UHH was my first online forum of any type when I joined six years ago. I have since participated (for much shorter periods of time) in 3 others. The behavior of the UHH members who are consistently rude and argumentative would not be tolerated for a single minute on some sites.

However, it is what it is (I'm still here and active every day) and is probably only going to get worse as the grumpy old people grow ever older and grumpier and set in their ways

Your advice is sound, and thank you for including me among those who try to provide a little bit of value.

I am always amazed at how strongly some tend to share their opinions and/or experiences. A recent example was a post regarding auto ISO. To me, the OP was very genuine is asking when might be the correct time to use auto ISO. The responses were varied. Some gave very thoughtful and detailed examples of when they used auto ISO and WHY (that is the important part right?).... Others gave very strong opinions of NEVER or ALWAYS, or likened anyone who might use this feature as "less of a photographer" (whatever) than they were, or if they didn't use it all the time, they were just not smart enough to figure it out.

So, having seen this type of "discussion" before, I tend to do the following:
1) If someone has such a strong opinion, I make sure they are respectful before going any further
2) If their opinion is so strong, I go to find their results. I look to see if they have a link in the signature
area (at the bottom of their post in small writing)and click on that, or I click on their user name and
that takes me to their information page, I scroll down to their history and there is a heading "posts
created". If they have created posts, I click on that number and then scroll thru their post history and
see their results.
3) THEN I spend some time looking at results. If they have results that I desire (subject, exposure,
composition, et.al.) then their opinion is validated and I consider using it. If they have no images
posted, I simply consider their opinion less than acceptable and an example someone who really has
shown no proof that their opinions have any validity. (POSER!!)

I can think of several participants here that I really appreciate their opinions, their results, and their willingness to humbly share. I am sure I will leave some out, but: Regis, Steve Perry,burkphoto, Gene51, Chg_Canon, Linda from Maine, rmalarz, Grandpa..... and many others. I find that by weeding out those that share opinions rather than information that I learn much more and am much happier with the time I spend on the HOG.

Thanks to all who share and care

UHH was my first online forum of any type when I joined six years ago. I have since participated (for much shorter periods of time) in 3 others. The behavior of the UHH members who are consistently rude and argumentative would not be tolerated for a single minute on some sites.

However, it is what it is (I'm still here and active every day) and is probably only going to get worse as the grumpy old people grow ever older and grumpier and set in their ways

Your advice is sound, and thank you for including me among those who try to provide a little bit of value.