formatela In reply to ??? [2014-03-21 22:34:41 +0000 UTC]

If I persevered I could master it, but I only get about 10 pageviews a day, so it does rather seem like a lot of effort for nothing.

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BonkiHart In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 18:17:37 +0000 UTC]

this is ... just awful
please no
why
why would you do this.....

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TioTheBeetle In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 18:17:36 +0000 UTC]

ok now that deviant art is accessible to me again I can at least respond to this.

I think a huge majority of people protesting are unaware that simply communicating with a website at all will give the website  your IP that and if you are on the web at all it is EXTREMELY likely that I could get your Ip and find out exactly what area you live, what provider you are using and some information about what your computer is just from the IP alone. The best part is 80% of the time ANYONE can get these IP's. I am not positive with this part but I think when you are on a phone people can easily get your exact co-ordinates right down to the street you are on if it’s on a network.

Another thing I would like to say to calm peoples nerves, from what I understand this is just a widget. Google is not pairing up with deviantart and you’re not being forced to use it.   

I can understand why people are getting nervous about this submission though. I don’t claim to be a computing god but I can see if you don’t know too much about the subject it would be frightening. I could also see this triggering something by the people who don't like google at all. If you are like me and just tend to skim through text I can even understand jumping the gun and commenting out of worry before fully reading. (No seriously I do this all the time)

What I am surprised by is just how fast people specifically on dA protest. This reaction is as strong as the youtube/google+ fiasco. I'm not saying that's a good or a bad thing or whether the opinions are always right or wrong. I just find it interesting just how strongly people react to dA's posts at times. You could either take that as people really care about the site, just not wanting change or some other reason. Or maybe just artist's in general are more prone to protesting?

Personally I appreciate the tool. I’m into psychology and seeing stats like this is just fun to look at. But it's a bit complex. I would need to do a bit of reading to fully understand googles pages.

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formatela In reply to TioTheBeetle [2014-03-21 19:43:56 +0000 UTC]

It doesn't surprise me how fast people protest, but it does surprise me that they start to protest before they have even read the journal entry. And they ask questions which are answered in the first sentence of the journal. It also surprises me the range of things that people protest about. And the conclusions that they jump to.

My only concern was that this new functionality may slow down the primary functionality of DA, but apparently it won't have any impact on the DA servers. Which is good because they are slow enough as it is.

I'm also a stats person - network and systems management, but I have to say that I think most of this is overkill. Stats for the sake of it just tend to cloud the real issues.

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TioTheBeetle In reply to formatela [2014-03-24 00:12:04 +0000 UTC]

Ehh I agree with you but I admit I have addiction issues with stats like this XD

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formatela In reply to TioTheBeetle [2014-03-24 00:46:19 +0000 UTC]

Me too. That's why I'm staying away from them

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Alexander-Musset In reply to TioTheBeetle [2014-03-19 21:17:58 +0000 UTC]

I understand the point you are making, but for me it is not 'Spooky they'e going to find me' thing. As you say it has alway been possible to track an ip address. 

I just feel like what I do on a site (like DA) stays between me - the site - and my friends.
For the site to track my activity is fine because they provide useful info to me, and I can trust them with my info. In that sense I feel like the contract is between me and the site. It is a relationship of trust.

But I don't like them passing all that activity on to a third party who I have no direct relationship with.
Other than the stated purpose of giving that info ( providing useful stats) how do I know what else they might be using it for; Benign of malign makes no difference - I haven't authorised it and I have no control over it.

Many people have made the point that you are not in control of your data just by using the internet. That may be true, but why volunteer it up if you don't need to. It is quite possible for a site like DA to hold your info without passing it on to Google or whoever else. They have been doing it up to now (I think/assume).

That is why I am upset with the idea that DA are 'providing' Google with my DA activity.
It is not really 'what' or 'how much' or how 'Identifiable' that data might be, it is just the fact that they are giving something that I thought was between me DA.

I am deeply upset about this. One of the points being is that DA is far more than an art/lit sharing site it is real social networking site and a community. I have genuine friends that I have made and sometimes some quite personal stuff is shared. There are a lot of young people on here working out their angst through their art/lit and more importantly it becomes a medium through which they are truly supporting and helping each other. In fact that is what makes DA unique and a great place to be where there are lots of nice human beings.

I have seen situations where someones journal, shows that person is obviously crying out for help is in a very bad place even suicidal. And I have seen their followers rushing to help and give support. I have done it myself. I genuinely believe that lives have been saved.

