So I've come to the realisation that so many other deviants have recently (or not so recently). DeviantART has become a popularity contest. And it's true, plain and simple. But there's a couple of things that you could still do instead of just leaving DA.

1) Comment. You could start putting effort into your comments on other peoples work. Most Deviants complain that they aren't getting constructive criticism on their pieces and instead are getting crap like 'woot!' or 'i like this +fav'. I find that it's all a matter of getting what you give.

2) Reality. DA is a lot like reality, meaning that people will look at what they like. And if that means that 1000 Deviants are going to look at and fav the crappy photo of the naked dismembered body and only 2 are going to read your intellectually stimulating short story then this is just a fact that you must face. I've come to understand that people would much rather look at a photo than read my poems so I don't mind, and when people do finally read my stuff then I'm happy to know that they actually read it in full.

3) Who Cares. Finally you can do what I've always done. Which is to just continue to upload your work and comment and fav on things that you like and never care about how many people look at your gallery. I don't use DA as a means to improve my photography or writing (that ship sailed long ago along with DA's purpose). No, I simply use it as a means to copyright protect my work so I don't have to pay the postage fees that are involved when copyrighting it myself.

Enjoy art as it was meant to be enjoyed. Don't buy into sensationalism. And always believe in yourself.

*cqp