DeviantArt, a social network of artists, writers, and creators, celebrated its 12th birthday Tuesday, making it old enough to be the younger sibling of one of its average aged teen or young adult users.
The creative space offered its 22 million members more to celebrate than just a milestone. The site is offering freebies, contests, and events to users all day.
“In the last 12 years, we, as a community, have grown by leaps and bounds, fostered a creative dialogue, and submitted a lot of artwork—over 220 million deviations,” a spokesperson wrote on the official blog. “It’s with great honor and pleasure that we invite you to party with us as we toast to another devious year of art!”
Most significantly, all members have been granted DeviantArt premium accounts for the duration of the day. Premium accounts, which ordinarily cost $4.95 a month, allow users to have more storage space, exclusive tools, and no advertisements.
“I have to say, it was quite a pleasant surprise waking up to find I had premium membership,” starlexxy commented. “Happy birthday dA! I’m only a bit older than it, man that makes it sound old and me sound really young. DA is amazing, where else could I chill for 8 hours a day (and then all night).”
Members are encouraged to spend Tuesday checking out the first winners of the site’s Creative Grants program, entering a creative writing contest, and hanging out in the official chat room.
According to a spokesperson, DeviantArt has millions of members and 1.5 million comments every day. DeviantArt is enormous, but due to the site’s structure of deviants (creators) and watchers (fans), it can be difficult to participate in the community.
Today’s heightened activity and chatting may help to encourage new blood. The official blog post already has encouraged more than 2,000 comments from community members.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! DeviantART!!” NekoDBaby09 wrote. “You made my life so much better when I post my art! I found friends that loves the way I draw and ones that draw the same things I draw. I even found a guy that I like… Thank you for making my life better!”
Photo by perltaG on DeviantArt