The other issue I have in general with this kind of topic is that I  object to is 'Profiling' which is what Facebook are famous for. That is extremely personal. FB use profiling in order to target the right users for their clients' advertising, which sounds fair but it is just the amount and the nature of the data they have on you. Not only do they have an individual file on you, but it is highly detailed and you don't know what your profile is, or whether it is one that you would agree with.

Apart from being highly intrusive it is also very dangerous.

Yes, obviously this is a great tool and can do amazing things but is it worth it. Just because something 'can' be done doesn't mean 'should' be done. You may love it but do you really 'need' it
Even myself when I look at it I think 'Wow that is really cool'

But is it really worth it if it changes the very nature of my relationship with DA and the privacy of who I am talking with and what I am looking at.

For me it isn't and I may well end up leaving DA over it, I don't know. That would be a terrible thing because I really do love DA. I am looking into the issue and seeing what other people are saying to make sure as you say that I am not 'jumping the gun'  Again as you say it is a very easy thing to do.

So a genuine thanks for your input.

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TioTheBeetle In reply to Alexander-Musset [2014-03-19 22:16:01 +0000 UTC]

I think it's because my personality is very open, but I am alright with such information getting released. And in the few cases I'm not I will use Ghostery or some other such app (which I can confirm will completely block out google's analytics from working).
I will at least give  deviantart credit for being very open about the situation. I don't think it's as bad as the "mystery" surrounding facebooks methods. I can see clearly what sites deviantart shares info with and it's an incredibly small amount in comparison to other sites.

Me and three of my friends goofed around with it for a bit and I don't think it's TOO intrusive, disturbing at some points knowing it's in real time but other than that I don't see anything that me personally would throw a fit at.

I for one am going to use it because like I said before I have a fascination with stats and I really like to know where my traffic is coming from. (Might get lucky and find a good critique in some other sites comments) Though I did let my watchers know I am using it.


Maybe it's because I'm a premium member and have been for 3+ years but I would assume dA's main revenue is from advertisements. But I don't know what condition that's in. 

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Alexander-Musset In reply to TioTheBeetle [2014-03-20 00:22:29 +0000 UTC]

- It might be a generational thing too-
I can't imagine it now, but there was no internet till I was bout 25 - 30 (shit that makes me seriously old!!)
No mobile phones eithter.

When I stepped out of the door, it was just me the sky and the trees.
No one knew where I was, no one could contact me until I got to where I was going.
It was so much easier to lie to your parents in those days!

The point being that I value that sense of freedom. Constantly being under the microscope in one form or another is just so intrusive and annoying.
That is a difficult thing for the younger generation to understand because it has been the norm from the beginning. People just think it is weird. Now the mobile phone is like a part of your body without it you can hardly function and get insecure if you lose or misplace it. Know that sense of panic when you can't find it!! lol

Try the unthinkable and don't use your mobile  for two weeks. Just use a landline! Trust me it is a worthwhile excercise. Even for me that is almost impossible these days, but I have tried it. Also my son did about a year ago (Not on purpose - he broke it) he said it was a good experience- and guess what, he is still alive and he hasn't lost any friends.

Good luck with all that you do,
Alex.

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TioTheBeetle In reply to Alexander-Musset [2014-03-20 18:21:06 +0000 UTC]

I understand what you are saying . I know exactly what you mean by sense of freedoms but the way I developed just makes me kind of accept that sometimes you are stuck. Over time I just accepted that some freedoms you have to earn.


Though I can tell you I barely use my smartphone so I'm already ahead of you there

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Alexander-Musset In reply to TioTheBeetle [2014-03-20 21:31:07 +0000 UTC]

Maybe that is because it is smarter than you!  

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AmethystForge In reply to TioTheBeetle [2014-03-19 20:54:00 +0000 UTC]

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TioTheBeetle In reply to TioTheBeetle [2014-03-19 18:20:51 +0000 UTC]

I SHOULD add that I agree with others it should be free.
However Deviantart has been allowing Premium Users to see more of their stats already. So I guess it makes sense to continue the trend. Maybe a substitute would be to all free users to see the stats system on dA and the premium members being able to see things via this widget?

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Nyekii In reply to TioTheBeetle [2014-03-19 18:32:07 +0000 UTC]

deviantART is losing huge amounts of people due to tumblr (you can edit the entire html of your page and add tons of stuff for free. no payment lmao) 

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TioTheBeetle In reply to Nyekii [2014-03-19 18:57:56 +0000 UTC]

Surprisingly I haven't hit the Tumblr bandwagon because I honestly enjoy dA more.

