The lost art of Hobbying

Overread · Aug 1, 2020

So something I've noticed as of late, not just with others, but also myself is that we've steadily lost the art of sharing within our hobby!

Indeed in a modern age where we are told that the art of conversation is being killed off for the tweet the twitter the like and the "good shot", we often consider ourselves a touch above such "social media" plagues of conversation when we appear on forums.

However I was given pause to reflect that actually we are suffering just the same. That our desire to post on many photos at once; to interact with as many as possible; or perhaps our use of a tablet or phone between meetings or in lunch break - is all conspiring to contribute to us saying a lot lot less. This turns around and we all suffer, because when we say less we invite others to say less in return. As a result we start to lose more and more of these all important conversations and connections with others - which feeds into a desire to reach out more and more. So in our desperation/desire we comment and like more and more, yet because we are not inviting conversation (indeed likes and such on a photo often don't invite any conversation what so ever); we get less and less of that rewarding interaction returned.

Comments get short and clipped and we start to steadily share less and less until we are just posting photos like an image-share site.

For me I've started to realise that I am part of this problem too when my computer went out of action and I was forced onto a tablet for a short time. During that time my ability to reply in longer posts was curtailed heavily because it took much longer to type anything out. However I realised that I wasn't actually commenting much less than I otherwise was. That I was already far into the trap of posting short clipped replies or not at all.

This is no great revelation and we all have a litany of reasons for why we might be posting a bit less, but still appearing around. Why we aren't talking about the photos we create and not just about the photos we see others creating. Why we are just saying "great shot" instead of pausing for a few more seconds to appreciate what we see a bit more; to tease out what we really do like (and risk finding something even more interesting nestled within the photo that a quick 5 second view didn't reveal to us).
So for me I've decided that I've got to change MY attitude and behavior. Of course I am also not alone in this, hence the reason for this post and thread. This is my formal and open invitation to ALL to come and perhaps start a bit of a change in our collective behavior. To bring the COMMUNITY back into the site and our interactions. Perhaps this means commenting on a fewer number of photos and posts each; perhaps it means sitting down for more than 5 seconds; but I think that we gain greatly in the value of quality and depth. In even just talking about what we like and engaging with some of that fire and passion when the hobby was new. To engage with others who share our hobby.

Tropicalmemories · Aug 1, 2020

Yes, I can recognize what you are saying in my own actions, and I can see the results in some other sites.

Flickr, for example is now almost entirely a photo dumping ground where some people even use bots to post Faves to avoid any real conversation.

But I think this site is better than most - although sometimes The Coffee House can look odd when we don't acknowledge the last post and just post our own thoughts ...... it comes across as not listening to the last 'speaker' in a conversation.

Grandpa Ron · Aug 27, 2020

Verbal conversation in particular is becoming a lost art for several reasons; the virus certainly was crimped our person to person contact, younger folk worry about offending someone if the are not politically correct, some of us older folks say exactly what they mean but they are usually talking to their peers and of course the biggest bugaboo I see is "Texting". I will get five texts for every phone call from my grandkids and much of my own person to person communication is via email. Finally that window on the world we called Facebook certainly has not done much to increase verbal conversation.

Replacing verbal conversation with written conversation has certainly been a boon to spreading thoughts and opinions, however, as eluded too there has been a lost of "listening" to what the person has typed.

SquarePeg · Aug 27, 2020

Sometimes I feel like my own posts are too long and people don’t want to read that much info. I’m definitely guilty of being short sometimes when I comment on other’s stuff. Personally, I like to read the “story” of the photo and like to see it included with the initial post. Not just equipment and settings, but also where, what time, why, how, the inspiration, challenges etc...

Overread · Aug 27, 2020

I think some of the fear of writing too much and that people are only willing to read "short comments" is one of those things that started fine as a theory. Then it steadily got built upon over and over and over again. To the point where news websites are now producing little more than a half paragraph for an "article" (and even most of that is repeated information). Much like how "no news sells like bad news" leads to news outlets almost only selling "bad news".

It's basically taking a theory of "being concise" into the extreme which starts to create its own problems and operate to a detriment of all.

Photo Lady · Aug 27, 2020

Everything is changing not all for the better!

Pixeldawg1 · Aug 27, 2020

Good post... (I am tempted here to leave it at that, just for the irony factor... but it is also ironic that we are discussing this on a social media platform. hahaha!). You know what I REALLY miss? Camera clubs. In my younger, professional days, I was a member of the "Twin Cities Camera Club" in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida and it had a mix of pros and absolute beginners, but I found that I could get things to mentally take away from each and every member. The pros I could discuss business, technique and get amazing critiques. The beginners often saw things differently and it was inspiring and challenging as well, and I realized that I could expand my thinking about how to shoot a subject. Such a great time in my development as a photographer.

Be well, each of you.

Cordially,

Mark