Let me preface this with the statement that I love the idea of groups and I've not only been a member of groups on dA, I have and continue to support many of them. My issue with groups within deviantART is that we do not currently have the correct technological support and that is being addressed in the near future with the groups project. However, until then there are very significant courtesy issues that need to be addressed.


Since dinosaurs roamed the earth (ok really the beginning of dA as I know it) groups have functioned about the same. People join groups and allow the duplicate uploading of their work into 'group accounts'. The descriptions on the group uploaded deviation usually contains a lot of BOLD CAPS ABOUT NOT FAVING THIS PLEASE FAVE THE ORIGINAL and a link. Fair enough, it was a work around to suit the needs of 'groups' when no viable alternative options were available. However, like everything manual, error occurs and people will fave the group uploaded image anyways. Should you be one of these poor suckers, you've probably received a relatively terse note stating that you faved the wrong image and asking you (hopefully nicely) to fave the original.

Again I get it, protecting the artist and getting the artist the credit they deserve however, folks the times have changed.

Now that we have collections I can collect while I'm browsing and I'm not going to see descriptions or be able to identify what is contained in a 'group account' or not. Adding to that, once i've collected work I intend to show off, because I too want to give artists' attention, I probably notice I've made a gafaw and unfave the group image and fave the original. However, I generally have received my terse note by now and to be quite frank, some of them are downright rude.

I know I'm not the only one that goes through this because it's happened to my mom and if you take a new deviant like her who is active and loves to feature artists in her journal, then throw in a rude 'HOW DARE YOU FAVE THE GROUP IMAGE' note.. well that's really frustrating and doesn't exactly scream 'WELCOME TO THE AWESOME DA COMMUNITY' now does it?


What I don't understand is why groups don't apply collections to what they're doing. Instead of uploading a duplicate why not collect the images of your members? It's less work and it's a direct link to the original and no more faving the wrong image..

Sometimes we need to think outside of the box. Groups have to understand that it was never a good set up in the first place and I commend them for finding a way to make it work but as technology on the site changes and new things are brought in, we all need to examine ways to improve upon things we're currently doing and I think while we're working on group functionality, collections should be your new best friend.

I will say that not all of the 'you faved the wrong thing' notes are mean. However, they are a slap in the face for striving to do the same thing groups are setting out to do - respecting and showcasing the artist.

We need to be a little more respectful of each other in general, there are people on the other end of the screen.





Think Geek Wishlist< - I've been a REALLY good girl!




Calculations: Subtract 1 point for negatives and Add 1 for positives




Tally
January - 414 points
February - 484 points
March - 528 points
April - 555 points
May - 585 points

I'm doing it manually on paper at home because I kept forgetting to update online but I'll show the tally every month