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Hi peepos! It’s been a bit since I’ve posted a journal (mostly because I haven’t had any good reason to post one for a while). However, in light of some recent interactions, I have decided to write a bit of an opinion journal and open a discussion.

As the title suggests, this journal is about the issues surrounding something I’d like to call “Selective Support”. Selective support is a rather diverse and widespread issue that affects a vast majority of artists and non-artists both on DeviantArt and other forms of social media. Also, as a bit of a forward, I would like to state that this journal is a personal opinion piece, and disagreement is completely fine. If you do disagree, I would ask that you do keep the responses in the journal respectful to both me and other people who decide to comment.

First off, let’s identify what Selective Support means.

What is Selective Support?

Selective Support is what I would consider the act of someone only supporting a small portion of what an artist creates or does, while disregarding the rest, or supporting someone only when it is convenient to do so. This is a bit vague but we can break this down further:

Ever draw fan art and original content and then notice how in many cases, people are far more drawn to the fan art? This is one example of Selective Support.

The act of Selective Support isn’t necessarily bad in itself, as it is unreasonable to expect people who are supportive of you or your art to support everything you produce. However, the real issue with Selective Support occurs when artists or followers of an artist claim to be in complete support of someone but are not, instead only opting to be supportive when the supporter might have something to gain, whether it’s appeasement with fan art, gaining reputation due to association, expectation of free art or gifts, the list goes on.

How is this different from fully supporting an artist?

While there is no issue with deciding to support a particular attribute of an artist or their work more than another, being selectively supportive while claiming to be entirely supportive of an artist can often leave content creators feeling used, or they lose a sense of their works value (sometimes even their own personal value). However, this varies quite a bit based on the situation and context.

What are the different types of Selective Support?

The ways of which Selective Support are potentially harmful really depend on the situation and context in which someone decides to be selectively supportive. (As a heads up, many of the following examples are taken from friends, associates, and acquaintances of mine. I will forgo using names out of respect for the individuals, but many of these instances are common between a great number of people, and I’m pretty sure many/most of you reading this journal will relate to at least one of these.) Let’s take a look at some of the most relatable instances of Selective Support and why they can be potentially harmful.

• Selective Support based on Content (the Fan Art conundrum)

Arguably the largest issue on artistic social media involves fan art and the fan artist attempting to branch into their own original work. DeviantArt unfortunately has an environment which is designed to heavily promote artists and art that is desired by popular demand, and the single largest category of DeviantArt is Fan Art.

While Fan Art itself isn’t an issue, it does create a large amount of demand and support based purely on the creation of fan art. If you’ve ever been in a fandom before, you’ll undoubtedly know that people in that particular fandom go crazy and flock to the artists who regularly produce quality fan art PARTICULARLY because it is fan art that the artist produces.

So what happens when the artist decides to branch into original work every once in a while or entirely? Support for these original works drops substantially because it isn’t catering to what the established audience is used to, hence Selective Support.

This is a huge issue with DeviantArt and probably the most single relatable instance of Selective Support and its damage. Why is it an issue in this case? When an artist decides to switch to original work, most of the time the original work is designed from the artist’s true interests and passions outside of fan art. When this art is less-supported due to Selective Support, the artist or content creator feels as if their work has less value or that their fan art has a bloated value.

This instance of Selective Support (I would say) is a large contributor to user deactivation on DeviantArt or artists effectively giving up on producing their own original content entirely. In many cases (some personally experienced), artists sometimes feel that because their work was only valued because it was fan art that it is impossible for their original work to have any value.

• Selective support based on Association (Groupie Syndrome)

Another huge issue on artist social media deals with people who are selectively supportive of someone in a mere attempt to gain access to a group of people or an artist purely for association reasons.

We all know someone who has done this, but Selective Support based on the association an artist might have with someone else is probably the second largest occurring instance of selective association on social media. I personally know many people which others claim to support only because of their ties to someone else who is perceived as more prominent in the art community.

The largest issue with associative Selective Support is because you are practically using an artist to gain access to another in a false show of support (or supporting an artist not because of their work, but their relations). If you are doing this, stop it immediately. If you know someone who is doing this, bring it up with them. This is manipulation of an artist which badly hurts their self-esteem and perception of value.

