DeviantART – The online community of potential

The internet is brimming with opportunities for individuals to actively take part in. Online communities in particular allow for users to discover new roles, share knowledge and opinions with others about common interests and build networks across multiple online environments. One such community known as DeviantART

demonstrates the potential benefits of being part of an online community in its many facets, as well as the downfalls that its online society is vulnerable to.

DeviantART targets the interest of art in its many different forms. Once becoming a member, users are provided with their own webpage which they can then upload their artworks to. These art pieces can range from digital paintings to jewellery pieces, choosing from a wide range of categories supplied when progressing through the submission process. In turn, other members are able to leave comments on the artworks, giving opinions and constructive criticism where needed. These interactions are however only the most basic use of the online community, for as the community has evolved over the years; new tools have been implemented and unexpected developments have occurred.

This online community presents new roles for members as they begin to discover other activities that they can become involved in. Users are able to ‘favourite’, buy, create a wish list, and most recently ‘collect’ other member’s artworks. Users are also able to ‘devwatch’ other artists so that they are able to see when the member submits new content to their webpage. Users then begin to socially network with one another, finding others who share similar artistic tastes as their own and commenting on each other’s work to encourage improvement and creative practise. Artists have also been known to collaborate with each other on artworks, either drawing and colouring separately or submitting linework to their webpage for others to complete. Artists thus because active participants and content creators within the online community, submitting art pieces to benefit both the artist and other members.

DeviantART also provides other tools which allow artists to be engaged within the art community. The DeviantART shop permits artists to sell their artworks online to other users in a variety of formats. Depending on what type of account a user has, artists can receive a considerable amount of money from their sales. The Chat and Forums also allow for communication among members and coordinators, discussing both trivial and serious issues, from praising work to placing job offerings for artists. The News section is also an area where any member can submit news for the public community to read.

While DeviantART allow artists to network and communicate with one another, there are others to purposely use these mediums to disrupt the community and its users. Individuals are able to create accounts which they use to spam areas that are open to all members, while others leave negative messages to artists they are not in favour of. While the DeviantART community is able to report these instances and have such members blocked, this does not stop them from creating new accounts and continuing their behaviour. These are always the possible problems that can arise when the community allows all users to share their knowledge freely in the online environment.

Regardless of this, DeviantART continues to thrive as a community, with new members and artworks being uploaded regularly to share with others. It is unknown whether DeviantART will adopt new media in the future, such as tagging which has not yet been considered. However whatever path the community takes, it will hopefully continue to grow and aid artists for years to come.

How is Web 2.0 different from Web 1.0?

Web 2.0 offers a dynamic and interactive experiance for internet users through allowing greater participation and authority in creating, reusing and revising content.

The users involvement online is currently in a transitional movement from the read-only to a read-write environment. Web 1.0 uses the internet to display information and knowledge on static webpages. The content published on these webpages are usually created by an individuals, who whether an expert or a amatuar. Other visitors to the sitr are unable in anyway to contribute to or question the content submitted, allowing very little user generated content to be given back into the online environment. Web 2.0 however provides users with new options in contributing to the collective intelligence and allowing user-created content to thrive in online communities.

Web 2.0 has permitted new virtual cultures to emerge including social networking, knowledge management, citizen journalism, open source software development among others. All of these communities rely on user contribution to function, whether that be simply connecting with friends and family on Facebook or developing new software for other users to be continued to be bulit upon.

How do online communities organise themselves?

Why do online communities organise themselves?

Online communities organise themselves due to the convenience the online realms offer in they provide in offering freedoms which can not be obtained through the physical world. Terry Flew highlighted that due to society, there became a decline in opportunities to express oneself in democratic participation and community formation. In contrast, the internet provides a community base for finding others who share similar interests and opinions which may have not be discovered otherwise to geographic limitations and the use of a decentralised network. In these virtual cultures, there is more leverage on the issues and artefacts presented than there would be allowed in the public eye. Online communities have both personal and intellectual diversity, which all participants are able to share their knowledge and views on issues and artefacts, allowing a collective intelligence to continuing build, review and revise content. Users not only have the ability to contribute to the community, but are also able to the form friendships with others within the virtual culture. As people continue to involve themselves in these communities, new identities are formed with each individual which is not appointed, but instead are earned by the engagement in the online community.

How do online communities organise themselves?

Amy Jo Kim (2000) highlights that a gathering place for online communities can be found in many various forms, ranging from a mailing list to web site (p27). All of these however, have a purpose, which keeps the community together and allows it to thrive. This purpose is usually a main interest that all members of the community can identify with and the interest provides a platform in which all users can regularly come together and contribute to, regardless of geographical placement, cultural backgrounds or social status. Kim describes there being four main types of the online communities which are geographic, demographic, topical and activity based, which often overlap with one another (2000, p5-6). Some examples of these include:

Women’s Health – Health Boards
This forum is based around particular woman’s health problems and queries that members may wish to talk about. This community allows others to share their knowledge and opinions on particular topics which others post to the website.

World of WarCraft Focused around the world of warcraft online game, the main site also allows players to communicate with each other outside the gaming in forums to state queries and offer solutions to other players.

DeviantART
DeviantART is both a topical and activity based community, for it not only permits users to submit and comment on each others art, but also allows postings on world art news and discoveries which may be of interest to the community.

What does it require to form online communities?

There have been numerous authors who have stated the qualities that aid in making successful online communities. Amy Jo Kim notes that there are three underlying principles that provide for her strategies in building communities which are Design for growth and change, Create and maintain feedback loops and Empower your members over time (2000, xv-xvi). All three of these principles relate back directly to the user, so that they are able to use the social network to there best capabilities to allow for maximum involvement in the community.

Mike Godwin (cited in Flew, 2002, 70) also proposed ten principles for making a successful virtual culture. Such principles as “use software that promotes group discussion” and “let the users resolve their own disputes” focus particularly on letting the community develop its own topics and issues depending on their particular interests in the community. This also permits members to form their own roles depending on individual contribution. Godwin’s principles also focus on allowing older information to be stored and available, should any individual requires it. This allows users to constantly build upon, reuse and revise the collective intelligence of the community.

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