I've been browsing around the site for the past few days and have found many photographers that i like and started following them. I found 3 today and one of them posted a comment on my photo that stated that 'although this is a public site could you please not follow this, that, and the other person' (paraphrasing of course). I went a head and deleted them and the comment but....
Am i unaware of some policy or guideline or something?
I just want to make sure i'm not doing something i shouldn't be :)
Good grief...that's rude. I do the same as you but have never had anyone ask that I not follow them. My friends and followers are so awesome and all but one were picked at random. Oh well, there's always one in every group or crowd I guess.
I would say just go ahead & do what you've been doing. Keep up the good work!
This is a public site and if you wanted to follow there would be nothing to stop you. I have at least one follower that I'd rather not have but it's a public site and there is no way to block someone. I wish there was.
This happened to me also, back when I first started, and they were quite rude about asking me to leave them alone. I took myself off and moved on to make great online friendships with many others here.
What a funny request! I believe you follow someone because you like their photo's, right? Personaly I would be curious about a person requesting not to follow :-) So I probably wouldn't stop following.
Well aren't you polite to stop following. I would follow and comment on each and every photo they did for the sheer thrill of being a pain in the butt.
The one thing I would not complain about is getting followers because while I say I do this all for me and such, I really do appreciate each and every person that followers. I have yet to witness this behavior. The only thing I do is when obviously young children follow me, I do ask that they get permission from their parents because of sometimes mature topics.
So yes, this does seem a bit odd and that they speak for several (maybe they are too cheap to get an ace account and made three pages). I do want to follow them now though.
Hmmm... and here I am wondering why I can't GET many followers (I'm thinkin' it's because I just started in January and I'm not the best at it yet.). Strange to shoo people away. I find that a bit snobbish.
@eyebrows My sentiments exactly. And then post random comments praising their work for the wrong reasons. So, if it's a landscape, post 'nice portrait', and so on.
In all seriousness though (especially to re-balance things after my posts in the Terrible Photography thread), it's quite possible they're just doing it for themselves, and don't want any outsiders getting involved, which I can perfectly respect, if not really understand, as this *is* a public forum, and if they just wanted to do it properly privately they could email each other photobucket links, or something.
I gotta admit - I'm with the people who've suggested to keep following them and to comment on everything and anything ... if you didn't want people to follow and comment, don't join here and post images! I find that response nothing short of arrogant and rude ...
Also, I'm 20 weeks pregnant, so I'd probably suggest them to everyone so that everyone else could also join in the following - but hormones will do that to a woman ;)
i'm glad everyone else got round to it first, but yeah, this is a public site and you can follow who you like, you can view a users photos whether you follow them or not so seems strange. Personally i feel that if people don't want to contribute to the community, they shouldn't be here.
many have beaten me to it... but I'd follow and comment daily just to piss them off.... oh and comment on the poor quality of pic and what he/she could do to improve etc etc....
Sorry to hear the above!! I thought the whole idea of this Project was to follow and comment on other people's photos, whether we like or don't like is totally irrelevant!!
You can follow me....I don't mind the criticism!! Matter of fact, I would welcome it!!
I'm really shocked that someone would ask that of you. That's just weird. I don't understand the point of being here if you don't want to be part of this wonderful community. I personally love all of my followers and appreciate having people who like the photos I take. Don't worry about them. I'm sure anyone else you decide to follow will be much more gracious of you deciding to enjoy their photos.
@iandec Lol, no that would be rude of me. Strange and rude as it was of her/he they had their reasons whatever they were :) I just wanted to make sure i wasnt doing something i wasnt supposed to be unaware :)
Oh come on-- tell us the name of the person so we can all follow him/her! :-)
If you don't want people to follow you and look at your work, why would you join 365? It doesn't make sense to me, but I really think we need to all follow this person!
@sunnygreenwood - Hmmm that narrows it right down! :-) Have to add my name to the list of people who think it's weird to ask someone NOT to follow them.
well, I find it odd and so love those who choose me.....I am not good but appreciate all of the kind comments from everyone!!! I know it takes time to comment and look and I think it is such a honor to be a part of this group and then to have some of them to comment on what I post....wow, is all I can say. Surprised you encounter this type of situation.
Don't not follow me! ( and that goes for everyone out there!) I have come across people that are doing this to keep in touch with a specific person, but I haven't seen a "do not follow me" message to anyone from them. I understand the idea of this is for someone specific.....but this is a public site for crying out loud. I don't think people realize what it means when you post something online....its out there for anyone/everyone, deal with it or don't put it out there!
BTW, who is it, I am always looking for people to follow. C'mon, c'mon tell us!
@hjlphotography maybe they are AL-QAEDA and thought hey no one would suspect we would be talking about bombing an embassy if we join a public forum haha did you see a picture of a C4 if I may ask =)
i cant believe someone would tell you not to follow them! how weird...but now I really really want to know who they are! how about telling us the tag you found them under and then we can do the detective work? heehee ;)
I guess these people are at the wrong site ;) Very weird...Forget them and go ahead with following people and interact about photos! That's what we're here for! ;)
I would be honoured if you followed me with the promise that I'll return the favor. reading the comments we receive and some of the friendship that have developed is part of the fun of being a 365er.. what a rude person...do tell us who it is.
Yes, this has happened to me before & I was quite shocked as I have been following this person for a few months & then she said she has decided to cut down on her activities in 365 & would only retain a few followers & followees - so I immediately did as requested . I still remember her name but don't know if she's still active in 365.
This makes me laugh!!! :D Would you people consider that...
a. They are really really SHY people who don't want recognition?
b. Overly paranoid people who don't want to be ahem... followed thinking you'd steal their shots?
c. Overly skeptical that when you say Nice photo, you mean Terrible photo?
d. They have high superiority complex which means you're not enough to be a follower?
Hey, come on .. how about a bit more tolerance for difference, and 'live and let live' here? So someone doesn't do 365 the way others do, and the way others think they 'should' - so lots of people want to gang up on them and harass them? Lovely.
I enjoy the atmosphere of support and validation in the 365 community - but threads like this make me cautious, and wonder if I ever did anything that was too 'different' for other people's liking, would I get get labelled as 'rude' 'weird' 'odd' 'arrogant' 'wrong'? Just because we don't understand someone else's motivation, doesn't automatically make them wrong!
I am fairly new here. I am learning the proper skills and terminology of photography. I can't see asking anyone not to follow me. I wonder what they are hiding.
Art is subjective and we may not get it all the time, but how can we improve without suggestions or comments. When I get an "I Like that" on photo, it makes me feel good. When I get a suggestion to "try it another way", it makes me think. None of us are here to hurt each other.
good point, sarah. perhaps this person was having a difficult time with honest evaluations of work posted; maybe he/she was looking for validation instead and kept only those commenters who provide that.
@summerfield - I had the same thought... @catsmeowb - I don't understand the point of that. 365 is a site where people are posting photos and trying to grow and improve...My initial thought was that they don't want many followers so they can get on the popular page more often...If it is something that diabolical they should totally be outted so we can ALL follow.
Thats just so silly,why join a public site then? Just bizarre i think we all want to know who it is so we can all follow them & comment daily lol Just for the sheer cheek of it! :D
:) You all are too funny and some of you are making me seriously wish i had a evil side like you, it does sound like fun *lol*
I appreciate all the replies and im glad im not the only one who found it strange. I really like this place so far and i know im going to learn a lot from everyone on here!
I do find the request strange, but I don't think the answer is a massive "follow" for this person. Let them be. It's not worth the time or energy and there are more supportive ways to be a part of 365 which promote its purpose and bring photographers together. It's odd, but it's not worth the negative energy it takes to react to it.
@brumbe Paula is a good detective...maybe they did make three pages to avoid the Ace fee. Brilliant idea! Sorry someone was so rude. I would have done same as you, just stopped following them. Oh well...there are great people on here, so no loss to you.
Heather: Yes, I would follow out of spite, at least for a bit, wanting to maintain my "right to follow", and see what they are producing that is so secretive. We have the right to follow anyone here, but they do not have to follow in a reciprocal manner. If I tell you I have a secret posted here, but ask you not to read it, do you think 1 out of 100 folks would NOT read it? Maybe the person is depressed and suicidal: "don't follow me or I might lead you astray"?? WHATEVER!!!!!!! To follow or not to follow, that is the question.
Definitely an odd request. Isn't one of the ideas behind the 365 Project 'community' ?
I'm with @eyebrows and @loztsoul - mass follow to piss them off *evil laugh*
@eyebrows Ha!! I only started reading the first few replies then thought we should all follow them just for a laugh! Each to their own I guess, seems a strange thing to join a very public forum then bann people from following. Can you stop anyone from following you?
I agree; I think it's odd to join something like this and request no followers. Was there a message on their "about me" profile header thingy that said, "don't follow me"? I guess that would be the appropriate thing for someone to do who didn't want interaction. But then again, why join to begin with?
Interesting.
It WOULD be nice to have a delete button on both ends of the deal, though, in case there was someone who was offensive, or whatever.
It may be just something they are doing for themselves or maybe just a small group of friends. I wouldn't take it personally. People do the project for different reasons and that is what makes the site interesting :)
Well, to be honest when I joined this site it was to create a year of photos for myself. Although I knew it was a public site, I didn't really know about the social aspect of it. When I figured it out, it only made the site more fun for me. I don't really fault a person for not wanting to be involved, but I don't understand why they felt the need to tell you not to follow others.
I learned from a teacher this " Don't take things personal, that are not personal to you " . This person could have very valid reason why they don't want followers at this time. You can look and admire their pictures, but don't feel offended by their mannerism. We can't judge each other. Appreciate our individuality, it makes the world a better place.
If they don't want followers, they shouldn't be posting their images on a PUBLIC website whose core purpose is to form community by following other users. It's not an issue of tolerance, it's an issue of common sense: if you won't want to jump out of a plane, then don't go skydiving. There's a million ways to do a 365 photo project and you don't even need to join any particular website to do it; perhaps they should consider keeping their images offline if they don't want to worry about having people follow them?
@hjlphotography very odd, I've not had that happen ...... yet! Like everyone said above, its a public site and its flattering when people want to follow you as it means they like your photos. They need to loosen up!!!
@hjlphotography
I think you're right to ask whether it was weird, which it was. And I think you're right not to say who it is. They might be so nervous about their photos that posting them for just two friends might be as much as they want exposure wise right now, and they'll get braver, maybe, as time goes by. Exposing them to a community of crazy commenters wouldn't be nice. For the majority of people the best bit is sharing and commenting, but the minority always has different ideas. Luckily since World War Two we've learnt to respect minorities, not throw bricks at them.
I agree. I think it's very weird. and I don't blame you for asking the 'rules'. most public social networking sites have an unfriend option, or unfollow option. this does not, which I think is fine. If someone were commenting and being rude all the time, I could understand there being a problem, but to ask a new follower not to follow? seems very strange!
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I would say just go ahead & do what you've been doing. Keep up the good work!
This happened to me also, back when I first started, and they were quite rude about asking me to leave them alone. I took myself off and moved on to make great online friendships with many others here.
Thanks for the responses :)
The one thing I would not complain about is getting followers because while I say I do this all for me and such, I really do appreciate each and every person that followers. I have yet to witness this behavior. The only thing I do is when obviously young children follow me, I do ask that they get permission from their parents because of sometimes mature topics.
So yes, this does seem a bit odd and that they speak for several (maybe they are too cheap to get an ace account and made three pages). I do want to follow them now though.
In all seriousness though (especially to re-balance things after my posts in the Terrible Photography thread), it's quite possible they're just doing it for themselves, and don't want any outsiders getting involved, which I can perfectly respect, if not really understand, as this *is* a public forum, and if they just wanted to do it properly privately they could email each other photobucket links, or something.
My original comment still stands though. Hehe.
Also, I'm 20 weeks pregnant, so I'd probably suggest them to everyone so that everyone else could also join in the following - but hormones will do that to a woman ;)
None have many followers, 2 looked fairly new with not so many photos, the other had a decent sized gallery.
Sorry to hear the above!! I thought the whole idea of this Project was to follow and comment on other people's photos, whether we like or don't like is totally irrelevant!!
You can follow me....I don't mind the criticism!! Matter of fact, I would welcome it!!
Follow me instead. I'm much nicer!
If you don't want people to follow you and look at your work, why would you join 365? It doesn't make sense to me, but I really think we need to all follow this person!
BTW, who is it, I am always looking for people to follow. C'mon, c'mon tell us!
Can you secretely give me a clue who these 3 are, or at least of the rude one so I can follow her? :-)
a. They are really really SHY people who don't want recognition?
b. Overly paranoid people who don't want to be ahem... followed thinking you'd steal their shots?
c. Overly skeptical that when you say Nice photo, you mean Terrible photo?
d. They have high superiority complex which means you're not enough to be a follower?
or e...
They flat out suck... as a 365ver...
:D
I enjoy the atmosphere of support and validation in the 365 community - but threads like this make me cautious, and wonder if I ever did anything that was too 'different' for other people's liking, would I get get labelled as 'rude' 'weird' 'odd' 'arrogant' 'wrong'? Just because we don't understand someone else's motivation, doesn't automatically make them wrong!
Art is subjective and we may not get it all the time, but how can we improve without suggestions or comments. When I get an "I Like that" on photo, it makes me feel good. When I get a suggestion to "try it another way", it makes me think. None of us are here to hurt each other.
I appreciate all the replies and im glad im not the only one who found it strange. I really like this place so far and i know im going to learn a lot from everyone on here!
I'm with @eyebrows and @loztsoul - mass follow to piss them off *evil laugh*
Interesting.
It WOULD be nice to have a delete button on both ends of the deal, though, in case there was someone who was offensive, or whatever.
HEY EVERYONE. DON'T FOLLOW MY PROJECT.
I think you're right to ask whether it was weird, which it was. And I think you're right not to say who it is. They might be so nervous about their photos that posting them for just two friends might be as much as they want exposure wise right now, and they'll get braver, maybe, as time goes by. Exposing them to a community of crazy commenters wouldn't be nice. For the majority of people the best bit is sharing and commenting, but the minority always has different ideas. Luckily since World War Two we've learnt to respect minorities, not throw bricks at them.