FA+
Shop
In Support of FA Staff - Against the Drama
12 years ago
Stay tuned! More narcissistic awesomeness after these messages!
It has been a long time since I last posted a journal, but lately I have been seeing things that I just cannot seem to ignore and feel the need to address. The amount of drama directed at FA and its administration is absurd and unwarranted, and in response I am throwing in my support. I will not pretend that I am not defending 
Dragoneer, because I am. As the leader of this artistic establishment we call "FurAffinity", Dragoneer gets a lot of undeserved prosecution from those who do not understand the contribution he is trying to make to the furry community as a whole, despite misguided, and even wholly ignorant, attempts to antagonize him. However, my defense of Dragoneer is meant as an attempt to prevent further disruption to FA as a whole. This journal is not meant to stand as drama, but is instead an argument made in the defense of the community that many know as furaffinity.
It should be important to note that a community, any community, is only as strong as those who contribute to that community. This is an all-inclusive rule that does not seclude itself to just organizers, decision makers, and investors. Despite whatever leaders are established within that community, those leaders have little to no power if they have nobody to lead or follow them. While this may seem an elementary conclusion, it is one that many people often forget. Leaders often only represent themselves in a way that would benefit the people that they lead, and there are quite a few philosophical approaches that can be used to approach a plethora of situations in such a way as to make any prediction an exercise in futility. While some of the decisions made can conflict with the moral and ethical values of some, they are often made to suit a larger purpose than as a benefit to an administrative minority.
Now, I'm not going to go in depth about philosophical matters of society and personal ethic. Any educated individual should be able to break down the functional aspects of society, subcultures, and leadership roles involved. Sometimes decisions have to be made in order to assure the successful future of the subculture among the larger society that surrounds it. Countless furries understand what it feels like to be seen in an undeserved negative way. In fact, that is how many furries found their way to the fandom; by societal rejection in one form or another. Therefore, it shouldn't be hard to expect a lot of furries to understand that there are some decisions that are hard to make, despite the amount of dislike those decisions will cause. While I am not saying that personal bias is not included in some of those decisions, it is important to remember that leaders still must conform to the influences put upon them by the larger society as a whole in order to preserve the structural integrity of what they want to represent. If they do not want to see the entirety of a sub-community become ostracized by the overall surrounding society, and eventually shut down by the legal mandates that are included with that, they will have to be willing to segregate themselves from the minority that threatens to violate that (yes, angsty cub-furs, I'm looking at you here). In this situation, bias is but an insignificant portion of the overall decision.
Likewise, the leaders included within a sub-culture must also hold to those legal sanctions of the larger communities that surround them. A lot of the decisions that they have to make need to fall within the legal parameters of society, and can be held personally responsible for violations. There are many examples where the leaders of an organization or business are held personally responsible for the representations made by their members, and FA, as well as most organized forms of the fandom, are no different. If there are any long-term violations of societal law directly surrounding an organized group, it is often the leaders who have to suffer the consequences and not the members. With that being said, those leaders have to make the appropriate decisions to cover themselves from those consequences, even if it means that those decisions are unpopular among the rest of the members.
With that being said, leaders often have to hold an expectation to uphold their own law using the same legal system that surrounds them. If the method seems flawed, it is only because the methods of legal dispute among the larger society is flawed, not the method of the leader of a community. In either case, this is the reason why many leaders have to make their decisions based on whether or not they would be able to hold their own case accountable in a court of law based on the legal system that surrounds them. If someone approaches that leader without proper proof and/or modus operandi, palpable and concrete, then that leader may be forced to take the same action that would be expected of his legal surroundings. Basically, "if it won't hold up in court, it won't hold up here".
Finally, most organizations are bound by their locations. Furaffinity, in this case, has its primary location in the United States of America. When it comes to any societal or legal concerns, it must adhere to what is acceptable for its direct location. That means that what takes place within must uphold to the societal laws directly surrounding. While some things may be acceptable in Germany, Brazil, Italy, and etc. they may not be acceptable in the United States, which is why some content that is appropriate there will not be appropriate here. The internet, as much as everyone believes it to be a universally global tool with free expression for everyone, still has owners that are held accountable by the laws in which they physically live, and I have yet to see someone live outside of the planet Earth.
