Originally Posted by tegan
Your characterizations are not accurate and neither is the concept that weak photos should receive positive feedback. The so-called welcome that you characterize from me is EXACTLY the welcome you would receive in any serious camera club in an urban centre. I know because that is where I first started as a teen amateur.
You characterize it as being spoken "down to" but if you don't display certain knowledge through your photos, then I have NO idea whether you have that knowledge or not. For a truly passionate amateur, confidence comes from within and through working at gaining knowledge and experience. If you need the support of artificial positive compliments well, that is something that you will have to deal with, as you mature.
Certainly there are Forums where newbies exchange comments such as "Nice"
and "I like it.", but no one learns anything, and passionate enthusiasts don't even bother looking at the poor quality photos.
I repeat what I said before: Facebook and a Fine Art Photography Forum are two very different things. One is for socialization and the other is to improve photography.
Tegan