| Re: Hello! Is anybody Home? |
Subject: Re: Hello! Is anybody Home?
by pijon on 2012/7/19 21:10:21
I hear ya, Jr...
I think my brain popped too when Chilly first stated "there seem to be fewer people starting out who want to learn to make good images" and then suggested a teaching site as the successful future path of HM. Huh?  The idea of shoveling new stuff off to some back gallery while promoting old stuff also seems somewhat less than logical for encouraging new members to join.
Look, it's not rocket science: If you want this type of site to succeed, then you have to develop the community (again). That doesn't happen by pining for those halcyon days of yore. It happens by engaging the membership. I've talked to at least a handful of good artists who came here and left and it's not because of a lack of extra-fancy bells and whistles. They left because they don't get feedback. Case in point: another site I still post to (though probably not for long) who revamped their site by adding many cool new features figuring community would just take care of itself. It hasn't and they've lost most of the big talent and a lot of the rest. These days, if I get 10 hits and one comment there (and I generally don't), I'm doing better than most. If you want good artists to stay, comment on their work! The lack of comments in the gallery is what is killing the community. Hell, it kills me to see members here in the forums spending an inordinate amount of time bitching about how substandard artists don't deserve equal rights when that time could much more easily and effectively be spent supporting the good art and artists with comments. I'm already doing this but one man does not a community build. I think if we encourage a "give comments to get comments" attitude among members over time, the ball would start rolling well enough to take on a life of it's own. I know from being here for a while that during more popular times here, there seemed to be a lot more gallery comments. I hate to put the mods on the spot and ask this of them (though it would help immensely) as I'm grateful for all they do now and really, it's all of our responsibility if we want things to improve here. So if you see something you like, let the contributor know and hopefully you won't wear yourself out typing something as simple as "nice". 
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