----
Now, with all of this in mind, I feel the need to explain to some furries exactly what FurAffinity is and is not, because it seems to me that some may have forgotten the purpose behind it. While many would be content to see FA as a separate entity held accountable by its leaders, I would assure you that it is not. FA is a community represented by every furry as a whole, and is only regulated by the administrators (leaders) that run it. Those who are new coming into the fandom gain their first impressions by the consideration that furries hold for one another. Personally, if I was brand new to the community and I saw the amount of drama that blew up in my inbox on an regular basis, I would feel as if this particular community is not worth the trouble. Society as a whole already views furries as an oddity. Some would even say that furries are a detrimental challenge to societal values, and there is little reason to cause doubt in that if there is no evidence to support the claim that furries can be considered a betterment to their own community, let alone a betterment to a wider cause.
Furaffinity was meant as a free place where both artist and commissioner can come together and trade services for currency. FA is a social medium and free service to all of those who wish to show their support to artists of all trades, and allows the furry community to come together and share in their appreciation of each other's talents. It is important to remember that while the bulk of the community gets to enjoy this free service, it is by no means actually free. Donations are made regularly, and the leaders that some would like to prosecute on a regular basis spend their own out-of-pocket money on whatever expenses are needed to keep the website together. The last figure that I, myself, was given to indicate the amount of spending to help FA continue was in the $1,900 range as a monthly expense. That means that, whether it is with donations or out-of-pocket expense, it takes a total of $22,800 a year to keep FA running. I would like to know who has that kind of money to spare somewhere in their sock drawer. If you have not made any donations to pay for the expenses, or haven't paid to have your art advertised, that it takes to keep things running, then there is little reason for you to complain about the FREE service you are provided every single day. Even if you have, it is important to remember that you get what you give. Unless you are providing a hefty bulk of the expenses it takes to keep FA running, you may find yourself having little leverage in the amount of changes that take place.
With that being said, since FurAffinity is meant more as a free medium, like a marketplace, for people to peruse through artistic expression, send out communications of monetary and service interest, and join in conversation about favorable talent, it is not run in the same ways that a normal business would. Just as one would expect from a flea market or a warehouse store, the only expenses that keep FA together are those that are paid by the advertising artists and those who wish to see the community stay together through personal donation. It's just enough to keep the lights on and the servers going. Few people other than the artists are actually making a pure profit from keeping the site together for you to use, and it is the furry community that chooses to represent themselves through FA that get any sort of true benefit from the establishment of furaffinity.net.
This means that the administration of FA is not expected to always conduct themselves in the same way that a business would. They receive very little from being an administrator to a site that most people take for granted as a free site. They need only make the decisions that are necessary to keep the site from suffering from the legal consequences that could befall them as people, as well as furaffinity as whole, if they choose not to address it. Everything else they do is a service that they do out of personal sacrifice for the betterment of the community. Every time they report someone to Artist Beware, every time they ban a disruptive user, and every time they take action against someone copying artwork, they are doing so as a sacrifice to personal time and energy. It is impossible to expect them to address all of the concerns that are given to them in a timely fashion, nor should they be expected to handle every situation that arises with remarkable moral or ethical precision. Anything that takes place within their supervision must be weighed through an internal system of checks and balances before they take any sort of corrective action, and as I have already stated they must adhere to the legal rules of the surrounding society first and foremost.
----
I find it detestable that some people still choose to antagonize the administration of FA in the hopes of shutting down one of the few well-run art sites available to the community. What's worse is that there are those who would goad those administrators in the hopes of catching them in an unethical or immoral situation in which to capitalize on the issue. Often, words are taken out of context from higher sources, such as Dragoneer and his wife Sciggles, in order to further cast them away into a negative representation. It's so much, sometimes, that only a communication major would be able to guard themselves properly from the people who would use any means necessary in order to attack FA.
Dragoneer and the rest of the administration make a lot of personal sacrifice in order to bring us a website that functions well. Sure, there are a lot of features that other web hosts hold that would like to be seen here on FA, but for the sake of running the site well enough for many to get the media they want at such a rapid rate, some sacrifices must be made in order to keep the website running smoothly. There are a lot of people who could create competitive websites that could rival FA, and many have tried to this day, but there are few that can actually hold a candle to the amount of work and self-sacrifice to make the quality site that we know and love as furaffinity.net. Unfortunately, there are some who do not understand this, as they do not have the knowledge of what goes on behind the website that they visit daily. I find it regrettable that many of those people who remain ignorant are also those who have the biggest mouths.
I find it appropriate, now, to remind everyone that there are many artists that are branching out to multiple websites. Many do this not because they are dissatisfied with furaffinity but because they want to maximize their artistic exposure and increase their chances of getting commissions. For many artists, the amount of exposure that they have is paramount to paying some of their living expenses or their free-spending potential so that they can enjoy going to conventions, getting better artistic equipment, or more. While FA does hold the largest artistic galleries to date right now, that does not mean that there is little to no competition.
I understand it would be a shame if people had click their mouse buttons a few more times to visit other websites to view and commission their favorite artists. After all, lifting a finger is such an immense expense upon personal energy reserves. However, if you're so dissatisfied with FA then I encourage you to spend a little bit of that energy to go visit those other sites and commission your favorite artists there. If your favorite artist isn't there yet, then please be content to visit FA long enough to commission them. You are not required to participate in any conversations, journals, or comments on any submissions. Since FA is a free website, and more than likely you haven't made any donations to it in recent months, you will not be missed.
It would be best for your distaste for FA to be contained to quiet subtlety. Being an activist only works if it is done in a positive way.
For the rest of us who are grateful for the opportunities we are given, we will continue to enjoy the part of our community known as furaffinity. This site has contributed a lot to the flourishing of our community, our expression, and our exposure. I, personally, thank Dragoneer and his administrators for the decisions that they make in order to keep FA running, despite how unpopular it may sometimes be. Through their personal sacrifice of time and energy I can take the time to visit and appreciate art from everyone who is happy to submit it. Every single day I see beautiful characters, gorgeous landscapes, emotional stories, and resonating music made possible by furaffinity.net. I am proud to call myself a part of this free community, despite the minority of people who try desperately to ruin it for their own selfish gain. As a happy medium, I find myself fortunate and grateful to be able to use FA to make my commissions and show my appreciation to the artists whose services allow me to express myself through their work.
~Trith Selehmaht
*PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS JOURNAL AND HELP SHOW APPRECIATION FOR FA STAFF*
Dragoneer, because I am. As the leader of this artistic establishment we call "FurAffinity", Dragoneer gets a lot of undeserved prosecution from those who do not understand the contribution he is trying to make to the furry community as a whole, despite misguided, and even wholly ignorant, attempts to antagonize him. However, my defense of Dragoneer is meant as an attempt to prevent further disruption to FA as a whole. This journal is not meant to stand as drama, but is instead an argument made in the defense of the community that many know as furaffinity.It should be important to note that a community, any community, is only as strong as those who contribute to that community. This is an all-inclusive rule that does not seclude itself to just organizers, decision makers, and investors. Despite whatever leaders are established within that community, those leaders have little to no power if they have nobody to lead or follow them. While this may seem an elementary conclusion, it is one that many people often forget. Leaders often only represent themselves in a way that would benefit the people that they lead, and there are quite a few philosophical approaches that can be used to approach a plethora of situations in such a way as to make any prediction an exercise in futility. While some of the decisions made can conflict with the moral and ethical values of some, they are often made to suit a larger purpose than as a benefit to an administrative minority.
Now, I'm not going to go in depth about philosophical matters of society and personal ethic. Any educated individual should be able to break down the functional aspects of society, subcultures, and leadership roles involved. Sometimes decisions have to be made in order to assure the successful future of the subculture among the larger society that surrounds it. Countless furries understand what it feels like to be seen in an undeserved negative way. In fact, that is how many furries found their way to the fandom; by societal rejection in one form or another. Therefore, it shouldn't be hard to expect a lot of furries to understand that there are some decisions that are hard to make, despite the amount of dislike those decisions will cause. While I am not saying that personal bias is not included in some of those decisions, it is important to remember that leaders still must conform to the influences put upon them by the larger society as a whole in order to preserve the structural integrity of what they want to represent. If they do not want to see the entirety of a sub-community become ostracized by the overall surrounding society, and eventually shut down by the legal mandates that are included with that, they will have to be willing to segregate themselves from the minority that threatens to violate that (yes, angsty cub-furs, I'm looking at you here). In this situation, bias is but an insignificant portion of the overall decision.
