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Why Are Online Photography and Video Communities Toxic?
A little bit of crab mentality. A little bit of know-it-all-ness. A lot of anger.
“What is this?”
I’m looking at a video from my home town’s tourism board. Compared to other videos, this particular one has a lack of quality to it.
“What intern shot this? There’s no stabilizer. The shots don’t match consistently. And half the video is out of focus!”
I calm down because I’ve seen stroke symptoms before and I don’t want to be that lady with the droopy smile over an out-of-focus shot. Strokes are serious. Remember to act F.A.S.T.
But should I even care about this video? What is my end goal here? As long as the client is happy, who cares, right?
Photography, film, and video communities tend to get toxic because nearly everyone involved in the communities is passionate about what they do. It’s when those who are equally passionate disagree on a technique, a workflow, or a camera, tempers and egos can fly. But it’s not heart surgery. It doesn’t fucking matter in the grand scheme of things.
How does toxic behavior occur so quickly? Why did a conversation about filters turn into a pissing contest about credentials?