selected or non-selected, that is the question!

46 26

Me personally I like the Selected-Feature even though I think it could be done better. In first case it´s true that is a very strong instrument in matters of numbers of likes. Sometimes I think the LSI isn´t really aware of this fact. Being handpicked/selected is like introducing a pic to the whole community. If you think it´s just a funny thing and you don´t care about it at all it can remain like it is. If not it should be subjected to some restrictions i think. As this is an analogue platform pics being selcted should have a camera tag or the one who picks it out should really be sure it is analogue. To make it a more reliable feature i would suggest to reduce selected pics to a maximum of 2 per user and per day. – Just because sometimes we have 4 pics of one cat by one user in the selcted page and I´d say that´s not like the feature should be.

One last note: if you upload pics you accept that maybe one or more of them is getting handpicked and is getting a lot of likes. Even though you think you have better pics in your LH or on this roll. That´s how it is: you can´t say upfront that a certain shot will get the attention you probably think it should. If you think it´s a weak shot and you don´t want it to get attention it would probably better to not upload it at all to draw the focus on those you really like. I´m wrong with this?

I´d really like to read your point of view in the comments. I think it´s a feature worth discussing.

escrito por bloomchen en 2012-06-18

26 Likes

mapix, kleinerkaries, istionojr, tomkiddo, 134340, nishichauhan, ich0502, anafaro, ihave2pillows, adi_totp, atria007, guinastrapazi, feelux, gibri, brommi, leolensen, traaaart, tsingtao, sommer, icomewhenieatcaponata, cc-in-paris, grazie, realrampage, laurasulilly, lilaluke & superlighter.