Likewise, the leaders included within a sub-culture must also hold to those legal sanctions of the larger communities that surround them. A lot of the decisions that they have to make need to fall within the legal parameters of society, and can be held personally responsible for violations. There are many examples where the leaders of an organization or business are held personally responsible for the representations made by their members, and FA, as well as most organized forms of the fandom, are no different. If there are any long-term violations of societal law directly surrounding an organized group, it is often the leaders who have to suffer the consequences and not the members. With that being said, those leaders have to make the appropriate decisions to cover themselves from those consequences, even if it means that those decisions are unpopular among the rest of the members.
With that being said, leaders often have to hold an expectation to uphold their own law using the same legal system that surrounds them. If the method seems flawed, it is only because the methods of legal dispute among the larger society is flawed, not the method of the leader of a community. In either case, this is the reason why many leaders have to make their decisions based on whether or not they would be able to hold their own case accountable in a court of law based on the legal system that surrounds them. If someone approaches that leader without proper proof and/or modus operandi, palpable and concrete, then that leader may be forced to take the same action that would be expected of his legal surroundings. Basically, "if it won't hold up in court, it won't hold up here".
Finally, most organizations are bound by their locations. Furaffinity, in this case, has its primary location in the United States of America. When it comes to any societal or legal concerns, it must adhere to what is acceptable for its direct location. That means that what takes place within must uphold to the societal laws directly surrounding. While some things may be acceptable in Germany, Brazil, Italy, and etc. they may not be acceptable in the United States, which is why some content that is appropriate there will not be appropriate here. The internet, as much as everyone believes it to be a universally global tool with free expression for everyone, still has owners that are held accountable by the laws in which they physically live, and I have yet to see someone live outside of the planet Earth.
----
Now, with all of this in mind, I feel the need to explain to some furries exactly what FurAffinity is and is not, because it seems to me that some may have forgotten the purpose behind it. While many would be content to see FA as a separate entity held accountable by its leaders, I would assure you that it is not. FA is a community represented by every furry as a whole, and is only regulated by the administrators (leaders) that run it. Those who are new coming into the fandom gain their first impressions by the consideration that furries hold for one another. Personally, if I was brand new to the community and I saw the amount of drama that blew up in my inbox on an regular basis, I would feel as if this particular community is not worth the trouble. Society as a whole already views furries as an oddity. Some would even say that furries are a detrimental challenge to societal values, and there is little reason to cause doubt in that if there is no evidence to support the claim that furries can be considered a betterment to their own community, let alone a betterment to a wider cause.
Furaffinity was meant as a free place where both artist and commissioner can come together and trade services for currency. FA is a social medium and free service to all of those who wish to show their support to artists of all trades, and allows the furry community to come together and share in their appreciation of each other's talents. It is important to remember that while the bulk of the community gets to enjoy this free service, it is by no means actually free. Donations are made regularly, and the leaders that some would like to prosecute on a regular basis spend their own out-of-pocket money on whatever expenses are needed to keep the website together. The last figure that I, myself, was given to indicate the amount of spending to help FA continue was in the $1,900 range as a monthly expense. That means that, whether it is with donations or out-of-pocket expense, it takes a total of $22,800 a year to keep FA running. I would like to know who has that kind of money to spare somewhere in their sock drawer. If you have not made any donations to pay for the expenses, or haven't paid to have your art advertised, that it takes to keep things running, then there is little reason for you to complain about the FREE service you are provided every single day. Even if you have, it is important to remember that you get what you give. Unless you are providing a hefty bulk of the expenses it takes to keep FA running, you may find yourself having little leverage in the amount of changes that take place.
With that being said, since FurAffinity is meant more as a free medium, like a marketplace, for people to peruse through artistic expression, send out communications of monetary and service interest, and join in conversation about favorable talent, it is not run in the same ways that a normal business would. Just as one would expect from a flea market or a warehouse store, the only expenses that keep FA together are those that are paid by the advertising artists and those who wish to see the community stay together through personal donation. It's just enough to keep the lights on and the servers going. Few people other than the artists are actually making a pure profit from keeping the site together for you to use, and it is the furry community that chooses to represent themselves through FA that get any sort of true benefit from the establishment of furaffinity.net.
