Back from my road trip. Lots of photos coming soon. Cheers

_{PS: Funny update with the reports I've done of deviants gaming the fair exposure system. dA got back to me on one report. Despite their statement that "swift action will be taken against any deviant who is found to be purposely and/or flagrantly manipulating Fair Exposure. Such action might include a site suspension or ban," in their reply they claim that despite acknowledging that the deviant repeatedly miscategorized deviations, such actions must be "severe enough for intervention" prior to any warning, suspension, or ban. Woo, so we can still game the fair exposure system if our gaming isn't "severe." Yay}

dA's fair exposure system has lead to a lot of miscategorization in order to gain a ranking advantage ([link]). Although dA acknowledges this problem ([link]),  it has yet to take any action that I know of. Of the many reports I've made, none have been replied to. But I'm still hopeful dA will try to do something. Or at least write another PR stunt-esque journal about how they are going to do something. Making a better dA tomorrow tomorrow right?

Whenever I see:

_{(In case you're curious, I've attempted to contact the deviant on the piece [link] with the comment "How is this photography?". The comment has since been hidden and I have been banned from the deviant's page.)}

My reaction:

FINALLY : [link]

I'm sure most of us have grown out of our middle school aim screen-names (eesh is that thing still around?). I've been hoping to switch usernames for a really long time, even if it meant switching accounts...but now it looks like we won't have to!!! Too bad JFotography was already taken. I guess JeanFan is good too; people won't get confused and call me Rose. Though it does probably mean I'll have to make scientific publications under my husband's last name to try to separate my photography from my real work. Practicality over feminism. Okay, I'm ranting. Too much coffee. Too many exams. Good luck to any one else still taking exams in school.



Anyways, are you planning on changing your username? If so, what was the story of your current username anyway?

I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but it seems like every time I check dA now there's a journal in the footer that's along the lines of "WIN POINTS!" And every time I click them, there's a laundry list of rules and hoops people have to jump through in order to participate such as "watch me", "write a journal about this", fav my sh*t, give me a blowj*b, yada yada yada. Oddly enough, a lot of people seem more than happy to comply.

_{(What's even more funny is, of the comments I've read, none are negative. Which is in contrast to when I hosted a contest a few weeks ago with more or less no rules and got repeatedly accused of end games and hidden motives. Maybe people just feel better knowing that those giving out points are not really generous but rather are secretly @ssholes. Maybe people feel less suspicious if the hoops are just out there and visible for them to jump through so when there are no hoops they feel compelled to try to find hoops. We'll have to do some statistical testing to see >_> <_<)}

So what do you think of these contests? What rules are you willing to comply with to participate? And when do the rules just go too far?

Made an account on 500px: [link]

Let me know if you happen to have an account there too and I can add you

You're never too old to venture into somewhere unfamiliar to start something new

The categories game refers to the switching or misplacement of deviations into less competitive or algorithm preferred submission categories in order to gain a ranking advantage in dA's popularity algorithm, generally as a means of appearing more frequently on front page and subsequently gaining greater exposure.

The categories game arises from the inherent category biases under dA's "fair exposure" policy. The goal of the policy is to "maximize the display of the most popular deviations in a variety of topics…with Fair Exposure, the community is exposed to a varied cross-section of deviantART. " What this boils down to is that certain categories have inherent ranking advantages and others inherent ranking disadvantages on front page. For more information on dA's fair exposure policy and how it leads to the categories game, consult my last journal on "How to win at deviantART: Exposed: [link]"

As you may have guessed, some deviants have decoded this underlying ranking categories bias and turn it into a means of using the system to achieve greater exposure (a game if you will). Whether exploiting this loophole in the system to your advantage is right or wrong is not for me to say or judge but for you to think about. But what I offer you instead are simply my results (while statistically insignificant, are nonetheless based on statistics) from analyzing this underlying ranking bias in the Photography section so that you may, if you wish, use this information to your advantage. If we're all informed then we're all on even playing grounds then that's what's fair...right?