46 Comentarios

elvismartinezsmith · 2012-06-18 14:41
hey there, @bloomchen @zoe191 @around_the_world @stratski here's my proposition: when LSI selects a picture it's generally already online for a few hours or a day. So it has already been liked by some users. LSI should just simply select the most liked picture of a given album, so that it's not only their judgment if it's selected, it's also a mass choice.
This way only nicest pictures (on a global point of view) would be selected, instead of randomly handpicked ones in a popular album.
elvismartinezsmith · 2012-06-18 14:42
@bloomchen yeah this My Favorites section would be just great and a good way to promote ourselves and our vision of a good photo. So many of these stay in background :(
superlighter · 2012-06-18 14:45
Selected are the best way to stay updated on the latest releases of the many Lomographers. Of course, accepting the fact that someone else has chosen for us what it's worth seeing.
realrampage · 2012-06-18 14:56
agree with @superlighter way to stay updated on the latest releases of the many Lomographers but my most popular be in selected pictures(only three pic at today ) so for the same album i think another are better ! if i see a good picture in selected pic i look all the album but i can't do that all time! @elvismartinezsmith as alright LSI should just simply select the most liked picture of a given album and be aware of digital work ^_=
superlighter · 2012-06-18 14:56
a couple of days ago I released an album that has been seen by few people, then suddenly they all seem to go crazy for this photo: www.lomography.es/photos/16323299 Well, this thing makes me think that many people simply open the Selected page .. and start to hit likes likes likes likes
laurasulilly · 2012-06-18 15:09
I think the 2 per user and per day suggestion is really a good one, because I often wonder why it is that there are loads of photos picked from the same album or why lsi handpicks shots from every single album one single person uploads instead of picking new and upcoming users (which does happen, too, luckily). As for the picking itself, it also happended to me that I didn't particularly like the pictures which got selected, but on the other hand, I don't upload things I really don't like at all, so I'm always fine with the choice somehow. But selected page is like a fast-food-counter somehow: you see, you like, you don't really think or contemplate about what you see because there's so much more to like as soon as possible...That's why I don't open Selected that often to be honest...
bloomchen · 2012-06-18 15:21
@superlighter @laurasulilly @realrampage @elvismartinezsmith @lilaluke in matters of which pics should be handpicked the currently "most-liked" pics are already on the community-activity page! so taking this as entry for the selceted it would almost be the same, isn´t it? i´m with realrampage here: if i like a pic in the selected-feature i have a look at the user and if i don´t follow this user i have a look at the entire album. - just for the reason that i think there must be more good shots then. and yes i have the same impression about selected sometimes that when a pic is chosen it´s getting a lot of like by user that have never liked another one of my pics in the past and they don´t liked any other pic that was uploaded later on. and they don´t follow. and i´m pretty happy that it happens pretty often that there is a handpicked pic by someone i don´t know. mainly because the most-activity is for those with many many followers so they get a lot of attention for their pics. the selected can show us others. but sometimes it looks more or less like a spiritless choice. mainly if i get to see the same cat several times. - well, i admit i´m not really a fan of cats but it could be a dog or lama or bat or koala… too ;)
grazie · 2012-06-18 15:50
I do agree with the points stated. I go to select at times to see new photos and photos/albums I might have missed then go on and look at the album of that person. I kinda feel though that there should be more variety but of course it's up to the selectors. It's subjective. But yes, when it comes to variety, I do feel they should have a rule of picking maximum 2 photos of a person's album. And spread the spectrum out to active/ veteran :) users and new/upcoming users. I also think that they should have a regular schedule on selecting though I think that's hard to do. I just noticed that sometimes there will be a select page every day then sometimes every two days then there are times when it's after a week ...or even after two weeks...with that, so many or hundreds of albums are missed. I'm jsut saying hmmm...
But yes, with @elvismartinezsmith suggestion, I like that too....I have some photos ( one that @bloomchen knows) that I love and were on my popular list before but they've been pushed out because of select.
And there were helluva of great photos I've seen lately like that first photo of @realrampage that should be on select. But it's subjective...
wolkers · 2012-06-18 17:16
I was too lazy to read all comments... so exuse it, if I'm repeating a point or two. A picture of mine has been in the selected and I got far more likes than usually and have been LomoHome afterwards. So this really made me aware, that you're introduced to the community.
I think this is absolutely awesome, because less "famous" users can get some attention, when they're still quite new or infamous. But the problem is, that often we see only the same users there. I think this should be more a place to show photos - regardless who took them.
I don't think the decision should base on likes given... this would end in showing the same users over and over again; more than currently. I'd like it better, if someone would really take a look on all uploaded pictures and then the best will be shown.
This requires a whole bunch of people who look at those images - preferably without a user mentioned, so they don't decide due to a person.
But anyway.... I really think improvements can be made here, even though I don't think we should take this so serious. It's just a section. There are more important matters in our lives and I think we sometimes pay too much attention to things like this. If someone uploads digital pictures here and it is obvious, they actually really get negative reactions from the community.
So we take this so serious, that we sometimes fail to concentrate on the positive sides and ignore the negative.
I really understand your points and how this seems unfair or something in that way... but try to see it less important and I mean, I personally never look at this section... I didn't even realize when I was shown there at first.
cc-in-paris · 2012-06-18 18:54
Hi all, really nice discussion. thanks @bloomchen!

I've been upset with the selection for a while. I'll try to go straight to the point. I think it showcases really good pictures. It brings many new people a lot of popularity and recognition, which is great as there is tons of talent here. It also showcases popular users, and there is often a reason why they are popular (have you seen their freakin great pictures?)

BUT as @superlighter said, it mostly about likes likes likes likes. Look at any selection now: most popular pictures of a single user, most popular pictures on any city or any country - half are pictures that were "selected". This means that the taste of a single person (or people) working for LSI is setting the trend. Popularity means what it means (not much). But I did like to see what people thought of my pictures, which ones they loved, which ones they didn't care for. I don't really care for 100 likes in 2 days, that is just clicking away.....

