Feedback Suggestions To Improve Forum Participation

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Is it too simplistic to suggest that if you aren't finding what you want here and believe the people who contribute have "closed minds" then maybe you could consider starting your own site?

It might be a more constructive way of proceeding in a positive way, rather than in a negative complaining way.

Did you not understand that I was in contact with the staff off-forum?

The other issue is the site radically changed over the last few months and this is not the first complaint put forth on the site. I was the one that simply said what was being exchanged via PM and other places that this is an LOLCAT site. Even the thread titles are dangerously near the LOLCAT territory. It was great in the beginning, mostly made so by the two now-gone moderators. They made an effort to make sure people were steered towards equal attention and participation. Now I see what they might have been trying to prevent.

Also, if you think I'm not participating, look at the post history. That appears to be a common excuse right there.

So yeah. It is simplistic, especially since I was asked by staffers to speak about why I left before I did.

It's also naive to think that if I go, there won't be more threads from people. I'm not the first poster on this topic, am I?

Nothing degrading was intended by the title, snake. Myself and the other Moderators all are quite open with each other in letting each other know about concerns, complaints, suggestions and the like. I'm sorry that you've misread me. That is one of the pitfalls of writing anything, as it can easily be misinterpreted.

Fair enough and I appreciate the clarification.
 
I'm certainly no cat person, and I would question their inclusion in the nature section, but then I am probably first and foremost a naturalist. however if the thread is clearly about cats then I am free to ignore it, which I do. That doesn't put me off visiting the site.

I haven't been very active recently, but with a little encouragement from BB I've signed up to the one a day in January caper, as much to force me out of the house in the bleak mid winter as anything else.

As a photographer second I might be somewhat out of my comfort zone, time will tell, I might fall flat on my face, but at least I will be involved. There are some photographs posted on here where the subject matter leaves me cold, I don't get them, but I can't criticise them for that, that's down to me and my appreciation of the work, or indeed lack of it, or my lack of appreciation of certain forms of art or composition.

Don (Streetshooter) used to wax lyrical about some images and I was left cold, but I guess that's because I tend to record what I see, rather than try and create something artistic.

If I felt disenchanted I would wander off, but there is sufficient of interest here to make me keep returning, and you never know, you lot might make me more of a photographer than a naturalist, certain recent events have made that a possibility.

Barrie
 
My suggestion was (and is) that if you (and others) are so unhappy with what goes on here, then why persist with it? You could go to the same expense and put in the same level of work that Amin, BB, and all the others do, and create (and pay for) your own site, and your own forum, and then get what you want.

Instead you just complain and accuse people of all sorts of attitudes and forms of behaviour, and I think many of us, myself included, are actually quite offended by that.

This forum is a somewhat civilised oasis in the midst of what is an internet "Dodge City" most of the time. If you feel yourself so misrepresented and misunderstood, there is a simple solution. Create your own.

It would, as I said, be a more positive response than seeking to suggest that there is some of kind of "silent majority" out there who are discontented and about to boil over into some kind of ill-tempered revolt.

Amin, as the owner, has always been keen to maintain an even tempered environment, in the midst of what can be diverse views and sometimes heated responses. To accuse the people who give up their own time to moderate and administer this forum of "cliquishness" and disregard for the importance and relevance of others views, is, I would suggest, somewhat innacurate. If you want an environment where people freely abuse and criticise each other, there are surely more appropriate alternatives.

I have no great hope that the voices of reason will prevail here, but I felt compelled to write this anyway, in support of people who over time, have become as close to being "friends" as is possible by corresponding via the internet. None of what you say resonates with me, and I don't see the attitudes that you insist exist here. But then you probably have me down as part of the "problem".


Did you not understand that I was in contact with the staff off-forum?

The other issue is the site radically changed over the last few months and this is not the first complaint put forth on the site. I was the one that simply said what was being exchanged via PM and other places that this is an LOLCAT site. Even the thread titles are dangerously near the LOLCAT territory. It was great in the beginning, mostly made so by the two now-gone moderators. They made an effort to make sure people were steered towards equal attention and participation. Now I see what they might have been trying to prevent.

