Offensive comments forcing people to withdraw from PBase

[eastkent64]

This is the first time I've posted anything to this forum but I feel really strongly about this subject. I've just found out that my friend Dr Michael Matthews http://www.pbase.com/mrmikemgm/profile is withdrawing from PBase because of the amount of offensive comments he has received. In his 'farewell message' he has left the following comment:

'Over the last month the nasty comments here on pbase have been epidemic. Just over the last week it seems like two a day and some even direct to my email address rather than as a comment on a photo or a gallery. For the most part I just shrugged them off like I did the periodic one I would get from time to time over the last 18 months of use on pbase. One specific one yesterday finally threw me over the edge. It was a comment on my miscellaneous gallery. Bashed it left and right saying that "out of over 300 images in the gallery you'd think there would have been at least one that was decent..." and ended by saying "Why not throw in a picture of the kitchen sink next time too?" (Evidence the author didn't view the gallery very well since there was, in fact, a photo of the kitchen sink in there already)

With such a rash of mean spirited, causeless, unprovoked attacks I was left wondering why even put images in a public forum for the peanut gallery to review? So rather than post my photo du jour, I pulled all my images off pbase and have decided to move to a private forum to post my images.

It's been fun and I enjoyed the experience. Farewell all'.
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I'm really annoyed that a few mindless individuals have persuaded a talented photographer like Michael to withdraw from PBase. The comment system of PBase is one of its greatest strengths but also its achilles heel. Its great to get feedback from likeminded photographers, but there is always the minority who spoil it for everybody else. I only hope that the increase in spam and offensive comments doesn't eventually spoil the experience for everybody on PBase.

Its a sad day when somebody like Michael is 'hounded' from PBase.

Nick Powell.

[johnwaine]

I've been lucky enough not to suffer this, and it the first anonymous, apparently direct, abuse I know of on Pbase.

I think most people enjoy Pbase because of the sense of community, and supportive advice and help available. And the fact that 99.9% of Pbase members are polite 'grown-ups'

Perhaps you could suggest to your friend that he set commenting to be enabled or moderated accordingly under General Options of account settings. And generally ignore the tiny minority of abusive commenters!

I think he will miss out on so much if he leaves Pbase for another corner of the Internet!

[eastkent64]

Thanks for your comment John. Yes I did suggest he changed his account settings, but I think he's pretty much made up his mind as he's already deleted all the images from his galleries. I agree PBase is still a great community to be part of, for me the positives still far outweigh the negatives. I've been subscribing to PBase for a year and have signed up for another year. Cheers, Nick.

[jayhawk1013]

On one hand, the negative comments can be detrimental.

...On the other hand though, some people need to grow some thicker skin and remember that the internet is full of idiots who will GO OUT OF THEIR WAY to say something awful. If he doesn't like negative, rash comments from the internet, how about in real life?

Sure, I am going against the grain of opinion of this thread, but really now. If you do not like a comment, delete it and move on.

[eastkent64]

Just to clarify when I say the 'positives outweigh the negatives', I mean the positive/negative aspects of being part of the wider PBase community. Cheers Nick.

[swhiatt]

I would hope Dr. Matthews reconsiders and stays on with pbase.

Who knows he may help his unkind (if he was unkind) fellow pbaser to become more tolerant and understanding and become friends.

Dr. Matthews I do hope you stay. According to your friend Nick, you could encourage us all.

Thanks Nick for your support.

swhiatt@surry.net

[rileypm]

I really don't think it is a pbase member that is adding these comments to the good Dr.'s galleries and/or photos. If that were the case it would be altogether too easy to report it and move on.
In addition, just turn the comments off, set it so only members can comment, or set it so non member comments remain hidden until they are switched on (made visible) or deleted.
If the pbase experience is of any value to member photographers, then it shouldn't be too much of a hardship to exercise some control over the comments.

That is my two cents (probably a dime's worth).

[photos123]

I would say most people just leave positive comments. A few are bold enough to make some suggestions. Silence is when you know that your picture is nothing special or worse.

Basically photographers seem like a nicer group than most.

[camera0bug]

The 'delete' key is there just for that specific purpose.