SOLUTION: keep the selected section to showcase talent. Remove the "like" button - if you care enough to like, go see the album at the photographer's lomohome
bloomchen · 2012-06-18 18:59
@wolkers and @superlighter @laurasulilly @realrampage @elvismartinezsmith @lilaluke @grazie the main point why it is probably taken a bit too serious is that it is a strong feature. regardless if you claim you - not you in person - don´t care you´re here to share your shots and therefore i claim everyone is pleased if he gets a few more likes.
and as there are currently more than 7000 pics uploaded in the last 24h it is true that you would need a buch of people to have a look at all those pics. almost impossible. i have no solution for it but i do think that it´s only possible with users being involved and uplaoded pics being grouped in 24h blocks so you can concentrate on those pics being new. if you do it this way you ensure you get a selected page every day which is currently not the case even though the newsletter a few weeks ago told it is updated daily.
and to let you know: i don´t think it is all about fairness or so. it´s a funny and nice feature that can be improved. that´s all. and maybe it is getting more interesting then so more people pay attention to it.
bloomchen · 2012-06-18 19:23
@c-in-paris you got a good point. if the like button is removed from the selected page people are forced to actually take a look at the pic/album on not only to consume a selection sombody else did for them. for sure it would be nice to showcase talent, ideas, failure, fortune, skills,…
bloomchen · 2012-06-18 19:24
@cc-in-paris a buy one "c": you got a good point. if the like button is removed from the selected page people are forced to actually take a look at the pic/album on not only to consume a selection sombody else did for them. for sure it would be nice to showcase talent, ideas, failure, fortune, skills,…
icomewhenieatcaponata · 2012-06-18 19:28
i do think that the selected feature is quite random, both if it is an algorithm that makes the choice or a person..i have had photos that became selected with only one like and then had a lot of likes..
and answering to your latest question, people sometimes are unhappy with their selected photos because they have better photos. sure, when you upload a photo you accept the fact that it could be selected..but i do think is a bit more complicated..
btw i agree with you that this feature needs to be implemented..and i think that at the moment is worse than explore on flickr
icomewhenieatcaponata · 2012-06-18 19:36
and i don't think that picking the most liked pictures would be a great choice..i agree with @wolkers about this
icomewhenieatcaponata · 2012-06-18 19:38
and with you:)..again:!!
elvismartinezsmith · 2012-06-18 19:57
agree with @cc-in-paris remove the like button. so that the Selected page becomes something else than a likes orgy, and motivate people to go see the albums and decide which photos deserve their likes
oliviermenard · 2012-06-18 20:42
The "likes" process seems to be democratic: different lomographers take time to look at your pictures and select the best ones in their opinion. The "Selected Photo" is a less clear process, managed by the Lomography Site. Some pictures are selected with only 15 likes; others with 40 to 60 likes the first day are never selected. The number of "Lomofriends" plays a role too: some lomographers have 2000 friends !! That explains why some recurrent "cat pictures" are multi slected since months !! Some "lazy" lomographers only choose the daily posted pictures only in the "Selected Photos" section. But at last, some of the best shots are in the "Selected Photo" section. For the people unhappy with the choice of the selected photos, the best way is to upload only a little number of "self selected photos" instead of huge albums with 70 to 80 unelected double shots or holiday photos
zoe191 · 2012-06-18 21:28
@bloomchen @elvismartinezsmith It would be interesting to know how they choose the photos to put in Selected. But this is Lomography and I guess part of the fun (?) is the mystery. I don't think we will ever know. :) Like I said in my blog, "Of course I’m grateful people like that photo. I respect other people’s personal preferences." So to not upload a photo just because I don't like it would not be right. We all have different tastes. I'd be happy anyway if it got likes. But Selected made it more popular. And usually when new visitors come to my home they don't look at my albums. Instead, they look at my Popular photos. So the photo gets even more likes because it's right at the top of my Popular page. Selected is OK to showcase photos. It's good for people who don't have time to visit homes but want to see nice photos. However, I think there should be more variety. I also agree with @cc-in-paris about one or a few people working for LSI setting the trend. I'm just not sure removing the Like button is going to improve things much. More variety would be better in my opinion. So we don't see the same people over and over again. And the photos shouldn't stay on Selected for a long time. What's on page 1 today should be on page 10 tomorrow (or something like that). Get it updated frequently. And having a My Personal Favourites section in my home would be great, as @elvismartinezsmith suggested.
bloomchen · 2012-06-18 21:43
@oliviermenard just a note to your statement of "self selected": normally i don´t upload pics that are bad and i don´t like. but sometimes i do and tell the story what happened that those pics are so bad - if i know what happened. and then again i wonder why i tell the story and user push the like button anyway. well, for sure others may like what i don´t like but it´s weird.
sushi_9009 · 2012-06-18 21:43
instead of this selected and like thing i am always astonished for the underrated lomographers.
for example: some pics where are very popular, i think...hmmm ok, but not really good...and other pics they are very impressed me, have 4 likes and not more...that is so sad....i think it is a kind of advertising to make some pics more liked than others... :((
bloomchen · 2012-06-18 21:55
@zoe191 as for the "personal favourites" i told in the shoutbox that 2 or 3 months ago i was in touch with LSI and in one of my emails i asked for bookmarks - which is nothing else than a personal selection of the pics i like most. i was told that this suggestion is forwarded to someone in charge of it. well, untill now nothing happened and didn´t hear anything from LSI again. but i think it would be an imporvement of the page. besides everyone can show the pics he likes most it makes it more easy to browse for special pics/albums to show explain certain things. in the past i would have needed such bookmarks/favourites quite often.
wolkers · 2012-06-18 22:18
@bloomchen: I think you're totally right about the update. Kind of you'd expect to see there something new daily.. I don't think this has to be a newly uploaded image, but if they change at least, this would be quite nice.
The problem about this whole section indeed is, and I think this applies especially to the 'handpicked section', a matter of taste. You've got some people who have the 'power' to select and they select according to their taste.
You can't use a programm to select beauty and to be objective here is definitely hard.
It's quite hard to find a good solution for this and I actually always only like the images that I really like - no matter where they're shown. So I cannot really say if removing the like button makes sense or not @cc-in-paris
But you're point is good, if you all feel like everyone likes the pictures because they're there.

