Since I haven't posted a new entry in months now (not going to check that stamp for exact number), I guess I need to post a quote-unquote update.
Note: some tyraids here do go into personal opinion so take said opinions as a grain of salt.
Reviving Presence on SpaceHey
For starters, I have been trying to pick back up on usage here despite having a small audience. I had gotten so desensitized to the "scammy users" to the point where blocking is used a bit to place that boundary with them. I honestly think the internet of today is extremely focused on making products out of users it gets pretty sickening to think about it. I'm still not sold on using this to make a blog over something like Dreamwidth. Emailing the new entries are the only reason I might be reluctant to switch over to be completely honest.
Profile pictures might work a little differently as I had been using Picrew creations I made using the said site's vast collection of makers. Credit to the original artist that made the creator would still be credited by both the URL to the Picrew in question, but I would be more than happy to start including the artist's name since the watermarks on the image can be harder to see as a set PFP. As a rather anxious artist myself, I understand that being credited is a small feat for others to do but a big difference between not getting recognized and gaining a following based on your work for a small but fun feature on a create a character image website. I had considered switching the colors on the profile layout but still undecided at the moment.
Reluctantly Got Bluesky Again, But Rather Do Forums...
I'm gonna be real honest: I didn't care for Bluesky. Twitter was something I used once and then deleted before the Musk takeover and I still refuse to use Twitter/X for that reason. Bluesky was created by the former CEO of Twitter and it honestly brings back the old site vibes. I still didn't care for it, but I got one again to cut back on possible impersonations taking place despite being a hobbyist with some form of interest in making a living off of drawing. While I don't consider my art ability as a job potential as much as I used to, the idea of someone masquerading as me is pretty disturbing. Even with a small "fanbase" I have now, not the best thing to have happen to me that's for sure...
I had mentioned I don't use the site as much - with no mention of it being me claiming the username to prevent the impersonators. Instead of the social media sites though, I had been more interested in the vast amounts of forums created by fans and enthusiasts alike. Some I have already joined and used to the point of having some ground to stand on. Melonland being the one most would mention off the bat. Although the only two fandom based ones I have on my resume is Sonic Blast and PokeCommunity. I had found one for both The Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing (specifically New Horizons), but have yet to join at the time of writing this.
I had considered making a post to look for more forums - but specific niches and groups. SH does have groups and such, but I felt like those are becoming ghost towns nowadays...
Various Personal Updates
Since this includes the rest of the content that I felt didn't fit in with the previous two, it's going to be a bit longer than those two.
I had taken a break from Cara for the moment as well as losing interest in Artfol due to the ongoing GenAI mess. I understand that there's not much sign of it slowing down and AI in general is going to be an ongoing trend, but I wouldn't say the same for generative AI. My only two cents on the matter is that GenAI does damage to tech enthusiasts because it uses the hardware most of them would get to upgrade their machines for regular usage while using up resources that could've been used to help others (water mostly, but point still stands as electricity would count here). It also uses artwork from artists without their consent and a lot of them - myself even as a hobbyist and other hobbyists would say the same - do not wish for their works to be used for machine learning. Their excuses of gatekeeping and "don't post them online if you don't want people stealing them" don't fly. The latter feels very luminescent of the art thievery of the olden days. How sad is it that I rather deal with that drama instead of AI tracers?
Newgrounds had came back onto the radar, but like the previous two I had considered not using it for a while. Mainly because all three publicly showcase artworks and/or an account feels pretty quick to get setup. FurAffinity I would say the same but because I have that option to make it a little harder to access by locking it behind a login, I opted to use that. While not a fur myself (although it could be up to debate with some people), I still enjoy anthropomorphic characters and art featuring them. Weasyl has the same deal: registration is simple but I could lock it behind a login. I think with there, you would need to be verified in order to use the majority of the site features.
Mostly, I had been sticking to both Toyhouse and Sheezy. TH might of had issues with some AI users stealing other's adoptables for goodness knows what - for all I know, it could be old news - but I still think its nice to have some control of whom gets access. Sheezy is set to login only for all artwork. On top of the registration being harder to obtain unless you are able to help support the site, getting a spot in would help cut back on sketchy actors. I also understand that most of these spots are looked at because that would mean less AI to muck up the machine learning, but I had started using watermarks and sometimes ArtShield to make it harder. I had already dealt with an AI prompter as they scraped at least two/three of the sites I was active on. I still feel bitter towards them, but I honestly wish nothing but the weeks they deserve going forward.
I had been using the gaming spots such as Backloggd/Backloggery and sometimes Minimap. Minimap is a bit too different for me to understand so I haven't been using it and locked it up for anxiety reasons. I had been on GamerProfiles for the same reason as Minimap, but that too had issues with what SH had with the scammy profiles at one point and left. Exophase I can't say safely as a hub for finding gamer buddies as it felt more like a sync point than anything else.
Slowly trying to open up to more gaming buds but I still have that boundary of "make a connection with me first" - especially with people trying to be a bit scummy for one reason or another.
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