***

These are the categories you can submit to in order to gain a ranking advantage under dA's fair exposure policy based on the statistics collected from gaming. Interestingly, the effects of switching between categories (the jumps in ranking) take place in as little as 5 minutes though sometimes can take as long as half an hour.

The results (for Photography section only):

Non-competitve and algorithm preferred categories (categories that seem to be given a preference or bias in the algorithm; simply switching to these categories will often cause a substantial jump in ranking)
1. Architecture
2. Horror & Macabre
3. Abstract & Surreal

Non-competitve and algorithm neutral categories (categories where it's easier to get ranked 1st in the category simply due to the lack of other deviations competing for the same spot thereby making it easier to appear on front page)
1. Urban & Rural
2. Transportation
3. Still Life
4. Darkroom
5. Conceptual
6. Miscellaneous

Highly competitive but algorithm preferred categories (being even 5th in these categories will often result in a higher ranking than being 1st in categories such as Macro despite otherwise similar statistics)
1. People & Portraits
2. Animal, Plants & Nature

***

Common strategies I've seen from others:
1. Miscategorizing temporarily into Resources (also highly noncompetitive and algorithm preferred) to gain a ranking edge and then switching out a few hours or days later
2. Miscategorizing temporarily into Artisan Crafts (also highly noncompetitive and algorithm preferred)
3. Miscategorizing temporarily into Customization

Particularly for the photography category:
1. Submitting absolutely everything into Miscellaneous, Digital Darkroom, or Conceptual (the primary strategy for discrete gaming)
2. Using less competitive categories as "stepping stones" to reaching section front pages but then switching to a more correct category once reaching the general front page to avoid drawing negative attention

***

The good news:
(Most) people won't fav crap. Particularly in less competitive categories, sub-quality snapshots with only a few favs may manage to make it onto front page. During its time on front page, lots of people may view the deviation, but very few (<1%) will actually fav the deviation. This low conversion rate of viewers to fav-ers suggests that although being on front page means reaching a larger audience, if your work isn't "good", then people will realize that and just move along. So at the end of the day, working hard and improving your art is still the most important contributing factor towards gaining exposure and popularity.

The better news:
You don't have to game to take advantage of the system. Just try out a different genre! Do Horror photography. Do Architectural photography. Then submit to that category. Legit! Try something new.

The bad news:
Transparency in gaming is more of a detriment than benefit. A few deviants along with myself have been playing the categories game very transparently, primarily as a means of raising awareness but also of course while collecting statistics. I have also noticed others playing extremely blatantly though never admitting to such gaming. The unfortunate trend seems to be that people are hesitant to accuse others of "wrongdoing" (ie. gaming), but some are more than willing to judge others for the "wrongdoings" they've admitted to committing. So there is really little positive reinforcement for transparency or trying to get people informed. On the contrary, the most positive reinforcement comes from keeping others in the dark. But most just don't care. And perhaps that's the worst news…

Good news? Bad news? You decide:
Gaming works. Consider the analysis below.

***

A tale of two photos:

Both of flower macros. Both of comparably high quality. One submitted into Macro. The other switched around all categories to gain a ranking advantage.

Roughly 1 hour into the game, our macro photo is at 37 favorites and 101 views for a conversion rate of 0.37, ranking 1st in Macro 8 Hours but only 60th in Photography 8 Hours. Our switch-y photo is currently 1st in Miscellaneous 8 Hours and is slightly behind at 28 favorites and 81 views for a comparable conversion rate of 0.35, yet ranking 30th in Photography 8 Hours.

Our switch-y photo switched to Abstract&Surreal, suddenly jumping from 60th to 25th in Photography 8 Hours.  It is then switched again to Architecture, suddenly jumping from 25th to 6th in Photography 8 Hours where it stayed for the rest of its "24 hour potential front page life span" while our macro photo simply stays in the same category.

18 hours later, our switch-y photo is 1st on the general 24 hour front page with 1,230 favs and 5,511 views for a conversion rate of 0.22. Our macro photo is 70th on the general 24 hour front page with 163 favs and 731 views for a conversion rate of also 0.22.  

