I just went though the off center challenge results, and commented on all the photos that had no comments. Now, I don't know about you all, but for me the comments are way more beneficial than the challenge scores. So my suggestion is, what if we start going through challenge results and comment on photos with 0 or few comments? Most high scores have so many comments, which is great, but middle-low scoring photos tend to not have any comments.
Anyway, just a thought to get more commenting happening! :)
My variation on it: My first few years on DPC, I did a lot of comments. What I found was that I got got more out of the commenting myself than I think the recipient did. I made an effort to comment on the entries I gave 5's to. It's easy to wow about something great, and not too much harder to offer some feedback on the poor ones.
But it took some more thought for me to figure out why the 5's didn't have any impact on me but weren't bad either. By forcing myself to do this, I learned more that I could apply to my own photography.
So my take on it is that critical commenting benefits the commenter more than the recipient.
Also, some of us have become a little gun shy about leaving critiques. Not all members are receptive and some of us have gotten nasty responses to them.
Also, some of us have become a little gun shy about leaving critiques. Not all members are receptive and some of us have gotten nasty responses to them.
So, rather than depriving all the "nice folks" of your comments, you can report the "nasty" comments and let SC deal with a possible TOS violation.
Also, I don't get that many comments (my images fall in that hard-to-comment-on 4-5 range), but I do try to respond with a thank-you or answer a question when appropriate; I'm hoping that provides some encouragement to those folks to continue to comment.
But I agree -- you get more from making comments than getting them; make an accurate/constructive comment and you shouldn't have to worry about what the recipient thinks ...
Thank you all for your thoughts! Im sorry to hear some people might not be so nice about their response to comments. I agree with GeneralIE that if people are being mean or rude they could be reported, and that it shouldn't be a reason to not comment! But of course I understand peoples hesitation. I will continue to comment as much as possible, and ill keep hoping for more comments on my shots!
