POTN is Closing - Welcome POTN'ers curious about Cameraderie

[Chet]

C'mon, Chet, is that really necessary?

My apologies. Seems some folks have never been in the POTN threads Chet follows.

 

[PietZA]

I'm another POTN migrant joining. Thanks for the welcome @Kevin

 

[agentlossing]

I see some lovely photographs here in the photo sharing sections, but I see relatively little posts in the equipment sections. It does seem like there are excellent photographers here but not necessarily gearheads.

How dare ye impugn my honour??! I can talk gear all night... ALL night!

😁

 

[MoonMind]

Not exactly a new face here, been around a day or two and a POTN from way back
Over yonder we, I, created specific threads for example "birds of Europe", "wild birds of Australia", "wild animals of Australia", "wild flowers of Australia"
They work well and stay focused and personally (biased as i started a couple) liked them as it was a collection of same area/ country subjects.
I read your comments and whilst you acknowledge it's permitted I feel it's not to be discouraged but also not encouraged.
I see photographic forums like this as an opportunity to appreciate and learn about our wonderful world of nature, and specific threads help that IMO.

I'm not trying to barge in and buck the status quo or trend,rather understand the preferences here.

It's a great forum IMO and I've only positive things to say.

I get what you're saying - but what I want is visibility for images, and scattering them over many threads that have nearly identical subject matter doens't encourage people to view everything - many tend to avoid threads that are too specific. In short, if you want something to be distinguished and forked out, you may or may not succeed in highlighting it; in fact, more often than not, it'll fade or turn into something like a personal project. In my experience, that's rather frustrating. In collective threads, you generally get more appreciation. Just saying.

I have something else to say here: I'd rather people refrained from excessive double (or even multiple) postings of the same image. If you're re-using the same attachment, it's a fringe case because you're at least not taking up unnecessary server space and resources, but even then, many of us try to look at all or most images posted, and having to look at the same image multiple times will not make you more popular because it clogs up most people's result lists with something that, after the first time, isn't original anymore.

We're also aware of the ambiguity of search results; your best bet is to use the search prompt, then browse various results; it's best to choose an active thread instead of an old and faded one - if it's a commonly and widely covered subject matter, that is. If you have something the warrants resurrecting an old thread, that's great!

And of course, creating your own thread is welcome if it's something to develop. Once more, it's just a fact that almost all personal threads tend to fade rather quickly - so it's important to maintain them, and the best way to do that is to gather a group of people who post to them - not actively, but by establishing a thread that's worthwhile.

This is not a matter of policy or anything - I'm trying to channel things into something that has proven to work on this forum.

M.

 

[wee-pics]

POTN refugees to the friendliest photo site in the www.

 

[Avondale87]

I get what you're saying - but what I want is visibility for images, and scattering them over many threads that have nearly identical subject matter doens't encourage people to view everything - many tend to avoid threads that are too specific. In short, if you want something to be distinguished and forked out, you may or may not succeed in highlighting it; in fact, more often than not, it'll fade or turn into something like a personal project. In my experience, that's rather frustrating. In collective threads, you generally get more appreciation. Just saying.

I have something else to say here: I'd rather people refrained from excessive double (or even multiple) postings of the same image. If you're re-using the same attachment, it's a fringe case because you're at least not taking up unnecessary server space and resources, but even then, many of us try to look at all or most images posted, and having to look at the same image multiple times will not make you more popular because it clogs up most people's result lists with something that, after the first time, isn't original anymore.

We're also aware of the ambiguity of search results; your best bet is to use the search prompt, then browse various results; it's best to choose an active thread instead of an old and faded one - if it's a commonly and widely covered subject matter, that is. If you have something the warrants resurrecting an old thread, that's great!

And of course, creating your own thread is welcome if it's something to develop. Once more, it's just a fact that almost all personal threads tend to fade rather quickly - so it's important to maintain them, and the best way to do that is to gather a group of people who post to them - not actively, but by establishing a thread that's worthwhile.

This is not a matter of policy or anything - I'm trying to channel things into something that has proven to work on this forum.

M.

Thanks Matt
and the best way to do that is to gather a group of people who post to them - not actively, but by establishing a thread that's worthwhile
It was just this I was conscious of and directly was referring to.
Without and not intending to compare, but on POTN there were quite a few Aussies and a few Aussie themed nature posts were created that was open to all, but specific to Australian content be it birds, animals, flowers, as mentioned above.
They became popular (Aussie birds 6,447 posts, 430 pages) and many users from around the globe popped by and commented even struck up conversation and posted images of their trip DownUnder.
With perhaps an influx of POTNers it's likely that could continue.

