AWGB Woodturning Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: GBF on July 17, 2019, 10:18:24 AM
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I have just been looking at the Stats on the Gallery and see that lots of Members are looking but not commenting why is that '
Sometimes Threads are viewed hundreds of times and get one or two comments that is not very encouraging for the Members who take the time and trouble to put stuff up.
Forum's are a great place to see what is going on in the World of Woodturning and an opertunity to learn from others.
An oportunity to share ideas and develop your turning .
This used to be a really good Forum very active and some lively discusions but it seems to be slowly dying.
A few weeks ago I put a picture in the Gallery of a Bowl with a Pewter rim and at 88 views and no comments I removed it and I will tell you why because I also did an exstensive WIP on my Blog to go with it not for my benifit because I know how to do it but to help Members who dont know.
Yesterday I put a picture up of some Box's and Paper weights with Pewter inserts again with a very detailed WIP on my blog to help other turners that have not done this sort of work.
On this Forum no comments on my Blog 117 people viewed that WIP yesterday therefore I can only assume that a lot of you looked at it.
I am not crying because nobody commented and told me how clever I am I dont need that but why would I or anybody else go to the work of doing a WIP if nobody is interested enought to comment as it is a hell of a lot of work.
The same goes for Members putting pictures of their work up give them a bit of encouragement.
Regards George
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One reason I don't post much on here anymore. Bit depressing getting no response to something. Must admit with some including you George I tend to respond more on one of the social media postings.
Pete
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Like many I belong to many forums. I did comment on your paperweights but on another forum. I am slowly starting to make only one comment on any of the forums this does not mean that I am ignoring posts. I have not read any of your blogs on the pewter process because for the time being I can not see me doing it soon but maybe later.
I also know that some of my work although simple turning has had comments in other places and don't always expect another on other forums
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I too suspect that much of the problem is the continued attraction and popularity of social media. I tend to comment where I first see an item and recall commenting on the pewter-ringed paperweights, but then I also tend not to comment a second time if the same item appears elsewhere.
Les
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I think you misunderstand Les it is not about my posts that was just an example.
Regards George
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Surely a Forum is there for what members want either to comment on or not, whatever the statistics are does it matter.
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It matters to members who go to the trouble of putting pictures and info up.
As a matter of interest what promted me to start this topic was a private message on FB to me from a Forum member
Message as follows
Thanks George, I appreciate your comments , it fucks me off that we make the effort to photograph and post etc, and we get nothing back, it’s not so much about getting praise, more about honest critics from your self, that’s the point of posting
This is a comment from a Member o f this Forum in a private Message to me this member has been receiving tips and help from me via private messages and his work has improved enormously but he like probably many others feel they dont get support from this Forum.
Regards George
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I don't post anything as I was trolled big time on another forum some years ago ,
Just don't need the grief .
Also some comment here in the not to distant past have been awful ( Thay's my opinion , I think we are still allowed opinins ? ) and I'm not opening that can of worms again .
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It all ends up on social media, and some very nice pieces get a limited response. As Bob Dylan told us 'Times they are a'changing'
Ron
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George I stick to the saying that if you cannot say anything nice say nothing at all, I comment when I see a piece that I feel warrants some comment from me otherwise in my opinion if I comment on every piece I see what I say is worthless. I know that you along with many other turners I know collect work made by other turners, I have to say that other people's work has never interested me to the point that I would buy a piece from another turner and commenting can fall into the same category. Also, passing a comment on another person's work through a media such as this can be mis construed ( I know you know about this) so sometimes just saying nothing (in my situation) may be the best thing to do.
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Whilst I mostly agree with you John if I do post a piece I usually add 'C&C welcome' but as few if any respond I don't bother too much any more. I tend to be more concerned what non turners think of my work as they are the ones who buy it so for me social media is a better place to get critique and comments,
Pete
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George,
I'm sort of with you. I often look and don't immediately comment, I might look a couple of times over a day or so, just to be sure I've seen whatever it is correctly and I'm not just making a comment for the sake of it.
I also make sure that where something has not been commented on, even some days (or a week+ if I've been away) later gets a comment from me.
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Hi George,
I can understand your frustrations about the number of views on Gallery postings but very little comments I am sure this is the same on most Forums some just look but don't like to comment for whatever reason it is the same as people who post on the Forum just to sell Items then never post again but then looking on the positive side of this it may do members some good if they can buy tools at bargain prices. Nothing in this world is perfect but please members don't stop posting.
Regards John
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I think you misunderstand Les it is not about my posts that was just an example.
Regards George
...Hi George...i appreciated that....I was just quoting your recent post as an example. I think that the use of social media is now so widespread that it's going to make many forums somewhat less popular than they used to be. Woodturners Unlimited is a recent example of just how a woodturning forum was struggling with exactly the type of problem that you were highlighting, and which has now even gone to the extreme of closing its web-site and forum, and relying purely on a Facebook page.
Les
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I know that you brought the subject up George just out of interest how many of those that have posted work did you comment on and those that you did not was there a reason.
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That is a fair Question Dereck.
To be honest I have not looked at the Forum for probably a year or more I used to look every day and comment on most things with more than a that is nice .
I did find that a lot of members resented any honest Critique and went into a sulk if you did not say what they wanted to hear.To be honest looking at some of their work now they have not improved this is the result of not taking on board critique from more experianced turners but that is anothe subject.
Beleave it or not I have been contacted by several Members asking why I dont use the Forum anymore.
I thought I would start putting a few things up and do some WIP's and see if anybody is interested and when I looked I could see a few were puting pictures up but Members were not commenting which seems a shame.
