Thank you very much Richard. For sure. Well, that was true for me too, until I actually took a look for myself. After the recent incident here on DA, I decided to give a look to one of my photos which led to blogs that carried 10- 20 of my photos and of course the lovely VK.com with their blatant thieves. Very true. I've been on DA for almost seven years and think it may be time to go. If I have my own website for my work (like real photographers) at least I'll have some control over how available my work is and can keep track of guests. When I first started here it was just to share fun hobbies, but it's kind of more than that to me now. I guess the one good thing that came out of this is that apparently my work is pretty good and has a wide appeal. I really like the community here but the administration of DA seems a little lax. There's a fair amount of rubbish that happens here on DA that either doesn't get dealt with or goes on for a very long time until something is done.
Peggy,
You're a professional. I think of my own level of anger and frustration, and then I realize that I cannot even begin to comprehend your level of anger and frustration over this whole phenomenon. While I think that the Admins spend far too much time refereeing battles over who stole who's "selfies," I understand that they can't be everywhere at once. Perhaps the metaphor has become a bit hackneyed, but it is pretty much a game of online community-policing "whack-a-mole." I'm certain that there are people out there with 5-10 accounts that they use for all sorts of nefarious purposes. I don't have my Visitor list visible, but I watch it every day. On any given day, at least 33% of my "visible" Visitors have what I consider to be "shell" or "troll" accounts. You've seen plenty of them: "Deviant for 5 Years," "0 Deviations," "0 Journals. . ." I doubt that there's much that can be done about that.
One other problem is that dA users can just randomly choose their "nation" of residence. That had never even occurred to me until I asked someone who was "from" Cote d'Ivoire what life was like there (I've never met anyone from there). She laughingly replied that she just randomly chose that country, because she thought it was "fun." There really should be a way of constricting that that problem during registration. That was an adult human being, who was basically clueless, but harmless. Imagine what evil minds can do. If this were just all kids being kids that would be one thing, but it's not. . .
I try not to think about this every day, because I don't want to become one of those people who eventually fears leaving the house. But with stupid problems like these there comes a point where enough is enough. . .
Let me know what you're thinking before you make any final decisions. . .
Richard
P. S. I'm following Catherine's Journal like you are. So we'll see where this goes.
You're a professional. I think of my own level of anger and frustration, and then I realize that I cannot even begin to comprehend your level of anger and frustration over this whole phenomenon. While I think that the Admins spend far too much time refereeing battles over who stole who's "selfies," I understand that they can't be everywhere at once. Perhaps the metaphor has become a bit hackneyed, but it is pretty much a game of online community-policing "whack-a-mole." I'm certain that there are people out there with 5-10 accounts that they use for all sorts of nefarious purposes. I don't have my Visitor list visible, but I watch it every day. On any given day, at least 33% of my "visible" Visitors have what I consider to be "shell" or "troll" accounts. You've seen plenty of them: "Deviant for 5 Years," "0 Deviations," "0 Journals. . ." I doubt that there's much that can be done about that.
One other problem is that dA users can just randomly choose their "nation" of residence. That had never even occurred to me until I asked someone who was "from" Cote d'Ivoire what life was like there (I've never met anyone from there). She laughingly replied that she just randomly chose that country, because she thought it was "fun." There really should be a way of constricting that that problem during registration. That was an adult human being, who was basically clueless, but harmless. Imagine what evil minds can do. If this were just all kids being kids that would be one thing, but it's not. . .
I try not to think about this every day, because I don't want to become one of those people who eventually fears leaving the house. But with stupid problems like these there comes a point where enough is enough. . .
Let me know what you're thinking before you make any final decisions. . .
Richard
P. S. I'm following Catherine's Journal like you are. So we'll see where this goes.
Hi Richard,
Thanks - I really didn't view myself as such, but given the amount of theft, I guess I am - ha! I was in some sort of delusional bubble and didn't realize how things really are. Yeah, there's a lot of silly nonsense on DA for sure - I've been here almost 7 years. I know that but even when they're presented with a horrible situation, they drag their feet. A poor older lady was being harassed and verbally (in writing) abused by some troll and she and many others reported him. The DA admins took forever to get rid of this guy. Some of the kids on DA started to harass him as they knew who he was - he had more than one account. Eventually he was kicked off, but it took a very long time.
Yeah, I see them too and it makes me uncomfortable - I always figure that they're looking to steal things. I just had no idea the extent of it. For sure.
Wow, I wouldn't think someone would falsely claim a real place - some people jokingly say the moon or whatever, but it's obviously a joke. There are all sorts of people on DA. Well, yeah, it can kill creativity and spoil things if you focus too much on it. I guess I'm getting over my shock and have decided to methodically attend to whatever I can do for a little bit every day until I'm satisfied that I tried my best. I'm not going to be someone who just complains and does nothing. I think if everyone made at least some effort to fight back, not full time, just a bit here and there, it could make a difference. If these thieves figure that they could meet some resistance, they might think twice. For sure, I probably won't post for a while but I'm not leaving in a hurry either. I'm just trying to process all of this.
I'm following it too - she has some very good ideas. I hope some good can come out of this.
Regards,
Peggy
Thanks - I really didn't view myself as such, but given the amount of theft, I guess I am - ha! I was in some sort of delusional bubble and didn't realize how things really are. Yeah, there's a lot of silly nonsense on DA for sure - I've been here almost 7 years. I know that but even when they're presented with a horrible situation, they drag their feet. A poor older lady was being harassed and verbally (in writing) abused by some troll and she and many others reported him. The DA admins took forever to get rid of this guy. Some of the kids on DA started to harass him as they knew who he was - he had more than one account. Eventually he was kicked off, but it took a very long time.
Yeah, I see them too and it makes me uncomfortable - I always figure that they're looking to steal things. I just had no idea the extent of it. For sure.
Wow, I wouldn't think someone would falsely claim a real place - some people jokingly say the moon or whatever, but it's obviously a joke. There are all sorts of people on DA. Well, yeah, it can kill creativity and spoil things if you focus too much on it. I guess I'm getting over my shock and have decided to methodically attend to whatever I can do for a little bit every day until I'm satisfied that I tried my best. I'm not going to be someone who just complains and does nothing. I think if everyone made at least some effort to fight back, not full time, just a bit here and there, it could make a difference. If these thieves figure that they could meet some resistance, they might think twice. For sure, I probably won't post for a while but I'm not leaving in a hurry either. I'm just trying to process all of this.
I'm following it too - she has some very good ideas. I hope some good can come out of this.
Regards,
Peggy