I am puzzled by how this all works on this site. I come across some fantastic photography here with no or very little comments and then I see absolutely uninteresting and horrible image (s) with 30 or 40 comments. What is going on?

When I browse the posts and see something interesting, inspiring or something I have to say about I comment. I do not understand why if someone leaves the feedback for you, you have to leave one for them, even if their post is bad.

Those harvesting comments back by leaving comments like "" or just "nice" to every single post they come across is making me feel sick. Have you got no pride people?

It happens all over tinternet.
Sad but true.

Pav

Ummmm. I kind of agree with what you are saying. There is quite a community feel to the blog with a lot of people and I see it as a way of supporting the other bloggers. I must say that I do not comment everyone that leaves me a comment, but I do always check out the pages of people who are on my friends list, which are people whose art/photography I enjoy/like and will leave a comment if I feel inclined to do so. I do notice a few people who comment on virtually every photo...I guess that could say many things, but I think being popular is quite important to some people on here.

It is also sad that some stunning photographs do not get any recognition at all and get lost on the blog. But hey, sometimes what one person may like, someone else might not and vice versa...it's all down to personal choice and relative to the viewer.

I do agree with you on the '' and 'nice' comments; I call it "comment whoring". It does happen everywhere though, however I don't think people should worry about it too much, just appreciate someone has taken the time to view your blog and if people want to comment every picture in an effort to become 'popular', let them...

E

yup... agreed... and it is a strange thing...

i have my friends and regulars i like to peruse...

but also - i must admit i love to look through new blogs, members whose work i have never seen.

you both have right but you should consider one thing as well - there are 'people and people' - some created their blog to share their photography and their photos are really great, in artistic sense. But some just created a photoblog for many other reasons - just to 'have' it, to show their some photos to their own friends or just for fun...

and sometimes other photoblogers just come across various blogs- either these artistic or 'other ones' - and if they happen to like sth there, they leave their comment.. as simple as that...

however- i know- it can be even harmful that some stupid photos are appreciated and some really nice ones are not. but remember that it's just the internet where everyone has access to... it's not the real exhibition or sth... i can understand that sb might feel 'offended' but as i said- it's just the internet

if someone is looking for art - they will find it...

Guess the point is sometimes, at least for me, a question of time management: this blog can be quite (and positively) time absorbing and with so many good photos is not always possible to give a comment to all the ones that deserve one (expecially when you'r not on holyday!).
A ‘nice’ is not always something bad, just means you are trying to give your opinion to as many great shot you can. That ‘nice’ means that also another good photo will receive a comment, comment that deserves as well. Sure: a long comment is better .. but a short one is better than nothing! (at least for me)

I was actually thinking about the ‘comment issue’ before reading this forum entry, and I ended up with the personal conviction that could be helpful to have a voting system.

(...continues in the suggestion and feedback forum...)

many times i have posted what i thought were my favorite images, ones that i worked on for hours, only to get little feedback . i agree that it is not the final say on my work or worth . i have to laugh when i see images that i dont understand that have over 60 comments . sometimes i think its about how often YOU comment on others photos . whatever the case may be i enjoy posting, comments or no comments.

I couldnt agree more with dkelly - I too have noticed that stuff I have spent hours on, or personally have had a lot of comments about from friends/work colleagues praising (and I dont think they were just being kind!) have had little or no comment, but others I have quickly snapped, or odd pictures on the blog have comment after comment!

For a little while I questioned if actually I was not as good a photogrpaher as I thought I was, that perhaps my lack of comments was in relation to my abilities. Then I thought, who cares - I love doing what I do and Im not going to stop. Having said that, my biggest regret is that I suspect some of my nicest pics get lost after a few days and people dont search very far back or at all in my blog. Which is a shame. I love trawling through the history of some members to see their "interests" or even "development" as shown by their work.

Comments are lovely though, even a "nice" as it shows that people do look at your blog and are not just clicking pictures but taking an active interest.

A rating system might be better - especially if someone is looking to see if their work is improving.

well, need to add some different angle here..
actually, i'm glad to give and receive a critiques on photos. that could be in use for further improvement, at the first place.
enjoyable photos, i like to download and print, without any comments.. than latter, after a while watching it on a wall or fridge, some appropriate comment would appear itself.

dkelly, I absolutely agree with you. As you think of the people who leave comments like "Wonderful work! Great set and composition! Well done! Thanks for sharing.", they obviously have not seen a good photo. I grabbed this from one of you posts on 21/09. Sorry, there is no photo for me, or in other words - it is a quick snap.
Then again, I also post my photos for my family and friends adn if someone leaves comment, I will decide on their knowledge and photographic taste after taking a look at their posts. As it sometimes happens, there is nothing to comment - sad, but true.
I would not write "utter rubbish", if the photographer is not capable of anything more than a snapshot, that does not meet any requirements of a good shot; I will simply browse a couple of more to decide whether it is worth spending one's time more with this page.
As photoblog is anarchy by it's nature and not regulated (which is positive!), a photo published belongs to this community if it dies not contradict with the rules of photoblog.com.
But, yet another expression of bad taste or incapability of taking photos - there is no need to leave a comment, those people will simply find another space to publish their "works".

Regards,
Taavi

several issues here.

1) the pictures you yourself for your personal reasons find the most intriguing might be just uninteresting for the rest of the world. even IF your pictures objectively spoken are gorgeous, you still might get no feedback on them because of several reasons:
a) other people don't notice them (marketing issue),
b) you posted them during peek time of photoblog postings (usually around 5-7 pm EST) (competition problem)
c) they are not that good as you think (self-overestimation)

2) commenting is a communication act serving several purposes:
a) to inform someone that you've noticed his/her s&%/
b) to give feedback on how this s&%/ came don on you
c) to point out flaws/brilliance of this s&%/, no matter if you like it or not
d) to leave a pee mark on someone's profile.
all these purposes are legal functions of a commenting system. the fact that most people, for what reason ever, do not comment more then mono syllables can lead to the (possibly wrong) conclusion that they are brain dead anyhow, but can also be interpreted nicely as a humble way of sheepish, shy "i got you and i follow you" appreciation... which, again, YOU can comfortably just ignore.

3) some people are your friends. some people say they are your friends, but they have nothing to say to you. some people actually are not your friends, but you can rely on all they tell you. some people, specially those with immensely large friend lists, collect you as their friend just to market their s&%/ on your "browse by friends" list.

there's probably more, but i need to get back to work now.

My photoblog is just for fun. I use a $60 camera. I just take random pix and post them. It's no big deal. If someone comments on mine I might leave a comment for them if I see a picture I like. If you don't want the comment on your blog you can block comments or delete the ones you don't want.

"PEEK" TIME? Is that when eidea peeks at the girls? hehe

Thank you for this blog. it is so easy to use. I just love it. thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. Everything is just perfect. PERFECT.