But it's quite difficult to find a good solution.
zoe191 · 2012-06-18 22:22
@bloomchen That indeed would be great. It would be nice to be able to feature our own favourites from our albums and put it on a section in our home. Then visitors can go there and see what you think are the photos that mean most to you or what you think are some of your best works. These days I think it's becoming more and more like a popularity contest here.
bloomchen · 2012-06-18 22:50
@sushi_9009 indeed, there are quite many people with pics i really like and when i click the like button i´m #4 or so - and i don´t get it that so many people seem to be so wrong with not liking but in fact it´s just a matter popularity, attention and the number of lomofriends. but i don´t know if advertising is such a big thing or better has a lot of influence on the likes.
@wolkers: right now i have the impression you´re right: i do think a bit too much about this section ;) anyway when i said having users involved would mean that the decision is on more shoulders. i´m brainstorming now: create a pool of user that declared they want to be involved. give them a special interface so when they login they have the possibility to mark 15 shots per day. the intersection could be the selected page. makes only sense if you can browse a 24h-hours-block. i have to stop here.
anafaro · 2012-06-19 00:09
Hi everyone. Oh my, what a lively discussion we have here. :) Thank you to @bloomchen for initiating it. :) I haven't read all of the comments, so I'm really sorry if I am repeating what some people already said. From those comments I did read, I have to say that @cc-in-paris is right on the ball! Our most liked pictures end up being the ones that featured on the "selected" page. As @grazie mentioned, some of the photos I love were pushed out from the 1st page of the most popular photos by others that I feel are of inferior quality but that were, by chance, featured as "selected". Unlike what @elvismartinezsmith said, I don't think the selection of photos should be based upon sheer popularity of those photos, because this would taint a bit the whole purpose of this feature - or at least the way I see it. The "Selected" feature should be a platform to exhibit great work, regardless of who did it, how many likes it got previously, how many friends this person had, etc. The fact that they pick new comers is something really good. It help us having access to the work of great Lomographers on a very unbiased way! Otherwise we would only end up knowing the work of the friends we already follow.
I'm not sure removing the "like" button of the photos would be a solution. Maybe they could replace it by a button saying "visit this lomohome"?
One comment I would like to add: being a scientist in training and being quite used to extrapolate the trend from data, I think I found the magic formula to get your photos picked up for the selected feature: 1) Upload pictures of people holding a camera - preferably a Lomo camera. Always works!; 2) As @Grazie said, it is kind of random the day they decide to renew the gallery of selected ones, but they always selected photos from the albums I've uploaded on Sundays. This maybe be just my anecdotal experience , but it happened to me twice in the last weeks (one of them was this last sunday) that the albums I upload on a sunday have way more attention and ended up being featured on the selected and most popular sections. I guess the first thing some one does in the LSI headquarters every monday morning is looking at the most recently uploaded photos from the day before... :)
grazie · 2012-06-19 00:27
and to add to the solution of @anafaro 3) Upload lots of photos of pets preferrably cats ;)
cc-in-paris · 2012-06-19 02:44
@grazie @anafaro 4)upload a photo of the Eiffel tower
anafaro · 2012-06-19 08:35
@grazie, @cc-in-paris: we should start writing a book on "how to be successful in LSI". :D @redtulip: 100% agree with you! The "selected" photos should have some info on which film and camera were used. I must say when a photo captures attention, I always click on it to read a bit more on how it was taken and to see the rest of the album. But I admit I don't do this for all of the photos I end up liking in the "selected" feature...
marcel2cv · 2012-06-19 08:36
I agree! Replace the like button with "visit home". Much better. And the number of pics per user should really be reduced. It's quite annoying to see some users in the selected with everything they do (even some really boring fotos) and others don't get the chance...
knipsomat · 2012-06-19 09:08
Just viewed the selected- section and discovered a pic taken on chip on the first page again... .
This section is worthless and so is the "visit home"- button. Why should I visit a home with digital shit?
A counter for each picture showing the views and a section with the most viewed stuff would be so much better, maybe a "hate"- button would be nice for all the digital taken shit here!
gibri · 2012-06-19 11:43
I think in "selected" must put only one photo for person... and add every day new photos... more possibility for more people
bloomchen · 2012-06-19 11:59
@knipsomat do you really think "most viewed" would be better? i´d like to remind you of this guy who showed up here about 3 months ago with all his stolen digital nude pics. plus it wouldn´t really introduce us new user/pics. and that´s exactly why i like the selected feature. those with many lomofriends would block everything and i would then have to browse the whole page for newbies or others i didn´t take notice so far.
saidseni · 2012-06-19 13:41
(Didn't read all the comments, sorry!) I wasn't very enthusiastic about the Selected Photos as most of the people when it appeared because the Selected Pictures become Popular Pictures and I sometimes feel I'm always seeing the same pictures here, by the same lomographers. I'm aware the community is growing A LOT but I don't feel it because I'm always seeing the same pictures here...
