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01 July 2007

What the fuck? Am I just an asshole, or is this photo not so great?→[More:]
Seriously. Look at all the comments. It is one giant circle jerk. For what? For three apples? And it's not even GOOD!

And all those stupid friggin' awards! With the crappy little icons! UGH! It's disgusting to watch!

Rant rant rant. Get off my lawn.

This rant has been brought to you in part by the Federal Department of Amirite and the National Sorry I'm Bored Council.

post by: CitrusFreak12 at: 19:56 | 32 comments

You may be biased because apples are not citrus fruit.

posted by wendell 01 July | 19:58

Yes.

posted by mike9322 01 July | 20:09

You're right, the photo is not that great.

And I've spouted off about those annoying "awards" before.

posted by BoringPostcards 01 July | 20:11

Well, that apple on the left is certainly showing ITS asshole.

posted by mischief 01 July | 20:11

People like photos of baby animals and pets and flowers and still lifes and babies and landscapes.

There is nothing exceptional at all about that photo, and you recognize that. It's not technically well-done, nor is it well-lit or well composed. Look at the photos of the people that are commenting and raving. I will bet you dollars to donuts that they all have photos of flowers and kittens and mountains in their photostreams.

But the thing is - those people are having fun. They like their groups and their comments and their awards. I've been given some of those things too and I always delete the comments...hee. I hate that shit. But hey, they're into it.

Oh and Congratulations, I loved your rant!!!!!!!!!!

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by iconomy 01 July | 20:20

Holy shit! That IS a lot of comments for a pretty mediocre photo. But if you squint just a bit and indirectly stare at the photo you can see an essence of man's inhumanity to man. That could be what most of those people are picking up on. Or you're right about it being one obligatory mutual admiration circle jerk.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 01 July | 20:23

Iconomy, I am really conflicted. I want to say "kiss my ass!" for that gif award but at the same time, I think it's hilariously cute.

posted by CitrusFreak12 01 July | 20:34

Before anyone gets insulted I should add that there's nothing wrong with photos of kittens and flowers. I like taking photos of flowers myself and if I had a kitten I would certainly take photos of it.

I know of someone at flickr who is what I would call a serial commenter. She spends hours and hours each week culling contacts and commenting on the photos of others - always very friendly, very generous comments. She's extremely personable and has an amazing memory. And she barely ever puts up a new photograph. But when she does, she gets 200-300 comments on it, and it's sort of silly. Her photos are very adequate, very nice, but nothing extraordinary. But people really genuinely like her, and feel obligated to comment on the rare photo that she puts up, because she's been so complimentary and encouraging to them. So she puts up one, maybe two photos a month and people go insane over them.

That's sort of what is happening with that apple photo.

posted by iconomy 01 July | 20:37

iconomy, I saved that gif to my hard drive. Hehe...

posted by BoringPostcards 01 July | 20:55

Yay - I can't wait to see who the next recipient of the Rant Award will be!

posted by iconomy 01 July | 20:56

God, I hate those comments group whores. Fortunately, their world of Flickr and my world of Flickr don't overlap very often. When one of those people strays into my comment stream and leaves an award, I usually delete it.

P.S. Iconomy: tee hee.

posted by matildaben 01 July | 21:21

Apparently some people have a hard time letting go of MySpace. By the end of scrolling down the comments, it was really hard to believe that anyone was sincere. And, yep, the pic is crap.

posted by Zack_Replica 01 July | 21:52

I agree with you. It's completely overlit & doesn't show any artistic intention or particular talent to me. At the very least they should've taken it into Photoshop & changed the background to be a striking complimentary color or something nice & eye-catching. It's such a pet peeve of mine when people overgush about something that is creatively mediocre...

I spent a lot of money on art school so that I could say uber snotty sentences like that. :)

posted by miss lynnster 01 July | 22:28

Also, I would've liked it better if it had been lit so there had been some interesting shadowing on the back apple instead of everything in hot white light.

Ok. I'll shut up now.

posted by miss lynnster 01 July | 22:29

CitrusFreak12's underlying question is clear:

How do you like them apples?

posted by cortex 01 July | 22:43

And yeah, it's sort of shockingly dull compared to all the commotion. To the point where I'm getting shades of Fountainhead. Someone make sure that Ayn Rand's people didn't set that up as a stunt.

posted by cortex 01 July | 22:44

When flickr gives you apples, make applesauce, I always say. But not the kind with chunks of apples in it, because I hate that kind.

posted by iconomy 01 July | 22:54

I've gone and left a comment on the photo. I've drawn inspiration from many of the comments here to articulate and add to my thoughts, so thank you all for lending me your words. :)

Y'know, I'm going to be completely 100% honest here. I don't think it's a very good photo. In fact, I think it's completely jejune.

You have so many great photos on this site (I love this one) that are much more deserving of such accolades. I wonder how many of the people here are truly sincere in their comments, and how many are just commenting to drive traffic to their groups in some sort of bizarre competition.

Far be it from me to rain on anyone's parade, I'd just rather see you get the attention that you deserve and that you've earned on beautiful pictures that you've taken, rather than attention for attention's sake on quotidian photos such as this--which I feel cheapens the veracity of comments left on pictures that are truly wonderful.

Just my two cents.

posted by CitrusFreak12 01 July | 23:10

I love that Parc Guell photo, but I may love the comment that it's like a "ferry tale" even more.

Also, I'm not sure one can cheapen veracity. But I like the overall sentiment of your comment.

posted by occhiblu 01 July | 23:29

I agree with your general sentiment, CF, but I wouldn't bother raining on her parade. She submits her photos to groups like

A+++ Photo (Post 1 give A+++ logo to 3 pics)

Fl♥ckr Hearts- post 1- give 5 hearts (Pool)

S♥per ♥ Hearts Qualified ONLY Post 1 give 3 hearts (Pool)

because she likes giving and receiving hearts and comments and awards, and the more she gets the better. The people that submit their photos to groups like that have to comment and award other photos in the group; it's in the rules. So it's forced popularity in a way. It's just one way of approaching the social aspect of the site.

posted by iconomy 01 July | 23:39

That's not social, that's just fucking dumb.

posted by dg 01 July | 23:41

You know what's fucking dumb? Applesauce with chunks in it.

posted by iconomy 01 July | 23:44

I agree with both dg and iconomy.

That IS fucking dumb.

And maybe my comment was just a ploy to drive traffic to my photostream!! DUM dum dummmmm.

posted by CitrusFreak12 01 July | 23:48

Holy crap! She sent me a message on flickr!!

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your honest opinion on my Apples photo. I couldn't agree with you more! Actually it was a kind of a private joke - I made a bet with my friend that one can insert any crap to Explore front page, and that it is nothing to do with a photographic quality. It is just some stupid computer algorithm (a robot) and it's main purpose is to introduce a sample of what's going on on this site based on some sort of popularity.
Believe me, my friend, that I'm not deluding myself about the quality of my pics that made Explore. As a matter of fact, the pics that I'm consider my best (including the one that you liked) never made Explore. See this one, for example:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/natashap/563962431/

The only advantage I see in Explore is that it draws attention to people streams and gives them some kind of exposure.

I'm sorry for my poor English - it is not my native language :(

Have a wonderful day and week,
Natasha

My misanthropy has been cured for the night. :)

posted by CitrusFreak12 02 July | 00:11

Yeah, if it has chunks, I don't think it's really sauce, is it? I mean, where does puréed apple stop and apple sauce start? With the absence of chunks, that's where.

posted by dg 02 July | 00:19

Well, CF, you DID drive traffic to a photo that you hated, and you DID publicly paste a comment here from someone who doesn't know (or maybe she does) that she's being criticized by strangers.

There's all sorts of weirdness like that on the Internet. Flickr clusterfucks aren't in a totally different category, IMO.

Not being mean. Just pointing it out. Cheers.

As for applesauce, I'm all for it. But not if it has artificial flavors or if it's in a jar and comes with cinnamon. I'll add my own, cinnamon, thanks.

posted by mudpuppie 02 July | 00:21

Flickr needs to be nuked from orbit and replaced by something that doesn't fucking suck.

posted by Rhomboid 02 July | 01:03

How do photos get selected for the explore page?

posted by chuckdarwin 02 July | 06:20

CF, I love her answer. That makes me feel better about the whole thing. :)

posted by BoringPostcards 02 July | 07:32

I like her answer too. As I was reading it I was thinking "Uh huh, yeah, sure lady" but then I looked at the rest of her photos and none of them are anything like the apple photo. If you look at her explore set that photo sticks out like a bad apple.

posted by iconomy 02 July | 08:15

Same here, BP & iconomy. I figure I'll be browsing around her photos after work, because it looks like there is a lot of potential in that there photostream.

posted by CitrusFreak12 02 July | 08:31

Wow, this was cool.

I'm slightly hungover and have nothing more intelligent to say than that.

posted by treepour 02 July | 13:05

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