Glen Berry wrote:
Images with nudity, even if they are horrible images, attract many more views than excellent non-nude images in the same portfolio. (That's easy to understand, but possibly a sad statement about the level of professionalism here on MM.) 

"To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human."
- Mouse, "The Matrix"

Glen Berry wrote:
In the case of a mediocre nude image, I get the feeling that several people are just wanting a free look at boobies, and are too "cheap" to even pay a compliment, or offer a simple comment, or some helpful advice. It seems a bit rude.

No, it seem par for the course on a site driven by nudity, fetish and dimly lit art nudes.

Lapis wrote:
I agree with your opinion, and have one photograph in my port with 5 comments and 1200 or something views, maybe less, haven't checked, and was wondering about taking it out...However, it is one of my favorite photos, and isn't my most explicit one...I just think people don't know what to say in this case, as it is a gallery quality image.

That image just got a few more views, and at least one new comment. 

In this particular case, I would leave the image in. I also think it's a gallery-quality image.

take care,
Glen

Glen Berry wrote:

That image just got a few more views, and at least one new comment. 

In this particular case, I would leave the image in. I also think it's a gallery-quality image.

Thank you. I really just don't think people know what to say about it. And the gallery it is in agrees with our assessment.

Jose- JoseOnline wrote:
Yeah- I take it like:

losta views, few comments= eye catchy

lotsa views, lotsa comments= eye catchy and affects viewer (meaning affected viewer enough to actually feel compelled to comment)

-Jose

(:--------

Hj

Hugh  Jorgen wrote:

(:--------

Hj

Hugh, your rating system makes me go blind. I need a bigger monitor.

Iona Lynn wrote:
I would rather have a photographer who loves my work take the time to email me about a job than leave a comment, wouldn't you?


I'm not worried about comments they are a false sence of security in my opinion.
I think I have left a few, but comments while giving us warm fuzzies don't pay the bills.

I think you might possibly be missing the point. Your portfolio on MM is supposed to not only attract attention and comments, but motivate people to act upon that attraction and want to work with you. If people aren't motivated enough about a particular image to leave a comment on a web site like this one, I think it's a fair question to ask if that image is actually helping your portfolio. It's a fair question to ask, if another image might be better suited to include in your portfolio, one which would possibly help secure more job offers for you.

Do you really think I'm suggesting pruning your portfolio just to enhance your percentage of "warm fuzzies", as you put it?

No. It's to get more attention, and a better quality of attention, from people in a position to help further your career.


take care,
Glen

Jose- JoseOnline wrote:
Yeah- I take it like:

losta views, few comments= eye catchy

lotsa views, lotsa comments= eye catchy and affects viewer (meaning affected viewer enough to actually feel compelled to comment)

-Jose

Maybe, in other words:

losta views, few comments= You got some attention, but ultimately couldn't satisfy your audience.  (aka: "shaken, but not stirred" syndrome)

lotsa views, lotsa comments=  You not only succeeded in getting the attention of people, but also motivated them into action.


Now, from an advertising perspective, which effect would you rather have on people? Do you just want to be able to get their momentary attention, or do you want to be able motivate people into action?


take care,
Glen

Glen Berry wrote:
Hi Star,

At the risk of saying the wrong thing, here is my opinion of those two images.

I get the sense that "Project Angel 2" was part of a picture story? I think that viewing the image on its own probably takes away the significance of the image. Also, that particular image seems a bit chaotic and lacking focus. (That is, lacking a principal subject, I'm not saying it's out of focus and blurry.) Having the highlights blown out is also bit distracting to me. Your "Mather 2" image would please me much more, if it were not for the very bright, distracting highlights. I don't think these two images are your most appealing images, or your best works. Perhaps, if I saw the whole series I might like them better? Again, it's just my opinion, and I might well be in the minority.

As for the rest of your portfolio, I found several images that I really liked quite a bit. So, it's not a question of whether you have talent, because you do. I'm just not so attracted to those two images.


take care,
Glen

I wasn't questioning the images, j8ust the need for people to view them 50 times,

Star

aguynamededdy wrote:
Are comments really that important? Is a "I love this shot, or "keep up the good work" going to do anything more than what the work itself is supposed to say? What matters the most is the quality of the work not how many people comment on it. And btw, if you want your work commented on, there's a critique section for that.

The theory is, if you get hundreds of page views without any comments at all, it is quite likely an indication that a particular image isn't beneficial to your portfolio, and is quite possibly a detriment to your portfolio. If after hundreds of views, it can't motivate anyone to say anything at all, do you expect it to help "sell" you as a model, photographer, etc and help advance your career?

Of course, I'm assuming that everyone is concerned with optimizing the impact of their portfolio. If you don't care about your portfolio's ability to interest and motivate people, then I suppose page views and comments don't matter at all.


take care,
Glen

Star wrote:
I wasn't questioning the images, j8ust the need for people to view them 50 times,

Star

I think the 50 views are an indication of people's curiosity. I suspect that a lot of people don't try to accurately judge an image based on its thumbnail, but want to see the full-sized version before deciding what they think of the image.