• Selective Support based on Reciprocation (I want free art/stuff/recognition)

We’ve all seen it before, someone who tries to befriend you and support you because they want something in return. Reciprocation Selective Support is dangerous in the fact that a Selective Supporter is quite literally using an artist to get art, attention, recognition, just about anything (and this can vary from buttering artists up with excessive complements and the infamous ass-kiss to dumping them with tons of fan art in an attempt to get some in return, rather than drawing fan art for the sake of showing admiration or appreciation for the content creator’s work). First and foremost, it’s painfully obvious when someone pulls this particular stunt, and most of the time, artists see right through the secondary motives of someone who wants reciprocation. While this type of Selective Support is annoying, (from personal experience) it’s also very demoralizing, as an artist often feels that they’re only desired for their art, and not who they are as a person behind the computer. This type of Selective Support has long lasting damaging effects which can cause artists to often shut themselves off from a community.

• Selective Support based on Convenience (The Pity Party)

This one is a bit more abstract, but selectively supporting someone only when it’s convenient usually arises in situations when an artist is in emotional distress. Ever see journals that artists sometimes post in which they need help, sad, having life issues, and you see comments from people in the journal who never decide to comment or interact with an artist anywhere else? Bingo.

This act of only being supportive of an artist when it’s easy to do so, while choosing not to support them at any other time, can often lead to an artist thinking their work is uninteresting or undesirable due to lack of interaction from people who only come out of the woodwork in personal journals, tweets indicating distress, etc. Are you really being supportive of an artist when you decide to tell them that you love their work ONLY when they’re upset, but not at any other time, not even on the work that you claim to value so much?

This is immensely damaging and often leads artists to leave a community entirely, as they feel that no one actually cares about their work or their personal wellbeing.

• Selective Support based on Denial

Denial is more than just a river in Egypt. We’ve all known an artist who has done something bad on purpose to someone else, either directly or indirectly. Turns out there are large numbers of people who will continue to support an artist despite their bad-intentions, trying to ignore or set aside the foul attributes. Rather than try to ignore the bad things someone has intentionally done (note I say intentionally, because let’s face it, we’ve all accidentally screwed the pooch many times), these actions should be observed and taken into consideration. If an artist is mean to their followers and disrespectful to other people, is that artist worthy of your support, or do you selectively support them and deny that they have done any wrong doing?

This bit of Selective Support is a bit rarer as it’s usually wrapped up in drama surrounding more prominent artists. If you find yourself in a situation such as this, logically think about the events surrounding it. Yes, sometimes it hurts to acknowledge that someone you respect or used to respect did something horrible, but once you move on after facing the facts, you’ll be a better person for it.

Why is being selectively supportive a problem?

The list is pretty long, but to boil it down to its essence, it’s making the distinction between claiming to be supportive of someone when in reality you’re only actually supportive of someone for a fraction of their work, their accomplishments, attention, or some other ulterior motive. This distinction is important because it’s completely normal to like bits and pieces of someone’s work but not like something else. However making the claim that you entirely support someone when the reality is that you only support elements of the whole is a misaligned statement. If you claim to be Supportive (with a big S) of someone, then there’s more to supporting someone than picking and choosing. Sometimes supporting an artist takes time and energy, but it does so much to benefit both you and the artist.

So what can you do about it?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a cure-all for Selective Support. You can’t suddenly tell everyone to be supportive or acknowledge that they aren’t, but realistically, that shouldn’t be the approach to fixing such a widespread problem that’s incubated in online communities. Rather than trying to fix the problem on a large scale, there are a few things that you can personally do that might not only help show more support, but also get you more involved and intrigued by people’s work, which will help you and the artist both get much more out of your DeviantArt experiences (and make both of you happier):

• If an artist has an original idea or posts original art, take a peek and see what they have to offer. There’s no doubt that every artist has come up with something original and exciting. Countless hours of daydreaming eventually find their way to pixel or paper. Take a look at their original work, stories, ideas, and see if they interest you, maybe even strike up conversation about their fresh ideas. You might find something amazing.

• If you see something an artist has made and you take interest in it (even a little bit), favorite and leave a comment. While dA does push numerical statistics for tracking art performance (lol), artists do emotionally respond to both favorites and comments, sometimes as a little “oh someone liked what I made ” emotion. However a comment is easily worth so much more as it allows you to give personal voice as to why you like their work. It takes 60 seconds, leave a comment, tell them something you notice about their piece, whether it be critique or positive comment. You’d be incredibly surprised how far a well-thought-out comment goes to brightening an artist’s day. You’ll also feel awesome leaving a comment you know they’ll read and smile about, just be genuine with it.

