Just a suggestion...

FireKitten · Nov 8, 2011

I have never seen a forum as critical and condescending as this. I'm sure there are plenty of nice people here, but the fact is there are a TON of awful, hateful, arrogant, and overly-critical people on here. The bad FAR outweighs the good. I'm not saying that I've been met by all of them, but I've been reading and I swear, it's like every single thread turns into a pissing match over egos. This does NOT help people like me, who have honest questions. This is where I'm supposed to go for help right? The Photo Forum? I mean, that's why this place exists. I have only been here a few days and every time I click on a thread it's at least 2 memebers arguing over who's right, who's better, yadda yadda yadda... often hi-jacking what that thread was about. The OP doesn't even stand a chance in figuring out whatever they are wondering because members who have issues with one another start fighting over their OPINIONS. OH, that's another thing... seems like a heck of a lot of people here have totally forgot that their opinions are just that- their opinions. They seem to think it's more like the ABSOLUTE truth, nomatter what, good as gold, and anyone who dare question them is worthless. Anyone who DARE take a DIFFERENT route is going to fail. It's set in stone, because they are superior in knowledge and are just superior beings when it comes down to it. HA.

So, my suggestion is that if anyone actually cares about this place then maybe you need to get a handle on some people, or just get rid of them. If you can't play nice you shouldn't get to play at all. Do you guys seriously just not care about how people treat eachother? I'm seeing certain members just flat out bullying people just because they can. Calling people names, like "villiage idiot"!!! (because of a difference in OPINION) That's just one example. So many "adults" here are so immature it seriously amazes me. I'm 25 and I can tell you one thing, I may not have the knowledge they do at this point, but I sure as hell would NEVER hire them. Professionals my arse, ha ha. That's another thing to laugh at.

Just thought you should know why I will never, ever visit this site again. Every single time I get off this site I'm upset over how people are allowed to treat eachother! My Husband just told me he felt very strongly that I just learn on my own and get as far away from this as possible, it's not good for a healthy person let alone a pregnant woman. It is an absolute disgrace. I've also seen all the other threads by people who leave within days of joining. There are an equal number of people who join, ask a question, and are so turned off they just don't come back. It's really sad, because I bet this palce wasn't started to be like this... if it was well that's another story.

analog.universe · Nov 8, 2011

Pretty much once a week someone new to this forum makes the same observation you just have, and that's because it's true. But what always gets said is that the folks you are talking about are a minority... They're a really loud obnoxious minority, but most of the people here do genuinely want to help and learn. I don't know if this forum is really worse than the rest of the internet unfortunately. Some people when they get online, forget that they're members of the human race like everyone else. Maybe they're actually like that all the time, and in real life people who care about each other just avoid them.

So, I encourage you to stick around, and just ignore the people that don't respect you. There's even an "ignore" feature, so you can pretend they don't exist altogether. I've been hanging out in internet forums for 15 years, and there is always some amount of content that's fueled by ego instead of information. That's the price of giving everyone a voice though. If you decide to kick people out that are disrespectful, then someone has to decide when a line is crossed, and that invites a whole bunch of other issues. I do like our free society here, but only because I've learned that certain members need to be taken with a grain of salt, and others just need to be ignored entirely. There is a lot of excellent information in between the offensive bits, enough that I've stuck around for a while.

Kerbouchard · Nov 8, 2011

FireKitten said:
I'm seeing certain members just flat out bullying people just because they can. Calling people names, like "villiage idiot"!!! (because of a difference in OPINION)

You must have missed the part about how 'Villiage Idiot' is that guy's forum name...kind of like someone calling you FireKitten.

As far as your Sony thread, you recieved a lot of advice on there...I wouldn't say any of it was bullying.

On whether people on here argue their opinions...well, yes. It wouldn't be much of a forum if everybody just agreed with everything everybody said. You also have to understand that we see, 'what camera should I get', 'what lens should I get', 'just bought a camera, how much should I charge', type threads all the time. Sometimes there is a bit of bickering because everything that can be said has already been said. If new members would use the search function before posting new questions, most of those threads that you complain about would never exist in the first place.

Oh, well, c'est la vie.

In any case, like I recommended in the last post of your 'What lens should I get' thread, perhaps, you should try a Sony specific forum for some more specialized advice.

Derrel · Nov 8, 2011

VIllage Idiot is his name. Maybe you oughtta' pick up on subtleties before rushing into a forum you've been a forum member of for less than one week...

