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 01/06/2011 09:14:56 AM · #1
Hi All,

I'm new to the forum, although I've been snooping around for quite some time. Decided to bite the proverbial bullet and sign up and start entering the competitions!

Not sure if I'm in the right section for this post?

I just have one question: why is it that when folks comment on a picture that was posted for challenge, the owner of said picture always seems to click "Photographer found comment helpful", even when the comment was not really helpful? Ie. "Cute dog", or "Wish I lived by the sea" etc.

Is there some reason behind this? You pat my back, I pat yours?

Just curious.
 01/06/2011 09:16:38 AM · #2
I been here so long I just auto tick the box regardless...
 01/06/2011 09:17:58 AM · #3
It's being courteous for someone taking the time to leave a comment. The words "photographer found comment helpful" is not the best language in my opinion.
 01/06/2011 09:23:32 AM · #4
I check it to indicate that I have read the comment and that I appreciate it. If someone never checks the boxes, I assume the comments have not been read. That does make a difference, as sometimes I follow up on some images after the challenge, but if it appears the member does not read their comments, I'll be less likely to be leaving any follow up.
 01/06/2011 09:32:05 AM · #5
For me, "Cute Dog" maybe isn't helpful in a technical way, but it means hey someone spend longer than it takes to hit a 5 and move on to the next one to a) notice there is a dog in the photo, and b) took time to say.. hey that's pretty cute dog there. Maybe they even got a smile.

Okay seriously though, I got a reaction, I got a comment in any form, I usually check the box because I got some kind of reaction, and some kind of thought process went into looking at my photo. "Cute Dog" could be code for, well.. I don't really know why I like your image, or I can't really find anything wrong with your image, but hey that dog was cute .. thanks for sharing.

to me, that is still helpful in a way, because if nothing else someone kinda liked the dog and at least I know my subject matter wasn't the thing that ruined my photo, grin.

I'm probably not making sense, it's to early for my sense of humor and ramblings.
 01/06/2011 09:33:11 AM · #6
I find it helpful to know that I'm not the only one that thinks my dog is cute. It validates my decision to get him.



Message edited by author 2011-01-06 09:34:40.
 01/06/2011 09:34:36 AM · #7
I really appreciate whenever someone takes the time to write a comment, so this is for me the way to say "Thanks" to that person.
01/06/2011 10:36:23 AM · #8
Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:
I check it to indicate that I have read the comment and that I appreciate it.

This is half the reason I use it.

The other half is check to see that I've read the comment. Early on, without knowing the system, I had commented on my photos three times after voting. I cannot delete those comments or mark them helpful, so I compare the comments received and comments marked helpful tallies and if the gap is more than three there is a comment out there somewhere I haven't read yet.

You never know when or where you'll get a comment, and this is a good way to keep track of that, I believe.

Edit to add: I don't ever check back to see if my comments were viewed as helpful because I've found that that is not all that helpful. It could be for any number of reasons and worrying about it is futile.

Message edited by author 2011-01-06 10:38:54.
 01/06/2011 10:57:43 AM · #9
Originally posted by bohemka:


The other half is check to see that I've read the comment. Early on, without knowing the system, I had commented on my photos three times after voting. I cannot delete those comments or mark them helpful, so I compare the comments received and comments marked helpful tallies and if the gap is more than three there is a comment out there somewhere I haven't read yet.

You never know when or where you'll get a comment, and this is a good way to keep track of that, I believe.


You can also click (on your profile page) to view the comments you have received then additionally you can check to see all comments you have not marked as helpful to sort that way.
 01/06/2011 10:59:46 AM · #10
Originally posted by jminso:
Originally posted by bohemka:


The other half is check to see that I've read the comment. Early on, without knowing the system, I had commented on my photos three times after voting. I cannot delete those comments or mark them helpful, so I compare the comments received and comments marked helpful tallies and if the gap is more than three there is a comment out there somewhere I haven't read yet.

You never know when or where you'll get a comment, and this is a good way to keep track of that, I believe.


You can also click (on your profile page) to view the comments you have received then additionally you can check to see all comments you have not marked as helpful to sort that way.


Thanks. The DPC user experience is kind of a riddle to me.
 01/06/2011 11:10:27 AM · #11
Maybe a few different choices would be good - not helpful, helpful, vague, pointless.

Why not suggest it to the Site owners? The suggestion box is over there in the corner, under the dust - it doesn't get emptied much to be honest. I think someone picked it up and rattled it back in the summer of `07, but nothing came of it.
 01/06/2011 11:12:22 AM · #12
Welcome gcoulson! I agree that the language is not particularly accurate for that check box, but we make do. As you can see, there are many reasons to check it, although I do not ALWAYS check it. Some people leave just one character as a comment (an exclamation point, a number, a slash mark, or even just a period), which says absolutely nothing to me, so I don't check it. There are absolutely no hard or fast rules about anything here (just check out the forums for editing arguments!!!), except perhaps that your photo MUST be taken after the challenge is announced. And of course, you HAVE to enter a photo in order to participate in the challenges :-)
 01/06/2011 11:25:14 AM · #13
I'm not at all convinced it would be a good idea to "grade" comments as suggested a couple posts ago. I think that would have a deflating effect on some people. I think the "helpful" checkbox should just be renamed to the "read & acknowledged" checkbox.

R.
 01/06/2011 11:31:29 AM · #14
Or "photographer appreciated comment".
 01/06/2011 11:35:59 AM · #15
As long as it's not a "Like" button I'm happy.
 01/06/2011 11:52:04 AM · #16
Originally posted by tanguera:
Or "photographer appreciated comment".

