MadMikeOne Loc: So. NJ Shore - a bit west of Atlantic City

Ed, that's what I understood Bill to mean, too.
And. . . I agree with your comment regarding "normalizing bad behavior". I, also, find myself spending less and less time on The Hog. That's primarily due to two reasons: 1) time constraints; 2) the increasingly argumentative, condescending tone of the responses of some of the members. Over the last year or so, I find myself spending more time on Steve Perry's site as well as some of the Nikon-centric sites.
For the most part, I've learned an enormous amount - photographically speaking, as well as having made some solid friends here, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Great comments, I could not have said it better.
Smile,
JimmyT Sends

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

There have been trolls, bullies and Great Truth Tellers since I joined UHH in November 2012. In January 2013, I posted a main photography discussion topic with two questions. One question was:

Since this is my first participation in an internet forum, I'm curious to know why some feel it necessary to be rude and crude, rather than just "stepping out of the room?"

In 2014 Sharpshooter wrote about creation of The Attic, complained about vacation photos and all the gear talk. A respondent on the first page observed, "The amount of interesting information seems to be dwindling."

Schoee Loc: Europe

I thought you would say nothing helpful to be found before 13 Feb 2013 :)

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

It's implied

But really, most everything after 6 months really should just be a new thread, not a zombie update.

BeachReck Loc: Chesapeake Bay

Thank you- this was needed!

Hip Coyote

Like you, I am finding UHH less and less helpful in my photographic journey. Inane arguments over gear, off topic rants, little focus on artistry. At least once a month there is a discussion on raw vs. jpeg or similar low-hanging fruit for petty argument.

What I do believe to be true is that a better moderated main site would dramatically improve the site. For instance, I started the travel section on UHH, but it competes with the main section. Travel posts are not moved from main to travel. Yet, simple display of photos are always moved to the gallery. So there is inconsistency there. If I were traveling to, say, Africa, it is not easy to put all that information together.

Could there be deep discussions disagreements on gear? Absolutely. Other sites do it well.

The culture of the site could easily be improved. I closely follow a site called Bogleheads. It is a financial site dedicated to low cost investing principles of John Bogle (Vanguard). It is very very informative. Rants and rudeness simply are not allowed. Intelligent disagreements are allowed. Name calling, idiotic gifs and photos will get a member excluded from the site. There is a "wiki" where select community members put together informative instruction, that stops the foolish rehash and arguments over various concepts. A beginner can start at the wiki, go though the documents and actually be quite educated on financial matters. It is what UHH could be with some thought.

Alas, the hands off approach to Admin on this site is probably due to the fact that the site is about clicks and advertising dollars. As the saying goes, if something is free (UHH) then you are the commodity. We are the commodity on this site, not the information presented.

Perhaps it is time to start over, but not for the reason initially presented. Because this free-for-all simply is not all that intelligent in many respects. It could be with some tweaking.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

If UHH is being less helpful, that probably means you have learned a number of things from your time here and so don't need as much help. Congratulations. That sort of thing should lead you to revise your position from being a helpee to a helper. Maybe you could generate more threads on artistry.

As far as snide comments and ad hominem rants, I have found those things on all the forums I frequent. A thick skin and the ability to ignore things (and people) goes a long way.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

When was the last time you paid your monthly dues to fund this imaginary UHH content police force?

srt101fan

Well said; food for thought.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The inconsistency is Admin/owner managed sections vs. volunteer-managed sections. It is made very clear here that specialty sections aren't supported.

And yes, since this is a for-profit business for Admin/owner and we don't have to pay to be here, the policies will always lean in favor of where the most clicks come from, how to increase clicks and so forth.

srt101fan

Wouldn't need much policing, more like housekeeping. If Admin moves photos out of Main to Gallery, why can't he move travel questions to the Travel section?

(Edit: Just saw Linda's post. It answers my "rhetorical" question! )

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

See what I wrote just above.

Juy Loc: Delaware

you got that right, seems now it's about snide remarks and no real educating topics. Alot of bickering about BS , this site is going down hill as far as photography discussions.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I pointed out that this has been the norm since I joined in 2012. See my comment with link to a question I posed in January 2014.