I've been on this site since March this year ... I developed some lovely links with people which for me, brought out the best of a community such as this. About 2 months ago I had to take a break and it took a little while to catch up again which included uploading all my photos.
What I don't know is how to be 'noticed again'. What does anyone have to do to have people look and comment on their photos? Currently I follow and write on between 10 and 12 people's photos every day but recieve nothing or very little back. This feels demoralising and simply makes me want to give up because I'm getting nothing out of this. It's become a very isolated process which isn't what I see this site as being about.
it depends if y our want mega friends like a FB site or want true critiques ....
if it's the first, spam friending people and see if they follow you back (I don't have a lot to time to do mega follows so hit people several times if it looks interesting)
if it's the second put a thread here of wanting true critiques and join in the browse and picks and the fav photo .... showing your work and highlighting others.
If you want competition mimic those on the 'recently popular' page (although don't go upsetting the monkeys cause you're forever doomed (lol)) or the chart stoppers!
Work out why you're here and work it to your needs! I do!
People will generally check out your project if they're aware of your presence - best way to do this is by looking around for yourself and commenting on anything that interests you. That includes the discussion boards.. :)
Sorry you're feeling like this Gail. I notice commenting goes in waves. Although I have some regulars who very kindly always notice my pics, I feel there's a little drop off generally.
My theory, which may well be completely wrong, is that a lot of people start this project around new year or thereabouts. So by this time of the year, for a large critical mass of people, they're possibly spending less time commenting for a variety of reasons. Maybe they went a bit overboard when they first started and it was all new and exciting - they'll have also probably picked up quite a few people to follow and can't keep up with them all. And of course this time of the year is getting quite busy for people. Just a few ideas.
One thing I think helps build links is forging and maintaining dialogue. I noticed in a couple of your recent pics that you had said thank you to commenters, including me. But you didn't use the 'Reply' facility so I didn't know you'd thanked me and wouldn't have known if I hadn't gone back to your picture. If you hit reply I can see you've replied in my Notifications at the top of the page.
The thing to always remember, not sure if this will help, is the reason you started this in the first place - to keep a record, or to improve your photography or whatever. That will always be there no matter how many comments you get.
And do keep commenting, people do appreciate it - and maybe take a look at some of the New Faces - people still full of the enthusiasm of the early days of the project!
@zodiaque
......get noticed by starting a discussion about not getting noticed?..oh,congrats,it`s happening! ....
Okay,I don`t know what to say.But when I was in school,being among the least popular ones,I never jumped in a crowd,yelling "talk to meeeee!" ...
So you sound a little selfish.It`s just my oppinion. I think all you need is patience,and once the ball gets rollin` again,it won`t stop.
.....then again,you could just ignore what I said,I tend to talk nonsense after midnight.
I think you need broaden your scope. Comment on randoms from the latest page etc rather then the usual 10 you follow. You also have to appreciate (with out sounding rude) they might look at you work might think nothing of it? does it stand out etc compared with others getting lots of comments? Where as other will find it interesting. Likewise I agree with @islawight , there's massive bunch of peeps who started at the beginning of the year who if like me are waiting to the finish the project as soon as. Also I guess if you had a 2 month break, people may have thought you have left. But keep at it, the more you comment on the more you should get back. It took me months to build up a repour with everyone and now get regular feedback from those who started right at the beginning of the year, altough ive got 180 odd followers, I'm lucky if i get 30 views and a handful of comments, it "swings and roundabouts"
Thank you for saying this! I went through a phase a while ago where I was creating some photos I was really proud of, but apparently not getting any response to them and it does feel quite demoralising. That said, I'm not very good at commenting on photos because I don't really have the time. The ones I do comment on though are ones that stand out to me and ones with a description that I can read and comment about, so I'm not just putting the "great photo" comments everywhere.
I would say that if you are commenting on people's photos and it's not being reciprocated, move on, delete them, whatever you need to do! Find other active people to follow and get feedback from. It's rude to not reciprocate--geez. I've done the same and it's equivalent to talking to someone and being ignored. Would you do that face-to-face? Of course not!
Try finding a few more active posters to follow, browse the "popular" and "latest" pages and comment on images that catch your eye, try out some of the themes, or as someone suggested, try taking a photo you'd really like feedback on and posting a request for critique. With so many people on this site, it is hard to stand out and get noticed sometimes, but I found once I became a more active part of the community, more comments followed. Good luck!
I understand your feelings Gail. I have had the same thoughts sometimes. Lately I have been browsing the new faces section and commenting on them and also looking at who comments on them.
I usually do not comment on a photo that has more than 10 comments already unless it is a special reason.
Do the browse and pick . . . that's a great opportunity to find new followers / followees, and participate in the themes. Many people peruse the theme shots and comment on photos of people they don't necessarily follow . . . yet.
Gail, I dont know you, but sometimes my followers dont comment my picture either. Maybe its because I have bad photos or maybe my follwers dont have the time.
If you want more comments then try to find some new people to follow you.
Gail I have 102 people following me and I can tell you I do not get 102 comments a day. I follow 31 and that keeps me more busy than I intended but I also do not comment on every shot that appears on my home page, although I do try! I must admit that when I get notification that another person is following me I feel a lot of pressure to preform even better, which is a good...I guess, but I am doing this to record my life day by day (with the help of a back up file! ) and if others enjoy my shots it does give me a buzz, but I am doing this for me. There is nothing I enjoy more than re-visiting my shots and re-reading my comments to remind me of an event or whatever. I do re-read the comments too and they can bring a smile or tear to my eye. I guess the bottom line for me is 365 a day in my life. Comments or no comments, it is still MY life.
I think Isla hit the nail on the head above for many of us. Many of us are almost at the end of the 365 project now and less likely to take on new follows and comments than in those early heady days! I know I am - I would love to look at lots more photos and comment on them but I don't have time so tend to just try and keep up with my regular friends from early on - unless something really spectacular or funny catches my eye. I do feel bad about it, especially if someone follows me and I don't follow them back. Please don't take it personally.
One tip that might help is try varying the time that you post your pictures and see if that makes any difference! I tend to scroll down my home page after I upload my picture and am much more likely to comment on photos I see there that have been posted not long before - that could be happening with some of your followers, especially if they follow a lot of people?
Gail...I have been following you for some time and I'm sorry you feel this way. I find unless one's photo is quite exceptional it can get lost in the mass. But if you have a day when you can spend time browsing other folk's pictures and make a lot of comments then they will be recipricated and thus you may reach the pop page. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. I try to get involved in some threads but working all day and having domestic commitments in the evening its quite hard. I'm with @islawight on this one.....remember why you began this project and just be pleased you are meeting that challenge. :-)
I don't know why you are - so unhappy - about the amount of people following you and not commenting. I took a quick percentage of a regular day. with 52 followers and 9 comments on that day you had almost 20% of your people that commented. now I take one day of mine. say I have 146 followers and had 8 comments on a particular day that is only 6% of all my followers. also one has to look at it this way..the more followers they in turn follow a lot of people and they don't always have the time to comment on all of your pictures. I also find that you might have some that you follow for a long time and because they don't follow you..so you are not on their home page so you seldom get a response from them. I have some and I find it frustating at times but I get over with it.
Thank you everyone for your responses which have been interesting to read. It was really encouraging to note that there are other people who feel similarly to me.
@clarissajohal I think that, for me, you’ve hit the nail on the head! I cannot imagine continuing to seek contact with someone in my ‘real life’ who regularly ignored me when I spoke to them. Why, then, would I want this here? And this goes back to my original point about community … and the whole process of sharing photos and commentary whilst building relationships.
I recognise that there are times when people can’t respond due to other things going on in their lives. Indeed, there's a couple of people who I have been liaising with over a period of time for whom this is the case.
As a final comment, I want to thank everyone who has commented on my photos over the last couple days. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this … it has felt very generous. It reinforces the positives of this community.
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if it's the first, spam friending people and see if they follow you back (I don't have a lot to time to do mega follows so hit people several times if it looks interesting)
if it's the second put a thread here of wanting true critiques and join in the browse and picks and the fav photo .... showing your work and highlighting others.
If you want competition mimic those on the 'recently popular' page (although don't go upsetting the monkeys cause you're forever doomed (lol)) or the chart stoppers!
Work out why you're here and work it to your needs! I do!
My theory, which may well be completely wrong, is that a lot of people start this project around new year or thereabouts. So by this time of the year, for a large critical mass of people, they're possibly spending less time commenting for a variety of reasons. Maybe they went a bit overboard when they first started and it was all new and exciting - they'll have also probably picked up quite a few people to follow and can't keep up with them all. And of course this time of the year is getting quite busy for people. Just a few ideas.
One thing I think helps build links is forging and maintaining dialogue. I noticed in a couple of your recent pics that you had said thank you to commenters, including me. But you didn't use the 'Reply' facility so I didn't know you'd thanked me and wouldn't have known if I hadn't gone back to your picture. If you hit reply I can see you've replied in my Notifications at the top of the page.
The thing to always remember, not sure if this will help, is the reason you started this in the first place - to keep a record, or to improve your photography or whatever. That will always be there no matter how many comments you get.
And do keep commenting, people do appreciate it - and maybe take a look at some of the New Faces - people still full of the enthusiasm of the early days of the project!
......get noticed by starting a discussion about not getting noticed?..oh,congrats,it`s happening! ....
Okay,I don`t know what to say.But when I was in school,being among the least popular ones,I never jumped in a crowd,yelling "talk to meeeee!" ...
So you sound a little selfish.It`s just my oppinion. I think all you need is patience,and once the ball gets rollin` again,it won`t stop.
.....then again,you could just ignore what I said,I tend to talk nonsense after midnight.
I usually do not comment on a photo that has more than 10 comments already unless it is a special reason.
If you want more comments then try to find some new people to follow you.
Good luck and I hope you will continue anyway :-)
One tip that might help is try varying the time that you post your pictures and see if that makes any difference! I tend to scroll down my home page after I upload my picture and am much more likely to comment on photos I see there that have been posted not long before - that could be happening with some of your followers, especially if they follow a lot of people?
@clarissajohal I think that, for me, you’ve hit the nail on the head! I cannot imagine continuing to seek contact with someone in my ‘real life’ who regularly ignored me when I spoke to them. Why, then, would I want this here? And this goes back to my original point about community … and the whole process of sharing photos and commentary whilst building relationships.
I recognise that there are times when people can’t respond due to other things going on in their lives. Indeed, there's a couple of people who I have been liaising with over a period of time for whom this is the case.
As a final comment, I want to thank everyone who has commented on my photos over the last couple days. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this … it has felt very generous. It reinforces the positives of this community.