Type of business | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Type of site | Art display Social networking service |
Available in | English |
Founded | January 16, 2005 |
Area served | Worldwide |
Parent | Frost Dragon Art, LLC |
URL | www sfw |
Registration | Optional (Required when viewing adult content) |
Launched | December 10, 2005 |
Current status | Active |
Fur Affinity [2] (also written as FurAffinity) is a furry-centric art community that hosts artwork, literature, photography, and audio recordings. It was officially launched on December 10, 2005 (although an older version existed from January to August) by Alkora, and is currently owned by Dragoneer and his company, Frost Dragon Art, as of 2021. [3]
Fur Affinity is located in Terre Haute, Indiana and features both standard furry art and adult art, although registration of a free account is required to view the latter. The site has become the most well-known and used furry-based website since its launch, receiving around 20 million visits monthly, [4] although the site has also become notorious in the furry fandom for its numerous controversies. [5]
Prior to the launch of Fur Affinity, the most well-known furry-centric website was an art site called SheezyArt. In 2004, it was announced that SheezyArt would be disallowing adult art. Alkora, a SheezyArt user, decided to launch Fur Affinity in January 2005 as a site that was open to adult art, along with standard art.
The original version of Fur Affinity was challenged with numerous security breaches and hacks. On August 1, 2005, due to a disagreement with the server provider and the lead coder, Fur Affinity was shut down. After a brief fundraiser to support a new server, Fur Affinity was relaunched on December 10.
Fur Affinity would continue to face server issues for the next few years. In 2007, site-runner Dragoneer's account was breached, which caused the site as a whole to go down for 2 days. In 2008, the site was taken down for over a month due to a "server hardware fault", and another fundraiser was set up in order for servers to be replaced.
In 2011, Fur Affinity merged with fellow furry-centric site, Furocity. In 2013, the site had achieved a total of 10 million posts. In 2015, FurAffinity was purchased by 3D software platform IMVU. [6]
In 2016, Fur Affinity's source-code was leaked, causing many users' personal data to be compromised. The site was immediately taken down as a result, and users were ordered to reset their passwords. [7] In 2017, around 600 bot accounts posted graphic imagery of gore, once again causing the site to go down.
In January 2021, Dragoneer was fired from IMVU. In February, Dragoneer announced that he had regained ownership of the website, and formed the limited liability company Frost Dragon Art. In 2022 the site took a stand against artificial-intelligence generated artwork, stating that AI-generated works lacked "artistic merit" and were not welcome on the site. [8] In 2023, the site was banned in Russia due to "prohibited content". [9] In the same year, it was reported that Shanghai Disneyland had included a picture from the site in a new City of Zootopia attraction without the artist's permission. [10]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2024) |
Fur Affinity is an art community website, with a format similar to that of Newgrounds and DeviantArt. Newsweek described it as "the furry equivalent of Facebook." [11] Registered users are able to upload artwork, animations, literature, photography, and audio recordings (including music). Users can also comment on posts, like them, and follow artists. Much like DeviantArt, users are able to create folders of their media, and can categorize uploads as "scraps". Fur Affinity also hosts Adobe Flash media and has integrated Ruffle into the site following the former's deprecation.
The minimum age for making an account is 13, [12] and most artwork on the site is safe for work. [13] Despite this, adult content is often posted. Posts marked as "not safe for work" are automatically restricted to registered users over 18, although many artwork containing fetishes but not considered outright pornography have often gone unmarked by authors. Fur Affinity has a toggleable all-"safe for work" version of the site that does not show art that has been tagged as "adult". Under the "adult" filter, only media depicting adult characters are allowed, with pornographic/fetish content depicting underaged character prohibited. [12]
There has been some controversy regarding moderator conduct, often involving their moderation, or lack thereof, of certain posts (i.e., the aforementioned unmarked fetish art). In May 2023, Fur Affinity announced new rules that would crack-down even harder on content fetishizing underaged characters. However, several known fetishes, such as vore, would be allowed to continue with underaged characters if the content was "non-sexual".
Fur Affinity is the most popular all-furry website and has become both well-known and controversial in the furry fandom. It is used by furry community artists to promote their work. [14] [15] Since 2016, the website has offered banner advertising space to artists on the site in addition to the free public profiles that artists may use for self-promotion. [16]
Fur Affinity formerly held a convention called "FA: United". The first convention was held in 2007, and was held yearly until 2020, when it was discontinued as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. [17]
Several of the site's controversies have stemmed from infighting and conduct between the admins and staffers, including long-time owner Dragoneer. [18] Many users have migrated to other furry-centric websites, such as InkBunny, SoFurry, Weasyl, and Itaku as a result of the site's controversies. There have also been reports of alt-right furries, or "nazifurs" posting images on the website. [19] [20]
The furry fandom is a subculture interested in anthropomorphic animal characters. Some examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, speaking, walking on two legs, and wearing clothes. The term "furry fandom" is also used to refer to the community of people who gather on the Internet and at furry conventions.
FurryMUCK is one of the oldest and largest non-combat MUD-style games in existence. It was founded in 1990 as an online gathering place for furry fans to meet and socialize in a virtual role-playing environment. Over time, FurryMUCK has become one of the central focal points for furry fandom, with a user base consisting of several thousand, with over 150 users regularly signed on simultaneously.
