deviantArt FairExposure Support

We would like to show our support of the FairExposure system. We feel it's a great example of forward thinking and progress that deviantArt was in need of.

We also would like to answer some of the statements made about the new FairExposure system and clear up some falsehoods that have been made.:

Statement: Its now a lot harder to find all of the well-executed, high-quality art when browsing popular: 1 month for example.

Our View: That statement is false. Who is the judge of well executed, high-quality art? It should be a judgment of the masses and NOT a judgment of a few empowered individuals who will get less exposure by this system.

Statement: The new popular page has less art showcased by established, high-quality artists who jobs it is actually to do art. This means less exposure for them, and less money for DA print sales. With the new system its more difficult to find and watch these professionals.

Our View: Another false statement. New artists who actually have something new to be shown will take the place of the old artists. The new artists (which we should add have equal quality if not more) will generate a new revenue stream that dA hasn't recognized. Analogy: The reason automobile companies change models is to heighten interest and generate new revenues. People get tired of old models and want something new.

Statement: Lower quality of art on the front-page.

New, not so well known users are given exposure, however a lot of these users have lower quality of art, thus bringing down the quality of the front page looks.

Our view: This statement reeks of elitism and is an insult to the whole community. The front page as it use to be was filled with the same stuff, day in and day out. It is our assertion that the front page will house higher quality art than the cookie cutter art that was there. It will give the membership an infusion of inspiration and a glimmer of hope that they can achieve some recognition on deviantArt.

Statement: The popular section can be defined as popular anymore, as it features a lot of randomness in it, such as badly drawn art with only 50 favs. It is now more of random-popular or popular under systematic category control or literally FairExposure.

The old system was called popular for a reason and the artwork getting up there lately is not THE most popular... so it feels like a contradiction.

Our view: Again, this statement smacks of elitism and that attitude has no business being in our environment. Badly drawn art is a subjective term and the amount of 'faves' that it gets is no judge of it's worth. Here in lies the problem. Thousands of faves does not guarantee quality, it just guarantee's a strong marketing plan. The quality of those 'high fave' creations is questionable at best and in most cases the faves are not justified.

Statement: With the old favorites system people could build up and work hard on getting popularity and not rely on an algorithm to nominate them.

People need to work hard to EARN their spot on the Popular page. Not be algorithmically selected. The old system clearly inspired people to work harder for their popularity, as stated by many deviants.

Our view: deviantArt is not about marketing. It's about art. Good art will rise to the top. You don't have to 'earn' a right to be recognized as a good artist. The problem with the old system was that mediocre artists could 'market' themselves through emotional 'stuff's' to gain popularity and their fan base will proliferate their popularity. Again it has nothing to do with talent it just about their marketing skills.

Statement: It's cool to have fair exposure, but you just took the fun out of the game for a lot of people.

Our view: "A lot of people" is a relative term. There are 1,000,000 deviants. The 'a lot of people' refers to the 20 or 30 top members on the site. In there view the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. We disagree vehemently with these selfish needs. What will happen by means of this new system is that tens of thousands will enjoy exposure on the site and the 20 or 30 'vocal minority' members will be relegated to having a wonderful experience on deviantArt from the masses of fans they've acquired over the years.

They will continue to get exposure just by the volume of their fan base. The only difference will be is that their need to overpower and out 'fave' everyone on the site will be diminished by a small amount.