viewing (branding and pay wall stuff).

I don't use Pixiv personally but I know a few artists that do. If it has the same liberal image hosting policies as IB then it would personally be farther down on my list as a potentially viable option.
IB has a nice UI but with the content generally hosted on the site plus a slew of other issues involving it I can see why many shy away if not outright denounce it. I used to have an account but I don't have a desire to go back. I don't see it being the main mecca for furries and artists, or those adjacent to the scene jumping to go there.

Just noting that the "content generally hosted" on IB that you're insinuating makes up less than 10% of everything uploaded to the site. By sheer volume, it's less than is on Twitter, and moderately comparable with FA that's still lingering. (Not to mention that stuff "deleted" from FA is still on the site, you just can't access the files without direct links.)

That's a neat statistic, but I still wouldn't go back there, nor do I think it would become the more viable option for most artists and general furry content followers.

If you like it as an alternative, cool for you.

He just went for "I don't feel comfortable having my art on this website anymore."

Fair enough, straight to the point. To each their own

Problem is, he did so while also triggering the deletion of NSFW art that wasn't his own, thus leaving only the sfw fanart of his oc. This was a douche move IMO, taking in count the disrespect it means to these artists that put his time and effort to draw something for him, even after he said he'd chill about this subject cuz he understood he couldn't control it, but only FOUR (4) porn drawings later, he crumbles again and wipes them all together with his own art, putting himself into the DNP list, just to later admit on Twitter that he was an asshole to artists drawing NSFW for him, and he didn't wanted to be like that, but still deleting their stuff. Rather contradictory, if you ask me lmao

Seems like you've been holding that one in for awhile. I see why you're passive aggressive in the comments lol

Some weird energy you're giving off the 💀

That's the impression that wounded up/disappointed fans tend to give, sadly :c

Makes me sad, since I recently linked all art trades by use of the parent-child system. Then all FOX's art work just vanishes :'(

I’m already scattered all over the web. I just recently joined Cara in June, it’s okay. Tho I’ve been working on my personal website for sometime now.

ooo gimme your cara! I don't remember if I follow you

Here ya go: https://cara.app/ladyshrew

I'm already on DA, Itaku, Twatter, Bsky, Cara, and got an abandoned account on Inkblot and a new account on Cohost... Dunno, I guess I'll just stick with those for now

Weasyl is nice.

The thought crossed my mind, and let's hope it doesn't come to pass, cause honestly I got nothing. I'd just stay on Bluesky. I don't know of any other gallery site that a) caters to these interests and/or b) doesn't allow AI to destroy everything, so this is pretty much it sadly.

You have your pros and cons of anywhere you go.

Probably stick to dA at this point, shit as they're doing with site design. I at least have the advantage of not doing NSFW stuff, so my art should be safe, when I post it, on there. If I want NSFW, I can at least go to Twitter to find it.

DeviantArt

Is Sofurry any good?

I like it a lot, old and great! But I'm not following anyone there yet so I don't know how that feels.

I dunno, maybe I'll dust off my deviant art? lol
I still have twitter and bluesky so shrug. Still, I don't see any sites as good as FA for displaying a full gallery instead of a trashy algorithmically generated small selection.

I always had my portfolio with my social media, but if FA goes away, it would feel like a hole in the heart tbh.

Nowhere. Very few people have ever really cared about my art and my poetry barely gets any attention. The only reason I stick with FA is because I've been here since '07 and I don't feel like posting anywhere else. The odds are if FA ever went away I'd stop writing and doing anything creative altogether. I'm too old to try and catch up with all the latest digital tech and get noticed amongst a crowd of artists who are way better than I ever could be.

I don't think it will close down, as long as the team still keeps up with it.

But since we're assuming IF the scenario ever occurs. I've been thinking about going the route of creating my own personal site to use as a gallery but still keep up with posting onto the social medias where I and any furries are active on.

Twitter... begrudgingly...
BlueSky
Weasyl (if people manage to flock to there)
SoFurry (maybe)
Itaku
Tumblr

I really don't think FurAffinity is going to close down that easily.
There will be others who will still keep this site afloat.

