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You should congratulate yourself on confronting your previous problems. However, new problems have arisen, and these cause you more anxiety.

For you, deviantART has now acquired not just the status of an opiate, but of a religion (which are only the same thing if you believe Karl Marx) - you regard deviantART as a monolithic, abstract entity which claims to love you and which is prepared to punish you - by way of suspending or even permanently banning your account - if you should do anything which displeases it. As such, you feel guilty for acknowledging that you have new problems; but you can't ignore the fact that overcoming the old ones wasn't enough.

But you really don't have to feel guilty. deviantART's love conquers all: it shall be your salvation. And salvation can be achieved by joining groups which indulge your infatuation with Japanese animations.

Of course, if you're a deviantBLASPHEMER (one who prefers Facebook, Twitter, or Delicious.com to deviantART), then much of the above won't make much sense to you. But whether it does or not, know that nobody wishes for you to deactivate your account.

That said, let's consider your new problems.

As a n00b, you did an e-Columbus and navigated your way through deviantART's immense expanse. And one of the first things you did was join as many groups as you could - just for the hell of it. Well, actually, you did want to make a few friends who shared your interests, and of course you wanted to attain the golden llama; how fabulous it is, by the way, that you're so much more closer to llama Nirvana!

But because you joined so many groups, the assault on your message centre is amazing. You never imagined that you would leave your computer for three minutes for a bathroom break, only to return and find that you've received a hundred and ten new notifications.

To some extent, you brought your troubles on yourself; you could see, even through the haze of admiration that descended upon you whilst ogling fan-arts of Hetalia, that it probably wasn't the best idea to join so many groups. And yet you're not entirely to blame: you received so many invitations from your deviantFRIENDS to join deviantGROUPS that you felt deviantPRESSURED into deviantJOINING them at the risk of offending their deviantFEELINGS. (By the way, deviantART's strange typography has encroached on your own to such a degree that you now use it liberally, even to refer to things that have nothing to do with deviantART whatsoEVER.)

So, now you have a decision to make: do you hide all the activity from these groups, or do you unjoin them? The dilemma is as follows: if you hide the activity from the groups, then there's no point being a member of them, unless you intend for your membership to be a sign of support; but how can you support something if you're no longer aware of what it does? And if you unjoin the groups, then your deviantGROUPBETRAYAL (now you're just taking liberties with the typography) will appear in the group's Log, and your profile page might be visited and spammed by angry group administrators demanding to know why you left - actually, demanding to know why you joined, if all you was going to do was leave - and what was so wrong with a group that flooded your message centre with more notifications than everything else on your deviantWATCH list combined.

Tough break.

And you face a similar dilemma regarding all those people you so eagerly deviantWATCHED on joining the site. Some haven't logged in for weeks on end, whereas others never log out for weeks on end; and of those who are still here, some post journals or art once in a blue moon, and others post them so often that you sarcastically wonder whether the underactive deviants should outsource to the overactive ones.

Again, tough break.

You can't possibly hope to follow these deviants' activities, since too much overwhelms you and too little doesn't register on your radar. If you hide the activity of the overactive deviants, then there's no longer any point in watching them at all; and there's no point in watching the underactive deviants, either. But to remove these deviants from your deviantWATCH would be a betrayal, you think, especially if these deviants happen to watch you as well, or even watched you first. You don't want to ignite deviantDRAMA, and you don't want to pretend that you're fine with this state of affairs when you're not.

In the end, you decide to remove just a couple of people from your deviantWATCH; you compare it with sticking your toe in the sea to see how warm, or how cold, it is. And it's a comfort to you to know that you can always block these individuals if they start demanding unpleasant answers from you.

And now you have high-falutin' ideas of gaining seniority, and even of joining the administration. You've seen that senior members are well-loved and well-respected. And as for the administration, you've noticed that the members with hearts and the deviantART logo next to their screen names get free lifetime premium memberships, and you want one as well! (You blush when you remember the time you asked the much-beloved administrator farand how much money he spent on his swanky deal. Do you think he had any high-falutin' ideas, by the way?)

In the end, you decide to remove everyone from your deviantWATCH and watch solely the hearts and the dA people in an attempt to penetrate their inner circle. You remember thinking, once upon a time, that you have no right to be a snob, but the thought of procuring a lifetime premium membership puts an end to all of that. At the moment it's too early to tell if your dream will come true; but farand wishes you the best.