163 favs and 731 views is still a lot to be appreciative for. But at the same time, based on the trajectories of both deviations, I'm of the opinion that if our macro photo had been the one to get switched around, it too would've been able to achieve >1000 favs and >5000 views. But it was simply never given that opportunity.

***

So should you play the categories game? At this point, I really don't know anymore.

On the one hand, there does seem to be something rather devious with gaming a system to your advantage and subsequently presumably to the detriment of others. But on the other hand, when we've put so much time, effort, thought and passion into our artworks, it's disheartening when they are seemingly denied of an opportunity for greater exposure, not because people don't like our artworks, but because we failed to submit them into a more advantageous category. At the same time, there's no denying that people are playing. So if everybody's doing it, why can't we?

So until the system, until dA, changes to prevent this categories game, you can debate and decide for yourself: Will you play the categories game?

***

Perhaps as with economics and politics, the system is geared so that the rich get richer by exploiting these loopholes while the rest are left in the dark. But if more people know, then more people can lobby and demand for change. However, sadly, in all these settings, most people just don't seem to care. People don't care to notice. Less care to get informed. So if people don't care, then why should dA?

And so the psychopaths continue to exploit the loopholes of the system as well as the apathy of the masses.

deviantART is a categories game.

According to deviantART's hq, "deviantART's algorithm for Popular browse results (ie. front page) is known as Fair Exposure. The goal is to maximize the display of the most popular deviations in a variety of topics…with Fair Exposure, the community is exposed to a varied cross-section of deviantART. "

What this boils down to is that certain art categories have inherent ranking advantages and others inherent ranking disadvantages on front page as a means of ensuring that a variety of works from across deviantART are visible on front page and not just that of one category. Sounds pretty good right?

Well let me say before I continue that I do not know deviantART's actual mathematical algorithm for front page ranking. However, I think that anyone who notices the composition of front pages (whether 8 hour or 24, main or by category) and the statistics of the pieces that populate those fronts pages can give you a pretty good guess.

You may have noticed deviations from weird categories such as Customization popping up on front page despite having relatively "few" favorites. I say relatively "few" as being less than 100 in a 24 hour window, which is quite a lot but nothing compared to its neighboring deviations on front page from categories such as Digital Art. This suggests that Customization is a "non-competitive" category. As you can probably guess, not many people submit to the Customization section. Most things there are screenshots or webcam pictures. But because of deviantART's Fair Exposure algorithm, there is a "spot", in a way, on front page for Customization. No, this spot isn't fixed as the number 5 slot or anything. But if a piece gets 100 favorites in Customization, it may be ranked 10th on front page to ensure that front page does have at least one Customization deviation as a part of Fair Exposure. Whereas if a piece gets 100 favorites in Digital Art, it'd be nowhere to be seen on front page and probably not even on the front page for the Digital Art category. Given this, Digital Art can be seen as a highly competitive category. So sorry digital artists, I guess you'll just have to work that much harder to get your work exposure. Doesn't seem as fair now does it?

As you can probably guess, there are also ranking advantages and disadvantages within categories. Take for example the Photography category, which I'm most familiar with. A deviation with 100 favorites in Photography/Macros/Nature will not rank as high as a deviation with 50 favorites in Photography/Macros/Objects and otherwise comparable statistics. Perhaps this is because there is another photography section for nature already, presumably Photography/Animals, Plants and Nature. I'm not really sure the "reasoning" is here. But what this seems to suggest is that if you have a nature-related photograph, perhaps it's better to avoid the Photography/Macros/Nature section and instead go for Photography/Animals, Plants and Nature. Or if you want to be a real player, submit it to something like Photography/Horror & Macabre (a surprisingly non-competitive subcategory for Photography). Or maybe even Customization! Who cares? deviantART sure doesn't seem to. So is this still fair?

