Reinardina a PM is one way to give critique or ask a question but it just doesn't seem as open or natural as leaving a message on their replies section of their image and I think you would probably get even less people leaving replies than you do now . I can understand what you say about upsetting someone with an open message about their image but I still can't quite work out the purpose of uploading an image that you don't want constructive critique on and constructive is the key word here .
The other point you make about different people seeing different things in the same image is in my opinion what makes for a good discussion , I often find it much more interesting to hear opposing opinions on the same matter because the more people with different views and ideas that join in the more in-depth the analyses .
I for one would be very interested in your experience and would love to see the image and posts in question .
Lurkalot I know almost nothing about wed site design but a simple yes or no check box sound perfect .
Karen I was rather hoping that the revamped site would be a lot more user friendly and encourage people to ask questions and leave comments in an open and nurturing environment but it still feels a bit daunting to be honest . As for viewing the gallery I find myself checking it more now than before but that might be down to the relatively small number of images uploaded each day and it might be different once the image count goes up because of the time it will take to go through them all , I have started to upload my images to the gallery but if I had a flicker account I don't know if I would bother having two sets of the same image because it seems quite straight forward to post direct from flicker .
As always these are just my opinions .
Mark