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ZedrinBot
I animate and draw and fuck robots. Please don't ask for my Discord or Steam, or for me to draw your OC.
Do not interact with my NSFW content if you are a minor.

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Tumblr, Updates, Etc.

Posted by ZedrinBot - November 21st, 2018

A lot of people already know that Tumblr's been dealing with a purge issue going on (even was addressed in the site news). For those who don't, the short of it is Tumblr got in trouble with Apple for pornography, assumedly because of child porn (possibly from the bot epidemic). The assumption is that the recent purges are from them sending an overzealous algorithm to remove accounts that might be in violation, but a huge number of accounts hit were very obviously compliant or even SFW. Very little has been confirmed so nobody knows 100% what's going on, even after 3 days.

Whatever the reason, people are wrongfully getting deleted. Some people got their accounts back, others have yet to, and even some have gotten them back only to be nuked again a few hours later.

So a lot of people are moving to Newgrounds and Twitter. That all considered, Newgrounds shouldn't be seen so much a replacement as something of its own. It's more like a web gallery and archive page for artists than it is a social media-focused platform. Tumblr had features like like image sets, asks and responses, and reblogs to share content from other users. Newgrounds lacks these, but it does have a review system, a robust maturity rating system, has a lot of support for collaborations, and supports a wide number of filetypes. It kinda makes it a different creature entirely.

What's more it's also been independent since its birth and has alwas been pro-NSFW and has always been curated. It's a relatively safe archive to put your work on. 

Newgrounds isn't something I'd use to replace a site like Tumblr--it's something I'd use (and have used) regardless of the situation, in addition to whatever platforms I might be on. Even if Tumblr wasn't melting down at the moment it'd still be a smart idea to at least set up a NG page.

To any new artists here, be sure to get at least 4 pieces of art up right away so you can be scouted and show up in the art feed!

Anyway, quick rundown of personal updates:

  • Shantae project is nearing completion. Its scope has been readjusted: instead it's going to basically just be a loop collection, with 2 loops and a climax for each form. As of writing this I have 3 more animations to do (though one form I might redo entirely). Holy FUCK this took way too long to make.
  • I've got a short SFW animation-animatic idea that I hopefully will have out by xmas.
  • I have two other sfw animation projects that are going to be coming in 2019, but I have yet to start. Both are sequels.

All these will be up on Newgrounds as well as Youtube (with a few of them being newgrounds first or even exclusive)

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godzillabeasty

Oh hey zedrin,didn't know you were on here.
sounds like you got good stuff coming.

ZedrinBot

yep, i've been on here for a while. (well, couple of years)
NG is pretty much the only place I can reliably host my longer porn animations (all one of them currently :V)

SpoiledMysteryMeat

yo sup zed, it's riot! Need to change my name but it's good to see more people on newgrounds, ay?

cosmicdairyprairie

The search functions on tumblr aren't going to matter too too much if their removal of search functions for NSFW content stays in place.

Mightydein

Welcome Tumblr artists.

I hope you make lots of cool stuff for Newgrounds.

EXcore

hey zed, you should bring all this up with the site owner. seems like he'd be pretty interested in hearing this since he's gone and said hes open to hearing any thoughts and suggestions that would make this a better home for artsy folks like us jumping ship from tumblr.

ZedrinBot (Updated )

Maybe. Tom does read a lot of journal entries here so I wouldn't be surprised if he saw it.

That all said a lot of these changes would alter how newgrounds operates as a whole and what purpose it serves. From its start it was meant to operate with some goals in mind--trying to appeal to new goals would mean sacrificing some of the functionality it originally provided, I feel.

Plus they just had a site overhaul a few months ago.

If anything were to change, it would probably be best as an addition rather than altering something else. The only things I could think of that would maybe be a good fit would be the ability to select what you follow from a person (e.g., just art posts, journals, everything, etc.), and then maybe a 'dump' feed, where you could post doodles and things in batches, as well as embed other posts from yourself or other users. They wouldn't go to the art portal, but followers would be able to see this feed.

But setting something like that up would be some work.

