The troublesome curse of anti-nostalgia, you'll be okay!

hope so!

You can always try to talk to them again! I know I successfully reached out in the past to a couple old friends.

i think some are long gone with no active accounts or associations.

Right? I was just going through each of my watchers on my old  Tremaine account, and wanted to reconnect with folks. I suspect not everyone knew I moved accounts, and I was right! It definitely was worth to leave shouts on folks' pages.

I figure heck, if they weren't interested they'd just delete the shout and move on. If they were interested, they'd follow!

But it was also fascinating to see how the stats broke down. Granted, the account was disabled/deactivated for 6 years, BUT!

This is kind of how it broke down:

415 abandoned accounts (10+ years old, probably not ever coming back)
1027 active accounts (had some sort of activity within the last 365 days)
9 banned accounts
2 blocked accounts (I blocked them)
83 deactivated/disabled accounts
24 deceased users 😢
1 deleted account (happened to catch this one before it was processed)
532 inactive accounts (1 to just short of 10 years with no activity)
39 moved accounts
23 suspended accounts
20 unknown accounts (no way to tell if they've been active lately)
2175 total accounts.

So only 1027 of the 2175 accounts that followed me were still active, about 47.2%.

There are a ton of artists, friends, and acquaintances I miss.

Like, I really hope  Frisket17,  lilyness,  NekoArt and  CockiestSpaniel (formerly  Wielder) are doing OK. ☹️

For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here! Thank you for making this post! It's hard to reach out. I totally get that.

wow only 47% that's rough.

It kind of is, but then I think, holy cow, 1000 people is pretty awesome? Like, imagine that in person! That's what I take away from that.

I was just looking up some local concert halls around town where I live, and one of the larger ones has 4,000 people. 4,000 people, a concert hall, for your art! How cool is that??

Sometimes people move on, though, it's no one's fault, right?

My thinking is heck, if there's someone who matters to you, say hi! If they weren't interested in talking, nothing would happen anyway. At best, you might find a new friend! :3

Makes me wonder how many of mine are still around D:

I think it's important to remember two bits of info! I had that account since 2005, and it disabled for about 6 years, so it definitely wasn't gaining watchers, and it definitely was bleeding watchers for a while, probably!

I think what  TheRealist said applies, too! You for sure haven't experienced some of the earlier mass exodus events!

And, FWIW, I love your art! Count yourself having gained a watcher! 🥰

Unfortunately, I suspect a decent percentage of these is down to two factors:

1) In the last 15 years there have been somewhere between three and five major site changes I can remember which resulted in a mass exodus of sorts to Twitter.

2) A very small chunk of artists took on more work than they could handle and have ended up on the Artists Beware blog for one reason or another. And instead of dealing with back-owed commissions and/or refunding incomplete work, they simply abandoned their accounts.

i assumed something like the first was an issue but the second didn't occur to me and i can totally see that as a problem.

First of all: YAY! I remember you! I'm glad you're still around! 😁🎉

Oh, totally! I remember the first instance where FA started up by Arcturus (spelling? I dunno) and the site went down. I think Dragoneer had the exact copy of the code, started the site up again, Arc threw a shit-fit. Some folks from back in 2005 just made new accounts, probably. Something like that!

I remember a bunch of those changes happening, but details were lost to time, but I do remember waves of people leaving for other sites way back when.

I know for a fact some of those suspended & banned folks were folks being especially shitty to commissioners.

I still don't regret looking up all my old watchers; it's a really fascinating look at the site's history!

I sometimes wonder what hapened to people who just stopped posting,faving or doing any activity here who I used to have some contact with as well

the curiosity does give me a brain itch.

I feel ya, occassionally when someone Favorites an older piece, I go to it and casually glance through the comments and then come to the realization that I haven't seen them comment again and I just hope they're doing well!

Long-time no see, Melon-chest

im a sneaky boyo!

yeah i just hope it wasn't for bad reasons they just disappeared.

*Pokes head out of my trash can*
Hello! I'm still here :D Just lurking
You did this for meeee: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/27453318/

i remember you, no worries! <3

Oh wow! 6 years ago...already! Yah that is kind of nostalgic!
If you still remember me, you are an absolute pro! XD

Yah I know this kind of feeling. I knew so many people and now you don't even know anymore if they are around or if they are doing well.
Time just moves on and on D=

oh boy i'm not so sure i do X3, like seem familiar but trying to remember anything specific draws a blank.

All fine! Would have been very suprising if you remembered! XD
You made me small comic page all that time ago hehe.

took a bit to figure out but i found it now! doesn't help i put the wrong name down.

Oh boy! XD yah on FA the commission doesn't have a name in it either, only the characters name. But i was very pleasant working with you! Should give you some more boys for doodling in the futur hehe =D

i'd appreciate it! thanks!

There are so many artist that have left or just moved on. I was always in the background watching stuff. So it's nice to see people in the community still around. I don't want to change accounts or my handle so that way people can find me. Glad your still around, even if you worry about bothering folks. You never bothered me and am happy your doing a checkup on followers/friends.

there were a few years i was more a lurker than an active participant here cause of life. i really wanted to change names without changing accounts but that FA only did that sort of thing recently X3

i know that feeling. i am a very silent follower ... but i miss some people ... espacilly one. not knowing what happend to her is haunting.

that's a terrible shame, i had a friend who i used to talk to almost daily and they just sort of stopped. i tried to reach out but never got any response. i wonder if i did or said something unknowingly.

The feeling is understandable. Personally, I'm quite an asocial person so it's hard to make connections with people to really talk much on journals. And for leaving comments on artwork, there's only so many ways I can say something is amazing, beautiful, etc. But I've been around here since 2008 so I'm not going anywhere any time soon!

ye! i've been around since 05/06 ish and this place is more a home to me. i really wanna respond to everyone but sometimes i think just saying "thank you" over and over feels hollow X3

I try to be active and respond to people the best I can. heck, I now want to try to be more active and keep in touch with people! But I totally get the energy issues. Sometimes it's just low energy time and you can't be super active.

I'll try to get in here and comment and interact more on your work!

yeah i'm trying to be more active, still struggling. prolly always will. i tried to pop into your discord more but i always was just lurking and i stopped posting in the art channel cause i got self conscience ><

The art channel is there for posting! So don't be afraid to use it.

I sometimes do feel weird posting art in other servers. I've been trying to get over it and just do it. Interact more. Feels good once I get in the grrove.

Visiting the depths of ones gallery is a sure way of invoking existencial dread, especially if you've got a gallery here for close to 20 years.
Oh, this user was always writing fun and positive stuff about my works, wonder how they are doing nowadays? Visits page, last sign of activity in 2018...
And there of course are the comment sections of those pre-and-early 2010 pictures. It's like a graveyard, more dead accounts than alive ones <_<

yeah really makes me sad to visit my old name and browsing the comment.