Threadjacking... or "me too"

jkcashin

So I am a bit of a lurker here, and I often find myself seeing someone elses thread and thinking "me too" with regards to my interest in sharing my shots (birds, motorsports). But I don't want to just jump into someone elses thread and post my stuff. What's the etiquette here? Do I wait until the interest in the thread has waned, and then post my "me toos" or do I start my own thread with a similar topic?

Jamie

Andy

if you contribute, it's fine - most folks have no problem with it

jkcashin

Excellent... thanks Andy.

Jamie

gus

jkcashin wrote:

So I am a bit of a lurker here, and I often find myself seeing someone elses thread and thinking "me too" with regards to my interest in sharing my shots (birds, motorsports). But I don't want to just jump into someone elses thread and post my stuff. What's the etiquette here? Do I wait until the interest in the thread has waned, and then post my "me toos" or do I start my own thread with a similar topic?

Jamie

I dont like it myself. If, as you say it has reference to the original posters photos then maybe one or 2 shots done by an inserted link.

If you have photos then start a thread & get them up....dont use someone elses thread to show your stuff.

kdog

My 2 Cents
I'm not a moderator, but here are my own guidelines.

With regards to adding pictures to threads -- unless the original poster specifically requests other folks to post similar shots, you probably shouldn't do it. There are a few times where it would be permissible, say if you know the OP and know they'd appreciate seeing your shot. For example, I think it's great fun to post a picture of the OP getting the shot they posted. However, if somebody posts a picture of a hawk for comments, I don't think it's appropriate for other to dig up their hawk pictures and add them to the thread. On the other hand, you may have a very interesting comment to make and need a picture to illustrate the point. In that case, don't embed the picture into the thread, but provide a link to it instead. That way folks get to decide if they want to open it and it doesn't clutter the OP's thread.

I think conversation is always welcome in a thread, however you shouldn't stray too far from the topic. And don't comment on somebody else's comment without also addressing the original post. I guess that's a good definition of the term "thread hijacking".

Cheers,
-joel

Edit: Ok, I see Gus already explained most of this much more succinctly. :giggle

Andy

I will elaborate:

I don't mean "threadjacking" which is to steer the course differently than the OP wanted.

But if you can CONTRIBUTE your own work, analogy, expertise, then by all means. I think this is what the OP wanted here, but I may be off base.

ChrisJ

As gus said, I think if you want to contribute an image to an existing thread, use a link instead of embedding it.

I remember when I first joined Dgrin it seemed less "risky" to add to someone else's thread, and I think that's pretty common. Somehow when you create your own thread, you're really putting yourself up for criticism (and praise). Which you are, and that's the whole point, right?

BigAl

The way I would do it would be to start my own thread, then start it off by saying something like "Inspired by the great photo of [insert url]xabc yz[close url] I'd like to show one that I got yesterday..."

You can then comment in xabc yz's thread and put a link back to your thread.

jkcashin

I am liking BigAls suggestion, and thanks to everyone for the feedback.

Jamie