Seven years of... what exactly?

11 min read

Deviation Actions

NEOkeitaro's avatar
By
Published:
5K Views
Oh yes, it's that time of the year.



Deviant since Dec 23, 2004

Alright folks. Time for stats again!

I've been a member of this site for 7 years. Some say, it's the age of reason. But the truth is, I haven't been very active lately: I've been studying hard, first law, for three years, and now I'm studying cinema (finally something artistic and fulfilling! I'm working on the subtitles, you'll see some movies soon), but I've always been busy. No, there is something else.

I've been meaning to write a long rant about how I felt about this website and how it is right now. Thankfully, somebody (actually, a lot of people, but this journal I read and agreed) did it for me. If you've been around for more than 3 years, (or even if you haven't, go and learn why this place was called a home by so many people once), go and read this journal, by lolly. I actually encourage you to read his journals before and after this one. I'm not very fond of lolly as an artist, nor his "style", but the man has a point, and I think he's writing what a lot of us have been thinking for a while.

I understand that deviantART is a company. I understand a company has to go by certain rules to make money, and that dealing with a community this size takes a lot of precaution. I understand that it is not the admin's fault that this website went from a place to get inspiration to a place that inspires disgust for art.

One shift that I feel the most, everyday, and that really saddens me, is this: years ago, deviantART, and its artists, was avant-garde, and you could clearly see that the trends first emerged on deviantART, and then were digested by the corporate world, and advertisers, etc one or two years after. I remember seeing the credits for Casino Royale and think "Damn, isn't this style pretty old already? I've seen this kind of stuff on deviantART for the last two years, and often much better executed!". Now, when I browse deviantART, I am bored. It's a fact, the quality of the artworks submitted here as declined pretty drastically over the years. DeviantART used to be the biggest and best museum for contemporary art, it is now one of the many internet trashcan. Sure, some great artists are still submitting here, but they're part of a tiny minority, that don't seem to get much recognition. The Daily Deviation page, which used to be one of the most inspiring page of the internet, is now completely pointless.

Anyway, enough with the rant, here are the stats:


2006:
NEOkeitaro has 7,641 pageviews total and his 147 deviations were viewed 15,646 times. He watches 114 people, while 72 people watch him.

2007:
NEOkeitaro has 15,531 pageviews total and their 222 deviations were viewed 59,951 times. Neokeitaro watches 154 people, while 114 people watch NEOkeitaro.

2008:
NEOkeitaro has 30,671 pageviews total and their 283 deviations were viewed 139,124 times. Neokeitaro watches 234 people, while 223 people watch NEOkeitaro.

2009
NEOkeitaro has 50,857 pageviews total and their 318 deviations were viewed 374,326 times. Neokeitaro watches 300 people, while 366 people watch NEOkeitaro.

2010
NEOkeitaro has 69,852 pageviews total and their 323 deviations were viewed 506,701 times. Neokeitaro watches 321 people, while 445 people watch NEOkeitaro.

2011:
NEOkeitaro has 78,736 pageviews total and their 324 deviations were viewed 602,332 times. Neokeitaro watches 333 people, while 510 people watch NEOkeitaro.

8884 pageviews this year (18,995 last year) Ouch... You only get as much as you give, right?

1 deviation this year (5 last year) I'll upload stuff before the end of the year! But still, this is quite embarrassing...

95,631 views this year (7969 a month) (132,375 in 2010, 235,202 in 2009). Slow decline, but I'm still pretty amazed how many people still get to see what I do even when I'm not active. That says a lot about the size of the community driving this site.

I watched 12 people this year (21 last year, 66 the year before that), and 65 watched me back (79 last year, 143 the year before). Same reason as last year: I'm definitely not on deviantART that often anymore, and I find it very hard to find really good new artists, or even promising...

2006:
Overall, his deviations received 2,230 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 340 times, while he commented 4,822 times.

2007:
Overall, their deviations received 3,433 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 1,163 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 6,740 times.

2008:
Overall, their deviations received 4,778 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 3,115 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 9,287 times, making about 6.39 comments per day since NEOkeitaro joined DA.

2009
Overall, their deviations received 5,476 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 4,710 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 10,698 times, making about 6.18 comments per day since NEOkeitaro joined DA.

2010
Overall, their deviations received 5,737 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 5,768 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 11,246 times, making about 5.13 comments per day since joining deviantART.

2011
Overall, their deviations received 5,867 comments and were added to deviants' favourites 6,612 times, while NEOkeitaro commented 11,440 times, making about 4.47 comments per day since joining deviantART.

130 comments received this year (261 last year, 698 in 2009), pretty sure 99% are about people using my stock... Then again, if I don't upload anything, what should I expect, huh? :p

844 favorite received this year (1058 last year) (70 a month, 2.3 a day) still quite a good number! Although I notice a lot of people favoriting half my gallery, usually my stock pages. But then again, I guess that's what drives most people to my page these days, no?

