Is the forum on a downturn

[Markulous]

Originally Posted by StephenBatey

I've learned from long and painful experience that comments are (generally) expected to follow a well worn pattern to be acceptable - always start by praising, and never find more than two faults. And never express yourself at length. I don't comment in that way, and I've found that I cause offence if I comment on anyone's photos who doesn't know me; and I've been told by one person that my comments are too intimidating for someone not expecting them. Hence, don't expect comments from me.

I tend to find the same sort of thing although I'll still quite often give a comment but rarely does it result in any real dialogue. It's a shame as I learned pretty much everything online but it was a few years ago when there was more of a fixed community - as wave01 says, there's a mass of sites now and everyone spreads themselves thinner, not just photographically as there's (dare I mention?) Facebook, other specialised sites, +1 TV, catchup TV, etc etc. What was the 2 minute culture has now become the 2 second culture!

[StephenBatey]

Originally Posted by Cathus

Stephen,

from my perspective, I disagree, I think most people can accept criticism and suggestions. !

I won't disagree that some people think as you and Jet_kit do; that's why I still make comments on some people's photos on another forum. But I will disagree that most people can accept criticism of the type I make;my experience has been that they can't.

The most vivid example I can recall was someone who asked on a forum for comments on his gallery. He practically begged for comments. I went through and commented. Immediately afterwards all the gallery photos were deleted and readdded (which removed my comments from them).

A few months ago, there was discussion on the same forum about people not making comments, and I explained my position much as I've done here. One person made the same sort of response - that comments should still be made to help people. A day or so later, I saw that that person had made a favourable remark on a gallery entry of a third party, so I decided to try a practical test. I typed out the comment I would have made, and sent it to the person who left the comment, not the photographer, and asked whether they really thought that the photographer would have been happy to have read them. They agreed that I was right not to have posted them, as my attempts were far too comprehensive and intimidating.

Never lose sight of the fact that not everyone can be succinct (this post proves I can't be); that some people regard thoughness as a virtue, and I try not to leave any (critical) stone unturned or possible improvement unmentioned.

A mention was made of a two minute (or even two second!) attention span; a typical comment from me exceeds the amount of time most people are prepared to spend. The most telling example of this mentality (and the most shocking to me) was when a teacher said that they didn't bother reading long posts, and skipped anything after the first paragraph.

[Cathus]

I joined another forum.

I've posted 3 sets of shots up, the same sets as my last 3 posts on this forum.

On this forum I got 2 comments in total on one set, 4 on another, though it took 5 days before I got the first comment and 3 on the third.

On the other forum, it seems every half an hour there is a page of new posts. My first 3 photo posts have drawn 7, 15 & 7 replies, comments and tips, and they've not been up 24 hours.

What a shame we can't get the same interaction here.

[donoreo]

Pssst, what forum?

[alfbranch]

Originally Posted by Cathus

I joined another forum.

I've posted 3 sets of shots up, the same sets as my last 3 posts on this forum.

On this forum I got 2 comments in total on one set, 4 on another, though it took 5 days before I got the first comment and 3 on the third.

On the other forum, it seems every half an hour there is a page of new posts. My first 3 photo posts have drawn 7, 15 & 7 replies, comments and tips, and they've not been up 24 hours.

What a shame we can't get the same interaction here.

I have had the same too

[Lurkalot]

Originally Posted by Cathus

What a shame we can't get the same interaction here.

Not wishing to throw another negative into the pot, but I really don't think that can / will happen here. It's downfall is by design.

To get people to interact, you need the parts of the site to do the same. There's no interaction with the gallery and the home page, and no forum activity shown on the front page. Go to the forum itself and there's nothing staring you in the face, showing you a few of the latest posts etc. You have to go look for them.

Now if you do the maths, and compare this site, Threads: 8,195, Posts: 74,270, Members: 150,249, Active Members: 946 (not sure where 946 active members comes from)

With my site, which has, (and before anyone jumps in and says my site's crap too, remember I'm a bl*#dy lawnmower mechanic not a webmaster) and this is just a hobby. 30370 Posts in 2560 Topics by 272 Members.

I'm pretty chuffed with the interaction that goes on there tbh.

Just my 2p's worth.

[littlebro]

Yeh, bloody crap your site, just joking Lurkalot I think all the membership is still being counted from the original list.

[Lurkalot]

Originally Posted by littlebro

Yeh, bloody crap your site, just joking Lurkalot I think all the membership is still being counted from the original list.

Thanks. lol.. Yes I know the user tables were brought over from the old site to make this one look busy, but there's loads of dead stuff now bloating up the database. In realty there's probably the same amount of regular posters here as my site. Or that's what it looks like to me.

[Dunkeld]

It seems to me the whole site is on a downturn. The change of format here ( supposedly for the better ) does me no favours at all. I cannot view videos now since it would appear the reviews in particular now use Youtube which is banned in China. So, thanks for changing that DC.

Indeed ever since the POTY format was changed I get the impression that everything went downhill from that point. The entry last year pathetic compared to previous years, so people coming here to look at comments on their own pictures no longer bothered. Nor did they bother commenting or offering opinions on anything else.

Just look at comments for reviews etc. In most case i'ts 0. People are not interested and DC with it's changes are guilty of shooting themselves in both feet. "If it aint broke, don't fix it" This might be the idiom that should have been observed here. The site sorely needs a big fix just to get back to anywhere near the interest of 18 months ago.

I cannot believe that last years POTY could have been regarded as a success or better than previous years. I await the news of this years competition to see if things will be righted on order to attract back the undoubted missing legions.

It's correct of lurkalot to ask if the forums are on a downturn. He is right. But, I think it goes further than just forums.

[donoreo]

Re: comments on reviews being 0.

That is usually because there is a failure. I have tried to post comments on stories, reviews, etc, and it craps out and does not let me post.