Cyberdevil

Well said. It stands well on it's own, and shouldn't be seen as or tried to be turned to a full-out alternative, but I do hope most artists who come here appreciate it for what it is, and what it has to offer that Tumblr didn't! The review system in particular's a pretty strong point IMO.

ZedrinBot

It can be hit or miss. A lot of people I've seen coming to this site are kinda taken aback by some reviews they've gotten, to the point where it's turning them off to it. You tend to get a lot of 'backseat artists' or people whose only goal with a review is to raise their total review count, like it's a competition.

(Coincidentally I've been planning to do a video on how to improve critique sometime soon.)

bucketoflewds

I love the maturity rating system here!

ZedrinBot

Me too. It's not just a SFW/NSFW filter, it's even more nuanced. It gives people way more control over what they want to see.

I'm a huge advocate for people being in charge of their site experiences so I wish more sites had something like it.

BLACKCRUS4DR

I'm Still Alive From Tumblr And Here Of Course So...Yeah.

Cyberdevil

Hmm backseat artists was a new term for me. I've been reviewing like crazy myself trying to encourage people with this recent surge, thinking each review's an easy acknowledgement, but of course you gotta give critique where it's due. That's the whole point with the review system IMO, to contribute and further learning; self-improvement. Understandable some people aren't used to anything outside the Like culture, which is a shame, but it also seems rare that I see reviews that aren't overwhelmingly positive these days... interesting some have gotten that kind of response. Assuming it may be with content forms NG people aren't used to...? And of course, it is a competition too. :) The focus on numbers and rankings here do give the whole site an RPG-like element. There's toplists for everything. Good fuel for activity I think. I feel these could all be nuanced further to really boost user activity in regard to, most specifically, reviews. Apart from a select few users there are really few people who focus much on those.

A guide sounds like a good idea though. Been a while since I stumbled upon one of those. Might get people writing a bit more elaborate responses too, outside the most common 'cool' and 'nice' and 'lol's. :)

ZedrinBot (Updated )

It's a term I saw coined recently and I kinda like it. It's not a matter of like culture--fact of the matter is a lot of people really just have zero idea how to give critique. https://puu.sh/C72Cy/c664bb05c8.png (This isn't from my own work, though I have a huge number of examples myself. I've always found it very obnoxious, personally, even in 'positive' reviews.)

Critique should always be focused on intention, and how an artist aims for their goals (and how they could better achieve them)--not a subjective assessment of what someone likes or dislikes, which is what most critiques (even outside of Newgrounds) are. (I had one review that said an animation of mine was 3.5/5 because I didn't bake subtitles into it??? Even though that's something I do on youtube?)

There's a whole write-up I could give on critique, but I'm saving it for when I finally do my video.

Cyberdevil

Oh wow. XD Of course personal opinions matter too, but that isn't really being constructive... I'm probably guilty of leaving some similarly skewed scores on work I just can't appreciate though, for one reason or other, so I understand where they're coming from. But it could be phrased differently. And rated differently, probably.

Regarding the goal of critique though, it is very subjective after all isn't it? Someone might like a particular color, or angle, or texture, or other particular piece of the art that doesn't have to do with the artists intention, but shouldn't they point this out? Doesn't the artist want to know what the viewer appreciates, or doesn't appreciate, with their work? Maybe they're details that could inspire further.

Of course you shouldn't create things solely based on what you expect an audience to like, or you'd sacrifice artistic integrity, but at the same time it should be of interest to know what people think of that work. What they relate to. What feelings they derive from it. Similar to how an artist shouldn't sacrifice their artistic integrity, I don't think a viewer should sacrifice theirs, in complying with the artists message rather than forming their own assessment of that work. To me it's best when it's a balance. When it's a trade of impressions, experiences, and forms of appreciation.

But of course it's annoying when certain details unjustly impact the score. Little bits that you'd think shouldn't be a point of focus (important as they may be to some people). On the topic of subs, on foreign cartoons I often point that out too. It just really would make me appreciate the gist of it better if I know what they're saying... hopefully I still value the overall quality more than the lack of that particular feature. It's definitely much easier on YT, but they can be hard-coded in via a video editor too.

Anyway, yeah, it's a big topic! Very ambiguous and fragile bond this one between content creator and consumer. :) Intrigued to see what you write up when you do!

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