Does that answer your question Derek
Regards George
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Thank you, George and glad you took my question to you in the manner in which I intended it as I am not always good at putting things down in the written word.
I must confess that on many occasions I forget to put C & C welcome at the bottom of my posts but do like to have it. Sometimes I have already seen the problem after I have posted a piece
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I have always beleaved Derek that if you put pictures on a Forum you should be prepared to receive C & C anyway.
If you saw some of the comments and Critique I received on my work when I started it would make your eyes water but years ago we soaked it all up and moved on.
Regards George
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Of course the other thing could be lack of time, sometimes I just quickly scan the forum to see what is new but don't always have the luxury to compose a decent reply orthe type of reply that the piece deserves, which then brings me back to whay I said earlier, if I can't find anything nice to say (and now add in ) the time to write something nice to say, so for example a fair critique, then better off saying nothing.As an example of time starvation I notice my first reply this evening was 7.49, it is now 22.16. I have been sat at this computer all evening doing other work and in all that period of time I have not been able to stop and type a nice critique.....and now it is time for bed.
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I am not answering every comment as I am more interested in what members think than what I think
This thread is getting a lot of interest and comments I wonder why that is ,maybe because others have noticed the lack of input on some threads
Regards George
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scores GBF 6 Derek 3 BHT 2 Les 2 all others one ....turning time nil
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scores GBF 6 Derek 3 BHT 2 Les 2 all others one ....turning time nil
...probably totally inaccurate, Michael, you have no idea how much time each of us has spent turning since this thread started! Having said that, if what you meant was that the time that each of us spent writing our posts in this thread was at the cost of turning time, well then it will be a sad world to livwe in if one's work or hobby had to take absolute precedence over any degree of social interaction.
Les
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Hi Les that just about sums up what I was trying to get over on this thread
Regards George
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Forum stats are often misleading, I have my computer located between my workshop and my coffee machine, therefore I look at this and other forums as well as my Email on the frequent journeys between the two key points of my day, if I happen to open your gallery post, make coffee go to the workshop for 47 minutes then on route to the next coffee hit refresh on the open page I will have looked at least twice according to the stats, but may not have stopped once to really look.
On another forum I have a multi page review, that involved me stopping work frequently to take stage pictures etc. which has been seen over 200 times without a single comment it is not only the nature of the internet, I also have articles into the club newsletter, which receive zero feedback, I know they get messed up with photo's out of place or even non related photo's mixed in to them, but even that should get some comment! I missed this months deadline as I was away for a few days, and there is NOTHING except editors notes in this month newsletter.
But I work on the optimistic theory that someone will one day recall one line of my babble and go out and do something fun or useful as a result.
Many of the pictures in the gallery I don't comment on, but they are all designs floating around my head that may one day map onto a piece of timber I put on the lathe, so please continue to post, pewter doesn't interest me at this moment of my life, but shapes and forms and ideas come from seeing things. Similarly I was in Cornwall yesterday, spotted some turning by John Fells, no idea if he is a member here, the shapes and forms were mostly standard fare but I took interest in the pricing for the items, it will all help to guide my hand to ensure that I am in the ball park with my work. The community of turners is important especially as we are often so far apart and so distracted in this modern world.
In a nutshell, Please keep sharing your work, I can't always comment, often if I just think "that's nice" it feels wrong to just say it. But if I copy the design that is a great compliment, you will probably have to just imagine it happened as I will have forgotten the source of inspiration long before I forget the flow and form of a design.
Damn... coffee has been drunk... need to make one to take to the shop now! ;)
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scores GBF 6 Derek 3 BHT 2 Les 2 all others one ....turning time nil
Yes turning time nil for me but what you forget is that some of us can't stand for long periods at the lathe for one reason or another. It is now taking me twice or even three times as long to produce something and just wish I could spend longer doing so.
So comments like this are useless without other facts
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scores GBF 6 Derek 3 BHT 2 Les 2 all others one ....turning time nil
Yes turning time nil for me but what you forget is that some of us can't stand for long periods at the lathe for one reason or another. It is now taking me twice or even three times as long to produce something and just wish I could spend longer doing so.
So comments like this are useless without other facts
37 % of all statistics are made up ;D ;D ;D
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I can think of a number of reasons -
Perhaps some of those who didn't http://www.awgb.co.uk/awgbforum/Smileys/classic/tongue.gifcomment took note of the gallery guideline which suggests people should ask for a constructive critique if they want it...
There are those who just treat the forum as an opportunity to view but don't participate.
There are also those who don't put their head above the parapet for fear of getting shot at!
Some may not be confident enough of their knowledge of turning to pass comment in front of people they don't really know.
I think the same is very much true of social media - look at some of the posts on there which show how many hundreds of people it reached but there are only a handful of comments.
Coming at this from a different direction -
Perhaps we shouldn't expect others to comment but should just be happy they took the time to have a look and have the confidence in our own work not to need the reassurance of others?
I think we have to put ourselves in other people's shoes and think what they are trying to get out of the forum rather than what we are trying to get out of it.
Or perhaps we should stop trying to attach meaning to something which has none and get on with turning! ;)
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"Or perhaps we should stop trying to attach meaning to something which has none and get on with turning! ;)"
It would be so easy to spend a lot of time being interested in woodturning leaving precious little to do it ;D ;D ;D
ATB John
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Unfortunately there is a drift toward social media to the extent that some woody forums have shut down. But I agree we should all add our comments where relevant and I am no better than most or perhaps worse as I have been absent MIA so to speak.