knipsomat · 2012-06-19 13:53
Sorry, I naturally meant "less viewed" ... . "most viewed" and "most liked" is always the same shit like @saidseni said.
oliviermenard · 2012-06-19 17:06
Very interesting discussion. Uploading pictures on Lomography to be selected in the "Selected Photos" section has clearly something to do with "exhibitionnism" and vanity. But that''s human, and nevertheless this site is a convivial place to share pictures. When you try to shoot a good picture, you are happy and proud to get numerous likes and to be selected. What is really unclear and absolutely "non transparent" is the way the webmaster's team do select the pictures and what criteria are required. Quality ? Use of vintage cameras? Creativity ? Or belonging to the "Lomo Gurus" group who see their photos systematically selected whatever they have uoploaded (Me and my cat, my cat alone, an old bottle and an ashtrey on the table, hundreds and hundreds of "asiatic bunnies", and so on....)
An other point is what kind of film is "trendy": shoot garbage with X-Tungsten or Redscale or Astia and you will be selected more surely than uploading home-processed BW with vintage cameras!!
Last point: since Lomography is a commercial business, selling at very expensive rates plastic cameras you can find on the web for very low costs, is there a relationship between the amount of euros or dollars you gave to Lomography for buying films and cameras, the number of Piggy Points and the number of selected photos????
bloomchen · 2012-06-19 17:32
@oliviermenard surely the way the pics are selected is non transparent i tend to doubt that there is a system regarding film, cams or user - user in matters of systematically showing pics of a special very often. at least i haven´t noticed a system in there. and i would be disappointed if there was any. as for the "lomogurus" - i was one some weeks ago - i think i can say that even though today i have 3 pics in the section those are not really represented much - at least i´m not but maybe it´s due to the quality of my pics. but i think you meant something else with this statement. what i really dislike is seeing 1-2 weeks old pics in the section what happens from time to time because it leaves the impression there weren´t any better pics uploaded in the meantime which is surely wrong. and buying and piggies as criteria is a pretty harsh statement. what do i think how it works: well, there are two or three responsible people of LSI and all of them have a job to do besides updating the selected section. so sometimes they have no time left and sometimes only few time and this is somehow mirrored i think. it is impossible to give all user the same attention and therefore it is an unthankful job.
atria007 · 2012-06-19 19:13
ohhh great blog...i want comment a lot of things but my english is horrible for to do it..i have to read all comment very slow and only have to say in general lomography have to change a lot of things..i want to write more but is very difficult..hehehe
zoe191 · 2012-06-19 22:24
LIke @saidseni said, there are a lot of homes here, and thousands of pictures get uploaded everyday, the community is growing. Do you notice this on the main page? "Welcome to Lomography! In the last 24 hours there were 8,506 photos uploaded, 1,804 messages written, 1,316 comments made and 40,191 likes given. Thanks!" But why do we see the same people over and over again in Selected? And why doesn't Selected get updated everyday?
anafaro · 2012-06-20 00:24
I don't want to be the devils advocate. Surely they choose pictures for the selected feature that are of doubtful taste or quality. But we also have to consider that the fact they end up picking photos from many of the same lomographers have to do with: 1) more senior lomographers tend to shoot more and in a more regular basis, therefore they have much more to chose from; 2) many senior lomographers know what they're doing with their cameras and therefore get much more satisfying results. I am sure there are new lomographers super talented and I have found a few rookies that have great photos. But truth be told, many of the less experienced lomographers may still be learning a lot of things and the quality of the photos is not the same as others we see in the website. To LSI credit we have to recognize that they've introduced the "newcomer of the week" feature and every month they also select the most popular photos of newcomers, most popular newcomers, etc. So they do make an effort to give a lot of exposure to people who are just starting here in the Lomo community. Furthermore, many times they attribute LHOTD to people who have started recently in Lomography. I do think they try to balance things. And all systems end up having their flaws... there is definitely room for improvement, but it's also not as bad as some people are saying here...
Seeing pictures from more experienced Lomographers in the "selected" page or elsewhere actually gives me a lot of inspiration and makes me learn a lot. I definitely love being exposed to great pictures, regardless of who took them.
adi_totp · 2012-06-20 02:10
what a blog! Rather than clicking away in Selected Photos in "Photos" section, I prefer clicking and exploring "Random Photos" section or "Random Home" section. I just love to explore and surfing away in the sea of photos here, there's a lot of photos that made me "WOOOOWW" ... "WHOAAAAA" . For me this is inspiration, seeing new photos everyday from different user. I do enjoy it very much. Analogue photography really makes my day, any day, Every day. :D
ihave2pillows · 2012-06-20 05:37
My reactions to the current Hand-picked section...

