Unless you’ve been sans Internet connection since the 28th, you’ve witnessed the transgressions that have occurred since then. If not witnessed, then at least educated yourself about them.

What we have seen has resulted in uproar. It has been made blatantly obvious by those in the know that something is very wrong here; that what was once our community is now completely in the hands of a business. There’s been talk of “trying to save the community,” with the justification that walking away solves nothing. But know this: the community you are involved in now exists only to line the pockets of others. Where I’m from, you at least get a paycheck for doing that.

I don’t doubt that we have all known, for a long time, that deviantART has a business side to it. These kinds of things take money, and we understood that. We supported that. We bought subscriptions for ourselvs, and each other. We bought prints for ourselves and each other. But it seems to have gone beyond simply funding what’s needed to keep servers running and compensate those who work so tirelessly for deviantART.

That is why Jark, quite possibly the staunchest supporter of community over corporation, is no longer part of deviantART's administration. “deviantART the Company” has “deviantART the Community” by the balls, and I guarantee that you will continue see deviantART the Community shaped in such a way so as to benefit deviantART the Company. It’s already happening. Dozens, if not hundreds, of people join deviantART every day. They don't know how things “were.” They don't know about Jark, about community ... hell, half of them don't know about art. They know what they see in the here-and-now. And they'll unknowingly play perfectly into the whole thing.

Don’t get me wrong, deviantART has been many things for me in the past 3+ years that I’ve been here. I’ve taken up photography, met people who, without deviantART, would be complete strangers otherwise, and had the chance to see some of the most incredible art in the world today. My interests have been shaped by deviantART. °jark, if you happen to read this ... as cliché as it might sound, know that deviantART has changed my life, and I will be eternally grateful for it.

And maybe tomorrow nothing will be different. Maybe this month nothing will be different. But is has been made loud and clear that the change to come will not be to our benefit.

This is the Internet. The art community, the bond that brings us together, is not limited to the servers that bring us together. Our presence is not limited to this island, this facet of existence. In fact, I’d say that if you really want to save the community, do so by not making deviantART your exclusive online art scene. Get involved with other art communities. Have real-world meets with people from those communities. Share your passion for art, and for community. You can go to any other place and still be who you are, your art can be what it is, and your community involvement can be what it is. Nothing can change that, certainly not the website you log into.

So why stay when the efforts are in vain? Why stay when all you’re doing is making the statistics look better? Why stay when the person whose strongest vision of deviantART is that of a community is no longer amongst those at the helm? Why stay when deviantART needs you more than you need deviantART?

Add it up. Connect the dots.

Read T52.org. Why do you think °matteo, °euphoria, and `brazensix said what they did?

Read +mkinne’s journal asking what would happen if we lost Jark. Read the comments. All the comments. Why do you think +mkinne said what he did? Why do you think a “ Jark” campaign sprouted up about the same time?

Read “The Future of deviantART?.” What do you think would possess him to write something like that, right around the same time +mkinne wrote his journal?

Why do you think so many staff members, high-level and low-level alike, have “resigned” over the past 8 months (note that it’s been just over 8 months since +mkinne’s journal popped up), many within very close stretches of time?

Why do you think there has been so much silence about Jark’s removal from staff? Why would they let the community reaction escalate to what it has if there was a simple honest answer to all this?

Think about deviantART Goes Commercial.
Think about the “deviantART Notices” in the middle of userpages.
Think about the constant barrage of print promotion.
Think about the Be Generous buttons on all non-subscriber pages.
Think about the “Hurry Up And Shop” bar that appeared during the holidays.
Think about the “Top Prints” sidebar while browsing.

Nothing you’d think twice about in its own right. Hell, I didn’t.

But add it up. Connect the dots.

Go ahead and wait for your “official” answers. Go ahead and believe that “everything will be alright.” Go ahead and believe that someone who would push away the very co-founders of this site really and truly has your best interests in mind.

But I can’t.