Sta.sh
Basically, as CVs, when we are giving a DD, we are doing so because we think the image is interesting and well-done and deserves your attention. It may be technically exquisite. It may be technically quite good but exceptionally thought-provoking. It may be exceedingly creative. It may be all of these things! Above all else, it should stand out in some way from others in that medium or gallery.
Odyssey Update 1
If you're like me, one of the first things you do every morning is turn on the computer to check the DDs for the day, if you make this a habit sooner or later you'll see something featured that you won't like at all, making you spill your morning coffee all over the screen.
Oh the crime! That poor coffee going to waste.
Before you hit the Caps Lock button and begin an essay about the drop of quality of DDs, stop. Take a deep breath, maybe walk around for a bit to cool down, and think about what you're going to do. To begin with, complaining about the DD leaving a comment is extremely disrespectful for the artist because most of the time, they didn't even ask to be featured. Instead, take a moment to consider why was it picked, DDs are chosen for far more than just being visually attractive, as the article Daily Deviations - The Myth and the Legend explained; we often look for inspirational, creative, unique and out of the ordinary works of art that deserve more attention, not only perfection. Consider these aspects and you may understand the CV's decision a bit better.
Always keep in mind FAQ #873: What do I do when I disapprove of a Daily Deviation feature? but if you still can't understand how that piece received a DD, you may fall under one of the following examples:
And you don't have to like it. We understand that it's impossible to please everyone, and you should understand that it's impossible for everything to please you. Humanity has developed so many styles and techniques because we don't like the same things... imagine how boring it would be if we all liked exactly the same, there would only be ONE style of art, ONE kind of dressing, ONE style of music, ONE of everything for the rest of our lives because there would be no need to develop anything else *shudders*.
If we ever have to choose only one style, I'm going to vote for art nouveau.
I understand that you didn't like that specific DD, but please understand that there's other people that do and it deserves to be a DD for them, after all DDs are large-scale features to bring something to the attention of people that we know will like it. Oh and if you didn't like the theme, for example if you have a phobia for spiders, don't expect the CV to remove the DD just because you're afraid of them.
Please, define art. Even better, try to find two people that share the same definition of art. What is art to you may not be art to the next guy, and that's completely fine. Artists and linguists have been struggling for centuries trying to conjure an universal definition for art, and I honestly hope they'll never find it. I like the freedom of thinking that in the right hands, anything can be art.
I've discussed many times with people that don't believe that food is art, but no one will ever convince me it's not. Pixel art, icons, stock and other galleries receive similar criticism, a good example is the article Why did an icon get a DD? published earlier today. Please keep in mind that while it may not be art to you, it's ART to the person that made it, the person that suggested it, the person that gave it a DD and all the people that faved it and commented; if you can't accept it yet, take a deep breath and move along, it will save you a lot of time and stress.
3. I don't know why this got a DD, I saw someone else doing it better and it didn't receive a DD.
It probably wasn't suggested, so by all means please send us your suggestion! It's impossible for us to see everything, so we rely on suggestions to see those fantastic things that escaped us. But before you leave a comment like this, think about how rude it's for the artist that just received the DD, they didn't ask for the DD and you're pretty much saying that their work is worthless, so instead do something a bit more productive and send the CV your suggestion and leave the artist alone to enjoy their DD. There's good chances it will be accepted, you already saw that said CV likes that kind of art. If you don't know how to suggest a DD, you can find detailed instructions here.
"Fun" fact: When I ask people with this complain to send me their suggestions, they never do. Apparently some people are just there to rant and they don't have the intention to do anything productive for the community, so if you ever receive this kind of comment just disregard it as a troll and don't let it cloud your DD day.
4. I think there's not enough DDs about *insert kind of art here*
If that's how you think we're interested to know it, we're always looking for feedback and suggestions. Our goal is to represent our gallery in the best way we can, and that means that if any part of it is not being represented equally we will make our best to change that. For example in the case of the Artisan Crafts gallery I'm always looking for lesser-featured crafts like glass work or basketry and I have wonderful suggesters that always help me find them instead of complaining about their misrepresentation. Ideally, that's how I think it should be
Lesser-known galleries receive less attention, help us know get them recognition by suggesting DDs!
