Why do people leave?

[acaldwell]

well, i can't really say much sice i've only recently joined. i've been pretty satisfied so far and plan to continue coming here. btw... i stumbled upon this forum through a google search and haven't even looked at another one yet. i was very happy with the ppl here... so don't leave me, please don't leave me now...hehe

 

[Iron Flatline]

The only other community (spread across a collection of eight forums) that I've left is because it disintegrated. I spent about five years there (+5,000 posts) but it got to a point where it all fell apart. There was some fighting, and the smart people left. It was a 30-year-and-older Counter-Strike community. After some inspection and reflection, I decided that the remaining members were less intellectually stimulating that the crowd that originally got me there.

I still miss playing as a well-trained team against other teams, with people that I know and trust not to cheat. It was a real thrill.

[CI] Iron Flatline {JUL} {CoFR}

 

[Mike Jordan]

The unfortunate consequence of answering every Newbie question as if it had never been asked before is that it wastes a great deal of energy and talent.

This same point has been made several times and each time, I suggest that the person who makes it actually do the work.

IMO, if a Newbie don't want to do a little work for him or herself, than he or she doesn't deserve membership. I don't think that asking a Newbie to find the <Search> button is a high price for admittance.

Just like critiquing an image, there are a lot of ways to tell someone that is asking for help, just how to go find that help. Not everyone has the social skills to be able to do either one very well, while others have such a smooth way about how they say things, even a rock would feel like a diamond.

Mike

 

[sincere]

I havent noticed that but it seems really weird if thats the case.

I mean where else could people possibly go? I looked at all of them other forums and TPF was just perfect. Good vibes, nice people, and a lot to learn.

Couldnt ask for more.

 

[patrickt]

In every forum there are some posters who are apparently there to meet some personal need and aren't really interested in the topics. If the ratio of these to valuable posters reaches a critical point I tend to leave.

I suspect someone will say, "Who decides who's valuable?" Okay. This is a photography forum. Someone who insists on posting about George Bush or Hillary Clinton should go to, gasp, a political forum. A post that says, "You're an idiot," is not valuable. Period.

 

[LaFoto]

Well, patrickt (welcome to ThePhotoForum, by the way ), we have rules that exclude the form of behaviour you are portraying, so given we mods manage to have our eyes everywhere at all times, day or night (which we don't, hence the alarm buttons!), we see to such posts and might as well remove them and tell the posters that this is all off here.

In general people might leave because a forum is too slow (nothing happening for days), or too crowded (too many new threads appearing over night). Sometimes, TPF is on the brink of having too much going on, but then we soon will have chosen our favourite forums, don't we, and mostly go just there.

What would make me leave a forum would be to be totally ignored, or ridiculed, put down, discriminated against or get flamed. Not that any of this has ever happened to me (thankfully!).

And with regards to this very forum (one of three I go to, the two others both totally NOT photography-related) I don't have a choice ... I just must not leave or else ... and by the boss (I think).

 

[NJMAN]

I don't see all of those reasons at TPF and for the #4, TPF is the best place, I know it's boring and tiring to explain the same thing over and over again, but the moderators & senior members in TPF do that! I've seen Big "heart" Mike sometimes write similar response to different OP. That means a lot to the OP.

I feel the need to chime in about this. I belong to about 5 photography forums. This one was the first that I joined, and is by far the best, and the one that Ive stuck with the longest for various reasons. The biggest reason is that the mods dont feel like they are better than anyone else because of the high number of posts they have (or some veterans with high number of posts either). I dont know all the mods or senior/seasoned veterans, but I will say that since Ive been here, I have seen a genuine willingness to help from these people. Thats not true for everyone obviously. But when I see the majority willing to give comments, or help, or make suggestions in an appropriate manner despite all the repetitiveness, that shows great character. Thats what makes this board great, people with character.

 

[skieur]

But the thing that REALLY gets me... is when you offer sound advice, and you're ignored.

My comments should be known as thread killers... noone respondes to me!

*sigh*

Take it with a grain of salt, RM, considering a few posters call "Awesome" what you and I and some others would probably throw in the trashcan, is it really a surprise that some do not recognize sound advice?

skieur

 

[slickhare]

I used to post here quite often. Then I lost my inspiration. I've never really goten back into the furious commenting and whatnot, mostly just lurk now. TPF's a great place though, don't get me wrong. I've learned a lot from this place.

 

[xfloggingkylex]

my activity on here greatly decreased over the summer. this has to do with working over summer as well as having free time between classes during the school year.

And to be honest I got caught up playing world of warcraft like an addict.

But for car forums, I left my first car forum when my car got totaled. didnt make sense to be part of a forum when you dont have the uniting factor.

 

[crownlaurel]

While I haven't completely left, I've not been very involved here lately.

I've found another site I feel a little more at home on. That doesn't mean this site is bad or that one is better, just that that one fits me a little better at this point. The atmosphere is a little more relaxed and photos are shared in some threads for the sheer purpose of sharing photos and ideas and there is a common learning theme each week.

I still enjoy reading the "photographic discussions" forum and occassionally some of the gallery forums, but I haven't posted a picture here in awhile. I'll hopefully never actually leave. I've learned quite a bit from some of you and I :hail: the work of many of you.

 

[elsaspet]

Take it with a grain of salt, RM, considering a few posters call "Awesome" what you and I and some others would probably throw in the trashcan, is it really a surprise that some do not recognize sound advice?

skieur

Please show me this sound advice. What makes you, or me, or anyone else for that matter, a better judge of what a persons personal art is.

 

[elsaspet]

In every forum there are some posters who are apparently there to meet some personal need and aren't really interested in the topics. If the ratio of these to valuable posters reaches a critical point I tend to leave.

I suspect someone will say, "Who decides who's valuable?" Okay. This is a photography forum. Someone who insists on posting about George Bush or Hillary Clinton should go to, gasp, a political forum. A post that says, "You're an idiot," is not valuable. Period.

Hey Patrick. Stick in there my man. The bad guys vs good guys ratio is very small here.
Ignore the meenies. Just hit the ignore button. There are lots of people here who will see your work for what it is.
Many hugs.

 

[elsaspet]

Just like critiquing an image, there are a lot of ways to tell someone that is asking for help, just how to go find that help. Not everyone has the social skills to be able to do either one very well, while others have such a smooth way about how they say things, even a rock would feel like a diamond.

Mike

But there is a huge difference between telling someone they suck (if they get past the "Did you even bother to read the rules, loser" portion of the posts.)
You don't have to climb up someones butt to give them an encouraging word.
I've had my work critted professionally. I've also given professional crit. The thing is, that most people have it wrong.
Crit is not about telling people that they screwed it all up. Crit is about looking at the overall image, and giving advice, if needed. But the REAL part of crit is to say, matter of factly, what you find needs impovement, AND what you find was beneficial.

 

[ipschoser1]

Virtually every on-line forum, photographic or not, has an active contingent that is much, much smaller than the official 'number of members.' [From a quick look at several member rolls, my guess is that the a graph of the posts by member would look like a poisson distribution.]

I have always been curious why other people have chosen to leave forums when they have. Since I can't poll the people who have left TPF, altho that might be a good idea as a method to direct improvement of this site, I am asking you why you have left where you no longer are.

So, how many have you left?
Why did you leave?
Are you still active at all?
How can we keep good people here?

I'm new here. Read this thread and think about how it relates to your questions. As a new member, what should I be thinking about now? I'm on many other forums without issues...
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=987912#post987912