I used to be just like you. Pageviews were really important to me. The first thing I checked when I logged on to deviantART each day was the number of pageviews I had received that day. I analyzed my activity and the impact it had on pageviews. It was a significant part of my deviantART life – too significant.

Last summer I went on a trip and was gone from deviantART for more than a month. As you can probably guess, activity in my account was nonexistent and my daily pageview count consequently plummeted. When I returned from the trip, I logged on to deviantART and, as always, checked my pageviews. I expected a sense of dismay when I saw the extent to which my popularity had disappeared, but instead, I found that it really didn't matter to me. Because I had just had the time of my life and I was not about to let my pageview count diminish that, and I was much too eager to start posting my photography and catching up with friends and groups than to worry about something as inconsequential as pageviews.

So what changed? I really don't know. Maybe I grew up a bit. Maybe some sort of miraculous change occurred while I was on my trip.

In any case, I realized that although pageviews were an incentive to be active in the community, it was for the wrong reason. There's so much more to this website than gaining hits on your profile page. It wasn't a big dramatic, "That's it! I'm disabling pageviews!" – I just was no longer interested in keeping track of how many people viewed my profile.

So I unchecked that little box that said "See Pageviews" and became blind.

I've been blind to pageviews for about a year now, and I honestly feel that it was one of the best decisions I've ever made on deviantART. I no longer evaluate other deviants based on their pageview counts, or obsess about how to boost my popularity. I am able to interact more freely on deviantART – with no other reason than simply because I want to. I am now able to prioritize my life in a much more constructive fashion.

I strongly recommend anyone and everyone to make the switch. It's such a beneficial change. There seems to be a widespread feeling that pageviews equals popularity equals friends and admirers, et cetera. But really, there's no replacement for genuine, positive interaction with fellow deviants. If you turn off pageviews, all of the temptation to focus on your individual popularity will begin to disappear – and you probably have no idea how good that feels.

If you're hesitant, just try it! You can always switch back later. And by the way, you will still be able to view the number of hits on your deviations – and those are the pageviews that really matter anyway.

If less deviants were prone to attention whoring in order to get hits on their page, and more deviants were willing to contribute positively to the community, deviantART would be a much better place.


deviantART is only as good as we make it.
Give it a try. Go blind.

NEW CONTEST!!!

Starting date: today, 1st of August</u>
Deadline: 31st of August</u>

A whole month to work on it and join!

If you could donate anything, no matter how big it is it would be so kindly appreciated!

---

R U L E S:

Only PHOTOGRAPHY accepted!

Manipulations are not allowed! Slight edits are OK!

Category of the photo must be CONCEPTUAL.

Only 1 entry per person.

Only NEW photos! (NOT taken before 1st of August 2009)

Before taking the photo you have to take into consideration the following description:“Stop being blind! Wake up, open your eyes and see all the beauty around you!”

It doesn’t matter if more than 1 person appears in the photo, but your entry has to contain at least 1 person. As well, note that the eyes of the model have to be closed!</i>

It is not allowed to change the entry.

Please ensure your entry's EXIF data is displayed.

The judges are not allowed to participate in the contest, but donors are allowed to do it.

To enter the contest, send a note titled "The Blind Contest" with a thumb of your entry.</i>



- - -

Some examples:

               


Judges:




The winners will be chosen considering: The Originality, Composition and Quality of the photo!



Prizes so far:

1st place

3 months subscription!!! from ~sinanTR
Journal feature: ~Danutza88, ~sinanTR, ~SmokeStories
Special Article to promote the artist containing an interview + photos
PhotoEditing Lesson (Photoshop lesson) by Instant Messenger OR constructive critique to 5 works of the artist's choice by ~Diangos

2nd place

Journal feature: ~Danutza88, ~sinanTR, ~SmokeStories
Special Article to promote the artist containing an interview + photos
Constructive critique to 3 works of the artist's choice by ~Diangos

3nd place

Journal feature: ~Danutza88, ~sinanTR, ~SmokeStories
Special Article to promote the artist containing an interview + photos
Constructive critique to 1 work of the artist's choice by ~Diangos

Public’s Choice

Journal feature: ~Danutza88, ~sinanTR, ~SmokeStories
Special Article to promote the artist containing an interview + photos
Constructive critique to 1 work of the artist's choice by ~Diangos



For any questions leave a comment and one of the judges will answer you!

For seeing the entries, stay tuned to my journal! I will post them while I receive them! Help your favorite entry take the “ Public’s Choice ” prize by voting your favorite photo!



Good luck!

There is a saying that, if you take a Photograph of a subject in color, you capture its beauty, but if take a photograph of the subject in monochrome you capture its soul, I couldn't agree more, These are some of the best Photographs that don't capture much of the Vibrant colors that surround us, but captures the very essence in stunning details. These are posted during the last 6 or 7 Days.

Enjoy, and please do visit the pages of the people who's work I have featured here.

:thumb115306225: :thumb115143200: :thumb115214071: :thumb115306664: :thumb115287320: :thumb115128401: :thumb115333971: :thumb115247222: :thumb115283200: :thumb115245634: :thumb115190296: :thumb114856124: :thumb114846867:

Death Note is a captivating tale about a young man named Light who finds a mysterious notebook, which grants him the power to punish the wicked. Anime is often considered a bit... off. It's not usually respected by those who don't indulge in it themselves, including me. Death Note, however, breaks all the anime barriers and blows away any other anime you've ever encountered. It is 37 episodes long, and the manga has 12 volumes, or 13 if you include the "how to read" volume.

    If you only look into one thing that someone reccomends for the rest of your life, this is the thing to look into. It's addictive and delicous, keeping you on the edge of your seat with every frame and every panel. Death Note's fan base grows infinitely, and with good reason! I personally read the first three volumes of the manga at the library, then watched the anime online for the rest of the story. I rushed over to amazon.com, with the end credits to the final episode rolling across the screen in the other window, and bought every single volume of the manga. It has pretty much become my religion at this point.

   If--no, when you decide to check it out, be sure to resist looking up fanart here on dA, there are endless spoilers that are fairly difficult to avoid. I've included some links to amazing fanarts without spoilers at the bottom of this article.

The anime
Season 1
Season 2

The manga (scans to read online)
volume 1
volume 2
volume 3
volume 4
volume 5
volume 6
volume 7
volume 8
volume 9
volume 10
volume 11
volume 12


two news articles featuring spoiler-less death note fanart!
Death Note by `Karma021
Death Note Fanart Spotlight by ~Nicole-lune