First of all, shake off the idea that any nudity is porn. Nudity has been a part of art for a long while and I don't see that changing anytime soon, if you've ever visited a museum you probably noticed that a lot of the art displayed there contains nudity. If you have a problem with nudity you may want to activate the filter to hide mature content: FAQ #93: How does the Mature Content option work? . DA has a policy against pornographic material, you may find them here:
FAQ #23: What are deviantART's policies on nudity?
FAQ #565: You prohibit the submission of 'pornographic imagery'; what do you consider this to be?
That's your opinion, and I respect that. But in the opinion of someone else the DD has enough quality and it deserved the feature. I've read about the decline of the quality of DDs for years and people paint it as a horrible cataclysm, but I have yet to see any of it. As I said before we all have different opinions about what is art, even about what is GOOD art. Think that DD are features for art that deserves more attention, not awards to perfection. If you think that there's not enough quality DDs, please send us your suggestions with the art that you think deserves more recognition!
McCreepy the Frog is still one of my favorite DDs ever
By this I don't mean to say that we should be happy about mediocrity, not at all. I'm all for constant improvement and always striving for the very best, but what I'm trying to say here is that what is perfect and flawless for one of us, can be horrible and pathetic to the other. Some of the DDs I chose and I thought were absolutely beautiful received very little attention, while some others I thought were less impressive got pages and pages of comments
it's impossible to know.
Tolerance. That's what I'm trying to promote, tolerance to different opinions, tolerance to different styles of art, tolerance to different tastes. All the years I've been here I've seen quite a few DDs I didn't agree with, but if you focus on the bad aspects you'll never get to enjoy the good ones.
Always keep in mind FAQ #873: What do I do when I disapprove of a Daily Deviation feature? but if you still can't understand how that piece received a DD, you may fall under one of the following examples:
1. I don't like this DD because I don't like the style/theme/colors/technique
And you don't have to like it. We understand that it's impossible to please everyone, and you should understand that it's impossible for everything to please you. Humanity has developed so many styles and techniques because we don't like the same things... imagine how boring it would be if we all liked exactly the same, there would only be ONE style of art, ONE kind of dressing, ONE style of music, ONE of everything for the rest of our lives because there would be no need to develop anything else *shudders*.
If we ever have to choose only one style, I'm going to vote for art nouveau.
I understand that you didn't like that specific DD, but please understand that there's other people that do and it deserves to be a DD for them, after all DDs are large-scale features to bring something to the attention of people that we know will like it. Oh and if you didn't like the theme, for example if you have a phobia for spiders, don't expect the CV to remove the DD just because you're afraid of them.
2. This is not art!
Please, define art. Even better, try to find two people that share the same definition of art. What is art to you may not be art to the next guy, and that's completely fine. Artists and linguists have been struggling for centuries trying to conjure an universal definition for art, and I honestly hope they'll never find it. I like the freedom of thinking that in the right hands, anything can be art.
I've discussed many times with people that don't believe that food is art, but no one will ever convince me it's not. Pixel art, icons, stock and other galleries receive similar criticism, a good example is the article Why did an icon get a DD? published earlier today. Please keep in mind that while it may not be art to you, it's ART to the person that made it, the person that suggested it, the person that gave it a DD and all the people that faved it and commented; if you can't accept it yet, take a deep breath and move along, it will save you a lot of time and stress.
3. I don't know why this got a DD, I saw someone else doing it better and it didn't receive a DD.
It probably wasn't suggested, so by all means please send us your suggestion! It's impossible for us to see everything, so we rely on suggestions to see those fantastic things that escaped us. But before you leave a comment like this, think about how rude it's for the artist that just received the DD, they didn't ask for the DD and you're pretty much saying that their work is worthless, so instead do something a bit more productive and send the CV your suggestion and leave the artist alone to enjoy their DD. There's good chances it will be accepted, you already saw that said CV likes that kind of art. If you don't know how to suggest a DD, you can find detailed instructions here.
"Fun" fact: When I ask people with this complain to send me their suggestions, they never do. Apparently some people are just there to rant and they don't have the intention to do anything productive for the community, so if you ever receive this kind of comment just disregard it as a troll and don't let it cloud your DD day.
