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09/03/2008 04:59:23 PM · #1 |
I was wondering what peoples policies on DNMC comments are? Are they helpful to you? Would you rather the viewer spent more time or more care thinking about your entry? Do you feel it is rude to not mark their comments helpful?
Thanks a bunch :)
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09/03/2008 05:10:31 PM · #2 |
I mark a comment helpful, if I think it is helpful. I do not feel obligated in any way to mark every comment I get as helpful.
If I thought I was meeting the challenge, and got a DNMC comment with their reason behind it, *AND* I agreed that it could be somethng that could be taken that way. Then it would be helpful, because there was something reasonable that I failed to consider. And, I would take whatever that was into account, in similar situations in the future.
Just a brief, DNMC is no more helpful than BORING, or SUCKS.
I also don't worry about it, if someone doesn't find my comment helpful. I try to be complete, try to explain my views. If it conflicts with their reality, so be it. |
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09/03/2008 05:14:39 PM · #3 |
| If the entire comment consists of "DNMC" it might or might not be helpful, but it does give some insight into the voter's thoughts. I have marked "DNMC" comments as helpful as long as they are not rude or condescending, even when I disagree. |
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09/03/2008 05:52:31 PM · #4 |
One DNMC comment out of a dozen comments I probably wouldn't consider helpful but if 10 of those dozen tell me the same thing it lets me know that I did a poor job at communicating my vision.
Check out the number of DNMCs on this one;
Being only my second challenge and not experienced in the ways of shoehorns, I assumed that everyone would know, without having it shoved obviously in their faces, that if it was a footwear challenge those must be footwear. I've learned... :) |
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09/03/2008 06:03:07 PM · #5 |
Funny this thread popped up, I went through all the comments I'd not marked as helpful last night and marked them helpful (can't mark my own comments helpful).
All, that is except this one from someone who has commented twice.
You've heard of THE THINKER. This, folks, is THE STINKER!!!
Anybody care to find the image it was commenting on? |
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09/03/2008 06:06:11 PM · #6 |
| every comment is helpful, after all its feedback from vox populi. |
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09/03/2008 06:08:22 PM · #7 |
That's not hard to do!!!But don't know how to post it:-(Tis "Thinking Naturally"XX;-)Originally posted by Ecce Signum:
Funny this thread popped up, I went through all the comments I'd not marked as helpful last night and marked them helpful (can't mark my own comments helpful).
All, that is except this one from someone who has commented twice.
You've heard of THE THINKER. This, folks, is THE STINKER!!!
Anybody care to find the image it was commenting on? |
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09/03/2008 06:10:19 PM · #8 |
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09/03/2008 06:20:10 PM · #9 |
I mark all of my comments helpful, because it teaches me something no matter what it says.(almost no matter).
I did get a comment from someone saying "1", thats all. I chose to mark it helpful, just because that is how i keep up with new comments, lol.
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09/03/2008 06:22:42 PM · #10 |
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09/03/2008 07:23:27 PM · #11 |
| I mark nearly all comments as helpful, either because they are or as a matter of courtesy -all but DNMC comments. Don't ask me why though. I've expended all my energy on the subject years ago.:-) |
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09/03/2008 07:30:28 PM · #12 |
If I receive a comment with only the letters DNMC,
I interpret it as Doofus Not Making Comment. In other
words it is of no use to me unless there is a reason
given. |
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09/04/2008 08:10:34 AM · #13 |
The only comments that I do not mark helpful are the ones that provide little or no information or that are mean-spirited. Some examples:
"I give you a 7" -- The histogram shows me all this info and I usually get a least one 7 in any challenge anyway, so...
"DNMC" -- I would not have submitted it if I agreed with you, care to elaborate on why you think it is DNMC as no one else thinks so
"Obviously you put little thought or time into this one" -- I actually did and your comment is rude and futhermore does not help me understand what you did not like
I also find a many of the folks trying to do "100% comments" run out of gas and make short comments like
"Nice colors"
"Cool subject"
While I do mark these as helpful they are really minimally helpful, but still appreciated.
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09/04/2008 08:46:47 AM · #14 |
Many times when I do a critique for the Critique Club (yes, I've been slack lately), I've found that many of the short-to the point comments do cover most of the issues with the image if you read a little bit between the lines. There are several people at DPC who are not comfortable with trying ot guess what exactly the problem is, as they lack the experience and or knowledge.
To me, a DNMC comments can mean that I did not communicate my idea effectively or that my thought process for this topic was not main stream enough. If you think of a challenge topic as a job assignment for a magazine, the client isn't always able to tell you exactly what they want but they know it when they see it. Either my image has to have a very broad appeal or it has to be great enough that it becomes "they know it when they see it".
As for comments like "Obviously you put little thought or time into this one", yes there are better ways to express an opinion but even this might be helpful when taken with other comments. It could mean your lighting wasn't dynamic enough or the crop/composition could have been improved. Or it could mean the idea you had has been done forever and is not new (to them, not you). Would any of my alternative comments have been better than "Obviously you put little thought or time into this one", yes but take what you can from every comment.
I always figure that each comment represents more than one person's opinion. However, this person took the time to share their opinion and the others didn't. Don't take any comment personally, just take what you can.