I think the lack of comments after 50 views, is possibly an indication that upon satisfying their curiosity, they didn't feel quite as impressed with those images as some of your other images. I could easily be wrong, but that would be my first guess.


take care,
Glen

The theory is, if you get hundreds of page views without any comments at all, it is quite likely an indication that a particular image isn't beneficial to your portfolio, and is quite possibly a detriment to your portfolio. If after hundreds of views, it can't motivate anyone to say anything at all, do you expect it to help "sell" you as a model, photographer, etc and help advance your career?

the only thing that sells you is the quality of your work and your efforts in marketing that work, not a bunch of comments or page views. also, having a bunch of worthless comments (as in "another great shot", 'excellent", "i love it", etc... doesn't exactly sell your work.

Of course, I'm assuming that everyone is concerned with optimizing the impact of their portfolio. If you don't care about your portfolio's ability to interest and motivate people, then I suppose page views and comments don't matter at all.

again, that's what the critique section is for. so you can post your work and get constructive criticism on your images. constructive criticism to me is far more beneficial than a boatload of useless comments and hundreds of page views.

aguynamededdy wrote:
the only thing that sells you is the quality of your work and your efforts in marketing that work, not a bunch of comments or page views. also, having a bunch of worthless comments (as in "another great shot", 'excellent", "i love it", etc... doesn't exactly sell your work.

Caring about the ratio of views to comments for a given image is part of the business of selling yourself. It's one way of judging how effectively you are marketing and advertising yourself to the audience here at Model Mayhem. If you don't care how the folks here at Model Mayhem regard your portfolio, then why would you even bother to post one?

aguynamededdy wrote:
again, that's what the critique section is for. so you can post your work and get constructive criticism on your images. constructive criticism to me is far more beneficial than a boatload of useless comments and hundreds of page views.

They aren't "useless" comments. Don't think of them as individual comments. Think of them statistically. They provide you with feedback on your marketing and advertising efforts here at Model Mayhem. They are indicators of how many people you are reaching, and what effect you are having on them. I repeat, the statistics of your page views and comments are a way of judging your effectiveness of reaching your target audience here at Model Mayhem. Your portfolio is part of your personal promotion, an advertisement, if you will. It's audience is people who browse Model Mayhem. Wanting to have some idea if you are effectively reaching your target audience, and looking for ways to optimize your effectiveness just makes good business sense.


take care,
Glen

Iona Lynn wrote:
I would rather have a photographer who loves my work take the time to email me about a job than leave a comment, wouldn't you?


I'm not worried about comments they are a false sence of security in my opinion.
I think I have left a few, but comments while giving us warm fuzzies don't pay the bills.

Exactly. Comments are all nice and well, but they don't really correlate to anything meaningful.

Krista Muller wrote:
I get no views, but lots of comments...what does that mean?

You broke MM!

Krista Muller wrote:
I get no views, but lots of comments...what does that mean?

I checked your portfolio, and 15.5% of your image page views result in a comment. I didn't bother to read how many comments were positive, and how many were negative, but I think it's clear that you are having a significant impact on the people who view your images. My first impression, is that you're doing pretty well, efficiency wise. A lot of other portfolios don't have this sort of efficiency in motivating their audience.


take care,
Glen

Caring about the ratio of views to comments for a given image is part of the business of selling yourself.

I disagree. When I look at a models' port, I don't read the comments. What do I care what someone else thinks of her images? I look at the images and try and get a sense of whether  the model has a look i'm interested in. Comments don't do me any good nor do the number of page views.

If you don't care how the folks here at Model Mayhem regard your portfolio, then why would you even bother to post one?

again, you're mistaking the fact that I don't care about comments/page views for not caring about my portfolio here on MM. the two are mutually exclusive. the fact that you equate comments/page views to how much someone cares about their portfolio is incomprehensible to me.

Don't think of them as individual comments. Think of them statistically. They provide you with feedback on your marketing and advertising efforts here at Model Mayhem. They are indicators of how many people you are reaching, and what effect you are having on them.

and you have statistcis and quantifiable data to back up this assumption? and for the record, anyone can bump up their page views by clicking over and over again on their own images. which can make statistics misleading.

I repeat, the statistics of your page views and comments are a way of judging your effectiveness of reaching your target audience here at Model Mayhem.

No, they're YOUR way of judging effectiveness. Considering that when I contact models I send them links to my actual web site, they seldom even see my stuff here on MM.

Glen Berry wrote:
The theory is, if you get hundreds of page views without any comments at all, it is quite likely an indication that a particular image isn't beneficial to your portfolio, and is quite possibly a detriment to your portfolio.

Where can I read more on this theory?  The MM FAQ?

Perhaps you should spend more time reading them.  I'm sure you will be enlightened by all the "sexy," "you are so hot," and other meaningless snippets that comprise the majority.  In fact, I dare say that you would be hard pressed to find those that extended beyond a dozen or more words. 

Certainly there is great importance in what can be gleaned from such important imaging commentary and how that relates to the benefit of one's portfolio.  But I can't for the life of me figure out what that importance might be...

Deadly Design Make-up wrote:
i totally agree I have some images that have been veiwed a 100 times but no comments. I gess ppl are just to damn lazy

Maybe some people don't think the image comments feature is the place to post "this image is so bad I had to look again," I'm just here to read the other comments" or "there is nothing of note about this picture after all."

theda wrote:

Maybe some people don't think the image comments feature is the place to post "this image is so bad I had to look again," I'm just here to read the other comments" or "there is nothing of note about this picture after all."

I thought there was something weird goin on there, so I enlarged it, but it didn't show what i hoped it did, so i didn't think I would have to comment on that.

Lapis wrote:
so I enlarged it, but it didn't show what i hoped it did,

Thats what she Said!!

(:--------

Hj