Poll
Question:
How do you feel about commentary accompanying a pic in the WAYLT thread?
Option 1: Do the right thing: comment.
votes: 5
Option 2: What's all the fuss? Pic only.
votes: 6
Option 3: Choosing is the name of the game.
votes: 12
In the diner kyjo raises the issue of the lack of commentary in the WAYLT thread. This isn't anything new of course but it got me to wondering if the bulk of GMGers have any feelings about it one way or another.
My feelings are (to quote myself, it's easier):
When I get a wild hair I'll post an accompanying comment with a pic but most times I feel as if no one's interested in the commentary. At least no one ever replies to it. So if it's important to anyone I can't really tell.
Officially: I do enjoy reading comments. I enjoy posting them, too
I would kindly encourage members to leave a commentary, no matter how short or facile, to bring more life into the WAYLT thread. I hate sounding like a broken record when I am repeatedly asking members what their thoughts on a particular work or recording are!
Picture. Impressions on demand, free of charge.
most of the time the information that a recording, previously unknown to me, exists is the most interesting part of a post in this thread. If people want to add a comment that is fine. But if people feel that there is a requirement to comment on whatever they mention that might inhibit posting, which would be bad. What I find most surprising is that some people think they should tell people what they should post on this thread or any other thread.
Quote from: kyjo on October 24, 2013, 02:05:12 PM
I would kindly encourage members to leave a commentary, no matter how short or facile, to bring more life into the WAYLT thread. I hate sounding like a broken record when I am repeatedly asking members what their thoughts on a particular work or recording are!
I assume that members post their thoughts on a recording when they want to do so. That's all I need to know about this subject.
Quote from: Sammy on October 24, 2013, 02:50:20 PM
I assume that members post their thoughts on a recording when they want to do so. That's all I need to know about this subject.
Agreed.
I find myself unable to vote in this pole for lack of the option, "add comments when you feel inspired to do so."
Quote from: Scarpia on October 24, 2013, 03:05:08 PM
Agreed.
I find myself unable to vote in this pole for lack of the option, "add comments when you feel inspired to do so."
Fortunately, we do have much freedom on this board and on the WAYLT thread. By the way, I've seen members posting comments without any images of the cd cover; that's fine too.
I don't always post a comment on what I'm listening to. I am a 'layman' in terms of my little years of experience of listening to classical music, comparative to others. Plus, also not knowing hardly anything about music (very little on music theory, not knowing how to play an instrument, etc.), can make it a bit daunting and intimidating to post some comment other than "I like this", or "I enjoyed this very much".
I don't want to force comments, but they can be helpful. In particular, I'd like to know if the listener liked the recording at the very least.
I post comments when I feel like it, and don't post comments when I don't. They lie around on the thread like gobs of used chewing gum. Most people manage to avoid them but occasionally someone steps in one. ;)
I don't particularly care if people want to post comments or just the album, write lengthy essays or one-liners, fit all their responses into haiku or scrupulously avoid the letter E or whatever. I like reading people's comments as a rule, but the WAYLT thread is basically a glorified Twitter feed or Facebook wall, not the Definitive Guide To Every Recording Everywhere. That's what the rest of the forum is for. ;) It simply records an aggregate over time of members' listening habits and the rise and fall of forum fads.
One thing I can rarely be bothered to do is to load up amazon.com and hunt down the ASIN for everything. (I almost never use amazon, and find it kind of creepy that it saves my viewing history.)
Quote from: Scarpia on October 24, 2013, 03:05:08 PM
I find myself unable to vote in this pole for lack of the option, "add comments when you feel inspired to do so."
I thought of adding that to the poll but I was just curious how many partisans were out there.
Maybe I should add it...
EDIT: okay, I did.
comment or no comment, it's up to the poster.
That said, I usually post in that thread when I'm making a response to an earlier post in the thread, in which case I may or may not remember to do thread duty, or when I'm listening to a recording that I think may be of interest to other GMG'ers, in which case I think comments are necessary, because I have a direct purpose to inform others. But "image only" posting doesn't bother me, and I've hit on more than a few that, as Scarpia said, are helpful because I didn't know the recording existed prior to seeing it on WAYLT.
Which is a long way of saying that the current state of chaconne a son gout (as I like to put in musical context) is best.
I hate that thread, it is a deluge of posts that is hard to keep up with, and there seems to be no point in doing so. If people only posted what they listened to once a day at most instead of those stupid twitter like updates per single work it would be more manageable. The few times that I post in it, I would not even know if anyone replied because everything goes by so fast.
Anyway what do I think? Images only. I created the classical chat thread for a place to post commentary without it being lost, why not use that thread for that purpose? The whole point is that most of the time you have nothing to say, but if you do, that other thread will be so slow it won't get buried for several days (instead of hours).
I don't really care, post images with or without commentary. I just hope that if you really like something, you are posting it on other threads because I know that I'm not the only that only briefly skims the waylt thread.
Quote from: Drasko on October 24, 2013, 02:21:30 PM
Picture. Impressions on demand, free of charge.
This seems to be an interesting way to go about things, good idea overall.
David is right about posts getting buried in WAYLT.
I will sometimes write comments along with the pic, but if it's a long post or includes some deep opinions, I will try to double post in that composers thread, which I've done multiple times with Haydn and his Haus.
Otherwise pictures only are fine with me, many times I just scroll through the images and will only stop if it's a recording I'm interested in.
I read and appreciate loads of comments without replying to them; surely I am not the only one? I would hope that no one would get discouraged by silence and simply stop posting impressions.
It is too bad that there's probably a lot more of this silent appreciation than there is spirited mudslinging and snark; but we'll never know, because the silent appreciation is....silent. I'm not sure it can or should be different, though less snark wouldn't hurt.
One solution: a 'like/dislike' button....but I hate that idea!
I get turned on to lots of music I like simply by running across it in the WAYLT alone, so please nobody stop posting....images and maybe a short line at least.
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on October 24, 2013, 09:06:10 PMI will sometimes write comments along with the pic, but if it's a long post or includes some deep opinions, I will try to double post in that composers thread, which I've done multiple times with Haydn and his Haus.
That's my general procedure. I will often put a brief comment with an picture in WAYLT, but if I have something ore substantial I will find an appropriate thread to place it.
I just quickly scan the pics in the thread to see if there's anything worth commenting on.
An short commentary, even one line, is valuable.
OTOH; I only post on discs I find particularly interesting or particularly valuable one way or another. I listen to lots of stuff I never mention because they are only good (as opposed to exceptional) or covers repertoire that are pretty well covered otherwise or elsewhere.
Got to go with Debussy here: pleasure is the law.
(http://www.sounditoutdoc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/status-quo1.jpg)
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on October 24, 2013, 09:06:10 PM
David is right about posts getting buried in WAYLT.
I will sometimes write comments along with the pic, but if it's a long post or includes some deep opinions, I will try to double post in that composers thread, which I've done multiple times with Haydn and his Haus.
Otherwise pictures only are fine with me, many times I just scroll through the images and will only stop if it's a recording I'm interested in.
Ha! I didn't even know that you post on the waylt. I only read your Haus posts.
I dip into that thread just for the pleasure of seeing what different people are listening to - and comments don't really make a difference one way or the other. If there are comments, great, but if not that's fine, too.
As a side comment on the use of images, it might be good to remind newer members that the Amazon album cover links help Rob (GMG's owner) fund the website, since he receives a small portion of each sale completed when people click on the links and buy. (And nothing against ArkivMusic, MDT or other sources, which may have items Amazon doesn't carry.)
--Bruce
Quote from: Drasko on October 24, 2013, 02:21:30 PM
Picture. Impressions on demand, free of charge.
Word.
One thing I find particularly pointless in the listening (or purchase) thread is users who repeatedly chime in with "that is a great recording" or "I have that cd." Is that relevant? If every member followed suit there would be 100 congratulatory posts following each entry.
It seems clear that we all use the thread differently. Personally, I don't see much use in posting a picture without anything else. Is the disc any good? How about the music? I find pictures alone to be sort of useless, so I am surprised to see others find it useful. I guess different strokes and all that...
Quote from: Scarpia on October 26, 2013, 02:14:02 PM
One thing I find particularly pointless in the listening (or purchase) thread is users who repeatedly chime in with "that is a great recording" or "I have that cd." Is that relevant? If every member followed suit there would be 100 congratulatory posts following each entry.
If no one comments, why bother posting (or participating in the thread)? Maybe Henk had something after all when he suggested having a 'like' to posts...
Quote from: Scarpia on October 26, 2013, 02:14:02 PM
One thing I find particularly pointless in the listening (or purchase) thread is users who repeatedly chime in with "that is a great recording" or "I have that cd." Is that relevant? If every member followed suit there would be 100 congratulatory posts following each entry.
That is a great point.
Quote from: Scarpia on October 26, 2013, 02:14:02 PM
One thing I find particularly pointless in the listening (or purchase) thread is users who repeatedly chime in with "that is a great recording" or "I have that cd." Is that relevant? If every member followed suit there would be 100 congratulatory posts following each entry.
I disagree, those comments can sometimes lead to further discussions. And I wouldn't say they are pointless, but harmless.
Quote from: Scarpia on October 26, 2013, 02:14:02 PM
One thing I find particularly pointless in the listening (or purchase) thread is users who repeatedly chime in with "that is a great recording" or "I have that cd." Is that relevant? If every member followed suit there would be 100 congratulatory posts following each entry.
Those posts are about as relevant as a parade of images in the first place. Since they both follow the same format of being short on character count and not saying anything of value, they should fit right in!
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on October 26, 2013, 03:14:25 PM
I disagree, those comments can sometimes lead to further discussions. And I wouldn't say they are pointless, but harmless.
Sometimes a significant comment is made. (Sometimes I make such a comment myself.). But when I see routine posting of "glad you're listening to composer X" it is just a dilution of content on the site. In any case I don't propose any rule about it. Just giving my impression.
Quote from: Scarpia on October 26, 2013, 02:14:02 PM
One thing I find particularly pointless in the listening (or purchase) thread is users who repeatedly chime in with "that is a great recording" or "I have that cd." Is that relevant? If every member followed suit there would be 100 congratulatory posts following each entry.
"I have that CD" without further elaboration is mere socializing. But "that is a great recording" type comments are helpful to me in deciding whether I should be interested in the recording in question.
For instance, John (Mirror Image)'s taste in music is somewhat congruent, but not completely so. Sometimes I like what he likes, sometimes not, and it's hard to tell, even though John usually gives some explanation of why he likes the recording. So if he posts something, and another member pipes up with "wow! that's a great one!" it helps me decide whether or not I'll like the CD.
I am sometimes torn between commenting in the WAYLT thread vs. finding that thread on the composer (most have one, it seems). If I am hoping for a bit more discussion on the recording, the composer or artist thread, IMO is the best option.