Also, if you think I'm not participating, look at the post history. That appears to be a common excuse right there.

So yeah. It is simplistic, especially since I was asked by staffers to speak about why I left before I did.

It's also naive to think that if I go, there won't be more threads from people. I'm not the first poster on this topic, am I?



Fair enough and I appreciate the clarification.
 
I am a little confused as to how is this forum becoming LOLCAT site. And as to there being anything cliquey about this forum, almost all human group gatherings have some form of cliquey behavior, I just find this forum to have has less than most. Just because we post some images or start a topic and there is no response does not mean an individual is being ignored or left out. The post could have simply been missed or was a subject that was not what the viewers at that moment were looking for. All forums have issues, it is always good to give suggestions on how to improve them, but be prepared that everybody may not agree on what those improvements might be.
 
My suggestion was (and is) that if you (and others) are so unhappy with what goes on here, then why persist with it?
I didn't. You still fail to understand. I quietly forgot about the site. I received a PM from an administrator about one of my threads, basically mentioned I didn't care, was asked why, and now you have it. They were quite open, in fact. Seemed on a private basis to encourage wanting to know why less than 23% of registrants stick around.

You could go to the same expense and put in the same level of work that Amin, BB, and all the others do, and create (and pay for) your own site, and your own forum, and then get what you want.

I actually do. Naive on your part to think I don't. The previous mods who left know because I used to help them try to catch spam.

Instead you just complain and accuse people of all sorts of attitudes and forms of behaviour, and I think many of us, myself included, are actually quite offended by that.
Stop it. You're not offended. If you are, then you have low standards for offense. Real life must be terrible. And stop suggesting others a bandwagon to jump on (ie: the being offended bandwagon).
This forum is a somewhat civilised oasis in the midst of what is an internet "Dodge City" most of the time. If you feel yourself so misrepresented and misunderstood, there is a simple solution. Create your own.
Your imagination is running wild, with respect to me being "misrepresented" and "misunderstood". Those two words were used in internet forums in 2001 quite often and used as a tactic, not as a valid offensive.

And again, your imagination is running wild about me not creating my own.
It would, as I said, be a more positive response than seeking to suggest that there is some of kind of "silent majority" out there who are discontented and about to boil over into some kind of ill-tempered revolt.
I never suggested that. You did. It's your imagination running wilder as you type. However, less than 23% stay on and several I referred to the forum have not stayed.

I'm offended, personally, by you putting words in my mouth and mischaracterizing me.
Amin, as the owner, has always been keen to maintain an even tempered environment, in the midst of what can be diverse views and sometimes heated responses. To accuse the people who give up their own time to moderate and administer this forum of "cliquishness" and disregard for the importance and relevance of others views, is, I would suggest, somewhat innacurate. If you want an environment where people freely abuse and criticise each other, there are surely more appropriate alternatives.

It is a clique. Otherwise, I don't know what the rest of that is supposed to mean, to be honest.
I have no great hope that the voices of reason will prevail here,

That is unfortunate and perhaps the spirit in which you wrote your response. It echoes closed-mindedness. Again, I'm not the first person to bring this up.

but I felt compelled to write this anyway, in support of people who over time, have become as close to being "friends" as is possible by corresponding via the internet.

Well, if I attacked people, then yeah, you can defend them. I criticized the modus of the site in an effort to make it better. It made a remarkable turnaround after we lost two great mods that helped steer things to increase community.
None of what you say resonates with me, and I don't see the attitudes that you insist exist here. But then you probably have me down as part of the "problem".
That is unfortunate and drives more of the assertion of closed-mindedness and cliquey behavior here. My words have no value, apparently. Yet there are no cliques? There's no such situation of most of the people posting being ignored?
 
The thread title has been changed to reflect the real topic.

You changed the title to "Suggestions to improve forum participation", and such suggestions are welcome. What suggestions do you have to offer?

