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A Month on Weasyl by spur
It's been about a month since I left FA for here, and I totally don't regret it. Yeah, things may not get the same amount of hits, but they also move at a slow enough pace that I can actually favorite and comment on everything I like. I appreciate all artists who take the time to post their stuff over here.
Of course, yesterday, FA deployed their giant, garish ads all over the place. Being on the other side of the fence now, I chuckle at the panic they've created. Unfortunately, the furry community is being quite stubborn in their reaction. Rather than jump ship to sites like Weasyl, they'd rather promote AdBlock and little formatting hacks to bypass the ads, which will only worsen the problem.
As I said a month ago, the situation on FA is not going to get any better. I think it behooves all furry artists to support a true, community-based web site before they find themselves trapped, with all their work exploited. I'm not suggesting they give up FA entirely - but we should adapt sites like Weasyl and make them the first priority instead of FA.
And part of that comes down to us, the existing Weasyl population. The awesome snowcat Accelo once said a reason he doesn't prioritize Weasyl is because he loves getting comments. I'm sure that's a common theme. I know I love getting comments too! I think everyone who leaves a +fav here should consider leaving a comment too if they have the time. Just a little something to let the artist know you care about and enjoy their work and appreciate their taking the time to post it here. I've started to do this myself. It's all about treating others they way we want to be treated~!
Journal Information
- Views:
- 186
- Comments:
- 10
- Favorites:
- 0
- Rating:
- General
Comments
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I don't know if I'd call it insane, but it is being stubborn, that's for sure~! I just feel it's in the best interest of the furry community that we develop a community-run gallery that can compete with FA, so if and when its backers turn it into an ad-infested site that exploits its users, they have an alternative.
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I try to make it a habit to comment on pieces that I fav, granted it doesn't always happen but still the effort is there. Like you said, that's probably one of the biggest things that most people that post work here are deterred by, lesser views, favs, comments, etc. It's basically starting out on a downsized FA, everything is back to square 1 and the odds are back against ya when you need it not to be.
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Yeah, it's a two-way street where you get out what you put in. You can't really complain about lack of views or attention if you just do a monthly "art dump" and don't bother interacting with users beyond that. You've got to take matters into your own paws and build that community~!
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Happy belated anniversary!
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Thanks~! ^_^
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It's really good to see an artist saying this. I'm not an artist. I advocate for Weasyl whenever I can, but I don't hold the power, the artists do- it's just plain astonishing that so many of them refuse to go over to a better site while FA decays bit by bit. I usually stay pretty quiet, but leaving more comments here sounds like a good idea. Anything that proves Weasyl doesn't have to be an unpopulated wasteland if people don't choose to make it that way is beneficial in the long run.
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Yeah, I added you cause I saw what you were saying in that one FA thread. Last night, I was checking on FA and got one of those "Horny MILFs need you" ads, complete with copulating stick figures. Shook my head about just how far they've fallen. I get less traffic here, but I'm happy to have moved on.
To be blunt, I think some top furry artists are stubborn because of their popularity. They sort of get to the point where they're "beyond" interacting with their fans and just treat sites like Weasyl as yearly art dumps with no attempt to foster community or engage their fans. They are used to the fans coming to them instead of the other way around. But that's not how it works. That's not going to reduce the FA reliance. We need more of them to step up and offer, as you say, options. Otherwise, we'll continue to leave ourselves vulnerable as a community, dependent on a single web site with untrustworthy administrators.
Until then, you're right. It really is fascinating to see what kind of exploitation they are willing to endure. I think, at some point, this has to culminate in FA demanding a cut of commissioned artwork. The ad thing clearly isn't working out for them, so what else are they to do? That will be the real test, I think.
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Well, the thing everyone has predicted is turning it into a paysite, for both artists and watchers. I wouldn't put that OR demanding a cut past them. It sounds totally insane and unlikely, but it's been made very clear that those in charge of the site don't care what the users think, so...
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Though, to be fair, "premium subscriptions" are supposedly part of Weasyl's plan as well, but it's unclear what those would entail. I don't have a problem with such a thing as long as the cost is reasonable and the investment results in clear, ongoing improvements with the site. I don't see that happening with FA, however.
The unfortunate casualties in this current mess are furs who bought advertising on FA. Given the wide variety of furry ads, I would have thought that would be a decent source of revenue, but apparently it's either not enough or they want more.
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L1zz4rd13
I feel the same way with this journal. It's just insane on what furries will do.