An observation - dead groups and DeviantArt

I have kept a list of groups I have previously joined to prevent me from rejoining groups that have died. That list is massive now and is larger than the groups I am now a member of. So many good groups have died in the last year or two. It is just an observation. All the groups were specifically involving themselves in customisation, desktop art  &c. Any thoughts?

These are a few:

CustomizeWindows - good group, the founder just shut it without warning, 2,000 members, thriving community, the group had just undergone a thorough overhaul, no new members all folders closed, no new submissions - What the hell happened there? Did the founder have an existential crisis?

the-art-universe - currently dying - 21,000 members! no submissions, no review, no feedback.
pixel-perfekt - dead

Love-Of-Linux - group died
minimalcustomizers - failed group
westyle-community - failed group
steampunk - 1 per 30 days...
steampunk-artists - was a dead group but I took it over and now it is thriving!
DeskModdersIT - over the limit - LEFT
SteampunkElegance - left

iconpaper - not reviewing - left
AniRainVolution7 - left the group
SteampunkForever - left - not reviewing
DeskModdersIT (over size limit)
Linux-To-Win-It < - dying group
tech-hub   < not reviewing
customize-that-pc < not reviewing
thecreatives < not reviewing
skinnerz - rejoined <- dead
DA-PREMIUM < pointless - left
windowsreimagined < - dead group - failed to review every time
win-art-style < - dying group?
windocks < - dying group?
pixartica-group < - dying group?
dsgnforrst  - expiring - dead group
alien-customize - dead group - left
AllOS-Custom - dead group - left
weStyle-community <- left the group dead
deviousapps - wasn't being reviewed
Victorian-Aesthetic - dead group - left it - group being abandoned
AskVG - group GONE
Design-Shell <- over the size limit - dead
ubuntu-artists <- left it due to failure to even triage submissions

and new dying/dead groups:

Creativ-Xtreme
customize-that-pc
customizeWindows
Windows-8-users

Some of these groups are owned by one admin, Creativ-Xtreme for example has an admin that runs several groups but lets them run dry, he does not triage submissions, ignores suggestions that might help and turns down offers to assist in the running of the group. He can even be quite rude when you make suggestions that don't match his style. Admins like that are the death-knell of any group.

I recently used Google trends to see how Deviantart is doing and the result is alarming. The number of related searches to the term "deviantart" is down dramatically.  www.google.co.uk/trends/explor…




Deviantart as a trend is declining considerably and appears only to be as popular as it was in 2007. Strangely, this decline coincides with the release of Windows 8 (August 2012) which I suppose makes sense if you think about all the Windows customisation groups that have been dying recently. I suggest that Microsoft's closure of any possibility of customisation of the Windows 8-10 interface has stifled all those Windows customisation groups into silence. They have nothing new to offer as there is no possibility of applying any of those changes to Win10. The old desktop is still there of course but smothered by Win8's start screen. Win10 does its best to prevent the old desktop from showing... especially when in tablet-friendly mode.