This means that the administration of FA is not expected to always conduct themselves in the same way that a business would. They receive very little from being an administrator to a site that most people take for granted as a free site. They need only make the decisions that are necessary to keep the site from suffering from the legal consequences that could befall them as people, as well as furaffinity as whole, if they choose not to address it. Everything else they do is a service that they do out of personal sacrifice for the betterment of the community. Every time they report someone to Artist Beware, every time they ban a disruptive user, and every time they take action against someone copying artwork, they are doing so as a sacrifice to personal time and energy. It is impossible to expect them to address all of the concerns that are given to them in a timely fashion, nor should they be expected to handle every situation that arises with remarkable moral or ethical precision. Anything that takes place within their supervision must be weighed through an internal system of checks and balances before they take any sort of corrective action, and as I have already stated they must adhere to the legal rules of the surrounding society first and foremost.
----
I find it detestable that some people still choose to antagonize the administration of FA in the hopes of shutting down one of the few well-run art sites available to the community. What's worse is that there are those who would goad those administrators in the hopes of catching them in an unethical or immoral situation in which to capitalize on the issue. Often, words are taken out of context from higher sources, such as Dragoneer and his wife Sciggles, in order to further cast them away into a negative representation. It's so much, sometimes, that only a communication major would be able to guard themselves properly from the people who would use any means necessary in order to attack FA.
Dragoneer and the rest of the administration make a lot of personal sacrifice in order to bring us a website that functions well. Sure, there are a lot of features that other web hosts hold that would like to be seen here on FA, but for the sake of running the site well enough for many to get the media they want at such a rapid rate, some sacrifices must be made in order to keep the website running smoothly. There are a lot of people who could create competitive websites that could rival FA, and many have tried to this day, but there are few that can actually hold a candle to the amount of work and self-sacrifice to make the quality site that we know and love as furaffinity.net. Unfortunately, there are some who do not understand this, as they do not have the knowledge of what goes on behind the website that they visit daily. I find it regrettable that many of those people who remain ignorant are also those who have the biggest mouths.
I find it appropriate, now, to remind everyone that there are many artists that are branching out to multiple websites. Many do this not because they are dissatisfied with furaffinity but because they want to maximize their artistic exposure and increase their chances of getting commissions. For many artists, the amount of exposure that they have is paramount to paying some of their living expenses or their free-spending potential so that they can enjoy going to conventions, getting better artistic equipment, or more. While FA does hold the largest artistic galleries to date right now, that does not mean that there is little to no competition.
I understand it would be a shame if people had click their mouse buttons a few more times to visit other websites to view and commission their favorite artists. After all, lifting a finger is such an immense expense upon personal energy reserves. However, if you're so dissatisfied with FA then I encourage you to spend a little bit of that energy to go visit those other sites and commission your favorite artists there. If your favorite artist isn't there yet, then please be content to visit FA long enough to commission them. You are not required to participate in any conversations, journals, or comments on any submissions. Since FA is a free website, and more than likely you haven't made any donations to it in recent months, you will not be missed.
It would be best for your distaste for FA to be contained to quiet subtlety. Being an activist only works if it is done in a positive way.
For the rest of us who are grateful for the opportunities we are given, we will continue to enjoy the part of our community known as furaffinity. This site has contributed a lot to the flourishing of our community, our expression, and our exposure. I, personally, thank Dragoneer and his administrators for the decisions that they make in order to keep FA running, despite how unpopular it may sometimes be. Through their personal sacrifice of time and energy I can take the time to visit and appreciate art from everyone who is happy to submit it. Every single day I see beautiful characters, gorgeous landscapes, emotional stories, and resonating music made possible by furaffinity.net. I am proud to call myself a part of this free community, despite the minority of people who try desperately to ruin it for their own selfish gain. As a happy medium, I find myself fortunate and grateful to be able to use FA to make my commissions and show my appreciation to the artists whose services allow me to express myself through their work.
~Trith Selehmaht
*PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS JOURNAL AND HELP SHOW APPRECIATION FOR FA STAFF*