Finally, there's the problem of your gallery. All that artwork you uploaded on first joining is, quite frankly, an embarrassment to you; it doesn't 'fit' with your newer, better stuff. You can't bring yourself to delete it, so you'd like to put it into storage, where you know it would never see the light of day again. And yet, you want to keep displaying it - for historical reasons. What are you going to do?
As I did with Part I, I've had to update Part II too - removing references to the old symbols. I wrote this before becoming a volunteer and senior member
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:icontheemptychest:
TheEmptyChest Featured By Owner Feb 23, 2014
I find this part more relatable than the first, although both gave me a good laugh. :D Groups are one thing I'm horribly guilty of, mostly because I'm such a versatile person when it comes to art and I want to get my work out there. I want to get it seen and critiqued. I've left groups before, thankfully without any adverse consequences, and I seriously need to leave more because I'm too busy to be an active member in all of them (or even half of them). But... it's hard, especially for a sporadic artist like me who might need them later. 

I also know what it's like to look back at your old work and be embarrassed. This is my second dA account and luckily, all the stuff I have in my gallery I'm pretty happy with, but my last account was a totally different story. :XD:    
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Feb 23, 2014
I see where you're coming from RE both groups and work. Groups: I left a number recently, after realising I would contribute exactly nothing to them, for the foreseeable future at least... though I may end up joining them in the future :p As for work... I'm constantly deleting stuff, or putting it into storage, editing it, and resubmitting it :paranoid:
Now I'm curious to know what your first account was and what your work was like :o
Reply
:iconartbycher:
ArtByCher Featured By Owner Feb 23, 2014   Traditional Artist
eColumbus :lmao:
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Feb 23, 2014
I don't know what I was thinking :o
Reply
:iconayeaye12:
AyeAye12 Featured By Owner Feb 23, 2014  Student Writer
"you didwant" 

Space needed between did and want :3

Brilliant, though, just like part one!
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Feb 23, 2014
Corrected, many thanks :ahoy:
Reply
:iconayeaye12:
AyeAye12 Featured By Owner Feb 23, 2014  Student Writer
Very welcome :3
Reply
:icona-neverending:
a-neverending Featured By Owner Dec 21, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
Ah, well, there I go again, nodding my head like one of those little dog-statues that one can see in people's cars sometimes. (Or is that a german thing?) I admit that I'm still weary of watching people, as the sheer number of updates from groups and people always intimidates me when I log-in and renders me paralyzed because of "where do I even start? Will I comment on all of this? I should, shouldn't I? that's what I joined/watched for!" And then I faint. But I haven't had the heart to unwatch or leave a group yet. I feel as if I'd physically slap someone if I were top do that. Instead I keep an unhealthy amount of chocolat close when I enter my inbox.
Anyway, as amusing as the first part, and a great relief to my guilt-ridden mind :)
Reply
:iconzuboros:
zuboros Featured By Owner Dec 14, 2013  Professional Interface Designer
Really good, motivational rhetoric meets sub-cultural analysis. Almost borders on poetry in parts, too.
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Dec 14, 2013
I'm very flattered! Thanks. :hug:
Reply
:iconzuboros:
zuboros Featured By Owner Dec 14, 2013  Professional Interface Designer
No problem :)
Reply
:iconmatomiki:
matomiki Featured By Owner Nov 21, 2013  Hobbyist
I can't stop reading these, I just love that slight sarcastic undertone ahaha.
(I love your references to all these Japanese things, I perked up when I saw Hetalia here :'D)
Reply
:iconhypermagical:
hypermagical Featured By Owner Oct 14, 2013
These are hilarious. I don't know if that's intentional or not, but I mean it as a compliment. :XD:
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Oct 14, 2013
It IS intentional! Well I mean, I TRIED to make them hilarious. :XD: Many thanks.

:hug:
Reply
:iconhypermagical:
hypermagical Featured By Owner Oct 14, 2013
Oh good. :XD: They weren't in the Humor category, so I wasn't quite sure.

You're very welcome. :hug:
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Oct 14, 2013
I declined to put them in that category in case people didn't find them funny. :ashamed:
Reply
:iconhypermagical:
hypermagical Featured By Owner Oct 14, 2013
Awww. :noes: You should totally move them though, the deviant masses will relate. And laugh their behinds off. :D
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Oct 14, 2013
I have to admit, a lot of people have found this case study amusing, as the comments indicate. :paranoid:

All the same, I'll probably be leaving it where it is. :B
Reply
:iconhypermagical:
hypermagical Featured By Owner Oct 14, 2013
YES. :stare:

Oh, okay then. :iconcryforeverplz:
Reply
:iconcelticstrm-stock:
CelticStrm-Stock Featured By Owner Sep 28, 2013  Hobbyist Digital Artist
:worship: All hail the mighty Fella and benevolent Llama! :worship: :giggle:
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:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Sep 29, 2013
Absolutely! :noes: :D
Reply
:iconpulbern:
pulbern Featured By Owner Sep 26, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
I've been craving some excitement lately. Can we start up some dArama????! Pleeeeeease?
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Sep 26, 2013
What do you have in mind? :XD:
Reply
:iconpulbern:
pulbern Featured By Owner Sep 27, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
Love triangles are always good. No?
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Sep 27, 2013
Forget it, mister. :iconmadnoesplz:

I want you all to myself.
Reply
:iconpulbern:
pulbern Featured By Owner Sep 27, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
Angry little twice is half as nice as normal twice. :XD:
Reply
:icongillianivy:
GillianIvy Featured By Owner Jul 29, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
How did you know I worship the deviantGODs?  :worship:

I can relate to this group/deviantWATCH dilemma.  I watch a lot of each.  And have unwatched for too much activity before, or too much of the same thing over and over.  However, I never unwatch someone (once you've watched it you can't unwatch it!).  I think of the watch system as a bookmarking system, that way, if I feel inclined to look at loads and loads of Doctor Who fan art (which I still watch deviations for a few of these groups) I can go to their link from my friends list and not have a deluge of Whovian love in my inbox all hours of the day.

I've considered demotion in a few groups as I hate getting too much in my message center of stuff I don't participate in.  But yes, the anxiety thing, betrayal... dun dun du dunh.  

As for the Senior thing, I always thought it was something unattainable for me since I'm fairly unknown on this site.  And I really didn't see myself as impactful.  It was a complete surprise and refuelled my aspirations for becoming a CV.  I didn't apply last year because my IRL obligations would've prevented me from giving 100% to the site.  And likely won't apply this year either because I'm homeschooling my son.  But I know which part I'd apply for, deviantARTrelated.  Since that is my devNICHE.
Reply
:iconmahogany-poulaine:
mahogany-poulaine Featured By Owner Jun 11, 2013   Traditional Artist
This is all wonderfully interesting! All these mysterious High Orders of Deviousness with their hats and Dollar-signs; it is - as you sagaciously point out - like the Medieval Roman Catholic Church. Intriguing, sir - though I shall never understand its multifarious workings and sects... I suppose that makes it even more like a Church.
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Jun 12, 2013
dA has simplified the 'High Orders' somewhat by axing the MN@ and creative teams. Now just the dollar signs (paid members of staff - do you see what dA did there with the dollar symbol?) and the circumflexes (more commonly referred to as 'hats') remain. Perhaps one day, who knows, the circumflexes will also be axed... (I'm not so bold as to suggest that the staff will also be axed.)
Reply
:iconmahogany-poulaine:
mahogany-poulaine Featured By Owner Jun 13, 2013   Traditional Artist
Marvellous! Thanks for explaining... 'circumflexes' is such an excellent word.
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Jun 13, 2013
Hopefully you will understand my 'case study' a little better now. :D
Reply
:iconmahogany-poulaine:
mahogany-poulaine Featured By Owner Jun 13, 2013   Traditional Artist
Certainly, sir! I enjoyed it the first time through - thus I shall enjoy it even more so now!
Reply
:iconlindartz:
LindArtz Featured By Owner May 30, 2013
:rofl:

I just happened upon this, almost didn't read it, but am SO glad I did. What a treat! - and truth! :rofl: :thumbsup::D
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner May 30, 2013
Thank you so much! :D That's fantastic to hear! And so glad that you like it!
Reply
:iconlindartz:
LindArtz Featured By Owner May 30, 2013
I absolutely love it!! lol
Reply
:icondammyjodger:
dammyjodger Featured By Owner Apr 7, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
I love love love this case study <3 so much. I can totally relate to so much of it. There's this "friend" I have on here... she invited me to watch her group, so I did in support. Then she started to grate on my nerves, as did her group because it accepts all art. So I unwatch, and the next thing I knew, she sent me a message asking why.

I had no idea she'd find out somehow. I was like it's.. ahh.. I'll just go.. re-watch it. Kay .__.

Also, the opening/typing messages in Word. Yes.
Reply
:iconfarand:
farand Featured By Owner Apr 7, 2013
It surely makes sense that you'd unjoin a group that doesn't coincide with the expectations you had of it on joining. :nod: It does seem a bit far for your friend to note you asking why you'd unjoin her group - I'm guessing she wasn't asking you because she wanted feedback on how to improve it to prevent more people from leaving it? :p
Reply
:icondammyjodger:
dammyjodger Featured By Owner Apr 7, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
Well she's a.... My opinion of her has since went downhill >__> and I don't dislike people for petty reasons.
Reply
:iconscotsdragon:
ScotsDragon Featured By Owner Aug 28, 2012
"All that artwork you uploaded on first joining is, quite frankly, an embarrassment to you; it doesn't "fit" with your newer, better stuff. You can't bring yourself to delete it, so you'd like to put it into storage, where you know it would never see the light of day again. And yet, you want to keep displaying it - for historical reasons. What are you going to do?"
^
This.
I largely keep it there because I dislike the thought of censorship.
It's there because it's the beginning, and every story should have one.
Reply
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