194 given this year. (548 last year) The lack of time and nice deviations to comment, or nice artists to chat with are to explain this number.

At last:

The deviation with the most comments is The French with 277 comments, while the most favourited one is 3R Stock Steampunk Instruments, with 1,105 favourites. The most viewed deviation is Wallpaper - Pink Winter with 65,219 views.

Same deviations as ever, The French only got 8 comments, the steampunk instruments got 182 fav, Pink winter got 8614 views... Damn, if you're a whore for pageviews, I tell you, make wallpapers! (and then leave this site forever, you're ruining it)

This year's screenshot: neokeitaro.deviantart.com/art/…


Are you just gonna rant or does this journal have somewhat of a point?



Well, I was going to make a list of nice shit I discovered this year but I have no clue what that would be right now, so I'm just gonna put a playlist of what is on constant spin at NEOkei's awesome (very) private party:

Autolux - Future Perfect (2000s shoegaze) it made my list last year, it didn't get old at all. It's still amazing.

Tame Impala - Innerspeaker (70s trippy rock) like Autolux, this band just rocked my year. Like Autolux, the whole album is freaking golden.

Joanna Newsom - Ys (and the rest of her discography) (Folk). One of the very few I got to see live (again!), she's amazing and I love her. Not for everyone though.

The Black Keys - (pretty much everything they've done) (rock). You can't play guitar and not like that band. Listening to them make me want to sing along and play guitar for an hour. Then I get up, and play guitar and sing. It's pretty awesome.

Tycho - Dive (laid back electro) Damn, those beats... Perfect album to spin on repeat.</b>

Beach House - Teen Dream (dream pop) Spent the whole summer listening to it, turns out it's also a great winter album. Upbeat and kind of magical, it's both simple and refreshing.

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love (progressive folk?) This thing, it's like an opera with singers you could stand. The instrumental parts are great, the lyrics are great. I also love The Crane Wife, from the same band.

Wagner - Tristan & Isolde (Opera) Probably my favorite piece of classical music ever written, the overture makes me shiver each time.

X Japan - Blue Blood (1980s Visual Rock) When I want to feel epic and wiggle my fingers pretending to play guitar in the middle of the street. Best solos in the whole world.

And so I watch you from Afar - This is Our Machine and Nothing can stop it (post rock) Not very original post rock album, but great piece.

Bjork - Selma Songs (Alt pop) Soundtrack of that one movie that made me cry and feel like shit for the whole evening. Love the music, the lyrics still resonate in me. See Dancer in the Dark to fully experience the album.

David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (the remastered version, with the extra tracks. I love John I'm only dancing) (your parents' rock) Classic album, when i'm in the mood Lady Stardust makes my eyes wet.

Deerhunter - (pretty much everything) (alt rock) It's just alt rock. It's nice. Listen to it when you're not sure what to listen to.

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (shoegaze) One day, I'll find out how to make my guitar sound like in sometimes. I still won't stop listening to this album though. It's great. Just don't listen to it often.

Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third (progressive rock) I absolutely love this album. Great riff, great structure, very easy to listen to.



Special mention to HTRK - Work (work, work) : one of my absolute favorite album of this year. It's absolutely amazing, this album is like a drug. Don't just listen to it once, or you won't get addicted.

Anyway, I listen to tons of shit (must have over a terabyte of music, but being knowledgeable is kind of part of my job now), but these albums definitely get special treatment. (And by that I mean when I get the songs in my head, I remember their names.) Maybe you'll discover some stuff, although I didn't go into very obscure stuff, like dezember.07 for example. Do you have any albums you can't stop listening to? Share them with me! :D

If you're curious about my curating habits, you can also visit start a flame in your heart, where I share art that inspires me but that I didn't make. I have very good tastes, I promise.

Also, don't forget that Drawn to Exist is still active, click on the picture:





© 2011 - 2024 NEOkeitaro
Comments1
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
islamaia's avatar
Whoa! It's been a while also for me on dA and only because of ... yeah you know this ... the avalanche of work I've been buried under but hey, this is cool, I like being updated this way by your journal. I'm amazed you do stats! But they're great ... keeps you aware of how you should tune in with the folks who watch you.

On what you wrote about dA and how they used to "rock" with cutting-edge stuff way ahead of the others ... I've kindda floated about the last 5 years, checking in occasionally but yes, I understand what you mean ... probably a "plateau"- ing period for some amazing talents who used to post here? After all, it's also rare for those who were once active on dA to stay active consistently through the years once they get "famous" and are loaded with more work - outside of studies, the "business/corporate" scene can be vicious and can suck you dry of time and creativity at times. But that's my humble take on things :)