Does tumblr even have a "premium" style thing?

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Nyekii In reply to TioTheBeetle [2014-03-19 18:58:51 +0000 UTC]

tumblr doesn't have a premium option or whatever

it's all free

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silvertales In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 18:15:32 +0000 UTC]

I suppose, if you're popular on dA, Google analytics is a useful tool to see where the demographics of your visitors, what they're looking at, etc.... but, if you can count the number of visitors/hits you get in a month on the fingers of one hand, this is pretty pointless.

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Nyekii In reply to silvertales [2014-03-19 18:32:20 +0000 UTC]

and there are free websites that do it for you

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Pix3M In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 18:15:12 +0000 UTC]

Oooh... this should come in handy...

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rickyrico In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 18:10:47 +0000 UTC]

I used to get 100-200 mentions a day, 
today I've gotten none. Were they
removed?

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TheRainbowDragon In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 18:02:53 +0000 UTC]

TL;DR version: If you pay us you can look at some fancy graphics that you don't really do anything with at all. YEY!!

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Ferdafs In reply to TheRainbowDragon [2014-03-19 18:17:51 +0000 UTC]

You're being too pessimistic about it, Knowing your audience is a big plus. With the fancy graphics you can actually tell what people like more, where are they from etc. It's like getting to know who you're dealing with when you have 10 000+ people visiting your page daily. I'm just wondering what took them so long to make this. But you're right about one thing, people like you and me don't really need it.

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TheRainbowDragon In reply to Ferdafs [2014-03-19 18:43:48 +0000 UTC]

Yeah sorry I can't help it but be pessimistic because of my crappy life so far Thanks for not getting mad at me, though!
And you made really good points

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Ferdafs In reply to TheRainbowDragon [2014-03-19 21:14:53 +0000 UTC]

I can't get mad at someone for stating their opinion! That would be stupid of me...

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MegatronDX In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 17:55:02 +0000 UTC]

I just hope Google does not take over this web site like they did to You Tube.....

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Alexander-Musset In reply to MegatronDX [2014-03-19 21:28:42 +0000 UTC]

I doubt that at the moment - but getting into bed with Google is not a smart idea.
It's more Googles 'influence' the driving of DA to become more and more commercial is what I worry about. Then DA loses it't ethos and all that is great about it.

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BonkiHart In reply to MegatronDX [2014-03-19 18:18:01 +0000 UTC]

Exactly what I was thinking......

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Karkava In reply to MegatronDX [2014-03-19 18:12:37 +0000 UTC]

OH GOD NO. I DO NOT WANT THE DEVIANTART INTEFACE CONSTANTLY CHANGED FOR NO REASON. I DO NOT WANT TO GET A GMAIL ACCOUNT JUST SO THAT I CAN KEEP MY DA ACCOUNT. I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE THE COMMENT SECTION CHANGED SO THAT ONLY GOOGLE PLUS SUBSCRIBERS CAN COMMENT, AND I DO NOT WANT THIS WEBSITE TO BE RUN BY A BUNCH OF MONKEYS THAT WILL NEVER LISTEN TO CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISIM. DONT LET THEM WALK ALL OVER YOU, DEVIANTART! DONT LET THEM WALK ALL OVER YOU! FOR THE LOVE OF ANYTHING THAT IS HOLY AND FULLY INTACT, DONT LET THEM WALK ALL OVER YOU!

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i4dezign73 In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 17:51:17 +0000 UTC]

I think I could've done with this about three years ago. Sadly, I know my visitor status most days...Zero!

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formatela In reply to i4dezign73 [2014-03-21 20:06:22 +0000 UTC]

I think it's become quite apparent that the makeup of the people who visit DA has changed. Most of the people who 'watch' me nowadays aren't contributing artistically to DA, they are generic social networkers who come here for a particular type of 'art'. The only reason they look at my stuff is because it's digital female and is on the fringes of the type of artwork that they are looking for.

Unfortunately DA has become a haven for stolen almost hard core porn and as a result that type of audience is becoming DA's bread and butter.

I checked through my list of people I watch at the end of January, most of them exceptionally talented artists of all genres and media. There were 400 of them. Of these, about 150 had either left DA and closed their accounts or they hadn't been active for over 26 weeks. DA is aware  that people are leaving - their beta testers keep screaming it at them quite regularly, but they either aren't listening or they don't care. I think they don't care. I don't really see this site as being a community of artists any more, just a social networking site with art galleries as a secondary benefit. Unfortunately DA doesn't have the technical infrastructure that a heavily used social networking site really needs. And it does rather seem that DA is quite happy with that situation.