4. I think there's not enough DDs about *insert kind of art here*
If that's how you think we're interested to know it, we're always looking for feedback and suggestions. Our goal is to represent our gallery in the best way we can, and that means that if any part of it is not being represented equally we will make our best to change that. For example in the case of the Artisan Crafts gallery I'm always looking for lesser-featured crafts like glass work or basketry and I have wonderful suggesters that always help me find them instead of complaining about their misrepresentation. Ideally, that's how I think it should be
Lesser-known galleries receive less attention, help us know get them recognition by suggesting DDs!
5. Why is this a DD, someone is naked! It's porn!
First of all, shake off the idea that any nudity is porn. Nudity has been a part of art for a long while and I don't see that changing anytime soon, if you've ever visited a museum you probably noticed that a lot of the art displayed there contains nudity. If you have a problem with nudity you may want to activate the filter to hide mature content: FAQ #93: How does the Mature Content option work? . DA has a policy against pornographic material, you may find them here:
FAQ #23: What are deviantART's policies on nudity?
FAQ #565: You prohibit the submission of 'pornographic imagery'; what do you consider this to be?
6. I don't like this DD because it's not good enough, it lacks quality
That's your opinion, and I respect that. But in the opinion of someone else the DD has enough quality and it deserved the feature. I've read about the decline of the quality of DDs for years and people paint it as a horrible cataclysm, but I have yet to see any of it. As I said before we all have different opinions about what is art, even about what is GOOD art. Think that DD are features for art that deserves more attention, not awards to perfection. If you think that there's not enough quality DDs, please send us your suggestions with the art that you think deserves more recognition!
McCreepy the Frog is still one of my favorite DDs ever
By this I don't mean to say that we should be happy about mediocrity, not at all. I'm all for constant improvement and always striving for the very best, but what I'm trying to say here is that what is perfect and flawless for one of us, can be horrible and pathetic to the other. Some of the DDs I chose and I thought were absolutely beautiful received very little attention, while some others I thought were less impressive got pages and pages of comments
it's impossible to know.
Conclusion
Tolerance. That's what I'm trying to promote, tolerance to different opinions, tolerance to different styles of art, tolerance to different tastes. All the years I've been here I've seen quite a few DDs I didn't agree with, but if you focus on the bad aspects you'll never get to enjoy the good ones.
- Always try to understand why the CV chose that DD before you complain about it, is it creative? unique? inspiring? an un-conventional kind of beauty?
- Keep in mind that different galleries have different concepts of what is aesthetic, you can't expect to find the same things in Horror/Macabre than in Sculpture.
- Accept that it's impossible to like every single DD, move on to the next one and treasure the ones you really love, don't let your mind go crazy with the ones you didn't like.
- If you want to see something as a DD, the best way to do it is by suggesting it yourself! Don't wait for things to happen, make them happen.
- If you still can't live with that DD, know the right mediums to express your opinion FAQ #873: What do I do when I disapprove of a Daily Deviation feature?
I hope this helps someone and if you have anything else to add don't hesitate to leave a comment below 
suggest a DD today!
Talty
Well written. Yes I spilled my tea quite a couple of times
And its so stupid to equal nudity = porn. I admit when browsing the most recent uploaded stuff I find more nudity that fall in to that category than into the category of art, but I love tasteful nudity. In germany we have a sopecific word for such art its called Aktmalerei or Aktphotografie. first for painting second photos. If its done beautifully with a good facial expression (not this take me right here and now face) than this form of art can be something wonderful
I think people complaining are often jealous, or they should sit in the gallery managers chair for a day and see how difficult this probably is.
And I CAN imagine the uproar on that DD I was like WTF seeing that pic and probably.. nope surely would have spilled my tea!!
And yep Art Noveau is gorgeous
Honestly, the fact that no matter how hard I try I never get more than mediocre attention has almost entirely killed my drive to write, let alone upload it online anymore. In fact, when I used to upload literature on some other sites, the occasional thing would get stolen and get literally a hundred times the attention because of who stole it, and even once it was known I wrote it, I still get next to nothing.
Kinda sucks to see this coming from my own fingers, considering my goal is to write and publish a book, but I guess that's the way it goes. (not that I'm going to quit on that, though...)
To clarify, by my first line, I'm talking in general on the internet, not just DA. Literature is ALWAYS underappreciated, and it sucks.