Author Topic: "Shared" photos  (Read 81855 times)

Offline Ken Smith

  • President Emeritus
  • Top Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 13,504
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #30 on: August 25, 2016, 11:38:41 AM »
Tell about it Bob, I tried very hard during my time to resolve this problem and I share your  concerns, but there is little that the Administrators can do without the support of the Technical Side and that I am afraid is sadly lacking.
Regards
Ken
......

Offline Tuomas Romu

  • Home away from home
  • ****
  • Posts: 372
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #31 on: August 25, 2016, 12:05:19 PM »
Bob, won't the most interesting photographs eventually appear on the other lists, e.g. most viewed of 7 days? Of course, as the timespan gets longer, the lists tend to become dominated by disaster porn.

Anyway, would counting only registered members generate enough hits to those "really interesting" photographs to make the top viewed list somehow better? I mean, it's quite unlikely that a large number of registered members would randomly stumble across the same interesting photograph while browsing the database or even the list of latest photographs uploaded on the site. Of course, you could have a "look what I found" thread on the forums, but what would prevent a member from posting links to their own photographs there and claim they are interesting? Also, a positive feedback loop (people looking only at photographs on the top views list) could also make the list more biased to certain ship types or cliche photographs because the most active members would likely have their favourites (the so-called "tiny steamboat plague" in historical ships magazines).

By the way, if an older photograph receives a large number of hits, will it show on "most viewed of 24 hours", or is the category only limited to photographs posted within these past 24 hours?

Offline lappino

  • Home away from home
  • ****
  • Posts: 390
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #32 on: August 25, 2016, 01:20:01 PM »
Tuomas, the most viewed photos of 24 hours are taken among those uploaded within the same 24 hours.

I am one of the guilty ones.

My by far worst photo has the most hits on this site, I guess, 30.000+.

It was shared mercilessly - and not by me, mind you, I wasn't interested in that 3 years ago.

But then I went over to the dark side of photo sharers myself. It was easy. Being a member of a large FB group, all you needed was share your photo there, and you'd get 100s of hits within an hour. (There is also a minor practical reason: uploading a photo to this site is more complicated than to, say, marinetraffic. So, after uploading, it is easier to just share it to FB, than to uploaded it there all over again.)

Sure, it's not fair. But then we cross into the territory of personal tastes, and they can not be considered as objective. I might say that I share only photos of new ships, the ones not previously on site. (Before I thought that the "new ships" would get more views - not really, they wouldn't.) So, it's back to who loves to see what. I will travel thousands of kilometers to see some old relic - but will not click on a picture of some other relic myself. I like fjord pictures, for instance, and I've never been there.

Let's face it, seeing one's picture on the first page is a goal for many of us here. Shared pictures tilt the odds significantly towards the side of the "sharers", so other pictures, quality notwithstanding, are left behind.

But the same is with comments - they will generate more views than sharing (I know, I've tested it! :) ). Sure, I will not make a first comment myself, but a buddy's comments is just as efficient.

Stan gave me an idea: if I want to share my picture, I will do it the next day.

....

No.

Wait.

This is all a bunch of cЯap. This site lives of hits. Hits. Shares generate hits. Traffic. So the sleazy ads I get (due to my other surfing habits) can generate more money for everyone involved.

So, we can complain, but this is a business venture. Ultimately, it cares mostly about the bottom line.

Ships...did someone mentioned ships? What ships? (Wait, I got a hot Ukrainian woman dying to meet me, only if I click here!)

Unremarkable picture which links this site to some other site is significantly more lucrative than some shipspotter's "dream shot".

...

Eventually, to keep the "true" shipspotters happy, it would really make sense not to count shared views for the "most viewed" category. Sure, there will be an order of magnitude less "views", but the most viewed category would change a bit. Not by a lot, though, because ultimately it's disaster porn what everyone wants to see.

My 0.02$.

Offline coasterwatcher

  • Quite a regular
  • **
  • Posts: 63
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #33 on: August 25, 2016, 10:24:07 PM »

Let's face it, seeing one's picture on the first page is a goal for many of us here.

How very sad, but probably a true reflection of how far the hobby has sunk in recent years. Gone are the days when we were interested in the ships, their owners and their trades. Now the emphasis is on hits - and self-aggrandisement. The number of people who actually know about the ships is a considerable minority. Why some posters wish to post 4 or 5 shots of the same ship at the same place on the same day is, I'm afraid, beyond my understanding.

How on earth is this "sharing" nonsense adding to our knowledge of maritime matters?

I now await the shouts of indignation.  ::)

Offline Bob Scott

  • Home away from home
  • ****
  • Posts: 247
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #34 on: August 26, 2016, 07:31:26 AM »
No shout of indignation from me, coasterwatcher, I agree with you 110%.
I am a ship enthusiast rather than a photographer and it seems to me more and more that an interest in or knowledge about ships is becoming almost a disqualification as far as enjoying this site is concerned.
Very well said, sir. One of the most succinct comments I have seen on here in years.

