just to get it out of the way: yes, i know i can use a spam email/phone number. yes, i know i can opt out of promotional emails/texts. that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. i don’t need a growing list of empty accounts for websites i only spend an hour (or less) browsing through. don’t even get me started on restaurants that ask for your phone number when you scan their QR code…
Only if I am simply trying to look at the site. It makes perfect sense that I would need an account to post, reply, vote, etc. Requiring a log in just to browse is ridiculous.
tell that to tumblr and deviantart. you want to look around? too bad, sign up! such a pain in the ass.
I haven’t been on DeviantArt in years, so if that changed I never noticed.
I do often browse Tumblr without being logged in, tho. It just has a banner asking you to login or sign up the entire time. Doesn’t actually require doing so.
this is what deviantart does:
as for tumblr, i’ll get the same prompt after a certain point.