Sent from my HTC ThunderBolt using Tapatalk
 
You changed the title to "Suggestions to improve forum participation", and such suggestions are welcome. What suggestions do you have to offer?

Sent from my HTC ThunderBolt using Tapatalk
That people stop ignoring a large number of the participants and also take constructive criticism when people offer such suggestions. Encourage diversity in posting and maybe limit the cat pictures going up because it really does make this place look devoted to lolkitties, rather than to people with a passion for photography. I've seen it before and such postings end up taking over sites.

And there are lord knows how many places on the internet for kitty pics.
 
I'm a bit lost because I'm not sure what the OP is clearly riled about, but his feelings are his feelings. I would also like to get more towards a productive discussion rather than a verbose finger-pointing exercise.

What kind of participation do you feel is lacking? Would you like to see more discussions....more "serious" photography (Sorry I shoot my cats often, but try to make sure they are at least a touch artistic and more than just snaps)? I see a lot of the same faces participating because they are active, not because they dislike others.

And in regards to only 23% of registrants being active, I could give you a HUGE list of forums that I signed up for and am no longer an active participant. And not because I disliked the group, but because there is only so much time in the day. Many sign up here when contemplating a camera purchase and stick around for a bit for further advice on lenses, etc. The social types stick around and "chat" and share photos (some serious, some decidedly not), but this is what a community is all about.

I would like to welcome anyone here who wants to share their photography or coffeetalk. When something doesn't interest me, I ignore it.

I think the Single In effort is a great undertaking to encourage more people to "join in". Although the very act of people joining into a group to do the same act could be misconstrued......all are welcome.

Peace,
Luke:grouphug:
 
OK.....can we get a seperate section for pet photos? I can understand that some don't feel they are "nature" photos. And for people who don't like the genre of pet portraiture, they can easily skip it.
 
Perhaps we should have a poll ?
... I remain to be convinced that a large number of forum members have a problem with pictures of cats, or that they are dominating the forum in a way which is problematic, and I have yet to see any "lolcat" type snaps.
 
The Requisite Kitty thread has been moved, thanks to Barrie's (grebeman's) pointing it out that it was in the Nature forum, into Herman's Genres.

As for limiting what kinds of photos any member is allowed to put up, as long as they follow the Site Rules - they're OK.

As the Administrator and as Moderators, the team does their best to try to keep things orderly. Some members like to start their own personal threads, whereas others add on to existing threads. Most of the time we try to let people do what they want, but sometimes using our judgement we do merge threads, if they seem appropriate. If we do something like this we always contact the member. As the forum has grown, it naturally requires vigilance to keep track of every new thread and every photograph. I know that I can speak for all of us on the team, that we do our best to keep up but we also know that we fall short of our goals due to the time we have available.
 
Perhaps we should have a poll ?
... I remain to be convinced that a large number of forum members have a problem with pictures of cats, or that they are dominating the forum in a way which is problematic, and I have yet to see any "lolcat" type snaps.

Paul, as with all polls it would depend on how you phrased the question. I have no interest in cats, I have no interest in seeing pictures of cats, but I don't know that that translates to having a problem. BB has responded by moving a particular thread, that thread was already well signposted as to its content, and thus easily avoided by anyone who might share my views. I've no doubt that I might be in a minority, I've been in a minority most of my life, so that's no problem :)

BB's response is a perfectly amicable solution to that particular issue and shows what good moderation of the site can result in, so, with all due respect I don't really see the need for a poll, certainly not on that issue. It just comes down to the individuals likes and dislikes and the ease with which they can avoid engaging with any thread that doesn't interest them, at whatever level.

Barrie
 
OK.....can we get a seperate section for pet photos? I can understand that some don't feel they are "nature" photos. And for people who don't like the genre of pet portraiture, they can easily skip it.
That's a start. Why can't the kat threads in question just be an ongoing thread for that user and according to the post history, why must they be posted in duplicate each time?

The solution seems good to prevent an increasing image of the cat trend.
 
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