Monday Discussions - Community

Hello all,
I skipped last week's Monday Discussion with all the madness of the holiday season it just felt more appropriate. 
So you'll get the discussion I intended to post last week today.  It's probably more fitting as the last one for the year anyway.

Before I really get into this please understand that my mind jumps from one place to another and the connections all make sense to me, but sometimes I have a hard time remembering that it doesn't always make sense to others.  That being said, please just bear with me here as I may jump around a bit.  

Every day I log on and check the Daily Deviations for the day. I look for friends getting DDs or a piece I suggested getting a DD as well as artists I've featured through ProjectPorkchop getting one.  It's part of my daily routine.  

When the footer was removed a while back I still made a point to check the DDs daily and in the beginning I'd sometimes go back to them a second or third time.. but the longer I've been going without the footer.. the less I look at them.  I still look at them daily, but I am getting to the point where there are days I forget that it is part of my routine.  I go and look and am disappointed.  

Last week an artist that was featured in ProjectPorkchop got a DD and by the time of the day I finally got around to looking at the DDs I was really sad to see that a beautiful and vibrant traditional painting still had less than 200 favorites in the middle of the afternoon!  I ended up getting pretty angry about this as the day went on and I'd go back and check in on how it was doing.  By the time the 24 hour feature was over the piece had a measly 1K (rounded up by a few) views for that day.  

Take a moment to wrap your head around that just for a moment.. a website as large as this, and the special features that are meant to showcase worthwhile art around dA are being seen by a tiny fraction of those who visit the site.
I think everyone who has been paying attention to the DDs since the removal of the footer will agree that the exposure to them simply isn't there anymore.

I feel guilty suggesting pieces for DDs at this point because I'd feel gutted if I were to get one knowing that hitting the front page would get me FAR more views than a Daily Deviation does now.  

So, what does this have to do with community?  
Have we as a community become too reliant on others to build nurture and grow the community for us?  Did we forget that our actions (or lack there of) are a huge part of what makes or breaks our community?  Why are we content on sitting back and just watching as though we're some kind of bystanders?  

Look, let's focus on the DDs as just one small piece of our community to see how we are neglecting it.  
How many of you have complained about them no longer being in the footer and now they get overlooked and are not very seen?  How many of you who have complained about that are doing anything about it (other than complaining)? Have you started features to help expose and feature awesome art?  

Why do we need to wait for dA to do what we should be doing as a community already?  

It's pretty simple really.  If you see something you don't like, put your energy into making a positive change and I don't mean go and yell at the staff to change features etc.  Be a voice in your respective community.  
Not sure how to have your voice heard?  
Reach out to others in your community and ask for help.  Talk to your friends and those who are already voices in your community.

Reach out to Community Volunteers and ask for their help. Make use of their position for your community!  
CVs are meant to be voices of the communities they represent, this means they should be well versed within the community and as a result should be able to help you with community related issues.  Additionally they can act as a bridge between the community and staff.  So if you want to move your communities forward involve your CVs! 
Not sure who your CVs are?  Find out here: The Community Relations Team

Last but not least, get off your asses and make a difference! 

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