gdanmitchell Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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timbop wrote:
Sorry for the gratuitous Rodney King quote, but I had to. The tone at FM's canon forum has taken an alarming direction over the past several years, and I think the negativity has been feeding on itself. When I first joined FM almost 10 years ago, there were so many helpful and informative folks that if felt like a community - and I stayed because I learned a lot without being talked down to or made to feel like an idiot for asking such a basic question. Unfortunately, that feeling seems to be a thing of the past. There are still a lot of helpful and respectful folks still here, but far too often threads take an elitist or dismissive turn - particularly to newbies (and experienced photogs as well) who are simply very enthusiastic and like to talk about gear. For those of who are veterans, we sometimes seem to forget what that was like. This is a forum about Canon gear after all, visited by a vast array of individuals with differing personalities, skill levels, backgrounds, and needs. Having 9735 posts doesn't make you any more worthy to post here than the guy with 1 - nor does it make your opinion any more valid.
Before we post a derisive, dismissive, or overly negative comment, how about we remember what our moms used to say: "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"? There's no need to be a keyboard warrior....Show more →
I've felt a bit the same way recently. A month or two ago I stopped visiting the FM forums for a few weeks, after getting a string of nastygram replies to posts.
A strategy for using the "hide me" button has helped quite a bit. When I see a pattern from folks who too often respond to a post on a photographic issue with personal invective or nasty implications about me as a human being I simply hit the "hide me" button. This does not necessarily mean that I never see what they post, since I can still "show" their posts if necessary, but it reminds me to never respond.
I was very grateful a week or so ago when a nasty respons was offered up after I posted something that a reader disagreed with, and another long time and active forum member made a brief and not overly confrontational comment on the person's strange nastiness. (Thank you, jcolwell... :-)
My "vacation" from the forum reminded me that this forum is a very small thing in a very big world, and what goes on here plays a very small role in my life or in my photography. There are nasty people everywhere, and we get to decide whether or not is is worth arguing with them. It usually isn't. They enjoy the nastiness, come looking for a fight, and will always find something bad to say.
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw
Take care,
Dan
(And, yes, I'm not perfect. I can recall things I've written that I could have said in better ways.)
Edited on Apr 19, 2014 at 10:50 AM · View previous versions
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