I've always been big on the word "community." That's because I really believe in it. When I got involved in this stuff, it was to find other people who were into what I was into so I could discuss it and feel better about it. It clearly wasn't going away, so I wanted to find a way to come to terms with it. Having no options in real life, I turned online. The rest is history, and it's kept me sane.
As a result, I am pretty serious about the network of people that has evolved over the last several years. Some of us need the community (and the human beings in it) more than others. But that, to me, is the point -- people having discussions and interacting with people who understand this weird thing and don't judge. The fetish stories, drawings, and morphs have all cropped up around that community; the sites began as mailing lists and discussion forums, and the galleries appeared later. That's like dessert to the meal, in my mind.
I try to support and post in as many inflation communities as I can. If I have nothing to say, I won't post until I do, but if I can add something constructive to a conversation, you'll see my name. The return of InflateChan struck me as one of those opportunities, a community that was making a fresh start. I posted several images from my 25GB of inflatosmut to help the cause.
I was wrong to do that. I have come to see that InflateChan is not a community; it's just a porn dumping ground. In a community, you pick a name and stick with it. There's persistence of the members so conversations can happen. On InflateChan, 90% of the posters are named Anonymous and the only words exchanged are retarded shorthand quips like "MOAR" (for "keep posting free stuff so I can leech it") and "sauce?" (for "where did this come from, for I am too lazy to Google it or participate in any other communities"). The site is a one-way door of content flowing out. And a lot of time, the anons posting the content don't have the right (legal or ethical) to post it in the first place.
Mind you, I made that same mistake. I posted a bunch of stuff from an artist that I really like, but foolishly I'd completely blocked out a pretty dramatic situation ending in "don't post my stuff anywhere." I went back and deleted it all, but the damage was understandably done. I posted a few more things before someone said "Hey, that's also from a private archive, dude." Stupidly, I'd mixed up my files and lost track of which stuff was not to be distributed publicly. I deleted stuff again.
And then I started to think...why am I trying so hard to be part of this site anyway? I don't have anything to gain from it. It's not a discussion board; there's no discussion going on. New content is expected, not really appreciated, and it's not generated by the people posting it (that obvioulsy includes me). There's not much respect for the actual artists whose work is being posted, there's a huge sense of entitlement, and several content creators that I really like (Johnny Swell, Bambi Blaze) have had to fight to protect their basic artistic copyrights. Bootleg stuff shows up as often as legit freebies, and more and more (and MOAR) artists are coming out, expressing displeasure that their stuff is distributed in this context.
A site like that goes away when people stop posting images for the people who anonymously and immaturely demand them. So that's my plan. It's kind of a shame, because in theory, I think a site like that could work, but there is so little respect among the users that this one never will grow to be more than it already is. It makes DeviantArt look absolutely brilliant.
I tried to repair my mistakes by deleting the sensitive stuff I posted, and while even that was likely too late, I'm not going to be part of the problem going forward. I have close to 15 years of really good smut on my hard drive, and InflateChan pretty much convinced me to lock it down.
But we can always have a good discussion.
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6 comments:
Welcome to the internet. What happened with that private stuff is the same thing that happened when Barbra tried to get pictures of her house removed, and Scientology tried to get Tom Cruise's video off the net. I don't care how old you are, how experienced you are with online communities, but now you know better than to expect intellegent conversations on any image board with "Chan" in the name. What you defined Inflatechan as, a smut dumping ground or whatever, you are dead on. However, it's not an insult, or a putdown to anyone who lurks there. It's simply the truth.
Remember, the internet is serious buisness.
When InflateChan first appeared, I had a sinking feeling that a situation like this was inevitable. That's the problem with InflateChan - it's a 'Chan' site, and as such is prone to all the worst behavior seen by the likes of 4chan. The anonymity and horde-mentality that defines sites like that allows for all manner of selfishness and stupidity to reign supreme. Get a large enough group of parasites together under one 'roof', and suddenly any hope of them feeling ashamed of what they're doing goes right out the window, because everyone else is doing it, and there's always a bigger leech than them somewhere in the crowd.
Granted, controlling the flow of information over the internet is difficult at the best of times. As Howard Dean discovered after his infamous scream: "Ya lives by the internet, ya dies by the internet." No matter how hard you try to make something disappear, there will always be someone, somewhere, who has a copy and is willing to share it with anyone who will give them the time of day. Granted, some artists - like JollyJack from DeviantART - have had a fair bit of luck keeping their stuff from being pirated, but for the most part, it's a grueling and ultimately futile process - like Sisyphus and his boulder.
