Times are changing and as such, many people do not value forums like in the past. There are obvious other social media platforms that have taken on the traffic. As such, it appears POTN (Photograph-on-the.net) will be shutting down at year's end.
Yes they are. Also time and health are factors. Pekka says "there's no real joy in this "service" for me any more". That happens to many with various things.
I am NOT on any social media platform and Harold's statement made me sad. I don't feel the creativity of forums will survive on any social media platform. There are too many "naysayers" on s.m from what I understand. They just want to create disorder instead of constructive dialogue.
Now getting old is where I am at and the ramifications of that aging process has left its toll. But I still enjoy getting out to photograph despite a trembling disorder.
Danpbphoto wrote:
I would hate to see any photo forum disappear!
I am NOT on any social media platform and Harold's statement made me sad. I don't feel the creativity of forums will survive on any social media platform. There are too many "naysayers" on s.m from what I understand. They just want to create disorder instead of constructive dialogue.
Now getting old is where I am at and the ramifications of that aging process has left its toll. But I still enjoy getting out to photograph despite a trembling disorder.
I hope "sport's" analysis comes true!
Dan
Me neither. I'll never, ever be on Facebook, etc. I tried it once and wound up drinking bleach A few photo forums and that is about it.
Zenon Char wrote:
Me neither. I'll never, ever be on Facebook, etc. I tried it once and wound up drinking bleach A few photo forums and that is about it.
Agree 100% Zenon! I have NOT tried FB, IG, "X"..whatever...and never will.
There are some truly exceptional members on the POTN site. The wealth of information contained on POTN won't be archived. The 22yr history will disappear as if it never existed. I joined about 13yrs ago and have a strong history with those forums. At the risk of sounding dramatic, it will be a tragic loss for active members, and I could make the argument that the photography community as a whole will lose a little something.
I intend to remain in touch with those members through another platform, but I do want to explore the possibility of contributing to another photography forum. While this is not something I ever thought I'd consider before "investing" my time/posts, I'm very curious about the underlying mechanisms of the Fred Miranda forums. In particular, whether the software and/or server is structured in a manner that would facilitate a smooth transition to a new "owner" in the event that the current site administrator is unable or unwilling to continue.
It's very unfortunate. POTN had an interface that was very easy to navigate. There were lots of neat people there, lots of great discussions.
There is nothing wrong IMO with a small forum. A decline in participation is not a good reason to close. There was a vibrant community there.
But POTN was the work of a single individual, and it is normal for one's energy and commitment to decline over the years. That is what is happening here. Pekka's interest in photography has faded, and he is dealing with health issues.
The forum's interface was brilliant but proprietary, and that might mean its death, because it is unlikely that anyone would be able to deal with the code.
We will see what will happen but those are the issues. Some feel that it would be easy to take over but I don't agree, even if it was not custom code. When Pekka started it was small and grew with it. Stepping into will end up with a lot of sleepless nights. In his farewell post he stated "people are demanding".
DPReview had a staff and an advertising base. Advertising makes a big difference. What other incentive would there be? Make it paid membership site and hope you charge enough to make a profit. I can't see Gear Patrol, etc being interested. It would take someone with a lot of dedication to keep it going. I could see stopping getting involved with posting images, etc.
A few new sites popped up with the threat of DPRreview closing.
n.v.m. wrote:
the forum was getting stale, as far as the sections I was originally most interested in(bird photography).
It is very true. I started a few threads on POTN about this starting back around 2019-2020ish. I went on a short hiatus from photography and when I started things up again in 2019, I was shocked at the lack of activity on the forums. It was glaringly obvious in the Buy/Sell Forum. I was basically giving things away because they would otherwise sit there for months on end. I assumed something happened to one of the admins, some mass banning, or maybe a wild rule change, but nothing changed fundamentally.
Most people on the forums seemed to attribute the decline to social media and smart phones...I never quite bought that explanation. IMO, I think a lack of integration into social media was the root cause. By not utilizing any social media platforms as adjuncts to the site, I believe it was a missed opportunity to recruit new photographers. The core members kept getting older, some lost interest in the hobby, some passed, and some seemed to become cantankerous. The flux out had clearly succeeded the flux in.
MMP wrote:
It is very true. I started a few threads on POTN about this starting back around 2019-2020ish. I went on a short hiatus from photography and when I started things up again in 2019, I was shocked at the lack of activity on the forums. It was glaringly obvious in the Buy/Sell Forum. I was basically giving things away because they would otherwise sit there for months on end. I assumed something happened to one of the admins, some mass banning, or maybe a wild rule change, but nothing changed fundamentally.
