Reflection

An ethnographic study of an online community was an interesting experience.  I felt weird studying an online community because it is something so current and accessable that it was hard to wrap my head around the idea of 'researching it.'  However, looking critically at the time and trends you are amongst is critical to functioning in society.  

I must say, I am completely sick of the community I am studying.  It is not longer exciting with new information popping out at you- it is like a final I just finished and I don't want to go back to class for a LONG summer!

I feel attached to my community because I have been interacting with them so much lately.  Online communities truly give people a sense of locality that they may not be able to find immediately in the physical world.

My community was global, and I did feel a sense of disembodiment.  It seemed like everyone was just like me, but in reality they are from Romania to South Africa to Russia to anywhere is Europe and the US.  Their cultures and lifestyles are different then mine.  However, everyone bonded on a common ground, which can't be a bad thing.

Title Page Requirements

Kendra Zager

Artists Online: Modes of Control and Copyright

Paintings I Love

http://www.paintingsilove.com/

Digital Hub

http://paintingsilove.blogspot.com/

Online Elements

·         Quiz

·         Scribd – Embedded Research Paper

·         Link Lists for Web Sites and Articles

·         You Tube Video Scroll displaying a user’s art videos

            (Also embedded onto blog)

My Research Paper

J676 Research Paper

   Publish at Scribd or explore others:            School Work              Essays & Theses              Other              Magazines & Newspape              Books                  research              paper      

Italia's Videos

One of the artists on PIL made Youtube Videos.  One details her portfolio and one is a slideshow of sorts of the development of her painting, The Perfect Doll Fake Chinese.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c6E7Hd7dGE&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYI9Y4JJvxI&feature=channel 

Comments/ Interactivity

The Web site functions as a portfolio for artists to showcase their work.  Artists are able to gain exposure by interacting with other artists.

What I've found is that the more you comment and interact, the more people interact with you.  Since you can view what artists are 'online now' on every page you visit, interacting with the artists online generates the most feedback.

For instance, I commented on a picture for an artist online now.  He 'replied' to my comment "Thank you" with in 5 minutes.  From there, he must have clicked on my name (to the left of my comment) because he commented on one of my pictures one minute after he wrote "Thank you."

It is common for artists to respond to people's comments on their pictures. I was wondering how ethical this is because it raises their comments, thus raising their picture's popularity on the site, which gives it more exposure.  However, I determined that it is ethical to respond to other artists' comments on your page because it promotes humility, conversation and strengthens connections amongst users.

I have found that artists who are not of high caliber or who disobey the Terms of Service are filtered through participation.  There are no comments (or very few) on the artists' pictures who disobey the Terms, such as photographers.  Photography is not allowed on this site because the Terms say that their are other Web sites for sharing photography.  These seem to be the only pictures who get below 3 stars, accompanied usually by no comments.  I think this is the other artists way of gently telling them they are not welcome with open arms.

Comments/ Modes of Control

Comments are how artists interact with each other on PIL.  You must vote for 5 pictures before you are able to make comments.

Norms- The atmosphere on PIL is supportive and generous.  Artists online give positive feedback on each others work and rarely I see constructive criticism on artworks or ideas on how to improve an artist's next painting.

Sometimes artists will put up a half finished piece and ask the community for suggestions.  The artists who do this are very successful in getting feedback because they are continuously active members in the site.  The active members who seem to be online almost everyday, develop 'friendships' with one another.  These online friendships are built through support and interactive constructive criticism.

The comments are regulated by the administrator.  In the terms of service it outlines the rules for comments, you cannot use excessive capitol letters ("don't yell), excessive asterisks or exclamation marks, or obscenity.  The post comment button instantly censors the comments with excessive * and !.  

In my comments I've tried to add approximately 20 asterisks and exclamation marks to my comments and it automatically cut the number down to 6 each.  If you post a comment in all capitol letters the Web site automatically filters it to all lower case when you publish it.

That said, I was surprised when I posted a comment to a Romanian artist and I received this e-mail:

THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENTS. I ALSO CALL IT RETAIL BURN OUT. I HAVE WORKED IN RETAIL OVER 20 YEARS.

As Outlined in the terms of service, I did feel "yelled at." Although I was not offended because her email was nice and related to the comment I had made about her painting titled, "Burnt Out."

I tested obscenity on the Web site too. The f-word is not filtered right away when you comment on a painting.  So when I posted "I f***ing love this painting," I personally took it down.

I think people self censor themselves because the administrator gives himself full freedom to remove and censor anything on the site with out notice.  People on the website are also trying to share their artwork, or make a career for themselves in the art world.  Therefore there the atmosphere is respectful and somewhat professional.  Many people engage in artistic dialogue and, as the German artist told me, in depth art conversation via email.

My Site Statistics

Your [My] stats
Pictures you've uploaded	5
Pictures of yours with votes	5
Average rating of your pictures	4.6 stars
Pictures you've voted for	191
Your average vote	4.5 stars
Comments you've made	116
Pictures of yours with comments	5

Closer Then Ever

Something VERY interesting happened in my community today.  One of the artists was inspired by another.  

