I support you 100% you know. Things have change over years and sadly not to better but worse. Maybe is just a temporary crysis but meh, we'll see what future holds for us.

Couldn't agree more Sani... it's ridiculous....

I very much agree with you, but I think the problem lies much deeper than just AP.

Over the past few years, it seems like society worldwide has become this mad, performance driven machine, only to be fueled by the bad economy. People are forced to work harder, perform better and gather information quicker, or else you'll fail in life, lose your job and die alone. That doesn't actually happen, but threats like that and the resulting fear has always been the ultimate weapon of politicians in order to keep the machine runnning.

So can we make sure we work hard, perform better and gather information quicker? And how can we prove that? Cue the interwebs: "Hey you, have you read this? A million people have already read this via Reddit or Digg, so you'll be a total douche if you don't read this" "Oh, look at my million Facebook friends, I am so popular that I must be successful... I don't actually know any of em, but at least I won't die alone!" "TL;DR! who cares about all that? Just check the score/popularity/bottom line, it's all the info you need."

Don't get me wrong, I love social networking, rating systems and fast information harvesting. The problem is that they become absolutely meaningless as soon as people start using them as definitive yardstick for their success.

Sure, this is my rage against the machine, but I see creativity being ignored, surpressed and destroyed while bull****is being praised. And that pisses me off more than anything.

The saddest part of it all is that people like us, who value other people's well expressed opinions, are considered to be "too human" to be cogs in the machine that claims to be personal and centered around you.

So yea, do what you want and seek consolidation/confirmation in that what you value most.

Sorry to drop this rant in your journal xD.

I know what you mean. I think it's the FAULT of the rating system...sort of. Because when you're freaking graded on your piece of art, then it really makes you feel pressured. I know it does that to me. I'm one of those straight-A students that always strives to get good grades, but these are just wallpapers. They're supposed to be for FUN, for ENJOYMENT. To be shared. But with this site, I always feel under pressure to do something extra super special amazing to get that high rating...and if I don't get that, then it makes me feel useless, or like I have no talent.

People on this site, and others, seem to wall or create for popularity and not as much for their purpose. I'll give an example on theOtaku. On theO you can make e-cards. I LOVE making e-cards on there. I submit tons and spend a lot of time on them. They're like little walls. Anyhoo, back before the site was renovated, the cards were deemed "popular" based on how many times they were actually SENT through the site. Now? Just on views, hugs/faves. I've received a total of 2 ecards sent to me in over a year. And the comments on my cards are about the art and how I made them (which is great, I love it~), but never anyone saying that they'll USE them. SEND them. You know? The purpose of an e-card is to be sent to someone. Although I love my works being viewed and appreciated, it'd be great if they were being sent, too.

So it's like the problem with walls...they're not being enjoyed how they should be. They're mostly just being judged on "greatness", with ratings and numbers being the basis for what's good and what's not. I shouldn't feel hurt when I see a low rating, but because of society nowadays, and how the site is built...I do feel crushed. :/

Sorry for rambling here lol...I don't know if I was agreeing with you or just contributing to this problem. XD

Hi there, mind if I write some?

I've come to realize the trend too. Somehow, I'm seeing more praises and favorites rather than constructive criticism or comments. I don't get how the artists or the wallers are going to improve their flaws. Couldn't agree more.

Was making a holiday comment and saw your journal entry. I like your take on things, but I am not sure of how the community can shift the trend without discouraging the drive to produce the best.

I hate using the cliché, but you are right art for art sake is what we want. And yes, that is what produces the best and most original walls. I try to be selective about awarding my faves, specifically for the purpose of limiting my encouragement to that of praising the artistry, and not boosting the statistics that effect the ratings. But, what's the best way to discourage the competitive drive to get ratings, without discouraging the middling talents of the community?

When it comes to wallpapers AP is one of the best communities on the web, but I would not rate every waller as a tier one talent. I will rate all of the wallers that I offer comment to as: talents with a lot of potential, in terms of their ability to, make me think about their originality and creativity.

I'm not intent upon currying favor with you Sani, but you are a talent and you are getting better. You have the ability to communicate a lot of serious sentiment within your presentations (your last two walls are good cases in point), but if I see the potential but not the fully blossomed talent, how should any of us encourage it without doing exactly what you and I see as entering the pitfall you are defining?

Let me continue to think about what you are saying, because, if you are going to fight against this trend I don't have anything beyond an 'at a girl cheer to offer you now; and some things that immediately come to mind might mean undoing some of the nicer new features of v6.

I'm commenting really late, but I agree with your post a lot.

As a fairly low rated waller it can be very discouraging to see others "in the clique" make one super-popular wall after the other, and with every new wall I make I think well this will be the one that everyone will like, only to be disappointed.

It's sad because instead of making new wallpapers because I love making them and want to challenge myself, I get trapped into wanting to make a wallpaper that I think other people will like. Or I see a popular wallpaper and want to copy it's style/technique/subject etc. thinking "if I can make a wallpaper like that it will finally gain acceptance." Which is pretty pathetic but the sad truth.

The only way I can think of changing this is abolishing the rating system and maybe faves. Obviously comments are there for advice etc. so are still useful beyond distributing popularity. Like others have mentioned though, this is actually a common problem in life in general and so the answer won't be a simple thing.

To quote Angel-Zakuro "But with this site, I always feel under pressure to do something extra super special amazing to get that high rating...and if I don't get that, then it makes me feel useless, or like I have no talent."

This is exactly how I feel sometimes and unfortunately it also saps my motivation to wall anything. I can't speak for other wallers, but this may be a reason that sometimes new talent doesn't get developed, the waller gets so discouraged that they just rather give up. So in the end the community moves to a "clique state" with a few good wallers getting better and the rest slipping under the radar.

I just had a bit of an idea, what if there is a mentoring system set up, maybe as a group. Like the top 10 or whatever wallers take a number, say about 2 or 3 depending on their own available time, of newer/"weaker" members under their wing...

Okay I think I need to go away and think about this idea some more, since it could also once again be misused to contribute to the problem...

Anyway thanks for the thought provoking post. :)