MyArtSpace

I got a curt email from Natalie Toppin:

"Whatever happened to MyArtSpace.com?"

I didn't have a clue what she was talking about, so I went to the site. It isn't there and there is no explanation as to why. I hate that like I hate failed business owners who post "we're renovating" notices when, in fact, they have failed and closed. The owners of MyArtSpace could have kept their homepage up and explained their decision, but they didn't, so I had to do some research...

The owners of Myartspace (MAS) recently decided to pull the plug on the project -- which means they pulled the plug on any artist who put in hours of work building a presence on MAS. We all know that a website can close. Unfortunately, Myartspace did not warn their membership -- they technically were not obligated to offer a warning due to their terms of service (TOS) agreement. Fair enough. That said, the decision to close abruptly has angered more than a few artists and fans of the Myartspace ….

… Imagine the surprise of waking up to discover that you lost all of your art contacts on a social networking site that you had invested time in. In addition to that, imagine losing images of your art -- that you assumed would continue to be safely hosted -- that can't be replaced. Again, I understand the frustration -- the anger -- but I also realize that there is a lesson to be learned from the closing of Myartspace.

The lesson is a cruelly simple one -- if you are going to market your art online, make sure to keep physical records of your art contacts and images.

Link to the article from which the above was taken.
Link to another article on the Myartspace closing.