Don't take Flickr comments seriously.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

12/22/2012 10:40:51 AM · #1

I used to post a lot on Flickr for feedback. I've since removed a ton of my images and I'm thinking about dropping it altogether. Flickr is HORRIBLE for feedback. People on Flickr like ANYTHING.

Take for example this guy's stream -- who is arguably the king of photoshop disasters with his most recent images: //www.flickr.com/photos/iamcpr/

When I see his work I feel like commenting, "dude, wtf, seriously?"

Everyone else feels the need to favorite his images and say, "excellent portrait work!"

Flickr is a joke. If you get great comments on Flickr, no need to feel good about what you've done, lol.

Message edited by author 2012-12-22 10:42:37.

Venser

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

12/22/2012 10:47:03 AM · #2

I don't know dude, this one is pretty good.

A damsel on fire by rajpavi, on Flickr

The fire, it looks so real. Amazing work.

bvy

Sigma DP1x

12/22/2012 10:53:59 AM · #3

Originally posted by kgeary:

I used to post a lot on Flickr for feedback. I've since removed a ton of my images and I'm thinking about dropping it altogether. Flickr is HORRIBLE for feedback. People on Flickr like ANYTHING.

You're basing that purely on the comments that you see. To conclude that "people on Flickr like anything" you'd have to get a comment or a recation on every view. If people don't like something, they just move on. Flickr doesn't pretend to be a learning or feedback site.

That's not to say you can't get contructive criticism on Flickr. For instance:
//www.flickr.com/groups/streetcrit/

Canon EF-S 15-85mm IS USM

12/22/2012 10:55:39 AM · #4

Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by kgeary:
I used to post a lot on Flickr for feedback. I've since removed a ton of my images and I'm thinking about dropping it altogether. Flickr is HORRIBLE for feedback. People on Flickr like ANYTHING.

You're basing that purely on the comments that you see. To conclude that "people on Flickr like anything" you'd have to get a comment or a recation on every view. If people don't like something, they just move on. Flickr doesn't pretend to be a learning or feedback site.

That's not to say you can't get contructive criticism on Flickr. For instance:
//www.flickr.com/groups/streetcrit/

I get that if people don't like something they move on. But for people to constantly favorite and positive comment complete trash is remarkable. Even in "critique" groups.

bvy

Sigma DP1x

12/22/2012 11:00:35 AM · #5

Originally posted by kgeary:

But for people to constantly favorite and positive comment complete trash is remarkable.

Maybe someone should tell them that the photos they're adding to their favorites are complete trash. I'm sure they'd like to know.

UrfaK

Canon EOS-650/T4i Rebel

12/22/2012 11:13:19 AM · #6

At its best one can find like minded people who can appreciate the kind of photography one does and in murkier depths one'll find generic blingy gifs in every comment which scare me a little. I think Flickr probably has something for everyone (even constructive critique) but it's so huge that to make the best of it loads of networking and participation are required.

alohadave

Pentax K-5

Pentax DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL AF

12/22/2012 11:20:55 AM · #7

Originally posted by kgeary:

Real classy to bash someone else's work. Flickr isn't the problem, try taking a look in your mirror.

Tiny

Apple iPad mini 4

12/22/2012 12:14:37 PM · #8

Nice goodwill thread Kevin

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

12/22/2012 12:50:52 PM · #9

I've also seen a lot of stuff that I thought was poor with dozens of "WOW" comments on it within an hour. One thing I discovered quickly on Flickr was a lot of people working the system in order to get comments from others and get their own images pushed up in popularity. I had a few people add me to contacts and drop glowing comments on every mediocre experiment I uploaded. When I looked at their stuff, everything had dozens of comments and faves within minutes. I use Flickr for hosting images, sharing albums and the forums. I don't use it to get useful feedback.

The guy you referenced above only has 2 pages of pics and just joined Flickr summer of this year. Looks like he may be in the early process of experimenting and learning how to edit photos. I have some pretty lame photoshopping of my own, and I knew it was lame.

When we did the Godzilla side challenge was my leanring experience with figuring out layers and masking.

Message edited by author 2012-12-22 12:58:35.

kshoban

Canon EOS-600D/T3i Rebel

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

12/22/2012 01:25:59 PM · #10

Any site open to the public for any type of critique of art will have bad pictures with positive comments and good pictures with not so many, and so on and so forth. That's just the nature of the game. Even this site has a lot of sub par pictures with fairly high ratings. No need to get all butt hurt because of it. Do photography for yourself and let others do it for themselves too. I don't understand why your letting this faze you? Who cares? One persons trash is another persons treasure.

-Kevin

yanko

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

12/22/2012 02:02:16 PM · #11

Originally posted by kgeary:

Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by kgeary:
I used to post a lot on Flickr for feedback. I've since removed a ton of my images and I'm thinking about dropping it altogether. Flickr is HORRIBLE for feedback. People on Flickr like ANYTHING.

You're basing that purely on the comments that you see. To conclude that "people on Flickr like anything" you'd have to get a comment or a recation on every view. If people don't like something, they just move on. Flickr doesn't pretend to be a learning or feedback site.

