'Commenting For Dummies'

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TheDevilMyself's avatar
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~(INTRO)~
That's right folks!  This is a GUIDE TO COMMENTING!  It's short, so as not to bore you, and it should be helpful judging by the majority of comments i see and recieve.  Anyways, i'm going to cut to the chase.  As promised it's only 6 steps long but not necessarily in order.  Here goes nothing!

:bulletpurple:SIZE DOESN'T MATTER:bulletpurple:

I'm going to start this off by assuring you that a long comment doesn't necessarily mean a good comment.  A sentance or two is often adequate if you really can't say much more, are drunk, crunched for time, or am just sick and tired of clearing out your new deviation alerts.

"You don't always need a super-long comment to make it a good comment."

:bulletpurple:TRY TO HELP:bulletpurple:

I know, some deviations really bite the big one, but where there's something wrong there's the opportunity for something to be right.  The worst piece in the world has everything to improve on.  Remember that.  Next time you come across a bad piece, tell them what's bad about it, and suggest a way to fix it!  This does not require you to be an expert at whatever type of art this happens to be.  Just feelings you have or descriptions of what you would do are fine.

"Don't leave the doomed hanging or the wounded bleeding - help the poor person out after you rip them apart!  It's your mess, clean it up!"

:bulletpurple:DON'T BE A RETARD:bulletpurple:

Oh, find this offensive do you?  Well we'll get to that.  What i mean by this is that "+fav" or ":-) i like it" is not a good comment.  Sure, an artist likes to know people approve of their work, but unless you have to go to work in 5 seconds or you've gotta pee something fierce, there's no excuse for this kind of comment.  There's an old saying that goes something like "Don't open your mouth unless you have something good to say" well i don't believe in that, but if you say "Don't comment unless you've got something not so blatantly retarded to say" could work here.

"+Fav is not a comment.  Be creative.  We're artists, damn it - it's what we do!"

:bulletpurple:OPEN A WINDOW:bulletpurple:

Ok, you might be impressed here, as this is actually just a tip.  When you first click to get to said deviation, it opens as a thumbnail with the comments below.  Right-click (or whatever it is  you mac users do) on the thumbnail and go to "open link in new window."  This opens the full image - you guessed it - in a new window.  Now in the first one, scroll down to your little comment box, and now all you have to do to refer back to the piece is click on a dumb little button at the bottom of your screen.  Hip Hip Hooray.  The point?

"Refer back to the image when you're commenting.  Helps you describe what you're seeing and sometimes pick up on new things"

:bulletpurple:READ UP ON IT:bulletpurple:

This is pretty much a no-brainer, but then again, if it wasn't an issue i wouldn't be putting it in here, now would i?
READ THE DESCRIPTION.  It sometimes informs you about the piece so that you may better understand it and other times will even tell you about mistakes the artist knows are there!  Thinking of mistakes and reading, it's also a good idea to skim the rest of the comments while you're scrolling down.  If not to laugh at their inferiority (just kidding) then to find out if anyone else noticed what you did so you can skip that or refer to it in your comment.

"YOU never know, but USUALLY the artist does.  Read about it now in the very description of the piece you are critiqueing!"

:bulletpurple:DON'T GO SOFT:bulletpurple:

My final step is the promised closure to my outburst above.  Just because you need to try and be helpful doesn't mean you should hold back.  Most people's comments are crap because they are afraid. And to avoid sounding like that guy from Donnie Darko i'm going to clarify this by saying:  They are afraid of hurting the artist's feelings by pointing out things that are wrong.  THIS IS WRONG.  If there's something you don't like about a piece, SAY IT!  EVEN if it is 'just an opinion'.  It's your opinion and you have a right to it!  Just be sure when you're stating opinions you think you're gonna catch hell for, that you tell them quite clearly that it is just your opinion.  Facts are one thing, opinions are everything else.

"Remember:  Opinions help artists grow - don't be afraid to voice yours."

---

~CONCLUSION~
There ya go - that wasn't so hard now, was it?  Didn't think so.  As a parting note, i'm going to leave you with a few links regarding commenting that you might find more useful, but lengthier as well.  This guide is meant to give people an  'abbreviated' guide to commenting.  Their guides are longer, but more comprehensive.  Check them out!

THE COMMENT REVOLUTION by ~ :iconsplat:splat

C-DADDY'S GUIDE TO COMMENTING by ~ :iconcoshdaddy:coshdaddy

"The Art of Commenting" by ~ :iconinziladun:inziladun

That's all folks!  Thanks for reading!

DEVIL!
© 2004 - 2024 TheDevilMyself
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kenwedaneli's avatar
wow, 2004, well that's a long time and still, this feels like timeless! is so great to have this kind of journal entries! :+fav: if i could,i loved it. but anyways, after, reading some of the comments, i still think that if my message center is filled with devs that i follow and have been left for another day, even if the artist submit the art too long ago i don't think is useless to not leave a comment or critique to them simply for the amount of time passed by. every artist -i think- is waiting for their work to be noticeable not just for a week or two, but for all the time that can possibly be, don't you think so?. i know, we cannot give a comment on the 2293 devs we left behind in our message center, but... perhaps the ones that catch our eye can do the charm don't you think?. i think if everyone of us can figure it out to be more open about giving your opinion -as you said- we wont have to be afraid to hurt the artist feelings if you know exactly what you want to say and how to say it, as Constructive Criticism.
in the first place, it is not our job -as viewers of the artwork- to stay in the background not telling what we really feel about your artwork, and leave the artist thinking that "yea... you fav their work" but that does not mean that you loved it or that is just a good piece... and also is our obligation in a certain way to tell the artist what is what we like about their artwork; and it is also our obligations -as artist- to receive every comment or criticism NOT PERSONAL!, i know a lot of people that thinks that if someone says something they feel is bad is like life is going to end! that is so not true! we can't grow much from the people that fakes a smile all the time, but we can grow from the people that are not afraid of telling us the little of bigger flaws that our work can have or the thing in which we can improve! we have to take everything good that comes from everyone else, and grow with it! to be better and better every time! thank you again and i'm totally leaving this as a permanent link in my journal....
regards!!
pd. sorry for the loooooong comment... i feel like saying it :blush: