Any reader is welcome to comment on open posts. That's half the fun and half the reward of a community like this. TOP gets many good comments and a lot of great ones.
A gentle hint: Always give your comment another onceover before pressing send. That would catch 90+% of all errors.
All comments are moderated, meaning, I read them. The goal is simply to keep the conversation pleasant and helpful. I don't like "flame wars" and I don't permit them to get going on TOP. Despite this, there's hardly any censorship going on—I only disallow a handful of comments every year. (Although I do lose some, but that's a whole 'nuther post.)
The basic guidelines will be familiar:
1. No ad hominem. Insults usually don't get published. Please don't be nasty or insult people, or phrase things in a way that will hurt anyone's feelings. Friendly, polite conversation among equals is the norm here.
2. Our Comments Section is not a forum. Your comment should be your response to the main post. Responses to other commenters are allowed as long as you're being helpful and friendly.
3. Don't promote. A little honest plugging of things you like, including yourself, is fine, but don't go overboard. And be aware that I don't publish comments where the name or "handle" is a company or business name, even if the comment is not promotional itself.
4. Try to refrain from political rants and provocations. Since I do, you should. Only fair.
5. No profanity, dirty jokes, etc. It makes certain search engines block us, and might get the site banned in schools.
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Typical problems
Escalation: When a "back and forth" exchange between commenters gets going, it's sometimes hard to stop, because whomever's comment I disallow first will take it personally. I have to do it anyway, because multiple-episode exchanges, especially accompanied by escalating hostility, are something I want to discourage.
Hijacking: Another type of comment I might occasionally disallow is something that I know from experience will probably hijack the discussion. What used to be called, in forums, "thread drift." I've been participating in inter-computer discussions since 1976 (Xtalk at Dartmouth College), so I've developed a sixth sense about what sort of thing is going to lead us out of the happy meadow with the butterflies and sunshine to the dark forest where the witch lives.
Drive-bys: I don't like what I call "drive-by comments," meaning quick, usually snide reactions written by someone who's apparently not a regular reader of the site, who might have come to a certain post through a search engine and just feels like lobbing an empty bottle over the wall before he departs so he can feel superior.
Put-downs: I don't like "you suck" comments, either, regardless of how they're expressed. If I suck, or one of our authors does, or one of our commenters does, the critic is welcome to go somewhere else: the Internet is broad, and contains multitudes.
Imported arguments: I have an aversion to what I call "imported arguments," meaning long, complex, polarized, impassioned position-papers on certain issues that have been developed through long drawn-out disputation elsewhere. An example of this might be a post that mentions the Supreme Court drawing an 800-word comment about judicial activism (that example really happened).
Demon rum: Another slight problem is that sometimes, folks write comments late in the evenings after they've, ah, had a few too many. These are not always easy to spot, but sometimes they are—sometimes very easy (!)—and in those cases I might just contact the individual in the morning and gently ask them to re-submit the comment.
Editor's pet peeves: I don't like certain words, such as "idiot" and "fanboy," and I don't allow certain casual slanders, such as saying that Leica owners are "rich dentists." I've written articles extolling Leica and dentists!
Bemusement: Oh, and very occasionally I don't post something just because, even when I concentrate, I can't figure out what the heck it means. ("Bemused" is one of those camouflaged words that doesn't mean what it appears to mean. It doesn't mean amused; it means puzzled.)
Haters: Lastly, I take a rather dim view of people expressing hostility or dismissiveness to photography, photographers, or the activity of photographing. That's what most of us are here for, after all.
• • •
Things I especially like
Hearing from people who were involved in the subject of the discussion. Once, we were talking about Irving Penn's platinum/palladium prints, and we got a comment from Irving Penn's Pt./Pd. printer. To continue the motif of precious metals, that's gold. Another time, I published a video of the science fiction writer Harlan Ellison ranting about people wanting to publish his work for free. In keeping with the spirit of his complaint, I sent him $25. I got back a note typed on a scrap of paper, and you can bet I featured that. In the original post, I said, "wonder how much Dirck Halstead got paid for the famous picture of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky [on a TIME magazine cover]?"—and we heard from Dirck Halstead, who told us how much he made for TIME magazine covers. Things like that.
Hearing from people with personal experience. If the topic is industrial photography and we get a comment that begins "I was an industrial photographer for 15 years...."
Hearing from women. Photography and especially gear tends to be a guy thing, but I've always aspired to create a site where women are welcome and feel respected, safe, and included. Accordingly, locker room talk or crude jokes tend to not get very far.
Hearing from people from faraway lands. According to the metrics I have two readers in Ulan Bataar, Mongolia. If either of them ever write a comment mentioning that, it's a lock that I'd Feature it.
Hearing from people with great names. I just like cool names. I once had a student named Lely Constantinople. She was a good photographer, too. I was sure I once wrote a post about Happy Thanksgiving Reynolds, but it doesn't come up in a search.
It's probably most helpful to think of TOP's comments as a "Letters to the Editor" section. And "Featured Comments" are not necessarily the best comments—they're meant to be a representative sample. That's a holdover from the era when we got so many comments it was difficult to read them all.
Comments, and the people who write them, are the lifeblood of a website like this one. I'm just like every other reader of the site in this sense: we all like getting your input.
Thanks, and please keep all those good comments coming!
Kind regards,
Mike/TOP's Majordomo and M.C.
P.S. The backstory of this post: I was blocked off the site for 16 hours or so starting last night—gateway timeouts—and it was kinda scary. It got me to thinking that all my eggs are in the TypePad basket, and if TypePad goes kablooie I'd be up the creek without a paddle. So, yet again, I started thinking about migrating to another platform, or creating a parallel site somewhere else where the same content would be displayed.
Laughably, whenever I try to do that, I discover...that I've already done it. I have trial blogs started at Wix, Blogger, Wordpress.com, Ghost, etc. All in various states of crude incompletion, because I'm not actually good at this.
Anyway, on one of those, I ran across this revised version of my Comment Guidelines, and I figured it might be high time to repost 'em. Long ago, I meant to do this twice a year or so, just to remind people, but, honestly, TOP commenters are so smart, nice, good, thoughtful, polite, knowledgeable and experienced that there's just not a lot of reason to. So I haven't done it in years.
You can comment on these guidelines if there's something you see you don't like. I'll pay attention.
Original contents copyright 2025 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)
Featured Comments from:
Maybe use the internet's Wayback machine to anchor your site for posterity ? Just an idea.
Posted by: Frank | Tuesday, 04 March 2025 at 07:50 PM
... and if TypePad goes kablooie I'd be up the creek without a paddle...
If you aren't already doing so you might want to consider an app that can download all your blog posts. I use MarsEdit on a Mac to compose my entries but also because it downloads a copy of everything I have ever posted.
https://redsweater.com/marsedit/
Posted by: DavidB | Tuesday, 04 March 2025 at 07:55 PM
Mike—Re. "Editor's pet peeves", I was amused by your example that referenced dentists because, when I created and managed Really Right Stuff (1990-2002), I found that dentists were generally very efficient customers. They always seemed to read the catalog and comprehend the aspects of our products without the need for lengthy telephone consultation. Conversely, lawyers always needed spoon feeding. They'd bypass the catalog detail—often citing time constrains—then opt for an hour of Q + A on the telephone. WOW! I quickly came to appreciate the discipline implicit in becoming a successful dentist!
Posted by: Bryan Geyer | Tuesday, 04 March 2025 at 08:44 PM
Enough is enough Mike. You can deny Ctein the ability to state why he has chosen to leave his country because after all, this is “just a photography site.” Everyone has there excuse for denying decency and allowing endless lies and destruction of American values. Our Congress stays silent in the face of this destruction. We can all be complicit and silent until we don’t have a democratic country anymore. This isn’t a close question. Decent people like Ctein must not be silenced. The lack of courage is disgraceful.
[Who's silencing him? He's written three comments so far. He can write a whole column here any time he wants to--he has an open invitation. And he okay'd the post I wrote, both before and after publication. He has his newsletter as well, which many TOP readers get. He wouldn't allow himself to be silenced, and I wouldn't try. --Mike]
Posted by: J. D. Ramsey | Tuesday, 04 March 2025 at 09:55 PM
Despite Guideline No. 2, I'm compelled to follow up on Bryan Geyer's comment. It's interesting that Dick Phillips, prior to manufacturing view cameras of innovative design, was a successful dentist.
😀
Posted by: Sal Santamaura | Tuesday, 04 March 2025 at 09:58 PM
On the topic of possible new locations for the blog, you may want to check out Substack. It seems to be the new, hip place to be and content can be designated "subscriber-only", meaning only your paid followers will be able to read the full post (i.e., replacement for Patreon as well, perhaps). I recently joined Substack to follow content from a watch journalist (I'm a watch collector as well), and there does seem to be a photography community there.
