Does anyone else find many of these posts banal?

I agree that this place has gone downhill in terms of rudeness over the last couple of years. As mentioned, there is little-to-no moderation in terms of calming the storms, and things can get out of hand pretty quickly.

I do not think that the solution however is to require a vote or to pass a photography test to become a member. As you mention, the spirit in which this place was created was to create an environment where newcomers would feel welcome and be able to post and learn without risk of ridicule.

An elitist society does not accomplish anything but isolation, and that is not the solution either in my opinion, although tempting.

Sure there are some bad photographs being posted (mine included), but how else to learn? Now I do understand that a lot of the bad images are being posted by folks that have no skills but instead have invested a lot of money into a nice body, and now think they are "pros". Rather than truly solicit help and advice, they are arrogant and post as if their images are the greatest to ever come along, and take offense to feedback rather than embrace it.

The other side of this coin however are the folks that slam, insult, ridicule and otherwise belittle postings as if they are somehow better human beings than the rest of us. This adds nothing but vitriol to the situation, and contributes to the spiral down into in the abyss.

I also understand that this is an art, and because of this, we all have very strong emotions associated with our work, and of course, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and we all have different tastes, but... this is starting to get a bit out of hand.

If we truly want this place to be one of feedback, sharing and camaraderie, then we need to help turn it into a place that will attract the right people. The way it is now, it seems as if a lot (but not all) of the helpful, knowledgeable folks have left.

I also notice that it is somewhat forum-specific. The Nikon FX SLR forum is a bit of a mess, but the Retouching Forum seems to still be lively, friendly and helpful, for example. And of course the off-topic forum is a disaster!!!

I don't have much of an answer, but I find myself spending less and less time around here...

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James