Tim
Edit to fix my typing failures. If only it was this easy to fix my challenge entries.
Message edited by author 2008-09-04 09:10:55. |
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09/04/2008 08:57:03 AM · #15 |
I use the button as a 'thankyou' for taking the time to comment. Out of my comments, the only one I haven't marked as helpful was someone who simply put '5'.
Even 'DNMC' is helpful - it means that you didn't meet their interpretation of the challenge. This can help to explain a lower than expected final result, rather than having you wonder what the low votes were for.
Message edited by author 2008-09-04 09:14:07. |
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09/04/2008 09:07:35 AM · #16 |
| Although "DNMC" is blunt, what is there to elaborate on? Is it any clearer to write "DNMC, I don't see the connection to the theme" or "DNMC, where is the ____?" |
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09/04/2008 09:43:47 AM · #17 |
I once got a comment that said simply, "crop?" So then my thinking goes:
Good crop? Bad crop?
Old crop? Fad crop?
This crop needs a little more.
This crop gets a better score.
Say, what a lot of crops there are!
Inspired me to go all Seussian, but not actually helpful as far as the image went ;-)
In all fairness, the only reason this one stuck in my head (other than the poetic inspiration) is that it was one of the very few comments I really couldn't get anything out of and be sure it's what the commenter meant. A plain DNMC tells me someone thinks I shoehorned. If I was going for a good score I know I'm unlikely to get it from that entry if it's not plain to people how it meets the challenge. If I'm comfortable with a more OOB interpretation than I just keep waiting for the one comment from someone who gets it, and then I'm happy!
ETA: can't type this morning!
Message edited by author 2008-09-04 09:44:55. |
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09/04/2008 10:05:10 AM · #18 |
| DNMC, just think of it as "Did Not Make Connection" really it just says they can not relate it to the topic, if you get that a DNMC it can be useful in telling you that you made it to hard for that person to relate it to the topic which can happen for a lot of reason especially in a global format like this. Also it is important to understand not everyone can type out long winded explanations if their first language is not english. And the most important thing to remember is if its all about the score you better make it easy to relate......lol |
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09/04/2008 10:31:26 AM · #19 |
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09/04/2008 10:36:14 AM · #20 |
It's useful because it tells me why my entry is bombing when I think the entry is actually pretty decent. It makes a difference to know if it is because my entry is poor, or if it is because they don't feel it fits the topic.
I think a lot of the problem is that DNMC's are a response to entries that are shoehorned. People will DNMC them for being shoehorned into the topic, but that is not always the intention of the person who enters it. (However, there are some entries where the member IS shoehorning and admits it in their notes) I got a LOT of DNMC votes on my recent "road less traveled" entry, as did most of the people who entered a metaphor for "choices in life" that did not contain an image of a road. Did they really fail to meet the challenge, or was that the fault of voters that took the topic literally and did not understand the metaphor used? Same thing with "warm colors". Many entries that used plenty of warm colors got DNMC'd for not conveying warmth. |
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09/04/2008 10:46:09 AM · #21 |
I will mark a DNMC comment as helpful because it tells me that the voter didn't get my interpretation of the challenge. I will mark most comments as helpful unless I don't understand them (such as the one on my Road Less Traveled entry. What does pojt mean?), or if I consider them just plain rude (such as the "ouch...my eyes" one that I received recently).
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09/04/2008 11:09:15 AM · #22 |
| While I don't dismiss DNMC comments I tend to place them in the "c'est la vie" box, live and let live. The challenges set here on DPC tend to allow for a fair degree of interpretation and the DPC community is a wide and varied bunch... of course you are not going to please everyone, and not everyone is going to have the same boundaries and interpretations as yourself. While I don't see a DNMC comment as being actively helpful, it does help to shape you, if you are so inclined, towards what will gain you a ribbon here.. in the end at least you gained a comment, which tends to be somewhat helpful more often than not. |
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09/04/2008 11:12:26 AM · #23 |
Originally posted by Prism:
What does pojt mean? |
I had to go take a look at the context that was used in, and I think that was a typo. I believe they meant to say "Makes the point" |
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09/04/2008 11:15:57 AM · #24 |
Originally posted by citymars:
Although "DNMC" is blunt, what is there to elaborate on? Is it any clearer to write "DNMC, I don't see the connection to the theme" or "DNMC, where is the ____?" |
Even in very brief instructions, the "criteria" often have more than one element, and the title of the challenge may add even more. For Overexposed, we find:
"Create a photograph that is purposefully overexposed for its effectiveness."
"DNMC" as the only content of a comment doesn't communicate much, although perhaps slightly more than leaving a low score with no comment at all. If the background is overexposed but you don't think the subject is overexposed at all, that is one thing. If you don't think the subject is overexposed enough, that is another. If you think it is overexposed but not in a way that is effective, saying so identifies the issue. If you think the image illustrates high contrast or high key but not overexposure, how would anyone get that out of "DNMC"? |
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09/04/2008 11:27:22 AM · #25 |
Like many of the others in this thread, I also mark everything
helpful. Someone took the time to look at my images long
enough to have a reaction, so that's all it takes.
It is interesting, and sometimes fun, to check the decisions of others when I
(very occasionally) check to see if my comments on other
images have been helpful. |
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