• Take some time to learn who an artist is, because sometimes there can be a difference between who an artist is online versus in person (or their behavior to large groups vs 1 on 1 interaction). Learning who an artist is might give insight to their personal life situations, so you can better understand how to better support someone, whether they are going through a rough patch, dealing with tragedy, family trouble, etc. It really shows an artist that you care about them as a person and not just as a content creator.
On the flip side, you might also learn that an artist is a bit deceiving in their actions, and might make you reconsider supporting them if they turn out to be less-than-admirable. If you found out that an artist was a raging homophobe or a sexual abuser, would you still support them, or would you take that energy and put that support toward someone else who would benefit far more from it?

• Don’t be afraid to note an artist you support. Sometimes it can be super intimidating to try and reach out to an artist you really do want to support more or get to know better, but try it. Artists are people, who fold laundry, play video games, and mow their lawns just like everyone else. If you are inspired by someone, want to strike up meaningful conversation, note them! Notes are seen as more personal methods of contact, and most artists read every note they get. Worst case scenario? You don’t get a response. Best case? Maybe you make a new friend!

There so many ways to show genuine support for an artist and tons more I haven’t listed.

Open Discussion Time

Selective Support is a touchy topic as there are many agreements and disagreements surrounding it. While I know I have no right to tell you who you choose to support, it’s important to realize that the act of ‘supporting someone’ has many different implied meanings, whether you believe supporting an artist simply means supporting their artwork or whether you believe that supporting an artist really means supporting everything they do.

Question Time!
• Do you think that being selectively supportive is bad or good? Can you see it as justifiable in some situations? Do you think the distinction between being Supportive (with a big S) vs supportive (with a small s) is worth considering?
• Are there other types of Selective Support which have repercussions not mentioned in this journal?

• How do you show support for artists you admire or watch? What tips would you give to a fellow deviant to help them support an artist and help that artist feel more appreciated in a community?
• What can Artists do to show support for their own supporters? It’s immensely important for an artist to show appreciation for their watchers. What can they do to help their own followers feel like they matter more?

~Dan

(Please be respectful in your responses below)

Bullet; Green — Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Hi peepos! It’s been a bit since I’ve posted a journal (mostly because I haven’t had any good reason to post one for a while). However, in light of some recent interactions, I have decided to write a bit of an opinion journal and open a discussion.

As the title suggests, this journal is about the issues surrounding something I’d like to call “Selective Support”. Selective support is a rather diverse and widespread issue that affects a vast majority of artists and non-artists both on DeviantArt and other forms of social media. Also, as a bit of a forward, I would like to state that this journal is a personal opinion piece, and disagreement is completely fine. If you do disagree, I would ask that you do keep the responses in the journal respectful to both me and other people who decide to comment.

First off, let’s identify what Selective Support means.

What is Selective Support?

Selective Support is what I would consider the act of someone only supporting a small portion of what an artist creates or does, while disregarding the rest, or supporting someone only when it is convenient to do so. This is a bit vague but we can break this down further:

Ever draw fan art and original content and then notice how in many cases, people are far more drawn to the fan art? This is one example of Selective Support.

The act of Selective Support isn’t necessarily bad in itself, as it is unreasonable to expect people who are supportive of you or your art to support everything you produce. However, the real issue with Selective Support occurs when artists or followers of an artist claim to be in complete support of someone but are not, instead only opting to be supportive when the supporter might have something to gain, whether it’s appeasement with fan art, gaining reputation due to association, expectation of free art or gifts, the list goes on.

How is this different from fully supporting an artist?

While there is no issue with deciding to support a particular attribute of an artist or their work more than another, being selectively supportive while claiming to be entirely supportive of an artist can often leave content creators feeling used, or they lose a sense of their works value (sometimes even their own personal value). However, this varies quite a bit based on the situation and context.

What are the different types of Selective Support?

The ways of which Selective Support are potentially harmful really depend on the situation and context in which someone decides to be selectively supportive. (As a heads up, many of the following examples are taken from friends, associates, and acquaintances of mine. I will forgo using names out of respect for the individuals, but many of these instances are common between a great number of people, and I’m pretty sure many/most of you reading this journal will relate to at least one of these.) Let’s take a look at some of the most relatable instances of Selective Support and why they can be potentially harmful.

