OK - let me start out by saying that I love receiving comments; all of them..... but....
Sometimes, it's difficult to mark them 'helpful', whether that be a 'That's a pile of poo' or 'Great shot'; I welcome both but are they really helpful?
I'd like a drop down that allows me to acknowledge the commenter without necessarily having to choose 'helpful'; even a straight swap to 'thanks for your comment' would be better - I could mark them all that way if I wanted. But, at the moment I feel I am being disingenuous if I mark non-helpful comments as helpful, though I do want to acknowledge the commenters time in some way.
I feel the same way. I get backhanded comments sometimes. My green entry was a plant coming out of a pile of trash labeled, "from trash comes beauty." The first comment I get is, "or a weed." I'm not mad about it. Maybe it was an attempt at humor that just flew over my head but it is by no means "helpful." So I didn't mark it as such. I think the helpful box is fine. I also think that the owner of the photo should mark it helpful only when they feel it is necessary. You don't have to mark every one just to acknowledge that it's there. The commenter knows they made it and it's free for everyone to view if they like in your portfolio.
discussed a thousand times and I think it's nearly unanimous that people generally agree with your idea. Only reason I can think that it has not been implemented is because Langdon is just too lazy busy. ;-)
Pedant! Join the ranks. (Was that helpful? Been here a little while, and it seems that "helpful," in this context, doesn't have to mean helpful. Good idea to let usage and context morph the meaning a little).
Helpful? Does this mean that I should only post a comment if I feel it will be deemed "helpful"?
My guess is that most people, myself included, use this to acknowledge the receipt of the comment as one that meant something - that could be anything at all.
The only time I haven't checked the box was when the comment was downright mean, IMO, or made totally no sense to me.
My guess is that nobody keeps track.
I treat the box as an acknowledgment and appreciation of the comment. Except for copy and pasted "nice shot" comments and stuff that is mean spirited.
I did look back at some recent challenge entries and noticed one where I had left a slightly humorous comment, and all the others were marked helpful but mine was not. I suppose the member was truly treating it as unhelpful, but it told me my comment was not appreciated because it was not direct praise or feedback.
