It's January 10th, 2023. You may notice one day that I used to be very active on the social media aspect of Deviantart, where I publish my main work, but that after today I won't be.
There's a reason for that.
When you leave a lot of comments on Deviantart, the site prompts you to welcome new artists to the site.
Three days ago I welcomed a new artist to Deviantart, leaving a message saying, 'welcome to Deviantart' like I always do.
For two days after that someone on Deviantart trolled me through replies to my simple greeting, claiming that the person I welcomed into Deviantart was showing AI art.
Look, I understand that AI art is an issue that hurts a lot of artists right now.
But I simply said 'Welcome to Deviantart' to someone and they trolled me for two days.
All I did was say Hi to someone!
Can we please get back to just being nice to each other, like we did in America before 1992?
Like they do in person in every other country in the world when they are not on social media on the internet?
Look, I know it is easier to say something mean over the Internet than in person.
But the idea that there is something wrong with saying 'welcome to Deviantart' to the wrong person- with absolutely no evidence on my side of things that they were showing AI art at all, or doing anything else wrong- is just horrid!
I have the right to say Hi to a person on the street without checking their frickin' police record first!
Please, can we try a little harder to be nice to people?
I shouldn't have responded to the trolling.
But I wanted to send the message that it is okay for me to say Hi to someone without checking if they committed a crime first.
Finally they came straight out and all but called me an accomplice to a crime.
Simply for saying 'welcome to Deviantart' to the wrong person!
You are not an accomplice to a crime for saying Hi to someone on the street without first checking their police record!
Can we just go back to being nice to each other?
This is not the kind of life any of us want to live!
Let's not let the terrorists win!
Let's go back to living the kind of life we all would rather be living!
Let's all go back to being nice to each other!
It will be worth it!
We won't be happy any other way!
And what is life worth if we are not happy, simply because we choose to do something that makes us all miserable?
This is not just for the sake of the person that we would be mean to!
This is for the sake of the would-be trolls too!
They won't be happy either!
Let's go back to being nice to each other!
Because it's the only way any of us will be happy!
And being happy is worth it!
God loves you! All of you! Even the internet trolls among you! And so do I! Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin! God loves you all, and so do I! I simply want the best for you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson
P.S. Yes, I know that it's so much easier to be mean over the Internet. And we shouldn't let someone being mean get to us.
It's how much people are nice to each other that matters, not how much people are mean to us! It's not people no longer trolling us that will make us happy- it's the rest of us being nice to each other! That's what matters! It matters more that we go back to saying 'welcome to Deviantart' to each other!
Only from now on I will be doing so through my books, and in person, not through comments on the Internet. But my books go out to you too! God loves you!