# ThankYou Shouts



## SlushPuppy (Sep 20, 2007)

I've noticed two users so far that request to not recieve Thank You's for favorites or watching...

I don't mind receiving them, and I give them as well (sometimes rather belated but meh)

According to the two people I noticed that don't ever want them- they're viewed as spam, and not honest appreciation for their support of the artist. Before these two, I had never seen it that way... While I understand their reasoning, I still don't feel that way...

It made me curious... How many others feel that way about receiving thank you's from an artist? And what put you in that mind frame?


----------



## yak (Sep 20, 2007)

I am usually indifferent to most of the things on the internet.

However in this case, i am always a bit excited if i receive a reply from a person i watched or faved the art of - it gives me an opportunity to talk to them more, which otherwise poses a slight problem, as i am kind of shy.

But that largely depends on the reason why i watched someone. Some art motivates me, and some is just a pretty sight. In the latter case, i simply use the "watch" as a service to make it a bit more convenient for myself to filter out what i have chosen from the rest. 

Most of the time i'm still indifferent though.


----------



## Stratelier (Sep 20, 2007)

I don't mind them, because for one, _I almost never fave anything anyway_.

(I've been on dA for two years and still have yet to fill up a page of 24 faves.  And dA doesn't notify you if people comment on your userpage.)


----------



## AerusalePhoxJr (Sep 20, 2007)

i hate them...i hate them so must i can just try to hack FA just to close my shout box...

.....but i won't(can't)

but i don't mind seeing them anyways....


----------



## SlushPuppy (Sep 20, 2007)

yak said:
			
		

> I am usually indifferent to most of the things on the internet.
> 
> However in this case, i am always a bit excited if i receive a reply from a person i watched or faved the art of - it gives me an opportunity to talk to them more, which otherwise poses a slight problem, as i am kind of shy.
> 
> ...



I think you and I watch stuff for the same basic reasons


----------



## SlushPuppy (Sep 20, 2007)

Stratadrake said:
			
		

> I don't mind them, because for one, _I almost never fave anything anyway_.
> 
> (I've been on dA for two years and still have yet to fill up a page of 24 faves.  And dA doesn't notify you if people comment on your userpage.)



I'm pretty choosy about fav'ing stuff too.

I don't like that DA doesn't tell me when people comment or watch me


----------



## horndawg (Sep 21, 2007)

Read my latest journal. It explains everything.


----------



## LimeyKat (Sep 21, 2007)

Personally I find it weird and a tad obsessive to leave a thank you for every single action performed. I don't require a personalized message thanking me for browsing something on the internet which is a daily activity. You don't stop and thank someone for smiling at you in passing do you?

Despite the "?" I'm not debating with anyone, just stating how I view it.


----------



## Magica (Sep 21, 2007)

I don't mind them. It at least shows that there's polite people out there.

I mean it's not something to throw a fit and leave FA over (from what I heard someone did, which is stupid).


----------



## Stratelier (Sep 21, 2007)

> I don't like that DA doesn't tell me when people comment or watch me


dA notifies you of being +Watched -- or should I say it notifies you of being +Friended, it's just that whenever you click the 'Watch this deviant' link it automatically +Friends them.  It notifies you of comments and replies except for comments on your userpage.


----------



## coffinberry (Sep 21, 2007)

i'd think it was honest appreciation of most people who fav'd shit didn't consecatively fav everything that shows up on the front page


----------



## SlushPuppy (Sep 21, 2007)

LimeyKat said:
			
		

> Personally I find it weird and a tad obsessive to leave a thank you for every single action performed. I don't require a personalized message thanking me for browsing something on the internet which is a daily activity. You don't stop and thank someone for smiling at you in passing do you?
> 
> Despite the "?" I'm not debating with anyone, just stating how I view it.



My personal actions are usually to thank them for a watch, and first fav. If it's been a long time between fav's, and I've forgotten they've fav'd me before, I might end up doing it again.

I try to check every page to see if they've requested no comments in their profile. But usually I see nothing of the sort. Except for those two, but one of them told me there's somewhere around 12 that they know of with a request not to written in their profile.

If I see someone smile at me, I nod and smile back.  That's a form of thanks, appreciation, and acknowledgment.



			
				DragonMagica said:
			
		

> I mean it's not something to throw a fit and leave FA over (from what I heard someone did, which is stupid).



Really? Wooow... C_C



			
				Stratadrake said:
			
		

> > I don't like that DA doesn't tell me when people comment or watch me
> 
> 
> dA notifies you of being +Watched -- or should I say it notifies you of being +Friended, it's just that whenever you click the 'Watch this deviant' link it automatically +Friends them.  It notifies you of comments and replies except for comments on your userpage.



Yeah, that friends thing, confuzzles me. And, I've missed a lot of userpage comments for a long time because I didn't know to look 



			
				coffinberry said:
			
		

> i'd think it was honest appreciation of most people who fav'd shit didn't consecatively fav everything that shows up on the front page



I'm sorry, you're totally going to have to rephrase that for me...
you're saying... 
if they didn't consecutively favorite everything? right?

I wasn't aware that people did that  I know sometimes things are a rather giant popularity war, but I'm not part of it. The way I find artists is by following comments and interesting avatars a lot of the time. I don't usually use the front page OR the browse feature...


----------



## KristynLioness (Sep 21, 2007)

I only mind them if they say only that and don't say something about my art too while they're on /my/ gallery page. I'd rather someone note me their thanks rather than leave it on my gallery if they don't plan to say something about my art in addition.


----------



## coffinberry (Sep 21, 2007)

SlushPuppy said:
			
		

> coffinberry said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



sorry, my phrasing of english sentences is bad. i hate to see people who favorite everything that comes to the front page... i can tell who these ppl are, and i won't go to their page to thank them.


----------



## LimeyKat (Sep 21, 2007)

SlushPuppy said:
			
		

> If I see someone smile at me, I nod and smile back.  That's a form of thanks, appreciation, and acknowledgment.


..but is not spoken or written.


----------



## Dickie (Sep 21, 2007)

Uhm.... maybe I'm wrong, but isn't that kind of the purpose of the shoutbox? If you want to have a real conversation with someone, that's what notes are for. There's even a maximum character limit to prevent people from creating huge shouts, which in turn makes it difficult to say much else other than "Thanks for the watch!" or "Lovely gallery" or "Where'd you get your icon?"

Nine of ten times, shouts on my page are either variants of the above mentioned, or responses to said variants that I've left on someone else's page. Every now and then, someone will post something else on my page, but more people send those something elses in notes, rather than leaving them out in the open.


----------



## Arshes Nei (Sep 21, 2007)

Well if you leave a shout thanking them for a watch and/or favorite, they have the ability to delete the shout off their page, so to me the user has an option to delete "spam" so I don't see the problem.


----------



## Stratelier (Sep 21, 2007)

> i hate to see people who favorite everything that comes to the front page... i can tell who these ppl are, and i won't go to their page to thank them.


..."Favemongers".  Ugh.



> > dA notifies you of being +Watched -- or should I say it notifies you of being +Friended, it's just that whenever you click the 'Watch this deviant' link it automatically +Friends them. It notifies you of comments and replies except for comments on your userpage.
> 
> 
> Yeah, that friends thing, confuzzles me.


Subscribed dA users get to display a "Friends" box on their userpage, that is all it does.


----------



## TippyDeVil (Sep 28, 2007)

*hangs head*  well, I do +fav a lot of stuff sometimes, but I don't do _everything_.
Personally I fav stuff I like or I find interesting so it saves to my favorites list because I usually come across something on my way to somebody else's recommendation-commission-friend icon-similar pic-whatever.  Or maybe I'm trying to follow a series I want to come back to later and that is an easy way to book mark it.  When I get a chance to look through their gallery or find I'm faving several of their pieces I will, of course, +watch them so I get notice of everything posted.  I do appreciate the replies for such actions, since I myself am sort of shy around new folk, and it can be a nice conversation starter, but I certianly understand if you don't want to reply to every +fav, especially if there is no personal comment.


----------



## SlushPuppy (Sep 28, 2007)

^_^
I've found that I'm pretty picky about what I +fav. but that's me, you're you! 

Honestly, if someone wants to +fav something it's their choice correct? Who am I to complain whether it means I was one in a million or 999,999,999 in a million? So don't feel guilty.

I think in the future I'll try to be more personal to someone, and if I just don't see a way to be more personal, then I won't say much at all unless there's something to say something to- ie return a message. So far this method is working well, I don't -seem- to making people angry, and instead I'm learning about other people and hopefully making them feel good!


I like the input from everyone. Thank you for that!


----------



## Lynxia (Sep 28, 2007)

I thank with Shouts for watches and also for favs, but I refuse to 'flood' over someone's gallery with Shouts. If I am already present among the viewable Shouts in someone's gallery, I will not shout again.

It is very very rare that someone actually sends me a note to thank me when I watch an artist or fav a drawing/story/song, but I think that I myself won't even take the energy to write a whole note with just a 'mere thank you' presented in more than 50 words. A thank you in a Shout should just be enough, especially if you don't know the other person. Also, time is short in some people's life and Shouts is a good method then for all this.

Shouts are removeable, so if people view it as spam, they can just go to their options and removed the Shouts which bother them. No need to go all aggro when someone didn't read the note 'Do not Shout for every fav or watch I make, damned!' in the profile or the journal. It isn't anything personal and they don't do it on purpose, surely not if they overlooked this request of the artist.

I seen these requests alot and even I sometimes go 'whoops' after posting a Thank You Shout and read on the artists main page that he/she DESPISES the Shouts. Pity...


----------



## AndyFox (Oct 2, 2007)

I don't give them. I don't particularly want them. Reason I and some others I know don't is all they do is clutter up our user pages and push down more useful/meaningful comments off the bottom of the page.


----------



## Mitch_DLG (Oct 2, 2007)

When someone watches me, I take it as a compliment that they enjoy my artwork.  So, I take the time to thank them, often trying to leave a bit more personal message than "thanx 4 the +watch."

If someone doesn't like receiving thanks, well, that's their perogative, but not terribly respectful of the people whose art they enjoyed enough to watch.  To say, "I like this artist, and I will watch them," deserves a real, "Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed my work, and I am recognizing your effort to watch me with a personal thank you."

It's common courtesy, and quite frankly I'd much rather people kept thanking each other than go cold and uncaring and gripe about someone actually using good manners.


----------



## SlushPuppy (Oct 3, 2007)

AndyFox said:
			
		

> I don't give them. I don't particularly want them. Reason I and some others I know don't is all they do is clutter up our user pages and push down more useful/meaningful comments off the bottom of the page.



But as was stated prior, kinda/sorta the point of the shouts is for simple small messages... couldn't more 'meaningful' things go in PM's or on comments in a journal? And what's so meaningless about someone appreciating your appreciation? Unless of course you don't really appreciate what was fav'd C_C

Also, I think that you can delete shouts, and, you can always view all -your- received shouts on a control page. 

Just seeing it from a different angle... not trying to goad you.


----------



## yak (Oct 4, 2007)

There's a deep social aspect to shouts, and thank you shouts in particular.

While looking  meaningless and annoying at first glance, they give the people, watchers, the opportunity to engage in a conversation with someone, the watchee, who's art they greatly appreciate, but are too shy to be the first person to initiate that conversation. It's a lot easier to talk with someone who you are a secret fan of, when they start talking to you first. 
I know it works this way for myself, and i do believe it works for others as well.


----------



## Toonces (Oct 9, 2007)

I think anything that removes watchers from artists is a bad thing. I don't personally give thank you shouts anymore, but it's something that keeps some artists grounded and gives watchers a sort of opening to communicate with their artists some more.

The shout page should be used for more, though. There's no reason watchers can't rave on artists in shout pages. Some people carry little conversations in them. I try to use them for little jokes to lighten up the goddamn place.


----------



## dsand101 (Oct 9, 2007)

I'm still debating this with myself.  Since I joined FA, I was thrilled to pieces at the system.  They sure did not have anything like this on the old VCL, or YNA, and for sure it was hit and miss with usenet and having your own webpages.  Getting any sort of feedback from viewers was hard pressed and most times on the old archives, it was hard to contact the artists since most do not use their own e-mail addresses or don't bother with them at all.  Still I can understand some who don't want thank-you shouts, after all, after awhile it does get a bit overwhelming, and honestly, it gets a bit hard to give an honest critique or word to an artist when you don't know what their reaction will be.  Like I said I'm still debating, but I will still give thank-you shouts or others for that matter until somebody tells me to smeg off.


----------



## Rave (Oct 10, 2007)

Unfortunately, any feature can be abused, and on the Net, it usually is sooner or later. Giving thanks for every single fav out of thousands is creepy. 

But when I first got to the site, some of the artists I saw giving out polite thanks shouts for single watches and such were the very opposite of attention whores, in my general experience, some of them were even the types of artists who are normally rather aloof. So seeing such people being accused of being attention whores felt rather judgemental and presumptuous on the part of the handful of people who were oh so angry about their precious homepages being cluttered or whatever. 

I think both sides of the issue should be reasonable. Assuming someone is up to no good and trolling for more site hits just cause they thanked for a watch is silly, but so is going too far with tons of thanks for every FA function like favs.


----------



## dragonfan (Oct 10, 2007)

KristynLioness said:
			
		

> I only mind them if they say only that and don't say something about my art too while they're on /my/ gallery page. I'd rather someone note me their thanks rather than leave it on my gallery if they don't plan to say something about my art in addition.



i agree with you on that and it's true on how i feel about it.


----------



## SDWolf (Oct 17, 2007)

Mitch_DLG said:
			
		

> If someone doesn't like receiving thanks, well, that's their perogative, but not terribly respectful of the people whose art they enjoyed enough to watch.  To say, "I like this artist, and I will watch them," deserves a real, "Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed my work, and I am recognizing your effort to watch me with a personal thank you."
> 
> It's common courtesy, and quite frankly I'd much rather people kept thanking each other than go cold and uncaring and gripe about someone actually using good manners.



It's kinda sad that common courtesy isn't so common anymore, especially on the 'net.