Most people on the forums seemed to attribute the decline to social media and smart phones...I never quite bought that explanation. IMO, I think a lack of integration into social media was the root cause. By not utilizing any social media platforms as adjuncts to the site, I believe it was a missed opportunity to recruit new photographers. The core members kept getting older, some lost interest in the hobby, some passed, and some seemed to become cantankerous. The flux out had clearly succeeded the flux in....Show more →
Us old timers did not have the same constant bombardment of information these days. Remember when we would pick that thing attached to some box, call your friends and ask when and where. My parents had the same dial phone in a small cubby on the hallway. Np place to sit down to talk.
The internet took me to new photographic heights. Now I could share and learn without waiting for the next photo club meeting and the annual photo show at the traveling exhibition.
We live a world of instant gratification. Talking to people showing your stuff on tic tok with dog ears and noses. Has anyone seen the Social Dilemma on Netflix. Some engineers and CEO's who on the ground floor for Facebook and Twitter, etc won't let their kid use it. Designed to keep you clicking and keep you angry.
Who wants to go out there, take the time to take, process post and then chat about your images. I'm not saying all of the next generations but it is a different world.
I joined POTN when I got my first "real" camera, a Canon XTi, and the nice folks there helped me ease into the Canon DSLR world. One really cool thing they did back in the day was print a book of the best shots on POTN, proud to say I made it into volume 4. It felt like a vibrant and supportive community back then.
I quickly outgrew POTN as my skills improved, however, and it has been a graveyard for many years. The most active subforum was the "Glamour and Nude" where a bunch of old creeps post awful photos of their wives.
To that end, good riddance to what POTN became. It's sad that it devolved so much before its unavoidable demise. In general, they made the mistake of staying Canon-centric as the world went mirrorless, and the forums dried up as a result.
I joined POTN years ago. I made the mistake of disagreeing in a calm and non abusive way with a comment Pekka Saarinen made on something, and he banned me lol! I never went back and never missed it. I especially didn't miss his iron fist.
It was doomed from the outset IMHO because of just that kind of thing. It was never even 1/4 of the quality seen on this site.
I have been on POTN an FM both for many years, and was actually a lot more active on POTN in the heyday than here. Both had their unique character.
I also started from scratch a forum back in the same timeframe POTN started, on another tech topic that got quite large. I eventually sold it off because the market changed and traffic was slowing. It was painful to watch it die a slow death under a new owner, so I'm guessing Pekka doesn't want that to happen. He had a whole list of reasons he was shutting it down, many of which I lived.
Sadly, social media is taking the place of good forums from the last couple of decades. I am in several FB photography groups and I'm about to the point of getting out of most of them. The quality of questions and answers in many cases is really sad (idiotic at times). To get to and join a forum such as FM or POTN, you have to put in some effort. FB is so accessible to the world with zero effort, that it draws this in volume. People buying a $5K camera/lens and asking someone to tell them what settings to choose, with no knowledge to even have a conversation about it. Or giving enthusiastic advise to buy something based on nothing but "its amazing". I've always liked helping people, but the attitudes in that environment are a lot different from traditional forums.
To All: The Grand Opening is here. We are going live. We have posted an announcement in several threads in Forum Talk on POTN and hope many will come to check out Focus on Photography. You can help us by spreading the word and also by helping the new arrivals in getting familiar with the way our forum software functions. Thank you.
I've always enjoyed forums. But social media sites have gutted many forums I used to visit. Reddit too has taken away potential new members. The thing is, when everything is in a central "convenient" location, they can change rules on you and if you don't have alternative sites with the traffic, you are stuck. I hope FM can continue and thanks to you Fred for this wonderful site.
Frank Kearney wrote:
I joined POTN years ago. I made the mistake of disagreeing in a calm and non abusive way with a comment Pekka Saarinen made on something, and he banned me lol! I never went back and never missed it. I especially didn't miss his iron fist.
It was doomed from the outset IMHO because of just that kind of thing. It was never even 1/4 of the quality seen on this site.
Years ago I was banned for a week at POTN and could never find out the reason. Apparently a moderator didn't like something I posted. I left and never looked back except to occasionally check the buy/sell listings
A few photo forums and that is about it.