Some questions I will address in a series. The series is a result of several months reviewing, and interviewing participants from several photography forums.

The questions:

• What do you learn online in the photo forums?
• what do they provide — to whom
•  who do they attract
• who are the founders/ what may their goals be
• who are the first responders
• who are the long term members, those frequent posters … what do they gain
• is there joint ownership//
• what do the lurkers gain
• why are there so many quits
• what do the quits do– where do they go

I will be presenting a draft of the results at the upcoming SPE national convention in New Orleans (SPENOLA) The presentation is by appointment. As written, the posts on this site are based upon vignettes. They are intended to provide the readers background to the several questions. The spark of this series was the prevalence of novice photographers using them as a source of information and guidance.

After viewing several of the forums, for several months, I wondered why the topics remained so narrowly focused, yet were distributed across so many boards. Some responders were present across most of the boards I was surveying. Knowing how much time I was spending on the initial research, I wondered how the responders could use so much time, and, of course, I wondered why they were so active.

Still being decided are whether the forums are named, or blinded. My leaning is to do as I’ve done with the characters portrayed (this, too, is under review). I have determined that, as a matter of providing some evidence, I will use some screen captures. These are part of the planned SPE viewing (12 Mar 15).

this will go up as a DRAFT