FA, Fa or fa may refer to:
Further Confusion, or Furcon, is an annual furry convention held in San Jose, California, each January, celebrating the anthropomorphics genre or furry fandom, including charitable benefits, educational seminars, art shows, panels and general social activities. It was the first event sponsored by Anthropomorphic Arts and Education and continues to be its largest.
ConFurence was the first exclusively furry convention, held annually in southern California from 1989 to 2003. The large furry presence at the BayCon science fiction conventions instigated Mark Merlino and Rod O'Riley to throw "furry parties" at Westercon, Baycon, and other west coast sci-fi conventions in the late 80's. This led to the test gathering in 1989, ConFurence Zero.
Fursuits are custom-made anthropomorphic animal costumes owned and worn by cosplayers and members of the furry fandom, commonly known as "furries"; a furry who wears a fursuit is called a fursuiter. The term is believed to have been coined in 1993 by Robert King. Unlike mascot suits, which are usually affiliated with a team or organization, fursuits represent an original character created by their wearer, and are often better-fitting and more intricately crafted, with features such as a moving jaw. Fursuits are made in a wide range of styles, from cartoonish to highly realistic.
Furcadia is a free-to-play MMOSG/MMORPG or graphical MUD, set in a fantasy world inhabited by magical creatures. The game is based on user-created content with emphasis on world building tools, exploring, socializing, and free-form roleplaying. Furcadia hosts a large volunteer program called the Beekin Helpers, allowing players to help with community moderation, welcoming new players, handling in-game technical support, running in game events, creating art for the game itself, accessing and updating the game's website, and bug hunting. Furcadia holds the Guinness World Records title for the longest continuously running social MMORPG and, in addition to being one of the first games to heavily encourage modding and let users build virtual worlds for themselves, it was also one of the first freemium online games. In 2008, Furcadia was reported as having over 60,000 players.
Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a common way for amateur and professional photographers to host high-resolution photos. It has changed ownership several times and has been owned by SmugMug since April 20, 2018.
FanFiction.Net is an automated fan fiction archive site. It was first launched in 1998 by software designer Xing Li, and currently has over 12 million registered users.
A furry convention is a formal gathering of members of the furry fandom – people who are interested in the concept of fictional non-human animal characters with human characteristics. These conventions provide a place for fans to meet, exchange ideas, transact business and engage in entertainment and recreation centered on this concept. Originating in California during the mid-1980s, as of 2016 there are over 50 furry conventions worldwide each year.
Midwest FurFest (MFF) is a furry convention that takes place in Rosemont, Illinois, usually on the second weekend after Thanksgiving. MFF is presented by Midwest Furry Fandom Inc, an Illinois Educational Not-For-Profit Corporation that exists primarily for the purpose of holding an annual convention to facilitate education in anthropomorphic literature and art. It also facilitates the donation of funds to non-profit institutions, mainly of which promote the well-being of humans and/or animals. The convention was first held in 2000 and has grown to draw 15,547 attendees in 2023. As of December 2023, the 2023 event is the most attended convention in fandom history.
Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog.
DeviantArt, historically stylized as deviantART, is an American online art community that features artwork, videography, and photography, launched on August 7, 2000, by Angelo Sotira, Scott Jarkoff, and Matthew Stephens among others.
Xtube was a Canadian pornographic video hosting service and social networking site based in Toronto, Ontario. It was established in 2006 and is notable for being the first adult community site to allow users to upload and share adult videos. Xtube was not a producer of pornography, instead it provided a platform for content uploaded by users. User-submitted content included pornographic videos, webcam models, pornographic photographs, and erotic literature, and incorporated social networking features.
DMM.com, formally Hokuto Corporation, is a Japanese joint stock company involved in the distribution of adult videos (AV) and adult toys. The firm, founded in March 1990, is headquartered in Tokyo at the Ebisu Garden Place Tower. By late 2008, DMM was handling products from more than 150 different adult video studios, making it one of the largest AV distributors in Japan. The company interfaces with the public for sales and information as Outvision.
Pornhub is a Canadian-owned internet pornography video-sharing website, one of several owned by adult entertainment conglomerate Aylo. As of February 2024, Pornhub is the 13th-most-visited website in the world and the second-most-visited adult website, after XVideos.
OpenNIC is a user-owned and -controlled top-level Network Information Center that offers a non-national alternative to traditional top-level domain (TLD) registries such as ICANN. As of January 2017, OpenNIC recognizes and peers all existing ICANN TLDs, for compatibility reasons. However, OpenNIC has not yet evaluated and does not hold a formal position on future ICANN TLDs.
uwu, also stylized UwU, is an emoticon representing a cute face. The u characters represent closed eyes, while the w represents a mouth. It is used to express various warm, happy, or affectionate feelings.
A fursona is a personally claimed persona resembling an anthropomorphic animal adopted by a member of the furry fandom. Fursonas can provide numerous roles for the creator. According to The New Science of Narcissism, 95% of those in the furry fandom have at least one fursona; with the Anthropomorphic Research Project estimating that the average furry has between two and three fursonas over the course of their life.
Yiff is a slang term used in the furry fandom to refer to pornographic content of anthropomorphic animal characters. It is considered a tongue-in-cheek term in the furry fandom. The term is also used as a way to insult members of the furry fandom, such as in the phrase "yiff in hell". The term is also used in the plushie fetish community.
Austin, Jessica (August 26, 2021), Fan Identities in the Furry Fandom, Bloomsbury Publishing