Offline pieter melissen

  • Webmaster
  • Top Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 669
    • View Profile
    • ultimatecarpage.com
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #35 on: August 26, 2016, 04:14:30 PM »
Bob, Lappino, the sharing is such is not the problem, neither is the number of hits which make this site tick financially. It is construction that the most hits make a shot appear here on the site as the most popular. Perhaps we should get rid of this popularity system altogether so that everyone can appreciate the photographs posted using his own judging standards, without being "guided" by the popular vote. I have been away for about two weeks and on my return I have gone through all the days that I have not able to check the site, and there were several shots that I found very interesting, and yet none of them scored high on the popularity ladder. So my basisc question is why should we have a system here that visibly counts the number of hits, and links the number of hits with the word "popular".

Offline Captain Ted

  • Top Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,996
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #36 on: August 26, 2016, 08:00:04 PM »
Well,, I often stated that these "hits" for any price will destroy the "existng unity" of this site, if that still exists. Sadly to see. When I sign in and see the same names again and again in the top 3, thats a reason
to sign off again. At least if they would be interesting, but again and again same locations and often same style ships.  Pretty much boring for me I can say.
To stop it would be as stated for the sites financial side not so good, for the viewable side most probably very much.  I get sometimes so bored here by the same type of pictures and same peoples who comment that I sometimes wake up when my nose hits the keyboard !!!!  Well at least I still wake up !!!!!

brgds
capt ted
NOW!!!,,,if we could get rid of the sailors,,how safe shipping would be !!!!!!!!

Offline Marc Pingoud

  • Not too shy to talk
  • *
  • Posts: 33
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #37 on: August 26, 2016, 09:15:58 PM »
Well - it's actulally rather frustrating ...
more and more... - day by day ...
I count of some action!
However - thanks to all of you, who are pleasant about special shots and  intersted in unique pictures...
Let's keep to go for it...
Kind regards - Marc
One hand for myself, one for the ship - and one for my camera!

Offline Bob Scott

  • Home away from home
  • ****
  • Posts: 247
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #38 on: August 26, 2016, 09:38:57 PM »
Marc:
Maybe it's just me but my command of the English language does not enable me to fully understand what point you are making.
Regards
Bob

Offline Marc Pingoud

  • Not too shy to talk
  • *
  • Posts: 33
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #39 on: August 26, 2016, 10:03:04 PM »
Bob - sorry about my English... no worry - I know my range ;-)
What I meant: I did observe the way of developpment of several pictures... and the uploading standard... What should I say - Maybe like you... I have thousands of ship fotos taken, ready on my Computer to spill out ... But I take the time (rather a lot) to evaluate,select,optmat and decide, which could be the most intersting one... - and finally, I'm happy and proud of the picture...
... and much more important: to find the faboulos shots of all the colleagues with much better performance.
I don't have the time for seraching every day within thousand of pictures... I always miss to much of intersting shots - Well, agree, my own problem - unfortunatley... Kind regards from Switzerland - Marc
One hand for myself, one for the ship - and one for my camera!

Offline Bob Scott

  • Home away from home
  • ****
  • Posts: 247
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #40 on: August 27, 2016, 11:27:31 AM »
Thanks, Marc. Got it now. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Regards
Bob

Offline Stan Muller

  • Top Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,125
    • View Profile
    • My album
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #41 on: August 29, 2016, 11:37:05 AM »
Quote
I get sometimes so bored here by the same type of pictures and same peoples who comment that I sometimes wake up when my nose hits the keyboard !!!! 

heheheh

I just realized I haven't been browsing Shipspotting.com for several days. Losing my interest for the first time since the site started, 12 years ago.



Offline Bob Scott

  • Home away from home
  • ****
  • Posts: 247
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #42 on: August 29, 2016, 12:54:12 PM »
I am surprised and perhaps a little disappointed that none of the current Admins team has seen fit to contribute to this thread with perhaps some kind of explanation as to why they don't, won't or can't do anything about the unfair monopolisation of the "most viewed" feature by the small number of members who gain an inordinate number of hits for often quite unremarkable photos by sharing them with other sites. As this situation continues I find my interest in shipspotting.com is fading fast.
« Last Edit: August 29, 2016, 01:32:33 PM by Bob Scott »

Offline andrecas

  • Just can't stay away
  • ***
  • Posts: 117
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #43 on: August 29, 2016, 03:18:51 PM »
Maybe the site could place a ceiling on the number of hits that a so called "top three" photo can accumulate while on the front page. Cap the number of views/hits at say 300, then photo relegated to the mainstream. This would increase rotation allowing for newer and possibly (probably) more interesting uploads to be viewed on home page within the first 24 hrs. The "photos" that seem to monopolize top spots (or any photo that makes it there for that matter) that's removed from top 3 billing (after 300 views) would of course still be garnering hits/views while on the back pages. And at this point, should it be the "same old - same old" (shared) showing up, I would hazard to guess once photo out of plain view the number of hits would drop dramatically   ;)

Offline Bob Scott

  • Home away from home
  • ****
  • Posts: 247
    • View Profile
Re: "Shared" photos
« Reply #44 on: August 29, 2016, 04:05:17 PM »
A simple solution might be for Admins to tell the culprits to stop it!

 

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk