True Deviousness
I have heard lots of things on deviantart. BUT the most common phrase uttered is.."WTF are mudkips!?" In a close second is "How do I get more pageviews?"
While the short, boring, and horrid answer is:
1) Post Nude Photos
2) Post Fan Art of some sort
3) Submit angst filled poetry
4) Get some people to watch you, and then say that you are leaving dA.
The more realistic QUESTION a person should ask is "How can I be a better deviant?"
This is a question I feel more comfortable answering.
One major idea to keep in mind is that this list does not require you to spend 5 hours a day on dA. In fact you could only logon once a week if you wish. The main point that I am trying to make is that full immersion on deviant art does not require you to be online all day everyday. Read the list and you will understand how and why. OH and be yourself, but be open to change and growth.
1) Ride the "watch wave."
Try to watch more people than you have people watching you. I don't mean to watch your numeric value, keep it qualitative as well. One easy thing to do is to watch people you wouldn't ordinarily watch. If you enjoy a deviation or two of an artist, then watch them. If after awhile their newly submitted deviations don't interest you anymore, remove them. If you find their journals to be annoying or equally displeasing, then just remove the journal watch, but still be notified of new deviations. Once you find your watch list getting low, seek out new people to watch. Then skim down your list, then add more people, then skim down again....get it?
2) Get a kitten. Don't ask questions, just do it.
3) Comment, comment, and comment. Part of being an artist is being able to convey what you do or do not like about a piece. This is not going to turn into a rant about how people just say "omg she's so hot, great pic!!" or simply "
" OR "that is super cool." This is also not going to be rant about faving with no explanation. If you feel that your comments NEED to be that short and wishy-washy, go for it. If you fav without commenting, then do it. But whenever possible, try to give kick ass comments. "I like the lighting in this photo. I like how the shadows are deep and rich, but yet there are different tones among them." OR
"I don't like how the photo is centered, and how the background is too in focus with the main subject, perhaps a different aperture setting?"
OR "I like how you drew this wolf with large breasts. Wolves and large breasts rock my world." Either way, leave a footprint of where you have been. This can help you.
4) For the most part, ignore numbers. OH SNAP! This deviation has 5,600 views and 466 favs! It must be spectacular to the MAX! And there's no reason why I should comment on it (especially contrary to whatever anyone else has written about it) because the artist doesn't need me to do it. Crap in a can. If a professional artist craps in a can does it make it good art? Just because something is popular does not mean it has to be good in your eyes. Do not be scared off or disappointed by numbers. "Aww woes is me, my deviation only has 149 views." Be humble and wait, give it time. Not everything you submit will be gold, it better not be, you need to improve somehow. Another way to look at it is like this: You are a photographer. You submit a deviation of a bridge with a sunset in the background, not too shabby you think. You have 10 pageviews and the deviation has 70 views and a few comments that consist of "nice shot" and "pretty" from various deviants. Then an anime artist with 70K pageviews comments "the bridge's shadows are too deep and the sunset distracts from the single car crossing the bridge, the message is lost." Respect that person's opinion and don't freak out, the fact that the person has a crapton more views than you doesn't matter, it is merely another artist's opinion. Take it as that. And drink a coke.
5) Visit other people's pages like mad. That anime dude that commented on your sunset bridge photo, go visit his page, and while you are there pop into his gallery and sneak a peak around. You might not like that genre, but you never know, something might actually catch your eye. If you feel so inclined to do so, leave a message on his page saying that you stopped by. If you feel really daring, leave a more detailed message.
6) Before you log off of deviantart, scroll to the very bottom of the page and click on random deviant and check them out, spend no more than a few minutes doing so. Try to leave a comment saying that they were a random deviant and something else maybe a little more fruitful. THEN click on random deviation and do the same, but only if you want. I do this one every time I log on. I don't always comment though, I need to get better at that.
7) Get on daMN. Just do it. Try it. If chatting isn't your thing, then I respect that, but still. Try. it. do it. now.
8) Forums. I'm not to big on forums because I'm more into daMN but it's a great way for thumbsshare exposure and for this:
I wrote something once on a random page once and lolly commented on MY reply to a post. I was like whoa...dude... I met 
and even had a bad day once and he drew me a picture of some evil dude making me a sammich. Unfortunately he has deleted this deviation. A sad day indeed. But this kind of ties into my next number.
9) Watch the bigwigs! and the gallery directors. I only say this for community and cultural purposes only. I'm not going against #4. Watching your gallery director (and others) keeps you informed of happenings going on in your field(s). As for $lolly, well he's just fun as hell to read, even if you hate clowns. Plus most gallery directors aren't to high and mighty to come visit you. I'm watching at least 5 GDs and I know that all of them have visited my page, and at least 3 of them have commented on my page as well.
10) If you like a deviation, suggest it as a Daily Deviation. This is also where your commenting skills can come into play, BUT it is also where your knowledge of who the correct Gallery Directors are as well.
11) If an artist is obsessed with the
logo, let him be. It's his own thing, some people draw anime, some people photo cars or half naked women, his subject is the coke logo. 
12) Try new things! I'm doing this news article, it is new for me. I won't be upset if no one reads this. I did this for me and dA community.
13) Finally: just relax and browse. If you can't be online daily or weekly, then so be it. Remember, deviant are will still be here whenever you have the time. And it can be fun to comeback after a week or a month or a year and have your message boxes full of awesome and crappy stuff to sort through.
While the short, boring, and horrid answer is:
1) Post Nude Photos
2) Post Fan Art of some sort
3) Submit angst filled poetry
4) Get some people to watch you, and then say that you are leaving dA.
The more realistic QUESTION a person should ask is "How can I be a better deviant?"
This is a question I feel more comfortable answering.
One major idea to keep in mind is that this list does not require you to spend 5 hours a day on dA. In fact you could only logon once a week if you wish. The main point that I am trying to make is that full immersion on deviant art does not require you to be online all day everyday. Read the list and you will understand how and why. OH and be yourself, but be open to change and growth.
1) Ride the "watch wave."
Try to watch more people than you have people watching you. I don't mean to watch your numeric value, keep it qualitative as well. One easy thing to do is to watch people you wouldn't ordinarily watch. If you enjoy a deviation or two of an artist, then watch them. If after awhile their newly submitted deviations don't interest you anymore, remove them. If you find their journals to be annoying or equally displeasing, then just remove the journal watch, but still be notified of new deviations. Once you find your watch list getting low, seek out new people to watch. Then skim down your list, then add more people, then skim down again....get it?
2) Get a kitten. Don't ask questions, just do it.
3) Comment, comment, and comment. Part of being an artist is being able to convey what you do or do not like about a piece. This is not going to turn into a rant about how people just say "omg she's so hot, great pic!!" or simply "
" OR "that is super cool." This is also not going to be rant about faving with no explanation. If you feel that your comments NEED to be that short and wishy-washy, go for it. If you fav without commenting, then do it. But whenever possible, try to give kick ass comments. "I like the lighting in this photo. I like how the shadows are deep and rich, but yet there are different tones among them." OR"I don't like how the photo is centered, and how the background is too in focus with the main subject, perhaps a different aperture setting?"
OR "I like how you drew this wolf with large breasts. Wolves and large breasts rock my world." Either way, leave a footprint of where you have been. This can help you.
4) For the most part, ignore numbers. OH SNAP! This deviation has 5,600 views and 466 favs! It must be spectacular to the MAX! And there's no reason why I should comment on it (especially contrary to whatever anyone else has written about it) because the artist doesn't need me to do it. Crap in a can. If a professional artist craps in a can does it make it good art? Just because something is popular does not mean it has to be good in your eyes. Do not be scared off or disappointed by numbers. "Aww woes is me, my deviation only has 149 views." Be humble and wait, give it time. Not everything you submit will be gold, it better not be, you need to improve somehow. Another way to look at it is like this: You are a photographer. You submit a deviation of a bridge with a sunset in the background, not too shabby you think. You have 10 pageviews and the deviation has 70 views and a few comments that consist of "nice shot" and "pretty" from various deviants. Then an anime artist with 70K pageviews comments "the bridge's shadows are too deep and the sunset distracts from the single car crossing the bridge, the message is lost." Respect that person's opinion and don't freak out, the fact that the person has a crapton more views than you doesn't matter, it is merely another artist's opinion. Take it as that. And drink a coke.
5) Visit other people's pages like mad. That anime dude that commented on your sunset bridge photo, go visit his page, and while you are there pop into his gallery and sneak a peak around. You might not like that genre, but you never know, something might actually catch your eye. If you feel so inclined to do so, leave a message on his page saying that you stopped by. If you feel really daring, leave a more detailed message.
6) Before you log off of deviantart, scroll to the very bottom of the page and click on random deviant and check them out, spend no more than a few minutes doing so. Try to leave a comment saying that they were a random deviant and something else maybe a little more fruitful. THEN click on random deviation and do the same, but only if you want. I do this one every time I log on. I don't always comment though, I need to get better at that.
7) Get on daMN. Just do it. Try it. If chatting isn't your thing, then I respect that, but still. Try. it. do it. now.
8) Forums. I'm not to big on forums because I'm more into daMN but it's a great way for thumbsshare exposure and for this:
I wrote something once on a random page once and lolly commented on MY reply to a post. I was like whoa...dude... I met and even had a bad day once and he drew me a picture of some evil dude making me a sammich. Unfortunately he has deleted this deviation. A sad day indeed. But this kind of ties into my next number.9) Watch the bigwigs!
and the gallery directors. I only say this for community and cultural purposes only. I'm not going against #4. Watching your gallery director (and others) keeps you informed of happenings going on in your field(s). As for $lolly, well he's just fun as hell to read, even if you hate clowns. Plus most gallery directors aren't to high and mighty to come visit you. I'm watching at least 5 GDs and I know that all of them have visited my page, and at least 3 of them have commented on my page as well.10) If you like a deviation, suggest it as a Daily Deviation. This is also where your commenting skills can come into play, BUT it is also where your knowledge of who the correct Gallery Directors are as well.
11) If an artist is obsessed with the
logo, let him be. It's his own thing, some people draw anime, some people photo cars or half naked women, his subject is the coke logo. 12) Try new things! I'm doing this news article, it is new for me. I won't be upset if no one reads this. I did this for me and dA community.
13) Finally: just relax and browse. If you can't be online daily or weekly, then so be it. Remember, deviant are will still be here whenever you have the time. And it can be fun to comeback after a week or a month or a year and have your message boxes full of awesome and crappy stuff to sort through.
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