This is basically the way I use it. Sometimes a comment, while not technically helpful, helps me to understand why the shot is scoring the way it is. I usually check the box for everything except the meaningless random characters, or the deliberately mean and hurtful messages.
 01/06/2011 12:09:51 PM · #17
Originally posted by Simms:
Maybe a few different choices would be good - not helpful, helpful, vague, pointless.

Why not suggest it to the Site owners? The suggestion box is over there in the corner, under the dust - it doesn't get emptied much to be honest. I think someone picked it up and rattled it back in the summer of `07, but nothing came of it.

Yep, been rattled a bunch of times...these are but a few:

Web Suggestion 1
Web Suggestion 2
Web Suggestion 3
Web Suggestion 4
Web Suggestion 5
Web Suggestion 6
 01/06/2011 12:31:56 PM · #18
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Originally posted by Simms:
Maybe a few different choices would be good - not helpful, helpful, vague, pointless.

Why not suggest it to the Site owners? The suggestion box is over there in the corner, under the dust - it doesn't get emptied much to be honest. I think someone picked it up and rattled it back in the summer of `07, but nothing came of it.

Yep, been rattled a bunch of times...these are but a few:


Web Suggestion 1 - the more complicated you make something, the more likely it will not work. When you tell them what you want them to say, they'll likely skip it altogether.

Web Suggestion 2 - this is what the PM is for. Why would anyone want to argue about another person's opinion in front of everyone else?

Web Suggestion 3 - seriously? Get a thicker skin. There is no way to know why someone checks or doesn't check the box. The first 3 months I was here I didn't even realize it was there. Get over it.

Web Suggestion 4 - if you click on the commentor's name, it takes you to where you can leave a PM thanking them for their comment. Why, exactly, do we need a pop-up box for this?

Web Suggestion 5 - See response to Suggestion 3. If you don't want comments, don't enter the challenge. Of course, if someone is nasty, I'll PM them and say so.

Web Suggestion 6 - So many of these suggestions are a poor attempt at "social engineering" - trying to modify people's behavior. You can leave comments or not leave comments. Beyond that, all these suggestions seems silly. "I only want this kind of comment"? Really. Why not just write our own comment and then have voters check a box as to whether they agree or not?

While changing the world from "helpful" to appreciate or something else is minor, especially because it does not attempt to change the way we leave comments, everything else is blarney.

Site suggestions should address glitches or improvements to navigation and other such stuff. For example, a while ago I suggested that some extra space be added between the "previous/next" links and the "1" and "10" votes because they were so close I often found myself giving someone a 1 or a 10 I didn't mean to give (yes, I use my mouse for voting). I don't know if the SC responded to my particular request, but there is now sufficient space to prevent that silly mistake.

Other suggestions might be to make it easier to "unwatch" or unfollow threads. As it is, you have to click into each individual thread you're watching and clear it.

Message edited by nshapiro - Edited to clarify quoting/edited comments.
 01/06/2011 12:56:56 PM · #19
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Web Suggestion 4 - if you click on the commentor's name, it takes you to where you can leave a PM thanking them for their comment. Why, exactly, do we need a pop-up box for this?

The main advantage of a pop-up box to respond to a comment would be that you don't need to go to the commentor's profile page, saving a click, and avoiding inflating the "times profile page viewed" statistic.
 01/06/2011 01:23:28 PM · #20
To my way of thinking, the "Photographer found comment helpful" box means just that, helpful; at least in understanding what that voter saw in the image that swayed their vote. While "I like puppies" is not exactly what a juried analysis might come up with, it is as useful as "I hate snakes" or "pretty colors". It may not be a deep analysis but not all voters vote based on deep thinking.

So I mark the "I like puppies" as helpful; but do not mark as helpful the comments that leave me more confused than enlightened, such as simply stating what they scored the entry or some suggestion of how they would have shot the image. Any comment that sheds light on what they though when they saw the image is helpful.
 01/06/2011 02:21:24 PM · #21
I'd like to clarify that my post in here has been modified when quoted. I simply provided the links (Web Suggestion 1, Web Suggestion 2, etc...). The comments following those are not mine, even though the way it was quoted makes it appear so.
 01/06/2011 02:26:02 PM · #22
I mark everything as helpful, simply because it's easier to know when I have a new comment that way.

However, even if I didn't check everything, I'd still check the "what a cute puppy" as helpful. Simply because it's helpful to know that a photo made an impact. Whether it's because of my incredibly superior technical skills or simply because they like the subject, it still made an impact on that person enough to take the time to comment. It's helpful to know what people do and don't like.
 01/06/2011 02:28:52 PM · #23
Originally posted by glad2badad:
I'd like to clarify that my post in here has been modified when quoted. I simply provided the links (Web Suggestion 1, Web Suggestion 2, etc...). The comments following those are not mine, even though the way it was quoted makes it appear so.

Yeah, I noticed that. Took me a while to figure it out but I finally got it.
 01/06/2011 02:38:01 PM · #24
A note of caution:

There was one occasion that I made the mistake of checking on whether my comment was marked helpful. It wasn't, yet all the others were, during and post-challenge. And one of the post-challenge commenters even mocked my comment. I have to say my opinion of this photographer's personality is not very high because of this, and it's quite sad for me because he's a tremendous asset to DPC. So don't check those things. It's for your own good.
 01/06/2011 02:48:16 PM · #25
Originally posted by bohemka:
one of the post-challenge commenters even mocked my comment. I have to say my opinion of this photographer's personality is not very high because of this, and it's quite sad for me because he's a tremendous asset to DPC. So don't check those things.


I find it annoying when a great photographer does this. they are talented, but if they're cocky or just conceded its, like i said, annoying and it makes me not like them.

But back to the original post... i click the 'helpful' box because like vawendy said, so i know when someone posted a new comment. :)
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