I wish I could help, but while I know there are lots of things wrong with the way the current group is, I don't know how to fix it other than to go away from the gallery and into a forum and leave the gallery completely out of it and for a place to display the finished piece which to me is what a gallery is for.

In a forum if someone wants help on an image, they can post the image in a new thread and get feedback on an ongoing basis.

As it is now in the gallery many are using it as a way to increase their views and comments, and many have resorted to useless comments too. It's become a kind of "clique."

In addition instead of this just being a list that people can put their names to people know that they are open to really honest comments, it's morphed into something else and has taken on a different personna:  one in which people who sign up are expecting people in the list to view their images and make comments on them and get upset when people don't and others who have no time to comment, yet have time to create images, feel the need to apologize for not commenting on other peoples' work.

Also, it's a PITA to add and remove people.

Adding people to the favourites affects the gallery ratings.

I just strongly feel that a forum mode would be more appropriate.

A forum would also take away the expectation that people seem to have that if they have added someone to their favourites list or added their name to a group list, that people HAVE to comment on their images that are uploaded.

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi