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Submitted on
September 29
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So I finally bit the bullet and disabled comments on all my artwork. I had been thinking about doing it for a while now, and after conducting a poll and seeing an overwhelming support of doing it, I decided to finally act upon it. Deviations I submit will no longer have comments. Journals and my FrontPage will because I can’t disable those (trust me, I would’ve disabled my FrontPage comment section YEARS ago if I could. That place is a cesspool).

The reasons for disabling comments are pretty simple. I get a lot of hate on the internet and it’s negatively affecting me. I am, I admit, a special case. I likely get more hate than most “famous” DA users do, and as such I have to tailor my needs specifically. I also have been growing very wary about how toxic the DA community can be at times. DA doesn’t police new accounts and it’s very easy for trolls to perpetuate their activities. Blocking doesn’t really DO anything as anyone can just create a new account to get around it. Reporting is slow and doesn’t usually resolve problems. And more often than not people are far more willing to tell you what you did wrong, than what you did right.

I’ve been growing kinda distrustful of comments in general across MANY platforms, not just DA. The more I see how comments can be used as an abusive system, the less I’m in favor of them. This has been something that’s been festering inside me for a while now.

Of course there is likely going to be a backlash against this practice. Disabling comments sends the message that you don’t want feedback or criticism. And I’m already known as the poster-boy for “can’t handle criticism” on the internet. Others might object because it’s seen as “censoring” their voice, from people who do not understand what censorship actually means. Not allowing you to comment on a work of art, is not censorship as long as you’re allowed to comment on it in SOME public form/forum on the internet. And guess what? Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets are designed for JUST THAT PURPOSE. So while you may not be able to comment HERE, you can still have a voice and express your opinions ELSEWHERE.

At any rate... that’s what happened today. I am not leaving Deviant Art, but this is likely the starting point of me migrating away from the communities and just focusing on making art and comics for fun and entertainment, free of the nagging belittling comments that permeate everyday life for me here. While I have every intention of improving my artwork over time, forcing myself to get better for the sake of getting better is not a belief I hold, and I would much rather make art that’s fun and entertaining for me (warts and all), than striving for perfection and making art that’s technically nice but utterly soulless.
  • Mood: Angsty
  • Listening to: I'm Blue - Eiffel 65
  • Reading: Twitter
  • Watching: Doctor Who (10th Doctor)
  • Playing: Marvel Puzzle Quest
  • Eating: Subway Sandwiches
  • Drinking: Green tea. Hot.
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:iconinternetexplorer968:
Internetexplorer968 Featured By Owner Nov 23, 2014  Hobbyist Artist
"I’ve been growing kinda distrustful of comments in general across MANY platforms, not just DA. The more I see how comments can be used as an abusive system, the less I’m in favor of them. This has been something that’s been festering inside me for a while now."
You're a bit of a pushover. -_-
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:iconpauljs75:
pauljs75 Featured By Owner Oct 14, 2014  Hobbyist General Artist
Not sure if you're popular enough, but if you are, this type of thing would warrant the creation of a new subreddit. (If it isn't obvious, it's the internet's comment section for every and anything that doesn't have one.)

Shame you let the trolls get to you, but most people do use comments as a forum to discuss some point(s) being brought up in various media or artworks.
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:iconleader-1987:
leader-1987 Featured By Owner Oct 13, 2014
those people commeting you negatively sometimes can be kids with fake ages
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:iconrizathepenguin:
Rizathepenguin Featured By Owner Oct 12, 2014  Student General Artist
YOU GO MAN!! I am 1000% behind you getting less hate and more enjoyment out of your art. :hug:
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:iconmicro19:
Micro19 Featured By Owner Oct 9, 2014  Professional General Artist
Way to block the people who made you famous. After all, if you just made art and no one saw/bought it you'd have no living.
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:icontompreston:
TomPreston Featured By Owner Oct 9, 2014
You don't have to comment to enjoy my art, dude. Turning off comments doesn't block my art from still being SEEN.
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:icondewani90:
Dewani90 Featured By Owner Oct 9, 2014  Hobbyist General Artist
at least now i can enjoy your art without having to feel like i have to comment or you like other artists wouldn't feel appreciated, I mean, some artists enjoy comments, some don't and your art doesn't need em' to be popular, it will still be watched, appreciated and added to favorites.
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:iconsusiron:
Susiron Featured By Owner Oct 8, 2014  Hobbyist Digital Artist
I'm glad to hear that you found this solution for yourself, and I hope that good can come from it-- I believe that it will, but only time will tell. 

I've had many qualms with how you handle comments and criticisms in the past, though I think everything has made it clear that you have difficulty handling your comments section and that it leaves you with a great deal of stress and negativity. For all my personal qualms, for all the qualms of those who comment on your work, your mental health still comes first and I hope that you find losing this negative outlet will lighten your load. Your time will be so much better spent without worrying about picking your comments section clean for slander.

That being said, I do hope that this doesn't completely close you to helpful comments from the people who admire your work. I'm sure that you'll still receive notes, and if these notes contain critiques and advice, it could certainly be to your benefit to regard them in a more private setting than an image comment section. All artists can benefit from critique and kind, encouraging words, regardless of their skill level or age. It's the gentle nudges from the people around us that keep us moving forward in the art community.

If people use your notes for further slander and hatemail instead, however, then I am sorry. No one deserves that. Unless you are doing something hugely negative that effects many people (the only thing I can compare for you would be that comic you made about the theatre shooting; I still find that piece rather abhorrent and out of taste) there is no reason for you to receive lashes.

Best of luck with all of your future endeavors, and here's to mental health. I struggle with anxiety and depression myself, and I'm not sure how I would ever handle possessing the limelight that you do. I'm sure that the negativity it can create in your life is overpowering at times-- but don't forget that a lot of positivity has come alongside it, and will continue to do so as long as you pick up that pencil and are willing to continue your work and perhaps improve as you go.
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:iconheartshovelart:
HeartShovelART Featured By Owner Oct 6, 2014  New member Professional Digital Artist
That is a really good idea Tom!
Why should anybody be able to call you out on your mistakes and challenge your fragile world views?
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:iconbogrim:
Bogrim Featured By Owner Oct 7, 2014
Because it's not just anybody. Another more "internet famous" idol also recently turned off the comment section while explaining why in a video, the most subscribed YouTuber PewDiePie (who has more subscriptions than there are people in some countries). It's not that a guy can't handle having his "world views" challenged but that when you have thousand of comments then even if it's a small percentage of comments that are bad, because you have so many comments the number of bad comments become much larger (e.g. 1 bad comment out of 10 comments becomes 100 bad comments out of 1000 comments) and the comment section on most of these media sites are so badly designed that you don't really have the means to sort these comments so at times you just get clusters of bad comments and the good ones are hidden away pages behind.

Bear in mind here that when I say "bad comments" and "good comments" I don't mean criticism or praise, by bad comments I'm referring to comments that are literally just flaming and don't obey the site's policies. Your comment for instance is borderline flame because you accuse the artist of making mistakes and having "fragile world views" without really explaining why and it stands to reason you could probably have expressed your opinion without having to resort to insults in the first place.

As Tom said, it's not that you're not allowed an opinion. It's just the site's behavioral policies are bluntly ignored in the comment section and rarely moderated, which generally makes it a bad forum for communication. It has honestly become a respectable move to turn comments off now.
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