Posted by: Stephen F Faust | Tuesday, 04 March 2025 at 09:59 PM
As someone you once granted the generosity of a next-morning “Are you sure you want me to post this?”, when frustration (possibly partially refracted through the mood of unrelated, external events, if not through a glass of anything), had me express myself in stronger words than I’d otherwise desire and certainly stronger than your words necessitated (not abusive, not disparaging, but certainly “frustrated”)…
…as that someone, I thank you as I did then and do beyond, Mike. A place of considered, respectful safety for all is like going to a city gallery - a general quiet in the midst of chaos. A great place to keep sane, or at least salve the insanity [insert, I don’t know, probably a lopsided grin emoji]
Posted by: Marc | Tuesday, 04 March 2025 at 11:09 PM
I cannot fathom the aversion to the mythical "rich dentist" - after all, a trillion dollar market (US$13 Trillion outstanding at the end of 2024) for Eurodollar securities (US$ denominated securities issued in Europe) was formed with the equally mythical "Belgian Dentist" as its target market - referring to those Europeans who were typical holder of these securities - who could drive into Luxembourg and collect their interest in cash, far away from the eyes of their home country's taxman....
Posted by: Jayanand Govindaraj | Wednesday, 05 March 2025 at 01:52 AM
I rarely comment, although I really feel I should more often. I am hamstrung by the thought that it is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. You are one of my first reads every day along with KT and my local news; long before I dip into the molasses of BBC news and the (Manchester) Guardian. As a brit long retired and now living in Europe I appreciate the calm and safety of thoughtfully considered opinion and I'm interested in how ordinary (sorry that sounds pejorative) people live elsewhere in the world. I've been immersed in photography since the 1950s to a greater or lesser degree and strongly believe that the most important part of the camera is that 4in behind the focal plane. Keep up the good work and look after yourself and your dog; animals are almost always easier to live with than humans, they don't judge and they don't talk back :-)
Posted by: George | Wednesday, 05 March 2025 at 02:44 AM
Re: All in various states of crude incompletion, because I'm not actually good at this.
We're not good at everything.
So, pay for a backup / blog archive service.
A few dollars each month would be cheap peaceful sleep :)
Posted by: George | Wednesday, 05 March 2025 at 06:43 AM
Great reminders, Mike. Maybe put a “five things to ask yourself before posting” near the comments box…
Posted by: Bob G. | Wednesday, 05 March 2025 at 07:00 AM
Thanks for this, it's good to be reminded.
Posted by: Robert Roaldi | Wednesday, 05 March 2025 at 08:28 AM
Your woke guidelines SUCK!!! You know what you and your deep state, dentist fanboys can do...
PS- That "onceover" suggestion really works!
Posted by: Stan B. | Wednesday, 05 March 2025 at 12:21 PM
One of my favorite photographers from back in the day was a... dentist!
https://tobyold.com/
Posted by: Stan B. | Wednesday, 05 March 2025 at 01:48 PM
Over the years the amount of uncorrected typos, double words and general poor structure I have offered for post just maybe be record setting. Mike has been kind enough to fix a few but too often I have hung my head in shame after seeing yet another poorly edited comment was sent in. I know I can do better! ;)
Posted by: Mike Ferron | Wednesday, 05 March 2025 at 02:39 PM
Hmmmm, I seem to have been lightly edited on my last comment. Point taken, Mike! :)
Posted by: Jim Kofron | Wednesday, 05 March 2025 at 04:50 PM
Funny, I just had a photo of (dentist & photographer) Toby Old open for a project I am working on
Posted by: hugh crawford | Thursday, 06 March 2025 at 02:52 AM
I found the paragraph on Hijacking under Typical Problems to be absolutely charming. It's a wonderful example of prose that I read, smile, reread, and then share with others. Each time I do we share smiles all around. The ability to make others smile is a wonderful gift. Thank you.
John
[Thank you John! That's a nice compliment. --Mike]
Posted by: John Abee | Thursday, 06 March 2025 at 07:52 PM
"On the topic of possible new locations for the blog, you may want to check out Substack."
It's such a shame Substack have gained such mindshare over other providers of mailing lists. They're increasingly focused on making it harder for people to leave for other platforms, and the owners have repeatedly shown that they're very happy to provide services for extreme right-wing voices. See, for example, this for more info https://www.anildash.com/2024/11/19/dont-call-it-a-substack/
If it was the only mailing list provider maybe you'd have to suck it up and use that. But there are lots of very good alternatives run by nice, competent companies. One of them, Buttondown (who I happily use) provides this handy tool to compare the costs of different "creator economy" platforms https://buttondown.com/comparison-guides/take-rates
FWIW, I increasingly see people happy with moving to Ghost these days, as a good alternative to, say, WordPress (whose owner has become increasingly... erratic).
Posted by: Phil | Friday, 07 March 2025 at 08:17 AM
Substack. Really - it is by far the best platform for new, ongoing publication. Whether it’s appropriate for migrating a massive archive I don’t know. But they can answer that.
Posted by: Michael Matthees | Saturday, 08 March 2025 at 11:52 PM