I remember back in the late 2000s, I used to spend a lot of time on DeviantArt and even shared my own artwork. I can't remember why or when I stopped using the site.
Do you still use it? Did your usage drop off in the last decade? Why?
Ask HN: Do people still use DeviantArt?
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Re: Ask HN: Do people still use DeviantArt?
#2I started browsing it again recently and it's really been nice. It avoids some of the issues that were bothering me with other platforms. Discoverability has had some interesting focus as well. I'm finding lots of new art that is relevant to my interests, and also more authentic which has always been a strength of DA.
I haven't posted any art there in a while but that's not due to the platform itself.
Anyway just my 2c, but it looks like a well-maintained and relevant art platform from where I'm at.
Re: Ask HN: Do people still use DeviantArt?
#3yup, on a daily basis
Re: Ask HN: Do people still use DeviantArt?
#4I sometimes browse it for Rainmeter stuff or icon packs. But usage has dropped, yes.
Re: Ask HN: Do people still use DeviantArt?
#5I lurked on it for a long time. My online habits switched more and more from pc to mobile in the 2010's. The mobile experience on deviant art via app as I remember it felt clunky. That led to me checking deviantart a lot less. Haven't conducted a survey though, I can only speak for myself. But maybe others have had similar experiences?
Update: at first glance, the deviantart app does seem to have a lot of bad reviews. That might explain a lot.
Re: Ask HN: Do people still use DeviantArt?
#6I used to have an account with a bunch of art there. Not anymore. Some time after the redesign I deleted everything and now I only rarely visit the site. The only thing I miss is contact with a few artists I got to know through the site.
Off the top of my head, some of the reasons:
After the redesign the site was practically unusable on my computer. Viewing a single artwork froze my browser and took a minute or two of fans on full before anything showed on screen. I think they fixed that eventually, but it was too late.
They made it difficult to browse through single artist's gallery. When viewing an artwork, the default thing they did was guide you to a "similar" artwork from the entire site. This was very confusing to me at first and made it inconvenient to use the site the way I wanted - the fact that every click took ages to load didn't help either.
They broke RSS feeds.
They added a bunch of dark patterns to make people create an account. For example, even for artwork I explicitly marked as downloadable they forced you to sign in for it.
Probably other things I can't remember anymore. For a while I used their "use old theme" setting, but I think they later removed that, or made it annoying to use. In general, the new site was a completely different thing compared to the old one and I found no enjoyment in using it.
Re: Ask HN: Do people still use DeviantArt?
#7I think people are using artstation mostly these days, although it does seem like artstation caters to a more professional crowd, and deviantart attracted more amateurs.
Re: Ask HN: Do people still use DeviantArt?
#8Used it to find an artist and commission artwork last year. It looks and feels different, but not enough so that it's unfamiliar. It nags more now, just like the rest of the internet. I use it about as much as before, which is not all that much until I need something specific.
Re: Ask HN: Do people still use DeviantArt?
#9Stopped using it after the redesign a while back. The site feels like a puzzle box when you use it, whereas it used to be quite approachable and easy to sift through the loads of content on it.
It seems it's only gotten worse over time and I have little incentive to go back.
Re: Ask HN: Do people still use DeviantArt?
#10I used to have an account with a bunch of art there. Not anymore. Some time after the redesign I deleted everything and now I only rarely visit the site. The only thing I miss is contact with a few artists I got to know through the site. Off the top of my head, some of the reasons: After the redesign the site was practically unusable on my computer. Viewing a single artwork froze my browser and took a minute or two o…
Thanks for the summary. Never really used the site much, but I recall lots of artist friends back in the day sharing/hosting their stuff there. DA seemed to have a lot of community goodwill.
Overall, it's the same story again and again - in trying to become more like Google, they forgot how to be your friend. Turns out dark patterns aren't all that great long-term, huh? They probably haven't stacked up their mountain of JavaScript high enough.
A valuable lesson to keep in mind as I work on my future projects.