"actually i was curious as to the response this would bring.. not only posting something that is literally crap & a play on words or even still, be any good... lately i have felt like it really wouldn't matter what i posted & when you do see something "crappy" that's a big "WOW! that's the best ever seen! vote!" ..." I'm sympathetic to your disappointment with certain aspects of RR.Yes,there are those who do say such things...But in all honesty,are those comments from individuals with opinions you even remotely care about?I would think not.I know I don't.I have posted to receive comments from those whose work I admire OR those whose viewpoints give me perspective and/or a sense of community.Because I DO welcome comments even from those whose work may be less than perfect.There are those who struggle as I do,and while they may not be in the 'upper echelon' of photog's here at RR I still value their encouragement as I'm sure they do mine.However,none of these people are of the "That's amazing...Vote" ilk...I won't say it doesn't feel good to get alot of comments,it does.But I would rather have the comments of those select individuals than have multitudes of meaningless ones.What is the answer then?It is simply never to solicit the receipt of comments with either excessive or indiscriminate commenting.That's all it is.By doing so one intentionally (or not) encourages the reciprocal effect that leads eventually to the empty comments that are being discussed here.These people are only commenting to get comments in return.They play the numbers game.As if 'numbers' ever equaled quality,which all of us know is not the case. That said,there are those at RR whose work I always commented on,(even when they did not comment on mine),because I admired it,and always hoped that they would one day deem my work equally worthy of their time.Is that expecting reciprocity?Yes.But as a level of achievement.And I think that's different,at least I hope it is...

Marlene <")

Marlene S. Piskin Photography
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"A new study shows that licking the sweat off a frog can cure depression. The down side is, the minute you stop licking, the frog gets depressed again." - Jay Leno