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i4dezign73 In reply to formatela [2014-03-21 22:46:18 +0000 UTC]

Excellent response. And probably a good enough reason for me to say why I won't be renewing premium membership this time! I personally think I've outgrown this place. Thanks for commenting 

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formatela In reply to i4dezign73 [2014-03-21 23:45:28 +0000 UTC]

Thanks and you're welcome.
Personally I always feel sad when someone says they are contemplating leaving.
It feels like the whole fabric of DA is being taken apart piece by piece.

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i4dezign73 In reply to formatela [2014-03-22 03:05:46 +0000 UTC]

yes I agree, especially as I have a lot to thank it for in the beginning. Although, I think they seriously need to consider a new shade of background! I'm personally sick to the back teeth of DA pale green! LOL

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formatela In reply to i4dezign73 [2014-03-22 11:02:47 +0000 UTC]

Yep, that colour is a bit dated. It reminds me of the linoleum my parents had in our kitchen when I was a kid in the early 60s.

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Sheshin In reply to i4dezign73 [2014-03-19 19:45:20 +0000 UTC]

 I know what you mean, same here. I got more traffic 2 or 3 years ago and now hardly anything. 
I don't understand why. I mean I've never been very fast about putting out art not even 2 or 3 years ago so that's not the case, it just slowed down to a trickle.

I mean this is just an account that I don't take seriously, I draw what I like on my spare time and it goes here, mostly cartoons.

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Krissi001 In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 17:42:19 +0000 UTC]

Awesome!  

I use it since it was in Beta testing, it is amazing what kind of stats you can see.

If people don't want to get tracked, they should use ghostery . 

I love seeing where the people come from. :D
 

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rotane In reply to Krissi001 [2014-03-19 18:17:43 +0000 UTC]

Yep, this is great! My Top 3 are the same as yours, but then it starts to differ:

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Eagle9615 In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 17:39:22 +0000 UTC]

This is nice is for popular artist. I personally won't use cause my page doesn't get that much traffic xD

For those saying this is the first step in Google taking over dA, it's not. DeviantArt probably already uses Google Analytics for their site and is just giving premium members the option to do the same now.  

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SekoiyaStoryteller In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 17:38:33 +0000 UTC]

I don't really like that only Premiums can use this. I mean, I know the site has to earn an income somehow, but there's already plenty of incentives for general members to upgrade, and if they can expand their audiences using these stats, they may become better able to afford upgrades.

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EdwardWoodART In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 17:37:06 +0000 UTC]

i dont care

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TheseKrimzonFlames In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 17:25:08 +0000 UTC]

Holy sweet Jesus, you actually came up with something useful. I'm kinda shocked, to be perfectly honest.

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Poprock-Poppy In reply to TheseKrimzonFlames [2014-03-19 17:46:52 +0000 UTC]

And the best part? GASP ITS FOR PREMIUM SONLY WEUJAJNMGH

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TheseKrimzonFlames In reply to Poprock-Poppy [2014-03-19 19:47:03 +0000 UTC]

That's the usual other side of the dA coin, greed, greed, with more greed, a glass of fresh greed, with a side dish of greed, on a greed platter.

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Poprock-Poppy In reply to TheseKrimzonFlames [2014-03-19 23:16:41 +0000 UTC]

Coated with greed.

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Cheshire--Fox In reply to TheseKrimzonFlames [2014-03-19 17:46:36 +0000 UTC]

Ha ha XD

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MjaxMajoran In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 17:21:52 +0000 UTC]

More BLOODY PREMIUM! Sweet Merciful F*Word, I get that you guys need money and all that but seriously!?

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FedeSchroe In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 17:10:25 +0000 UTC]

Shame on you DA, shame on you.... I´m very disapointed about this.... and I´m not sure if I wanna put my Pictures in DA if Google track all my traffic. 

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Super-Incognito In reply to FedeSchroe [2014-03-19 17:32:39 +0000 UTC]

lol Google does it anyway, since dA itself uses GA for their own purposes. Same as almost 70% of  10000 most popular internet websites does. Following your logic you should reconsider uploading anything in the internet at all.

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AmethystForge In reply to Super-Incognito [2014-03-19 20:56:32 +0000 UTC]

^

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Ziggy-FoxCat In reply to ??? [2014-03-19 17:06:23 +0000 UTC]

Oh yay.
Another reason to get premium...
Also, another reason that NOT having premium is gonna be more torturous.
hnnnng....

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