Is deviantART's algorithm really this simple? Yes and no. The algorithm seems to also takes into consideration a number of things like the "age" of the submission, the "rate" of favorites (presumably both the number of favorites per view rate and number of favorites per time unit rate), the number of views, the number of comments, and so forth. But categories are a big part of the algorithm. And therefore a big part of deviantART's categories game.

But don't take my word for it. Read about deviantART's Fair Exposure algorithm which "explicitly attempts to select popular deviations that showcase as many popular topics as possible" here: [link]

(So this is how popular deviants became popular?!!? Haha not really. deviantART only came out with this algorithm earlier this year. So I guess I'm actually a bit of a slowpoke. But maybe now the changes in front page trends since the beginning of this year make a bit more sense?)

If you say that you don't care about front page or favorites, good for you. Be above the machine (serious here, not sarcastic). If you say that you don't mind a bit of competition, even better.

But a lot of us are trying to get our artworks out there for the greater community to view and enjoy. And it's discouraging to have your artwork be put at a "disadvantage" simply because of the category its in (by this weird kind of art discrimination?). If you're a nature photographer, you'll simply have a harder time getting exposure than a horror photographer, not necessarily because people like nature less and horror more but because the system favors horror. And it's even more enraging when you see others take advantage of this system by playing the categories game while others are left out in the dark.

So now if you want to play this game, go ahead. Now you know. If we're all informed then we're all on even playing grounds then that's what's fair...right?

Should you play the categories game? I'd recommend it. It's a good real world non-science application of the scientific method. Plus, if you think everything I've said is complete bull then try it yourself and see. So submit something. See where it ranks. (Maybe on the 5th page of a subcategory. The deviation doesn't have to be on a front page but you do need to be able to locate it and see where it ranks.) Change the category. Then wait half an hour or so (there's a delay in switching categories and all) and see where your deviation ranks under the new category. Observe the consequences, draw a correlation, and deduce the underlying pattern. Then write a rant-y journal like this one about what you found.

Do I play? At least enough times to make these boisterous claims anyway. Do others already play? I've seen many many people play "discretely" by switching their deviation's category between similar categories. For example, if your deviation is ranked first in the Photography/People and Portraits subcategory but then a more popular piece "overtakes" your spot as first, perhaps you will change your deviation's category to Photography/Miscellaneous so that it can be ranked first in the Photography/Miscellaneous category and therefore rank higher in the front page of the Photography category and subsequently the main front page. I've also infrequently seen others play more outrageously, blatantly submitting to the wrong category to gain an advantage. Traditional Art submitted into Photography/Miscellaneous. Photography submitted into Literature (a very non-competitive category mind you). You name it.

So why doesn't deviantART try to prevent this categories game? If you've ever tried to report a deviation for Misplacement (or anything), you probably know how slow and non-responsive deviantART can be. And who can blame them? I'd say 90% or more deviations on deviantART are misplaced. Most just don't ever make it to where they're visible. Other times, it's really hard to say who's playing the game. Who's to say this photo of a flower isn't really "Darkroom" (another fairly non-competitive subcategory for Photography)? Or even if you see someone switch categories every few hours, who's to say they didn't just realize their piece "belonged" in a different section. Maybe they just made a mistake? Of course, it happens. But maybe deviantART doesn't care because people don't seem to care. Maybe there are no reports to begin with. Or maybe people don't even notice the category something's in once it's on front page. Or more likely a bit of both.

So what should deviantART do? Perhaps a change of algorithms is due. deviantART's old algorithm based on raw popularity didn't seem to work too well since those who were popular simply gained more exposure and became more popular while those who were new couldn't even get their foot in the door. deviantART's new algorithm actually seems to favor what's new and is gaining momentum quickly (so a high rate of favorites) though this has a tendency of favoring fan-art, porn, stolen works, or whatever else has a large immediate wow factor. So what algorithm would be better? I honestly have no clue.

Then why am I complaining if I can't fix the problem? Eh, I'd rather think of this as disseminating information than complaining.

Take what you've learned here and do what you want with it. Judge me for it or do as I've recommended you do: play the categories game.

May the best artists players win?