That's not to say you can't get contructive criticism on Flickr. For instance:
//www.flickr.com/groups/streetcrit/

I get that if people don't like something they move on. But for people to constantly favorite and positive comment complete trash is remarkable. Even in "critique" groups.

But that has more to do with exposure than anything else. Put your photo in front of more people and your chances of getting comments and favorites go up. It's not that much different than here. Just look at the side challenges. You'll get a lot more comments and favorites if you participate in those vs just tossing your photos in your portfolio without any announcement at all.

Message edited by author 2012-12-22 14:03:44.

GiorgioBaruffi

Apple iPhone 5s

Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS

12/22/2012 02:51:14 PM · #12

Flickr is like Facebook: you post an image and in a few fractions of a second you already have at least 3 like... But how much time people spend to observe the shots? Nothing...

12/22/2012 03:28:04 PM · #13

Originally posted by alohadave:

Originally posted by kgeary:
I used to post a lot on Flickr for feedback. I've since removed a ton of my images and I'm thinking about dropping it altogether. Flickr is HORRIBLE for feedback. People on Flickr like ANYTHING.

Take for example this guy's stream -- who is arguably the king of photoshop disasters with his most recent images: //www.flickr.com/photos/iamcpr/

When I see his work I feel like commenting, "dude, wtf, seriously?"

Everyone else feels the need to favorite his images and say, "excellent portrait work!"

Flickr is a joke. If you get great comments on Flickr, no need to feel good about what you've done, lol.

Real classy to bash someone else's work. Flickr isn't the problem, try taking a look in your mirror.

I don't run around bashing people's work. I'm the type of person that just moves on without commenting unless the person asked for a critique. But your assertion is that it's better to be lied to than told the truth and I don't agree with that.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

12/22/2012 03:28:48 PM · #14

Originally posted by GiorgioBaruffi:

Flickr is like Facebook: you post an image and in a few fractions of a second you already have at least 3 like... But how much time people spend to observe the shots? Nothing...

That's one of the problems. I think if people could comment just by looking at the thumbnail they would half the time. Society is too ADD.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

12/22/2012 03:56:56 PM · #15

Well, I finally had to open a Flickr account to post some pictures for the King Tides project, and I haven't noticed a flood of comments of any kind.

12/22/2012 07:31:41 PM · #16

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Well, I finally had to open a Flickr account to post some pictures for the King Tides project, and I haven't noticed a flood of comments of any kind.

Unless you submit to oodles of groups you probably won't. Flickr is a strange beast. 500px seems much more interested in promotion quality content.

Marc923

12/22/2012 08:23:54 PM · #17

So Flickr is a joke because I want to go out and make some friends feel good and leave some nice comments on their pictures? I could put a picture of a turd out there and my friends would tell me how great it is.

ETA: It's a great place for friends to share pictures with each other. Good or bad.

Message edited by author 2012-12-22 20:26:02.

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

12/22/2012 10:30:13 PM · #18

Originally posted by Marc923:

What percentage are friends? I'd say not anywhere close to the percentage that are strangers. I'm not sure what your point is.

Ann

Olympus OM-D E-M1

12/23/2012 05:41:03 PM · #19

Flickr is basically a social networking site with pictures. The people who get lots of "wow, that's great!" comments are also giving lots of similar comments to other people's images. If people want to do that, I don't have a problem with it, but it isn't really my thing. If I want real constructive feedback, I'll ask here.

Every site has its uses. I do use flickr, but only to share pictures with my actual, real life friends, usually pictures I took of them. I haven't given or gotten a comment on flickr in years.

alohadave

Pentax K-5

Pentax DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL AF

12/24/2012 02:03:39 AM · #20

Originally posted by kgeary:

Originally posted by alohadave:

Originally posted by kgeary:
I used to post a lot on Flickr for feedback. I've since removed a ton of my images and I'm thinking about dropping it altogether. Flickr is HORRIBLE for feedback. People on Flickr like ANYTHING.

Take for example this guy's stream -- who is arguably the king of photoshop disasters with his most recent images: //www.flickr.com/photos/iamcpr/

When I see his work I feel like commenting, "dude, wtf, seriously?"

Everyone else feels the need to favorite his images and say, "excellent portrait work!"

Flickr is a joke. If you get great comments on Flickr, no need to feel good about what you've done, lol.

Real classy to bash someone else's work. Flickr isn't the problem, try taking a look in your mirror.

I don't run around bashing people's work. I'm the type of person that just moves on without commenting unless the person asked for a critique. But your assertion is that it's better to be lied to than told the truth and I don't agree with that.

You say that, and yet you started this thread.

I asserted nothing. I made no comment about people posting Wow! in comments.

kshoban

Canon EOS-600D/T3i Rebel

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

12/24/2012 03:21:53 AM · #21

I don't understand this thread? What is the point to it? So flickr has some crap photos with a bunch of wow comments. Who cares? Don't complain that someone who is not so great (yet) at taking photos is getting A+ comments. At least they are trying and putting their crap out there for the world to see. Most people don't know what good art is so get over it Who freakin cares? Complaining solves nothing so let's all put our happy faces on, take pictures and have fun doing it. Critique but don't bash. Positive feedback to help each other grow is key, even if you think the picture is crap. Saying this is crap this person sucks without explaining why it sucks is no help to anyone.