Why do you post on boards?

Captain Flaps

Internet communities form part of the subject of my undergraduate thesis (BA in Photography in DIT), and as part of my research I'm hoping that people would be good enough to lend me some of their time in replying to this thread.

Basically, the questions I'm asking are: why do you post on boards (or any internet community really, it's not overly specific)? Are you a member of a similar club offline (such as a camera club or similar interest group)? Does your activity in an online community supplement your offline activities or does it replace them? Do you find you get more constructive feedback on a forum or in real life? What aspects of online community do you think have the upper hand over real life exchanges, and vice versa?

I guess as an offshoot of the above, I'm also wondering if digital image sharing is making clubs such as the camera club

a)Less popular
b)More focused on traditional image making (film, darkrooms etc), or c)More popular as digital imaging makes photography more accessible to a wider audience

Any replies are appreciated, I have my own views in all of the above but would love to get a varied set of opinions to include in my notes.

cooper90

i use them to get info as people that use the boards or fourms are people of a like mind and usly have a good answer, save askin you mates who might not know or goin to a shop where they would talk down to ya.

Paulw

I use a number of online photography discussion groups (including boards.ie).

I'm not a memeber of any camera club.

I think the digital age has opened up photography, but has not taken away from camera clubs (option c).

Why do I post? Well, this is a great place to learn and help others. I've learned so much from people on boards here. I've also made some friends and photography friends from it all. It's a good way to find out about techniques that you may never think of yourself.

There are so many people on such discussion sites, with a very wide variety of skills, interests and knowledge. You can learn from other people's comments on your photos or even just from discussing topics.

I think online discussion groups compliment "real life" groups - but, in my opinion, there is no difference between online or "real life". It's just another medium.

sineadw

Very quickly:

1 - for the community, and also to learn from the more knowledgeable members.

2 - definitely supplements (adds greatly to)

3 - Depends - I get more feedback here, but it's not necessarily quality feedback. I'd be more focussed on feedback in real life.

4 - Time. I can get on here and leave a message without having to wait for a meeting or to talk specifically to an individual. And photo sharing - makes it easier to share images. On the other hand though, real life exchanges and meetings have a lot more inherent vibrancy. Plus there's nothing like seeing an image printed.

5 - I'd say more popular. DCC membership is more or less full capacity now. Democratising photography goes a looooong way to building a community.

6 - Not sure about other clubs, but DCC is pretty digital friendly. Most of the members there shoot digital only. About the same ratio as here I'd say.

smashey

I'm a complete beginner at this and only recently got a DSLR. I haven't really posted much here yet (apart from a couple of pictures at the weekend) but looking at what happens in this forum inspired me. As time goes on and I learn more, I will be posting here for C&C's as some of the advice given in here is invaluable.

I will also be joining my local camera club tonight so I'll have the best of both worlds.

Luno

To post pictures in the Random Photo thread mainly,
Like to get peoples feedback on photos because I'm not much of a pro or anything,
Theres a good vibe here at Boards which always brings me back for more!

Fenster

Epeen.

duffarama

With regards this forum, I don't know, I don't like or respect the opinions of most people here and tend to read a lot more thanI post.

Having said that, I enjoy browsing any thread which has pictures.

I spend a lot of time on various fora during the working day as I don't enjoy my job anymore

Captain Flaps

Thanks for the replies everyone, keep them coming.

Fenster, at this stage your e-peen must be gargantuan

Rb

Captain Flaps wrote: »

why do you post on boards (or any internet community really, it's not overly specific)?

I post on the Boards Photography forum because it's a really good little community. I've only been around for 8 or 9 months, but it's become the forum I read the most here. There's a lot of knowledge being shared and I'm constantly learning something from reading, as well as trying to give back to other members where possible too.

In short:
Access to a knowledge database
Access to fellow photographers
Gain inspiration from others photography
Spur myself on to improve and produce better pictures.

As I said, I come for the above reasons and stay around for the cool people who post here and their attitude towards sharing knowledge. There's a lot of other communities around, some of which are good, some of which are full of gear-orientated arseholes.

This in itself overshadows the questionable direction the company seems to be interested in dragging the communities here in, which very much can't be said of a lot of forums on the site unfortunately.

Are you a member of a similar club offline (such as a camera club or similar interest group)?

Not yet.

Does your activity in an online community supplement your offline activities or does it replace them?

Supplement

Do you find you get more constructive feedback on a forum or in real life?

Forum, and it's not even close. Most people who view my images offline love them and never have anything bad to say about them, there's no real feedback involved as the people don't know what to really look for in an image, so anything better than a quick snapshot seems great to them, however in reality the picture may not stand up to a lot of the pictures here. Even without comment you can gauge whether your image is good here, as people who like a pic generally "thank it".

So definitely more constructive here. I'm sure things will even out when I meet more photographers IRL though. As stands I only know fashion/model photographers offline who aren't particularly interested in other areas of it.

What aspects of online community do you think have the upper hand over real life exchanges, and vice versa?

More honesty, less jealousy.

I guess as an offshoot of the above, I'm also wondering if digital image sharing is making clubs such as the camera club

a)Less popular
b)More focused on traditional image making (film, darkrooms etc), or c)More popular as digital imaging makes photography more accessible to a wider audience

I can't really comment on this, but I'm most likely going to join a photo club as a result of posting here.

Fenster

What can I say about myself but that I am the soul of laconic brevity and wit? I post here for three-fold reasons:

Showing off my work and acquiring artistic and technical feedback. I am especially interested in shooting techniques (as opposed to digital processing techniques). This is your basic epeen.

Interacting with the general community: Dispensing advice, having advice dispensed

to me, getting into heated debates, gossip, rumor-mongering. Half friendship and half wizened guru.