I've been on the net since 1994...Usenet photo groups were just as rough and tumble and male-dominated as this forum is...that was 17 years ago...back when you were an eight year-old girl...this forum is a lot like "the real world" is, and is largely full of adult men...many of us with 10,15,20,25,30,35,40 years of photography experience...we actually have some opinions, and some perspective...

One thing that young people like yourself seem to lack is netiquette. Do you even know what that is? In the early days of Usenet, before the "web" existed, newbies were encouraged to "lurk", to learn, and to use the search feayure and to READ THE F.A.Q. before posting yet-another duplicate thread...to get to KNOW and UNDERSTAND the CULTURE of the place--all of that was expected of newbies---BEFORE POSTING, and before trying to come into the community!!!!. Butttttt....you're a 25 year old, pregnant, newbie...who has been here less than one week...and you are telling the people who actually comprise this group,and have for years, how much YOU, the newcomer, deserve to be catered to.

Your husband is right--this probably is not a good forum for a pregnant woman...

"Netiquette". It's a concept most of your generation hasn't got a CLUE about...

Your disillusionment has been duly noted. Village Idiot has been posting here for years. THAT IS HIS NAME, FireKitten.

MTVision · Nov 8, 2011

Derrel said:
VIllage Idiot is his name. Maybe you oughtta' pick up on subtleties before rushing into a forum you've been a forum member of for less than one week...

I've been on the net since 1994...Usenet photo groups were just as rough and tumble and male-dominated as this forum is...that was 17 years ago...back when you were an eight year-old girl...this forum is a lot like "the real world" is, and is largely full of adult men...many of us with 10,15,20,25,30,35,40 years of photography experience...we actually have some opinions, and some perspective...

One thing that young people like yourself seem to lack is netiquette. Do you even know what that is? In the early days of Usenet, before the "web" existed, newbies were encouraged to "lurk", to learn, and to use the search feayure and to READ THE F.A.Q. before posting yet-another duplicate thread...to get to KNOW and UNDERSTAND the CULTURE of the place--all of that was expected of newbies---BEFORE POSTING, and before trying to come into the community!!!!. Butttttt....you're a 25 year old, pregnant, newbie...who has been here less than one week...and you are telling the people who actually comprise this group,and have for years, how much YOU, the newcomer, deserve to be catered to.

Your husband is right--this probably is not a good forum for a pregnant woman...

"Netiquette". It's a concept most of your generation hasn't got a CLUE about...

Your disillusionment has been duly noted. Village Idiot has been posting here for years. THAT IS HIS NAME, FireKitten.

Hey now - I got me some netiquette, Derrel!

She got a lot of feedback and some great advice on her 2 threads. The first thread she got all defensive and called everyone over critical because she was told her pictures weren't composed great. The only person she even listened to was someone who has been into photography for a month. I've seen people be rude on this forum and nobody was rude or mean to her.

I don't get why every newbie (who decides to leave) has to start a thread like this. Why not just sign out and leave - its not like any of know each other in real life. Plus, she's gonna come back just to read the replies on this thread.

I, honestly love this forum. I've never been rude (at least I don't think so), I take advice and criticism without arguing, and I've never ever had a problem on here. And honestly, isn't it normal that people argue - it happens in real life too - haven't you ever watched any of the Real Housewives

Well - another one bites the dust. It's her loss - I've learned so much from this site!

e.rose · Nov 9, 2011

Another one of these? Oh goodie! :clap:

:roll:

Overread · Nov 9, 2011

*Locking thread because leaving threads of this nature tend to only ever end with a blazing flamewar*

Sadly there are a handful of our established membership who do have problems with communication. Sometimes its their honest desire to help which gets mistakenly missread when their posts are written in a more informal, short handed manner. This creates a problem for moderation since no insult is directly given, but its implied or thought to be insulting by some newer members who are not more used to that specific members posting style (and this also goes for explaining why, as established members ourselves and being used to peoples posting style, sometimes these things don't' get noticed by the mods).
In addition a few established members have taken up fighting spats with others - again a difficult situation as the cause often goes back months and many times has no direct cause; its just two people who've decided to bark at each other till the other backs down for whatever reason. It's; again a nightmare to try and control since we can't simply be removing all members that disagree with each other of - what is in the end- generally minor points.

In the end the most effective counter is us trying to encourage members to use things such as the ignore list so that the two or three people they don't get along with are no longer presented to them through the forum interface. It is always a shame to be losing members and its even more damaging to the site society as it also creates a poor atmosphere and drives away established members as well.