I love getting a "thank you" from an artist when I +watch them or +fave a piece of their work, especially when it's more than just a cookie-cutter, copy/paste response.  I know that those who post to my shoutbox are going out of their way to do so, and I really appreciate it.

I honestly can't fathom why anyone insist that they not be thanked.  The shoutbox really isn't the best place to carry on a conversation of any length; there are far better media for that (e-mail, notes, IM, etc).  In fact, the shoutbox is, by far, the /worst/ place to try to actually get ahold of me.  My e-mail and IMs are constantly checked throughout the day, whereas I only look at my FA account maybe once or twice a day.

Also, the spam argument doesn't carry much weight with me.  For one thing, I've yet to get a shout trying to sell me badly-spelled viagra, or to help me get bigger breasts, or a request from a foreign dignitary who needs my help moving large sums of money.    Spam, by definition, is unsolicited.  When you +watch someone or +fave something, you're the one that's initiating contact, so it's only natural that they might respond.

That's my take on it, anyway; your mileage may vary.


Oh, and thank you for all the thank you shouts!


----------



## PuppyJ (Oct 17, 2007)

So I shouldn't thank anyone for faving or watching me? Huh?

Faving or watching me is their way of saying that they like my work and I am greatful that they do. If they comment on the work itself, then I will usually express my thanks in reply to their comment. But a lot of people don't comment, I figure it's because they don't know what it is they want to say in words.

So I thank them.


----------



## kex (Oct 17, 2007)

I don't care for those cookie-cutter type "thanks for the watch/fave" (and thats it) comments at all, and I know I am not alone.  It gets really old after seeing the umpteenth clone message hogging up someone's page, and it is pretty much just self advertising on someone's front page without taking the time or care to look or respond to the other person's work, or write a real message. 

This reflects back on the artist leaving such comments in different ways depending on viewpoint. While some people could see this as a token conversation starter, others might see it as impersonal, self-centered attention-whoring. Everything has a flipside.  Of course many people do this for kind reasons and genuine thankfulness, but it is easy to see why copy+paste type messages are considered spam and favewhoring by many users.  I have noticed some artists do leave personalized thanks and mention the watcher's work to show reciprocity, that is to be commended.


----------



## Touch My Badger (Nov 7, 2007)

I used to give them out when I first started on the site, thanking people for watches and favs, less because I was actualy grateful but more for advertisements. (I'm ruthless, I know) I haven't done this though in almost a year. 

As for receiving them, I'm pretty indifferent. It doesn't matter, as long as it's not excessive.


----------



## starbys (Nov 7, 2007)

I think the gratitude is misplaced.


----------



## TheShekinah (Nov 9, 2007)

Like some people mentioned, the only complaint I've see about shouts is that some consider them to be advertisements (and apparently some people do use them as such based on touchmybadger's comment).  However, I don't really see it as that... I mean, I don't think anyone but me bothers to read my shouts ^^;  Maybe people read all the shouts on popular artists' pages, but I certainly don't.  It does irk me a bit when the the thanker says "Thanks for faving [x]" and then puts a link to the piece on the shout, because THAT seems like it's asking for more hits.  But it could just be a way of reminding the faver of what they faved. *shrug*

And as for disliking the copy+paste shouts... I imagine that popular artists who get lots of faves don't have time to write a personal message thanking every person who faves their art.  Copy+paste is probably the only way they CAN thank all those favers without taking up a lot of time.

That said, I don't usually leave thank yous.  If someone who faves a piece actually comments on it (which is very rare), I'll thank them when I reply to the comment... other than that, I don't usually do it.  I feel like if they aren't leaving a comment, it was just one fave of many for them.  They probably won't even remember me five minutes later, and I'll just bother them by shouting a thank you.


----------



## Cmdr-A (Nov 9, 2007)

I used to thank for favs all the time when i wasn't doing much art and i got like...what 2 favs at most on a art piece? But with about 50 favs total in the inbox for maybe a pic or two between the two or whatever..its just too much now a days. I'll thank everyone for every watch I get. But thats about it now a days. Though oddly enough when i go to watch someone or fav something i rarely get anyone to come back and return a shout like that to me. Odd enough. But oh well. xD Most of my shouts are just nonsense shouts now a days doing odd convos between shouts back and forth really lol. So I seriously have no problem with it really.


----------



## jeazard (Nov 9, 2007)

I don't mind people leaving "thank you" shouts on my user page... I leave them myselves if only for watches, not faves. ^^;; When I fist started my gallery I used the profile section to announce that I will not shout a thank you every time, but it doesn't annoy me at all to get them. *shrugs* Dunno, what's so bad about saying "thanks"? Sure, it might have gotten a little out of hand, but if someone really dislikes it they can simply put up a note on their user page (and hope people read it). XD

~jea


----------

