The beret-bearing beatniks had Greenwich Village, we have artscuttlebutt.com. Begun by ArtCalendar magazine (a fabulous publication, get it if you’re an artist and don’t already subscribe), artscuttlebutt.com, or the butt as some call it, is an online artists community. Joining is free. You create a personal profile page with some work samples, a brief bio and any other info you want to get out there. If you don’t have a website, this is a quick way to develop one. That’s only the beginning. For me, the greatest part has been talking to other artists. Everyone at the butt is friendly and open and interested in sharing. I’ve been trying to spend an hour a week looking at new art and talking to other members. Most seem to be painters, not photographers, but seeing fresh work inspires me.
As with other community sites, I don’t understand the ‘friends’ concept. (Someone please comment about this.) What does it do for you? Is it a measure of popularity or does it gain you a toehold over other members? At nearly 50, I feel moronic asking someone, ‘do you want to be my friend?’ Am I alone in this?
Some of the features at the butt are less explored. There’s an area to join or start groups, but the categories don’t seem relevant and there are very few. I started a photography group and had to list it under literature & arts. Right now, I’m the only member. The forum seems an interesting place to share information, but an index might inspire further exploration. The Events feature could be really cool if it alerted you to things happening near you.
The default page design is plain vanilla. After some digging, I realized I could change the colors to match my website and blog. Navigate to My Account/Settings/Design My Profile. A list of all page items comes up, allowing you to edit colors (if you know the 6-letter web color, you can type it in the text-sized boxes). If you know how to write a cascading style sheet file, you can probably do lots of other stuff, too.
One thing I’ve noticed. The more you participate, the more your work is featured. The number of stars next to your name on your profile page shows your level of activity. So, help me earn more stars, check my profile at http://www.artscuttlebutt.com/mollyahearn, and consider joining yourself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Molly,
ReplyDeleteConceptions of friendship vary, whether on the Internet or in person.
On the Internet they may seem more superficial but that doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue them by asking people to be our friends. Think about your relationships with people you may see everyday in town. You cordially greet one another and radiate a bonhomie which you both find endearing.
I contend the intent is no different on the Internet when you ask someone to be your friend on a site like Myspace, Facebook or ArtScuttlebutt.
So go ahead and ask people to be your friends. Focus your efforts at first on being an appreciator and later on follow up on those which you find personally interesting or which might lead to business connections. In either case it can't hurt because, as the old New Yorker cartoon once said, "Nobody knows you are a dog on the Internet."
In any event, among Geeks like myself this is a generally accepted opinion and one I offer with the most sincere complements of the day.
Cheers!
Paul