I'd simply instead TRY and (re)create or perhaps open my own web. Taking inspiration and aspire to be the successor perhaps. That's just a backburner pipe dream tho. But I'm having strong notions come back... ⌨🖥🖨💻📱🖱

I already am sprawled out a little bit everywhere. Fur Affinity, Deviant Art, Weasyl, X, Mastodon, Bluesky, Tumblr, and Cara. Weasyl was my plan B during the IMVU ownership timeline, but the site has some non-aesthetically pleasing design choices on how the pages are structured and it has very little web traffic compared to everywhere else I post. I have had pieces get between 50-200 favorites on sites outside Weasyl, yet on-site they get nothing aside from maybe a couple dozen views. FurAffinity kinda is the defacto furry site, and I'd be crushed if it were to be wiped out.

No idea. There’s no best for me. The worst is joining freaking Twitter/X again. I kinda wish people were able to spend time to make their own websites and host them themselves or with a provider like Neocities. That way there will be no hassle of sharing art that has to conform to stupid little rules on Social Media.

I'LL STAY HERE 'TIL THE SUN BURNS OUT

SAMEHH

Time to revert back to YERF.

There are some other furry sites I know of where I can run to if this site does shutdown

Most likely make the inkbunny account of mine be my main 'home', but i got stiff also on sofurry, weasyl, and deviant art. for social media spots i guess Blusky would be my main hangout. :P

deviantart
they removed alot of regulations last year
weasyl would.be amazing if everyone gave that a second shot

Where else? Deviantart.
Its one thing to be frustrated with a site; its another to be bitter with hatred towards it.
I choose not to be bitter.

tbh i revalued it. they endorse AI the same way X and IG do... and they still allow you to opt out and differentiate your art from AI stuff. IG and X allow no opt out unless you are from EU (i am luckily). What's true is that deviantArt's userbase tends to not be very commission oriented, but this is not a bad thing if you don't plan to work with art

I just hope Furaffinity won't die, cause I don't think there is a better option for now ;_;

But yeah, sadly I think i will turn on Deviantart,, maybe Chara, but NSFW art isn't allowed so i dunno

I've been using FA as more of a secondary place to upload stuff or get commissions from people. I mainly use SoFurry and Weasyl as well as a little bit of DeviantArt just to keep up with artists that aren't on the other platforms. I've seen others mention going to Itaku or FurryNetwork but I really don't know much about either of those.

I've had a similar worry ever since FA got a major DDOS attack that took the site down for weeks many years ago.

My entire career depends on FA and while I've tried normal jobs, and branching my art into SFW audiences, nothing pays the bills quite like my NSFW presence on this site, and I've made some of my best friends here too.

The entire creative furry community thrives off of having a social site like this to share their work, and despite (or maybe because of) FA's Web 1.0.antiquated style (which I enjoy), it is still one of the only places that's artist friendly, furry specific, and where people still comment on artwork with any regularity or substance. And most importantly, is not an endlessly scrolling algorithmic hellscape.

SO to answer your question personally and hypothetically... I guess my own discord community for commissions, twitch and potentially youtube for video content, and twitter would be a backup art gallery until a better site is generally agreed upon which could take months. No doubt that such a 'nuclear' event would bankrupt me and many other fulltime freelancers though. It's a worry that keeps me up at night.

I don't think FA will go down, but it's never bad to have a doomsday scenario plan. The sad reality is that there are very few if any Plan Bs that match FAs reach and influence. This really is the only furry community with heart and a large/engaged user base. This is the same existential thing people need to think about if they get laid off. Or more accurately if the charismatic founder/figurehgead of a major company dies (Disney, Elon Musk, Gabe Newell...etc). Sure their companies will survive but what about the culture their leadership provides?

FA will be forever changed, maybe in a small unnoticeable way, or maybe in a huge way. But Dragoneer's passing is a huge deal for the site, so we'll just have to wait and see where it goes. My optimistic outlook is that so many of us don't want this site to fail. There's a lot at stake here and I feel like the general will of the FA community and the rest of it's staff/moderation team want to keep it alive and in line with Dragoneer's original vision.

So that said, here's hoping the best case scenario unfolds. There really aren't many other options.