Personal amusement. I enjoy popping swollen egos, further aggravating the already-aggravated, making snarky quips and randomly inserting facetious comments. In all areas of my life I strive to avoid being overly serious.

I am not currently a member of any real-life photographic organization or body. I used to attend meetings of the Galway Camera Club, but I got turned off by the average quality of work displayed (ninety minute slideshows of...holiday snapshots), the unwillingness of members to accept criticism or feedback and the general focus of the club. Sorry Sean+Mike!.

CabanSail

It's fine & dandy to put things in neat pidgeon holes, but real life is never that simple.

I am quite involved bot here & in my Camera Club, as well as in another online community. They all compliment each other quite well & offer different things, but there is a LOT of blurring between them all.

The online medium is great for interacting with so many people that you may not meet elsewhere. It is also open 24/7 so you can bounce things off people & get an opinion at any time. This is not just words on a screen but a community. This also applies to the other online community to which I belong. It is a much rougher place than here with very few rules. That is a great place to let off steam & also has a very good photography section.

The club is a bit more limited in that there is just the one meeting a week. As it is based in the real world the way you relate to people there is a bit different. There is of course quite a cross over with members of the club being also involved in both the online communities in which I am active. As we have weekly meetings you get to listen to some amazing people giving talks. While it is mainly Digital now, there is still a lot more emphasis on the Print rather than a digital image, be that on screen or projected.

Something I have noticed is that the Camera Club tends to focus a lot more on the Art of the images whereas online it's a lot more Gear Talk.

In the last couple of years there have been a lot more people joining the Camera Club. The Beginners Course we run is also very well subscribed & sells out well in advance of the first class.

The one thing both have in common is that the more you put in, the more you get out.

Freddie59

As a complete beginner with DSLRs 18 months ago, I find this forum an invaluable source of help and information. Unlike other fora on boards.ie (and other boards) there is , in the main, great respect for others (even newbies like me) and it is a huge source of information and assistance. And there is also the social interaction part.

You get to discuss things with people you might otherwise not meet - ever.

And I'm not a member of a camera club, although I do know one or two members of Waterford Camera Club - also very helpful.

Solarina

I like to flit about on boards.ie now and again, because its nice to hear Irish photographers, Flickr.com (which Id use a lot more) is so damn international and massive it can be nice to come back to your doorstep now and again, (if only to get mildy enraged by certain opinions )

And as for online forums... I guess I like to read, like to "talk", thats it really! Something slightly more productive to do amid illegally downloading porn and looking at lolcats.

LeoB

I am not great at photography but I really enjoy it. Great encouragment and very fair C & C when you put up an image. The "experts are so knowledgable and are very good at sharing the expertise and experience with us wannabies

This place is a collage to someone like me or any inexperienced person starting off.

And just look at some of the wonderful images posted here.

DK32

I guess I started to post here after spending a long time as a reader in the background. It's not difficult to see there are some very talented individuals who contribute in many different ways on this forum. Seeing the daily traffic and goings on here gave me the courage to start positing, asking questions and contributing myself.

I'm not part of any camera club and unless someone starts one up close to home, I can't see myself joining one either.

Posting here also gives me the opportunity to receive unbiased feedback from complete strangers. Rather than feedback from family & close friends who of course think I'm very talented and should "Go pro" lol :D:D

Final reason to post here, well it's Irish, it's local & that is very relevant to anyone wanting to get out there and be more involved. Like the photo walks as a example, I'm a fairly shy person and would not be at ease taking a trip into town to take random photo's at night. Boards & it's contributors gave me that opportunity. I think that's a real value-add to the forum.

Spiritoftheseventies

For the most part there is a good sense of community here. And found during the lisbon treaty it was a very good source for information. Very well run overall.

Paulw

bayviewclose wrote: »

And found during the lisbon treaty it was a very good source for information.

Lisbon Treaty and photography ????? Am I missing something here?

ianflynn

i think he is refering to the site in general, not just the photography forum.

duffarama

I'm guessing he means boards.ie in general

Paulw

Maybe he should have read the initial post, and seen that the thread was about photography, not the site in general.

Spiritoftheseventies

Paulw wrote: »

Maybe he should have read the initial post, and seen that the thread was about photography, not the site in general.

maybe i should have. Apologies.

Slidinginfinity

I starting posting here as a way to connect to people with a shared interest. I moved to Ireland (Dublin) with my wife about a year ago. We didn't know a soul living in Dublin.
There is a sense of community here, not just online either. I have met several people IRL from boards.ie and they have been generally a good bunch.
I have found the people here (boards.ie) to be helpful and friendly.

Rb

Paulw wrote: »

Maybe he should have read the initial post, and seen that the thread was about photography, not the site in general.

No time for reading when you're posting close to 30 posts per day :pac:

Spiritoftheseventies

Rb wrote: »

No time for reading when you're posting close to 30 posts per day :pac:

thats a very misleading stat. people very hung up on post counts for some reason.

ThOnda

Because I am vain, I need the attention of viewers to increase traffic on my pixie and flickr and it is nice to see two rows of thumbs up below my picture here
But honestly, the main reason is that photography is a visual art and should be seen. And I like getting feedback from everybody. That does not mean that I value such feedback the same from every single person. Especially people who do not hate me yet give me nice feedback

humberklog

+1 for the Lisbon treaty.

I was doing my thing in town yesterday and bumped into Simplicius and we had a smoke and a chat. I'd never know anything about anyone in photo circles and let's face it: no one gives a monkey about other peoples hobbies so it's very good for making connections with people that share the same interest as you.


And the vain bit too. It's good to get a measure of what's generally pleasing especially if you're trying to shift a few.