An Albanian artist who lives in Greece was inspired by a female artist from the UK.  He uploaded a photo with her portrait amongst abstract colors and lines.  The title was her name and underneath it said "inspired by her work."

The female UK artist was inspired and wrote a lengthy comment on the painting saying how overwhelmed and happy she was.  The other users commented on the page recognized her name and asked if she knew about it and if she had seen it yet.  The artist revealed it was a surprise for her.

This shows how tight knit of a community PIL is amongst the frequent users.  Artists recognize each other's artistic style, name, and identity.  They also are inspired by one another.

After the picture was posted, the female UK artist commented on other users pictures.  With her comment she said something like- have you seen the new picture by Argon (the Albanian artist) yet? Check it out!  It was self promotion and promotion for the other artist as well.

Example:

This picture, Gutterfly by Louise Esterhuyse, has recent comments. The latest was byalison rowen (right) who said:

Louise, I am so excited I just have to tell all my friends. Check out Agron & Raymonds' new portraits...can't quite believe it!!!

Community Emails

I sent out emails to some of the artists who are active in the community.  I asked them the following questions:

1. How long have you been on Paintingsilove.com?
2. What do you get out of the community?
3. Have you run into any problems on PIL?
4. Have you met anyone from the community in the real world?
5. Do the copyright laws in your country have any effect on your participation in the community?

I sent out emails to 10 artists in different countries and so far I have received three replies from Austria, Germany, and Australia.

The Austrian artist has been a member for 2 weeks and receives great comments with other artists.  He said on day 3 he received an offer from an American gallery.  So business opportunities are available for artists.  They can use the site to gain exposure and promote their work.  He said he is not worried about copyright, "The copyright laws don't have any effect, I am the artist and whenever I want to show my work to the world, it is just my choice!"

The German artist has been on PIL for two months.  He has emailed other artists to engage in artistic discourse.  So people find a community online where they can discuss art with other artists.  He also made contact with a gallery in the US.  He believes that people will be offended if he said his opinion fair and frank.  The terms of service stress that this is a supportive community, so I agree with his statement.  He has not had any problems on the site. 

The Australian artist has been online for a few months.  She thinks it is a great outlet to display her work in a global community.  She recently went to an arts workshop on copyright laws (how convenient!) and she had some good insight:

"I am of the understanding that copy right laws are somewhat global and aus[tralian] laws cans be enforced globally. I also understand the risks involved in displaying artworks online and the possible infringements that could occur, but as an emerging artist see it as a risk I need to take in order to gain the exposure I need to develop my career. I do limit the size and resolution that I upload on the net in an attempt to make uploading my work more difficult, as for someone painting or creating a work that is based on my work... I see this as something that could occur regardless of participating on sites like PIL, and artists who resort to that can be pursued via copyright laws if the infringement is blatant enough I also believe that artist who need to resort to that will have a very limited career."

All of the emails were very positive and they were well wishers in terms of my studies.  I believe this community is a positive environment for artists to meet each other from across the globe.  I want to look into the 'disembodiment' idea in terms of this Web site.

Email from Creator

Peter is the sole administrator for PIL who users can contact if they have questions about the site.

He said the site is new, it has been going since last September (2008) and there are currently just over 6,000 people signed up.  The "Artists Online Now" are displayed in the left sidebar of the site.  I have gone on everyday for about the last month and their are always users online.  I would estimate that there are about 5-20 users on at any given time.

No issues have arose regarding users, international issues, or copyright.  However, users are able to block other users from commenting on their works.  Peter said that if a user is upset about being blocked and emails him, (which is extremely rare) they send out this email:

"The reason that you can't leave comments is that this artist has blocked you from commenting on his/her work, for reasons known only to them.  In order for the site to work, the blocking process needs to be available for members and be confidential.  For the sake of this privacy, we can't intervene in this.  However it appears that most blockings come about through language or meaning misunderstandings of comments that are often quite acceptable.  Be assured this  blocking has no negative impact on your membership."

Modes of Control- Pictures

PIL (Paintings I Love) is a website only for original works of art created with artistic mediums.  I wanted to see what kind of filtering the website uses to filter images that do not adhere to PIL's norms.

I uploaded the famous painting "Scream," a photograph I took of a rose, and a digitally altered picture.  All three were taken down without notice, with in 24 hours. 

On the Help portion of the website under images, it states:

"We also reserve the right to remove any images or comments not deemed suitable for the site without prior notice."

Alerting my Community

Since I created a blog, I thought this would be an appropriate time to alert the community that I am conducting my research project on them.  I put in my artist statement (the about me section) the following:

I have a research project due in a week on an online community that I am a part of. The class is based on ethical and legal implications in the digital world. I am doing my research on Paintings I Love. If you wish to see my findings please visit my blog at: 

http://paintingsilove.blogspot.com/ 

Please email me if you have anything you would like to tell me about your experience with PIL! Thanks.

My Community

The community I am studying is Paintings I Love.  Paintingsilove.com is an online community for artists to showcase their hand-created paintings, drawings and prints.

The community is composed of many artists, both amateur and professional, who upload photos of their art work online and others in the community can comment on them and contact the artists.  

The website is based out of Australia and the artists are from around the world.