I'll respect your wishes and let that drop.

 

[MoonMind]

Thanks Matt
and the best way to do that is to gather a group of people who post to them - not actively, but by establishing a thread that's worthwhile
It was just this I was conscious of and directly was referring to.
Without and not intending to compare, but on POTN there were quite a few Aussies and a few Aussie themed nature posts were created that was open to all, but specific to Australian content be it birds, animals, flowers, as mentioned above.
They became popular (Aussie birds 6,447 posts, 430 pages) and many users from around the globe popped by and commented even struck up conversation and posted images of their trip DownUnder.
With perhaps an influx of POTNers it's likely that could continue.

I'll respect your wishes and let that drop.

I don't see any problem with something like that.

I just wanted to point out that there's no use in forcing any diversifying. If it happens and things thrive, noone's going to object.

But forking out topics only for the sake of forking isn't going to fly, in one way or another.

M.

 

[Kevin]

@Avondale87 - To give some insight, Matt is, even as we speak, working on an effort to get rid of true duplicated threads going on. So the idea of there being a new "Birds - AUS" thread at the same time as a generic "Birds" thread may seem counter-intuitive at first.

@MoonMind - With the threads being broken out by region ("AUS" versus "UK", and so on) there likely isn't much chance of overlap between them. There are likely some birds that will be common to multiple regions but highlighting a region with it's own thread could be interesting.

****

While the POTN'ers find their way around the existing structure of Cameraderie we should be a little relaxed and expect that they'll be trying to find things similar to what they're used to in their 'home' of POTN. Jumping into a new community coming from a different established community is always a bit daunting so during a period of time there'll be some of the usual awkward social graces of "Well, this is how we do things at XYZ" from both sides. As long as the rules are followed [no politics, no religion, no nudity, be excellent to each other, and other details], the community norms can be worked out after. If nothing else, we're always looking for ideas & feedback so seeing thoughts from folks of a different established community is a good way of spurring brainstorming ideas.

 

[Avondale87]

@Avondale87 - To give some insight, Matt is, even as we speak, working on an effort to get rid of true duplicated threads going on. So the idea of there being a new "Birds - AUS" thread at the same time as a generic "Birds" thread may seem counter-intuitive at first.

@MoonMind - With the threads being broken out by region ("AUS" versus "UK", and so on) there likely isn't much chance of overlap between them. There are likely some birds that will be common to multiple regions but highlighting a region with it's own thread could be interesting.

****

While the POTN'ers find their way around the existing structure of Cameraderie we should be a little relaxed and expect that they'll be trying to find things similar to what they're used to in their 'home' of POTN. Jumping into a new community coming from a different established community is always a bit daunting so during a period of time there'll be some of the usual awkward social graces of "Well, this is how we do things at XYZ" from both sides. As long as the the rules are followed [no politics, no religion, no nudity, be excellent to each other, and other details], the community norms can be worked out after. If nothing else, we're always looking for ideas & feedback so seeing thoughts from folks of a different established community is a good way of spurring brainstorming ideas.

Thanks Kevin, and Matt
Agree it's about working through the intricacies and nuances and all other things without ruffling feathers 🙂
Better qualify that as I'm not referring to anyone being a chook or a rooster or.... 🙂

 

[Kevin]

chook

I see that'll I'll need to brush up on Aussie slang. 😄

 

[John King]

I see that'll I'll need to brush up on Aussie slang. 😄

"Let's Stalk Strine" could help you with that, Kevin ...

 

[KDReno]

A bit more insight perhaps - POTN has a very active Birds forum, the most active on the whole site, and several threads are more like sub-forums. The Australian thread has almost as many posts as the Show Birds thread here. There's a Post Your Bird Portraits (2) thread with 36,000 posts in just over two years. The (2) was put in the title when the first thread was closed by the admin because it was too big. I see that Bill-in-Texas has started a Birds in Flight thread. The POTN counterpart has over 300 pages with 12,000 posts. I personally don't look at that one much because (1) there's only so much I can look at and (2) I suck at shooting BIF and that thread depresses me🙂. There's a totally separate Wildlife forum with its own "sub-forum" threads. But no birds - they get cranky if you post bird pics🙂.