It's sad that chanites are making it impossible for artists and other content producers to feel comfortable in the community. Alas, I don't think there's much we can do about it, at least for the time being.
Catguy_Paladin / Captain Neil
I guess I have a different view about just posting someone else's artwork *that's already posted publically* without permission nowadays. I see it more as a "Hey I like this guy's work so much I want to show it to others." Of course being in the risky/risque field it usually comes along with the artwork being able to be sexually stimulating. XD My artwork never got that recognition and it's a good yet bad in a way. I think I seen one posted once on another board long ago. All I did was applaud them for having good taste. XD
As far as chan sites go with this, I haven't seen anyone 'claiming' that a piece of artwork is falsely theirs over there.
And, of course, I'm against posting artwork that is private and said to not be posted elsewhere. I have my own collection of images I'm not posting anywhere to respect the people I drew them for.
I've seen the board over there where CaptainStupids keeps tabs on the threads that get too much drama and from what I've heard, IP-bans the people starting drama and closing threads/deleting images.
I admit I go there because I'm looking for new inflation content a lot and cause I don't have to put up with those stupid popup Ads at BBWchan.
Yeah I agree: I'd like to see a required log-in as well, although then we might wind up with another Deviantart.
Oddly enough I can't stand how DeviantArt is, yet I have no problems with the chan boards like that.
It's all a matter of preference to what ya like and want to see, and your own choice on what to do with your own collection of art. XD The internet is a risky/risque place as it is. And I respect you for your decision on keeping your artwork confidential. It gives a essence of value to it. :)
When I was posting other people's work on InflateChan, it was in the same spirit -- "I'm a fan, I want others to appreciate what I appreciate." I think that's natural; we all want to champion what we like and share it. But there are more and more artists saying that they simply don't like that sloppy, faceless context and would rather not see their work posted in that way.
It's definitely easy and convenient, but it does strike me like eating a can of frosting. Where was this originally from? Why was this made? Was it an art trade, an illustration for a story, an experimental piece? On one hand, any piece of art should be able to stand on its own, but this art is coming out of a community -- and the community is not being represented.
DA at least fosters feedback, and it goes right to the creators. I don't think it's perfect, but I think it serves a more noble purpose than InflateChan.
What is it about the inflation fetish that spawns such dramariffic babies? Really I123, I expected better of you.
It seems this fetish is second only to furries in drama generation, which is unfortunate, since it seems almost all the good inflation artists are super touchy, and so much as a single nasty comment on their deviantart or whatever causes their balls to shrivel up into their pelvis and they tear down their artwork and cry.
Frankly it seems Inflate123 doesn't get the community that is defined by imageboards like these.
By its very nature as an imageboard, an IMAGE BOARD is going to be that: a dumping ground for images.
See Also: 4chan's /b/, 7chan, BBWchan, etc. etc.
'In a community, you pick a name and stick with it.'Last I checked a community was defined as a group of interacting people in one spot.
The fact everyone is 'Anonymous' is a part of the culture that surrounds image boards like these. people are free to say or post as they please, without fear of reprisal targeted at a name. Those who don't want to remain anonymous can get a tripcode or simply use a name if they like.
Its obvious you are into a more traditional setup like mailing lists, discussion forums and the like, and thats fine. Some of use don't want to have to register and submit and fuck around with the bullshit associated with other sites. So don't rag on an image board for not meeting your expectations for a 'community'
And finally your rather weak passive aggressive 'I'm going to take my bat and ball and go home' bit is pretty laughable. As we all know the Internet is Serious Business, And you really made us all cry about those 15 years of smut all locked up on your hard drive.
Whats the point in having it if all you do is brag about it? Its like me telling you "I was going to send you a billion dollars, but because I think your blog sucks and you make weak arguments, I'm going to keep it!"thats good and dandy. feel free to continue to stroke your e-penis, We will wait.
but this art is coming out of a community -- and the community is not being represented.
Last I checked it was called Inflatechan for a reason. You might want to be more clear about blanket statements like that. Generally the source of the art is stated, or being inquired about, many times there are even links to the artists page. Inflatechan is even home to a few resident artist who draw stuff for the chan.
So just what 'community' are we not representing? DA? BI? you might have to be specific just what one you are calling the 'entire inflation community'
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