• Selective Support based on Content (the Fan Art conundrum)

Arguably the largest issue on artistic social media involves fan art and the fan artist attempting to branch into their own original work. DeviantArt unfortunately has an environment which is designed to heavily promote artists and art that is desired by popular demand, and the single largest category of DeviantArt is Fan Art.

While Fan Art itself isn’t an issue, it does create a large amount of demand and support based purely on the creation of fan art. If you’ve ever been in a fandom before, you’ll undoubtedly know that people in that particular fandom go crazy and flock to the artists who regularly produce quality fan art PARTICULARLY because it is fan art that the artist produces.

So what happens when the artist decides to branch into original work every once in a while or entirely? Support for these original works drops substantially because it isn’t catering to what the established audience is used to, hence Selective Support.

This is a huge issue with DeviantArt and probably the most single relatable instance of Selective Support and its damage. Why is it an issue in this case? When an artist decides to switch to original work, most of the time the original work is designed from the artist’s true interests and passions outside of fan art. When this art is less-supported due to Selective Support, the artist or content creator feels as if their work has less value or that their fan art has a bloated value.

This instance of Selective Support (I would say) is a large contributor to user deactivation on DeviantArt or artists effectively giving up on producing their own original content entirely. In many cases (some personally experienced), artists sometimes feel that because their work was only valued because it was fan art that it is impossible for their original work to have any value.

• Selective support based on Association (Groupie Syndrome)

Another huge issue on artist social media deals with people who are selectively supportive of someone in a mere attempt to gain access to a group of people or an artist purely for association reasons.

We all know someone who has done this, but Selective Support based on the association an artist might have with someone else is probably the second largest occurring instance of selective association on social media. I personally know many people which others claim to support only because of their ties to someone else who is perceived as more prominent in the art community.

The largest issue with associative Selective Support is because you are practically using an artist to gain access to another in a false show of support (or supporting an artist not because of their work, but their relations). If you are doing this, stop it immediately. If you know someone who is doing this, bring it up with them. This is manipulation of an artist which badly hurts their self-esteem and perception of value.

• Selective Support based on Reciprocation (I want free art/stuff/recognition)

We’ve all seen it before, someone who tries to befriend you and support you because they want something in return. Reciprocation Selective Support is dangerous in the fact that a Selective Supporter is quite literally using an artist to get art, attention, recognition, just about anything (and this can vary from buttering artists up with excessive complements and the infamous ass-kiss to dumping them with tons of fan art in an attempt to get some in return, rather than drawing fan art for the sake of showing admiration or appreciation for the content creator’s work). First and foremost, it’s painfully obvious when someone pulls this particular stunt, and most of the time, artists see right through the secondary motives of someone who wants reciprocation. While this type of Selective Support is annoying, (from personal experience) it’s also very demoralizing, as an artist often feels that they’re only desired for their art, and not who they are as a person behind the computer. This type of Selective Support has long lasting damaging effects which can cause artists to often shut themselves off from a community.

• Selective Support based on Convenience (The Pity Party)

This one is a bit more abstract, but selectively supporting someone only when it’s convenient usually arises in situations when an artist is in emotional distress. Ever see journals that artists sometimes post in which they need help, sad, having life issues, and you see comments from people in the journal who never decide to comment or interact with an artist anywhere else? Bingo.

This act of only being supportive of an artist when it’s easy to do so, while choosing not to support them at any other time, can often lead to an artist thinking their work is uninteresting or undesirable due to lack of interaction from people who only come out of the woodwork in personal journals, tweets indicating distress, etc. Are you really being supportive of an artist when you decide to tell them that you love their work ONLY when they’re upset, but not at any other time, not even on the work that you claim to value so much?

This is immensely damaging and often leads artists to leave a community entirely, as they feel that no one actually cares about their work or their personal wellbeing.

• Selective Support based on Denial

Denial is more than just a river in Egypt. We’ve all known an artist who has done something bad on purpose to someone else, either directly or indirectly. Turns out there are large numbers of people who will continue to support an artist despite their bad-intentions, trying to ignore or set aside the foul attributes. Rather than try to ignore the bad things someone has intentionally done (note I say intentionally, because let’s face it, we’ve all accidentally screwed the pooch many times), these actions should be observed and taken into consideration. If an artist is mean to their followers and disrespectful to other people, is that artist worthy of your support, or do you selectively support them and deny that they have done any wrong doing?