I don't honestly think this website is going anywhere.

This place never relied on one person, and I don't think it should now.

I doubt FA will go anywhere. But even then, despite the state of DA, it's also filled with plenty of users who are against the AI-craze and stay on there regardless as like an act of defiance like what I'm doing. Just as long as I stay in my "favourite corner" of DA and surround myself with proper artists and like-minded users.

FA is way too valuable to close down, even if it is not currently profitable. The only way it gets "killed" is if it gets taken over by some company like DeviantArt that turns it into a revenue maximizing slop factory.

I probably just wouldn't lol. Not sure if I feel like starting over on a new platform.

It’s time for someone to pool together some people yo start a website for furries, by furries and of furries with art, social and more.

Most likely to DeviantArt.

I also have accounts on Twitter, BlueSky and Discord.

First the amount of artwork posted into furaffinity should be archived every use gets a pass code to their gallery every user can share their passcodes to access said galleries

in my case that's no prob, I have files of anything I post on FA :)

You haven't posted on your Newgrounds in awhile. I would love to see you back on there.

I admit I feel a bit disheartened by NG... never saw a relevant activity there

aww

wherever all of my friends are going

Hmm, you can subscribe to Pinterest, VK, Telegram, Pixiv, Discord

Reddit

Telegram is associated to illegal activities and people who wants to conceal themselves commiting them. Pixiv hosts Underage porn and in consequence, if the author of the journal is honest about his opinions about InkBunny, he "wouldn't touch Pixiv with a stick" either

I don't indeed, I dropped it long time ago because too much anime oriented... I didn't know it hosted that kind of stuff tho! Thanks for the head up, I'll definitely avoid Pixiv then.

I am reconsidering Tumblr, instead... it still allows you to both have a social-like mechanism (sharing, like, etc) with a very simple algorithm but you can also do your own page design. ;D

And it's full of non-artists too! (Cara, for example, still lacks non-artists)

Bluesky is gonna be my main, Cara can host game design pics but not my spicier art, but I'll be using places like twitter and the like because they're kinda needed at this stage.

in already on the most used websites so doesnt change much for me

Begrudgingly back to DA. And I might mirror on Pixiv as they can be pretty chill there.

honestly i dont know is hard for me to thrive anywhere

Definitely newgrounds

My two cents: Bluesky, Discord and Telegram will likely dominate for visual artwork.

Without reading the comments I'm sure many would go to social media sites. Despite being the worst place for art, the exposure there is the highest. Art sites are good but unless they are really old and well established (like FA) your audience will probably not be there.

I'm also on Twitter and even started paying for it to make it bearable (slightly less porn bots and ads) but it feels like ransom money. But personally I get the most engagement there. That's the only place where I feel my efforts are not in vain which is sad. I often think about pre-2010 deviantArt...

I would just chill out in both cohost and bluesky

I would just go where I already am. InkBunny and my own website.

Im a Deviantart boy for life 🫡.

Back up plans are good

The recent FA Hijack is an example of why xD

Yep, this is why for most artist I closely follow I have at least one alt social for them.

X (despite its faults) and Discord were the big saviors as far as contact.

But Gallery wise, if FA went fully poof or was down longer, that would have been catastrophic for slot of peeps. I think this downtime scare will push quite a few to have backup plans fully codified going forward.

eh i hope so too. it will be hard because FA has a very old structure.

Are there any other Furry art sites out there? At the moment I'm also using Bluesky & Cara.

e621

I really don’t know. I feel like this place has been my home for so long that the idea of it shutting down sounds like a crime.

why fA?

no, vabbè era per wuel periodo in cui dopo la morte di dragoneer iniziò a girar voxe del rischio che FA chiudesse. Non che ci abbia creduto molto ma per curiosità l'ho chiesto

Non penso che lo chiudano, sarebbe veramente un pessimo gesto verso tutti quelli che ci han aderito.

nah ormai nemmeno io

I'd honestly move to Bluesky, Tumblr or Reddit

I'm already on Bsky and i'm enjoying it a quite lot!

If Furaffinity ever gets shut down, then there's DeviantArt, Itaku, Newgrounds, Bluesky, Patreon, and Gumroad.