I wouldn't let one individual with bad intent get my goat. Think of
all the fine folks that are here and the good far outweighs the bad.

Stick it out Michael. We enjoy your pics even if some crabapple in
the bunch says otherwise.

[echotide]

Only they were sexually suggestive comments left by a "guest" of course... I turned the comments off so that now ALL comments have to be switched on by me - it's a hassle but it worked - once "guest" figured out that the comments were being delayed - it stopped. I still have my comments set up this way - it works for a variety of reasons.

Don't let the turkey's get you down Doc - Soar with the Eagles baby... stay here with us...

[mathildaportfolio]

i agree that it is most likely not "members" of pbase who make unsavoury comments. the one time (in over 18 months) that i got a nasty, offensive comment , it was made by an anonymous guest. i deleted it and never had another insident.

stay, don't let some loser chase you away!
there is much to learn and gain by being part of a community such as pbase.

[michaelsv]

On one hand, the negative comments can be detrimental.

...On the other hand though, some people need to grow some thicker skin and remember that the internet is full of idiots who will GO OUT OF THEIR WAY to say something awful. If he doesn't like negative, rash comments from the internet, how about in real life?

Sure, I am going against the grain of opinion of this thread, but really now. If you do not like a comment, delete it and move on.

I think the matter is not that complicated. Were this comments anonymous?
If so, why would bother to react? If you see negative comment signed "guest",
in 99% this is someone who thinks he is very smart and have a great sense of humor to sting others from the back and feeling safe in his anonymousity.
Just delete this, it's not a critique, it's just annoyance.
At some point I was getting 30 comments a day with just some stupid "blah....blah..." Turn off comment from outsiders. After three days turn it on and you see it stopped.

If it was not anonymous, it's another thing. Then they might be for real, but you know who is the guy so you can deal with that.

In original post it was not specified if comments were anonymous, but I suspect they were. There is a way around getting comments outside, by turning them off,
but if you leave them on that means you're ready to the chance that from time to time you will get something like this. Come on this is Internet. What we can expect from this.

My other though would be to have on PBase feature to make a gallery VISIBLE ONLY to PBase members (without password protection).
That way members who want can share particular galleries without to be exposed to the entire world

Michael.

[marxz]

this wasn't going to be my first post in PoD forum but yeh there's been a a couple of rashes of them on my galleries too ...

I have it set to hide comments from unregistered/guests until approved (these comments alwasy seem to come from guest accounts).

I just blow them away, yeh the stupidity is amazing and it annoys me, I state I'm not a professional in my gallery headers then they post about it being "crap" and "not up to professional standard", I state that the contents of my favourites gallery are based on user hits then I get snide remarks about my sense of taste in "selecting your favourites"....

looking at my stat tracker, I notice that it seems to be people trawling the forum boards (ie, there will be a "came from" link from a forum post to a image or a gallery just before the comment is posted)
amasingly as another poster said, they don't actually look through the gallery as there's only the single link through image (or gallery) and their not clicking through pages or in to individual images to take a better look.

my interpretation... - low IQ dickheads, pure and simple. I don't have time for them in my private life, my professional life and least of all in my hobby time so their comments are just blown away.

meh welcome to the interweb

[dang]

It's bad that anyone be driven from here due to such childish pranks, and when these people succeed, it only fuels to fire to continue. Long ago I learned to ignore these type comments, and like others, stopped guests and non-paying members from posting entirely.

Recently, I've had my domain "joe-jobbed" (again) and started receiving spam from another hosting site. The header started with this:

CEO of xingshup.com (name changed so I wouldn't promote them!) Invitation(from http://www.pbase.com)

Since I felt they'd obviously been harvesting emails from here, I forwarded a copy to Slug, and support. Point is, we never know the intention behind rude comments, but there can be many. Since Pbase is among the largest, it's natural these type things will happen. I agree, just delete and move on... or block non-supporters entirely. By leaving, you're only doing what they hope for.

[fishit]

Its a sad day when somebody like Michael is 'hounded' from PBase.

Nick Powell.

With all do respect, is that not what the delete option is there for?
Just delete the comment and move on, simple.