This bit of Selective Support is a bit rarer as it’s usually wrapped up in drama surrounding more prominent artists. If you find yourself in a situation such as this, logically think about the events surrounding it. Yes, sometimes it hurts to acknowledge that someone you respect or used to respect did something horrible, but once you move on after facing the facts, you’ll be a better person for it.

Why is being selectively supportive a problem?

The list is pretty long, but to boil it down to its essence, it’s making the distinction between claiming to be supportive of someone when in reality you’re only actually supportive of someone for a fraction of their work, their accomplishments, attention, or some other ulterior motive. This distinction is important because it’s completely normal to like bits and pieces of someone’s work but not like something else. However making the claim that you entirely support someone when the reality is that you only support elements of the whole is a misaligned statement. If you claim to be Supportive (with a big S) of someone, then there’s more to supporting someone than picking and choosing. Sometimes supporting an artist takes time and energy, but it does so much to benefit both you and the artist.

So what can you do about it?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a cure-all for Selective Support. You can’t suddenly tell everyone to be supportive or acknowledge that they aren’t, but realistically, that shouldn’t be the approach to fixing such a widespread problem that’s incubated in online communities. Rather than trying to fix the problem on a large scale, there are a few things that you can personally do that might not only help show more support, but also get you more involved and intrigued by people’s work, which will help you and the artist both get much more out of your DeviantArt experiences (and make both of you happier):

• If an artist has an original idea or posts original art, take a peek and see what they have to offer. There’s no doubt that every artist has come up with something original and exciting. Countless hours of daydreaming eventually find their way to pixel or paper. Take a look at their original work, stories, ideas, and see if they interest you, maybe even strike up conversation about their fresh ideas. You might find something amazing.

• If you see something an artist has made and you take interest in it (even a little bit), favorite and leave a comment. While dA does push numerical statistics for tracking art performance (lol), artists do emotionally respond to both favorites and comments, sometimes as a little “oh someone liked what I made ” emotion. However a comment is easily worth so much more as it allows you to give personal voice as to why you like their work. It takes 60 seconds, leave a comment, tell them something you notice about their piece, whether it be critique or positive comment. You’d be incredibly surprised how far a well-thought-out comment goes to brightening an artist’s day. You’ll also feel awesome leaving a comment you know they’ll read and smile about, just be genuine with it.

• Take some time to learn who an artist is, because sometimes there can be a difference between who an artist is online versus in person (or their behavior to large groups vs 1 on 1 interaction). Learning who an artist is might give insight to their personal life situations, so you can better understand how to better support someone, whether they are going through a rough patch, dealing with tragedy, family trouble, etc. It really shows an artist that you care about them as a person and not just as a content creator.
On the flip side, you might also learn that an artist is a bit deceiving in their actions, and might make you reconsider supporting them if they turn out to be less-than-admirable. If you found out that an artist was a raging homophobe or a sexual abuser, would you still support them, or would you take that energy and put that support toward someone else who would benefit far more from it?

• Don’t be afraid to note an artist you support. Sometimes it can be super intimidating to try and reach out to an artist you really do want to support more or get to know better, but try it. Artists are people, who fold laundry, play video games, and mow their lawns just like everyone else. If you are inspired by someone, want to strike up meaningful conversation, note them! Notes are seen as more personal methods of contact, and most artists read every note they get. Worst case scenario? You don’t get a response. Best case? Maybe you make a new friend!

There so many ways to show genuine support for an artist and tons more I haven’t listed.

Open Discussion Time

Selective Support is a touchy topic as there are many agreements and disagreements surrounding it. While I know I have no right to tell you who you choose to support, it’s important to realize that the act of ‘supporting someone’ has many different implied meanings, whether you believe supporting an artist simply means supporting their artwork or whether you believe that supporting an artist really means supporting everything they do.

Question Time!
• Do you think that being selectively supportive is bad or good? Can you see it as justifiable in some situations? Do you think the distinction between being Supportive (with a big S) vs supportive (with a small s) is worth considering?
• Are there other types of Selective Support which have repercussions not mentioned in this journal?

• How do you show support for artists you admire or watch? What tips would you give to a fellow deviant to help them support an artist and help that artist feel more appreciated in a community?
• What can Artists do to show support for their own supporters? It’s immensely important for an artist to show appreciation for their watchers. What can they do to help their own followers feel like they matter more?

~Dan

(Please be respectful in your responses below)