Review avg.

For those into stats, I just used the first page (50 images) of ESS as my sample (to get a good spread of recent and slightly older posts) and on average each image gets just over 16 comments. I think this says a lot about the kind of community and synergy we have here.

Guy

Guys - Care to give the median too? Averages can get pretty skewed by just a few of you phenomenal guys who rack up 30 to 40 comments....

I agree about the community. I'm an occasional shooter, and didn't think I'd use this site much when I wasn't shooting, but I find myself here quite a bit. A lot of that is due to how constructive everyone is. Thanks.

I think the range was 5 to 51 but I didn't look at the actual distribution. I guess the median will be somewhere in the 20s.

Reminds me of a political candidate who once vowed to bring all test scores above average

Guy

I'm a big stats guy, always have been. I looked at the second page because I figured people were done commenting on those images for the most part. The overall average was 14.3 and the median was 15. The current first page looks like it will be 4-6 points higher on average than that in three days time. You need to subtract an average of 1.5 comments per image due to people replying to comments on their own images roughly 1.5 times per post. Still, it would be hard to find another critique forum where you can get more than a dozen people on average giving you feedback on each image.

Did I mention I was bored today?

My posts are usually in the low comment end. I guess someone has to hold the curve down. I don't make very many comments either, so I guess I can't complain...of course, I make up for quanity with quality.

Pete D.

Marc - Did you actually go through and count how many times people replied to their own images? If so, you've reached new realms of boredom I haven't found yet. If you're that bored, why don't you, you know, go take some pictures of something?

No, I didn't, so I said "roughly". But as someone who has commented on most images, I have a pretty good feel for it. Margin of error is probably +/- 1. It's raining, brown and dreary with partial snow-cover around here. Just about my least favorite conditions for shooting anything. I was working with a calendar publisher earlier but overall it's been unfortunately slow....

In my freshman year of college, I had to take Intro to Stats for a GE requirement. My regular test scores: F, A+, D-, A-. Going into the final I had no idea if I was going to pass the class or not. I Aced it and ended up with a B+. God I hate math.

That average is fantastic! For whatever reason ESS seems to have a "family" attiude and cohesion that seems missing in some of the other forums here. I don't spend much time on the other forums so I can't venture a guess as to why, but would be interested if anyone else has a theory. One thought I have on that might be because the moderators on ESS take such an active role in commenting and mentoring. I don't want to step on anyone's toes though because that might happen in other forums as well. Just a thought.

Guy/All,

I think that more of a testament to the energy and synergy here is the fact that of those ~16 posts per pic/per page, a solid average of none are hostile, instigating or inflamatory. Only constructive criticism and kudos, the kind of feedback that makes me really appreciate and respect the people here.

Bill, I agree with your family attitude theory for ESS, but I see it in other galleries like flora (especially in season) as well!

ESS is clearly doing well. Fauna, on the other hand, is a bit quiet. I haven't calculated averages, but it looks like a significant majority have fewer than five comments.

-Paul

For me, reaching the average is something to strive for

Will
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

I quit my interest in stats more or less, since quitting my professional basketball career more than a decade ago, so I don't care so much about the comment numbers as more to what I can GET OUT of them. (very egoistic..)
I think the reasons why ESS might function better than M&N (which is the only other forum I frequently post or look in) is, that ESS is clearly defined, while M&N is too wide open a theme to focus the interest of all participants. (just looking at the actual page 1 there are architecture images, a bird on a fence (therefore a wildlife image), travel shots, outdoor images etc.ect.
Anyway I still like it (very much to I.Cameron and J. Kayne, J. Cram, D. Wigget and the likes), but it is somewhat slow at times. I gladly noticed Guy Tal, Marc Adamus and a few other ESS specialists seem to dicover it too, lately.
georg
georg

And it's not just the number of comments, but it's also the quality of comments. In many other un-named forums ;-) I think there's a tendancy to reply to your own post for the sake of bumping it up in the que. I don't find that here. I personally like to wait and reply once with a thanks, or unless a specific question is posed or you've re-worked an image per multiple suggestions.

I find I learn much more when folks provide reasons WHY they like an image and WHAT their suggestions would be for improvement; rather than simply something like "great shot."
There's a wide range of talent from beginner to seasoned pro and I think everyone appreciates the time and comments from both.

Although I've been a paying member of NPN for two years now, it has only been recently that I started posting. I think I've settled in and found a place online I can call home.

Thanks to Guy and all the others who make this a pleasant place to enjoy beautiful work, learn and grow as a photographer.

Lon