Reikes small life...

By Reike

Bricks in your mind and unsocial media

Djeili is better today, and we didn't have to get up in the middle of the night! 
Walk by the lake for lunch time and later walk with horsies, all with plenty of sunshine. 

A year ago I got my Fuji camera and joined two (now three) different Fuji Facebook forums. Loved them first for the learning effects but now start to be sick of them. Today I felt the urge to post the following in one of them, which I think is applicable to a lot going on in (un)social media: 

Imagine that: 
You are going to a photography fair. The fair aims to showcase photos, give you tips and gear-related news. You are looking forward to this as you expect to see great photography, get new ideas, and maybe buy something nice that will give you a new incentive for your photography. 
Then you walk in.
There is a guy showcasting photos that are a bit different. You want to make a little comment to your partner, maybe laugh about it if it's not your type of photos and walk past. But there are already several people storming to that guy telling him that his work is utter crap, that they have the same camera and wouldn't dare to use it for such rubbish. The guy freaks and shouts abuse and that his photography is the only real thing, and soon everybody is standing in a circle, kicking each others shins and heads, with a few people shouting into the circle: But I like it! You really have a problem squeezing past this tumult.
You wanted to check some gear that you are interested in, so you are happy you managed to get past that crowd. But all of a sudden you are stopped in your tracks by a guy who steps into the middle and shouts out his opinion of something, and suddenly people rush in to tell him to f*** off, that is bullshit, you have to do it my way, you have no clue, and whoever gave you a licence to live? VERY quickly there is a good bashing and you really just want to get out of the way. There were some people in the beginning who tried to agree to someone or to calm people down, but either they leave as soon as possible or they get so aggressive that they join in.
Puh, managed to get out of there, too. I am a bit stressed. So I walk up to a stand and inquire quietly: Umm, I am interested in that certain flash, can you maybe tell me something about it? All of a sudden people surround me, throwing their flash systems in my way, saying, don't use the one you were talking about! My flash is the only way to go! No, this flash here! And you want to use WHAT lens on your camera with it??? Oh, you are an idiot anyway, aren't you? And that other guy over there, he is such a nitwit. Needless to say, that those two will soon be about to loose some teeth. So you crawl underneath all those people, trying not to be injured. You are waiting for a quiet moment of peace to really enjoy the great photos exhibited and to soak up some of the knowledge that is around.
Please, dear internet, try to be a bit more like civilized life would be, if it could.

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