Ok so I started wondering why. Why do we do anything? I mean, really, wy do we do anything?
I thought about that for a few minutes and when the sun came up, well I figured I better start small....

First question. why is "thanks for the fav!", the most common comment on DeviantArt? Don't worry, I've done alot of "social networking" and "user generated forums" and I can safely say that this phenomenon is not uncommon, in fact, it is pervasive.
No knock on the site, I love it here, I just got here last week, but I do love psychology and studying motivations!

So, first question. Why is "Thanks for the Fav?" the most common comment on DeviantArt? Well simply put, Maximum Exposure. Under cover of "kindness", "proper forum edict" and "awknowledgment" we will to the things that will facilitate a wider audience. Sometimes I wonder if you could just automate that comment, so whenever someone favourites you, you thank them. Maybe they're doing that right now. Heck, I'm new!

Instead of "Thanks for the fav", ask me WHY I chose to favourite YOUR piece of art. What about your photo/story/poem/ picture/drawing, spoke to ME and what does it say about <insert anything!>?

So why did I favourite your piece? Am I trying to generate a large personal collection of emo erotic porn? Learn about taking pictures of the city at night? Maybe the girl/guy/gender neutral figure in your photo was cute? Perhaps you fav me, so I fav you. Perhaps I liked it, but can't say why.

Let's be honest with ourselves!
Have an excellent middle of the night!