Even though I am replying to a thread that has been idle for some time, I (having just come across it) felt compelled  to add my two cents worth anyway.

When I first started posting at RR, I was so thrilled to find a place to share my hobby,  that I hoped for little more.  I was a complete new-comer to digital photography in particular and photography of any sort to a lesser degree but it appeared that here was a place to get a lot of  honest feedback from a diverse spectrum of people who were interested in the same hobby.  That expectation was soon dispelled., lol.

My images did not attract large number of viewers. Honest feed back was almost non-existant and comments in general seem to be somewhat scare as well, but I was such a beginer that I just assumed that was due to my lack of skills.  After about a year or so, I began to realize that at least some of my postings were actually good enough to deserve more response than they were getting,  but apparently,  not many others felt the same, lol. 

I have come to terms with the fact that my posted images will only be seen by a limited number of people and that is ok with me. Not everyone is fond of bug photos and I have not become part of any of the  "Cliques" that seem to exist..  Despite that, I still have the thrill of sharing my images with at least some others.  I do get to see great examples of images that are good and some that aren't . I do get some positive responses from a small group of individuals and even a few people  have taken the time to post thoughtful comments.  For a while, I was rather put off by the people who give "cut and paste" responses but then I re-examed my thinking about those and decided that even though the actual comments left something to be desired, at least the people who posted them,  took the time to comment and that shouldn't be under-appreciated. 

As long as the gallery images have personal names attached to them, the number of views, comments and ratings,  which they receive, will always be influenced by personal connections between people and not based on the individual merits of the images.  I personally would prefer all thumbnail images to be posted anonymously.  One should need to at least click on a thumbnail  image before knowing who posted it. That would seem to be an effective step towards  more fair and impartial reactions to the images themselves. This process seems to work with the various contests but I do not really not expect this to happen with  the main gallery images.  I don't think the main purpose of the site is really geared toward  honest "Critiques" nor (in most cases) the merits of the images.. Even though some opportunities arise where such feed back is received,  It seems to be much more of a social opportunity site  than a technical one.

Despite that dissapointment, I  will continue to post images that few see and even fewer comment on.  At the end of the day, I am willing to accept the parts of the current situation I dislike in order to enjoy the parts I do like. 

Lee