Photography chat room

<p>Any recommendations for a good photography chat room?</p>

<p>Do people still do that? It's an honest question. I presumed that most had gone for more aynchronous methods like the ubiquitous forum platforms (say, this very PN), Twitter, Facebook, etc. Live chat requires real-time presence throughout the conversation, and that puts real time pressure on busy people. The odds of that happeneing for more than a couple of people who actually want to interact with each other is slim, and when it IS two people, things like AIM work very well.</p>

<p>There used to be a chatroom here on p.net, got quite lively at times. Most of the people behaved very well, it was only very rarely that someone got obnoxious, and then all the regulars would gang up on the offender and that usually took care of the problem. We had some really good discussions about a wide range of subjects even though we did stick to photography most of the time. There's a different atmosphere with a live chat, I learned a heck of a lot from talking with people "in real time". In a forum you post a specific question and people answer on that thread, in a chat the discussion can cover a much wider range of a subject. There were some guys with really good technical knowledge, they helped me buy a new computer, get it set up, and helped me with my digital slr. Having the camera on the desk and having 3 or 4 guys and gals "talking" directly to me is a giant leap ahead of posting one question at a time and waiting for answers in return. I am eternally grateful to them for saving me a heap of time and frustration.</p>

<p>I actually met several of the people on the chat, after chatting with them for about 4 years on a regular basis I even hopped on a plane and went out to San Diego to stay with one of them and meet a few more. I'm wishing that p.net would bring back some sort of chat. </p>

<p>Isn't that basically what this is?</p>

No, this is a forum. Live chat is a lot livelier and faster.

<p>I'd recommend you check out Google +. For photography it is far better than Facebook. For the real-time engagement of a chat room, you can create photo-specific "hangouts," which is essentially live video conferencing with dozens of other shooters.</p>

<p>ME</p>

<p>The big advantage of this format versus chat room is that if you make a fool of yourself you can quickly go back and edit your posting....</p>

<p>Another thing about Facebook I just discovered recently is when you post a comment on a topic someone else started, that someone can delete your post if they don't happen to like or feel it's relevant to the topic.</p>

<p>One of the many annoying aspects of this is the amount of time waisted hunting down your comment so you can follow who responded among a long list of other comments until you find another post complaining their posts are being removed. </p>

<p>Wonder if live chats are the reasons for the 900,000 or so traffic accidents caused by folks texting while driving I've seen reported on the news today.</p>

<p>We call this "Photo Conversations". It sounds like Chat to me</p>

<p>I lurk on radio hobbyist IRC channels just about every day, 24/7. Besides being a generally enjoyable diversion, it's useful for near-realtime notifications about interesting stuff on the radio. For the non-broadcast radio hobbyist IRC can make the difference between catching and missing an unusual transmission or short-duration change in propagation.</p>

<p>I've tried a few other niche interest IRC channels but none of 'em captured my interest enough to stay. Most hobbies and niche interests don't rely on near-realtime updates so there's no advantage over an active discussion forum. </p>

<p>Exceptions would be news-oriented channels or other interests that could benefit on immediate updates, including those related to online security. But even those would fare about as well with a fast moving chan-type image board where it's quick and easy to attach relevant graphics, links and extensive quoted material without the hassle of using pastebin or similar external temporary storage host.</p>

<p>And for the most part IRC and similar stuff is mostly about group dynamics as much as the channel's actual topic. Unless the channel is firmly moderated - which tends to crush the life out of a channel - it's even harder for a newbie to grasp the tropes of a chat room than a discussion forum. There's almost no reference point for a newbie to figure out what's acceptable or unacceptable, and most chat veterans develop unique shorthand lingo, shibboleths and memes that seem impenetrable to new or infrequent visitors.</p>

<p>Another plus - IRC is very mature technology and accessible to even the most primitive computers, operating systems and slowpoke dialup ISP. Minor glitches in power or DSL service that KO my web connections barely affect my IRC connections. That's potentially a significant advantage for activists whose more contemporary communications are being thwarted by jamming of wireless devices. And it's relatively easy to bypass filters and censorship methods that can hinder web access.</p>