Some people think the themed threads discourage comment and discussion, but I'm not so sure. With a high posting volume individual threads quickly fall off the first page, with a reduced chance of being seen. And I find it easier to scroll through a thread to find images that particularly catch my eye than to click on a bunch of individual threads.

There's really no one size fits all answer. I'm glad the mods here are keeping an open mind, and I hope others coming around looking for a new home will adopt Richard's cautious approach.

 

[John King]

A bit more insight perhaps - POTN has a very active Birds forum, the most active on the whole site, and several threads are more like sub-forums. The Australian thread has almost as many posts as the Show Birds thread here. There's a Post Your Bird Portraits (2) thread with 36,000 posts in just over two years. The (2) was put in the title when the first thread was closed by the admin because it was too big. I see that Bill-in-Texas has started a Birds in Flight thread. The POTN counterpart has over 300 pages with 12,000 posts. I personally don't look at that one much because (1) there's only so much I can look at and (2) I suck at shooting BIF and that thread depresses me🙂. There's a totally separate Wildlife forum with its own "sub-forum" threads. But no birds - they get cranky if you post bird pics🙂.

Some people think the themed threads discourage comment and discussion, but I'm not so sure. With a high posting volume individual threads quickly fall off the first page, with a reduced chance of being seen. And I find it easier to scroll through a thread to find images that particularly catch my eye than to click on a bunch of individual threads.

There's really no one size fits all answer. I'm glad the mods here are keeping an open mind, and I hope others coming around looking for a new home will adopt Richard's cautious approach.

Some good thoughts there, Ken, and a warm to this forum.

 

[West Coast Birder]

Thanks Kevin, and Matt
Agree it's about working through the intricacies and nuances and all other things without ruffling feathers 🙂
Better qualify that as I'm not referring to anyone being a chook or a rooster or.... 🙂

Off topic, but there used to be an English bowler named Bob Willis. Not sure how old you are, Avondale, but this is in the seventies. Tall, gangly, angular fella, all arms and legs in his run up. I remember the Aussies nicknamed him chook! 🤣

 

[josh5k]

Another POTN Jumper here. Thank you for a warm welcome @Kevin and the gang 🙏

Also thanks to you guys - I'm now Peanutized 😎

 

[Avondale87]

Off topic, but there used to be an English bowler named Bob Willis. Not sure how old you are, Avondale, but this is in the seventies. Tall, gangly, angular fella, all arms and legs in his run up. I remember the Aussies nicknamed him chook! 🤣

I remember him
Incidentally I was a tall, gangly fast bowler in my youthful days, even got coached for a while by Alan Knott.
Got called lots of things but never Chook But that's another storey 🤣

 

[josh5k]

Off topic, but there used to be an English bowler named Bob Willis. Not sure how old you are, Avondale, but this is in the seventies. Tall, gangly, angular fella, all arms and legs in his run up. I remember the Aussies nicknamed him chook! 🤣

Mate Bob Willis is the third or fourth highest wicket taker for England - All time.
That Headingly Test 8/43 is still a masterclass in bowling.

 

[davidzvi]

So short and sweet:

• If you want to create an Aussie Birds thread and feel there will be enough participation to keep it relevant, create it.
• Please don't double post in the Aussie and general thread and don't complain if someone only posts in one or the other.
• Image threads are really for images. Simple questions, OK. Long discussions and critiques please don't. We have a critique prefix please create a thread with the prefix.
• We tend not to do a lot of individual/personal image threads unless you're asking for a critique or have a personal project.*

Easy

* I tend to do a thread when I come back from a vacation. I put the bulk of the images I want to share in it. I may also post other images in individual image threads.

 

[davidzvi]

I see some lovely photographs here in the photo sharing sections, but I see relatively little posts in the equipment sections. It does seem like there are excellent photographers here but not necessarily gearheads.

There are many gear related questions/answers discussions here, but they don't tend to be in specific threads. Nor do they tend to turn into sh!t fights as they so often do on some forums.

We do have them and no they don't turn into fights. If they do, they are deleted.

You have to remember many of us shot a few (even several) different systems and can give you the pros and cons of each. They are the tools we use because they work for us. But we also acknowledge you could hate the feature we love, that does not make us right or you wrong.

 

[John King]

@davidzvi Totally agree, David.
I cannot even start to recall all the formats I've used, let alone specific brands and cameras. That doesn't count those that I'm very familiar with, but have not owned.