Hello everyone. :)

I had a thought, and I'm not sure how exactly to word this thought, but I'll give it a try. You see, today I uploaded a photo called "The Rosary" into my gallery. It's a really interesting photo, I think, and I am proud of it. The thumbnail shows just a bit of the rosary cross and a bead or so. Several hours later, I have 16 views and 2 comments.

One of my former images, called "I Think I Can" features a cute baby turtle and the thumbnail is just a reduced form of the entire photo: 74 viewings to date, with 9 rankings and 13 comments.

We can compare that one to my "Self Portrait by an Orange Wall" which is me pretending to be a super model as I played with my brand new digital camera and...532 viewings, 10 rankings, and 14 comments.

I guess my point is...what inspires people to click on thumbnails? Is it bright flashy colors? The alluring promise of potential photographical genius? The possibility that the photo contains a portrait of an attractive individual? We are an art community, a very supportive and positive one, and yet I am curious about what exactly attracts people to view, comment, and rank a particular photo.

It isn't that I wish to cater to a particular trend with my photographic experiments, but I do wish to better understand the audience. I'm sure you've all noticed similar patterns with your own posted works. Any insight? Thoughts? Baps on the head? :) Thank you in advance!

Yours truly,
Mayliah

Skin always works for one. Remember SEX sells. Flashyness and lots of color also helps. Finally what one takes to use in the thumbnail is important. People will click on a partial image thumbnail is it looks interesting before they click on a full reduced thumbnail that they don't. Bsteph

personally i prefer full thumbs... you get what you see...
many times i find a great photo under a so so tiny thumb
& worse, vice-a-versa

Fridays & Saturdays are usually slower

& sure, sex sells but have not had that problem
unique, interesting, well done images should speak for themselves

& if you want more comments & views, commenting on a few yourself doesn't hurt... just the way it works :] although they'll always be a few that will think differently but with 180-200 images posted daily now in the photo gallery alone there are a lot of images that do not get the recognition they deserve

Message edited on: 08/19/2005 19:31

After I post a new image, I always go through the What's New gallery, in the true community spirit. :) I generally don't comment unless I have something to say, which is usually no more than once or twice a day. Kind of my offline policy as well. :) This wasn't meant to be a complaint or anything..I should insist on that. I am merely curious as to people's thoughts on the matter.

sure, of course... :] actually your thumbs look real good but i will say the rosary would be more effective showing the pretty glimmers of light in your hand

My husband made the same observation. :) I might just change the thumbnail, actually, to highlight a more interesting portion of the photo. --I've been experimenting with thumbnail creation techniques these past couple of days, as you can see. Thank you for the suggestion! :)

After an word or two with Cindy, I decided to upload thumbs with the entire image. Sure, that is small. One reason is download times of some posters who do not have dialup connections...they simply cannot spend time to wait for downloads for an image they are not "drawn to" and the entire image seems to do that best, overall. That has been my experience since loading up full image thumbs. When an image is obviously very tightly cropped and "you know" that is not all of the pic, unless very intriguging I skip it..again, a matter of how many I can actually take the time to view while getting ready to go to work in the mornings! Highlight as you wish to make the thumbnail interesting but remember it must be enough to catch attention for the full image to be "clicked" and viewed. God Bless and Peace to All. TomDart.

Hi Mayliah! i so rarely have time to go thru the "What's new" gallery because i don't even have time to comment on all my fav. artists. :(

but when i do have time, dunno...really hard to say. It's a good question you ask. I'll try to be more aware when i click on thumbs what it was that drew me to the thumb.

the more you comment on other people's images, well, the more comments you'll get. that seems to be the way it usually works.

i always comment on people's images if they comment on mine. i feel like if they take the time to give me feedback, suggestions, encouragment...well then it's just respectful to do the same for them. That's just the way i see it.

well...let me go take a peek in your gallery now! :) edit: i just browsed your gallery and tried to pay attention to your thumbs. I am drawn to thumbs with people in it. i LOVE people and enjoy seeing pictures of them interacting and expressing. Your self-portraits are fabulous. sorry...no time to comment on all of them. :(

Message edited on: 08/20/2005 00:50

The possibility that the photo contains a portrait of an attractive individual, those get the most viewings. Right behind that is spectacle, just as in real life. I guess people are drawn to promise of spectacular things. So bright and flashy colors might attract a few more. For example if i upload a pic of a dragonfly and the thumb is the resized full image, less people will look at it than when i cut out a portion of the pic (f.e. the head) and use that as a thumb. But this only means you trick people into looking at your pic, so i think everyone should just use the resized full image as a thumb. But who would listen to me... sigh lol ;o) So its either: 1) Actually make spectacular shots. 2) Trick people into thinking your shot is spectacular. 3) Dont give a shit and focus on what you like (recommended lol). Have a great day, Jeroen

Oh i almost forgot, you can also comment on EVERY picture in the gallery... no matter if you like it or not. You will get VERY popular and you will get LOADS viewings and LOADS of comments and LOADS of votes. That ofcourse means you have to dedicate you live to rr.... ;o) But i guess once youre that popular you can lean backwards and enjoy all the viewings, comments and votes... Sorry if i seem a bit sarcastic today... i dont mean to 'attack' and/or offend any particular persons.

My votes with a thumbnail of the whole image.

I "USED" to create thumbs that were crops of the actually image! Now i just make'em both the same! Less work to me! (yeah call me lazy!) A different crop of the image CAN add impact...some mystery...make people want to see more! Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I've actually seen thumbs that are better the the image itself! It all comes down to what you want...personal choice! I decided awhile ago that its more important to SHARE my stuff than the number of comments I get! Don't get me wrong, comments ARE always appreciated, I just don't "stress" over quantity (like I once did). If I need REAL HONEST feedback I post here! The forum enables more indepth critique and sharing of ideas! Members can post examples of how they might improve an image. The galleries are for "Short & Semi-Sweet" my 2.5 cents! L8r! Joe