30% Wow that's a good one
30% Scream
30% Want to live on a beach permanently stuck at sunset
100% Become allergic to hand-in-the-sky pictures
200% Let's borrow someone's cat
300% Someone should start a "most-underrated" section
bloomchen · 2012-06-20 13:43
so as i have pics in the selected section i wrote as title that people might check the rest of the album or others. let´s see if this works.
guinastrapazi · 2012-06-20 17:12
the only thing which i really don't like about the selected photo section is that ..
1.) there are most of the time the same users/ homes supported.
2.) they often choose photos which look quite the same
3.) they take often three to four photos from the same user.
@bloomchen : das mit dem liken wird immer so sein, das manche leute einfach sich nicht die mühe antun das ganze album zu betrachten, das wird sich auch mit der bildunterschrift nicht ändern. und bei der selected photo section wird das alles nur noch mehr "unterstützt" (die Faulheit) .. da gehts dann gleich noch viel schneller das man oberflächlich Fotos liked, nur weil sie in dieser Auswahl drinnen sind. da wird sich bestimmt nichts ändern. (außer wenn man vielleicht wirklich darüber nachdenkt den "like" button abzuschaffen und einen "visit recent album" button einblendet oä. )
aber ehrlich, ich bin da auch eher @wolkers meinung,.. nicht zu ernst nehmen, ich finde allgemein dass die selected section ein wenig überbewertet wird (nicht böse gemeint, auf keinen fall)
ich schau sie mir gern durch, und wenns mich interessiert auch gern das ganze album =)
aber die auswahl; naja .. sie sollten es umbennen in "random but neat shoot section" :D viele gleiche Motive, eben wolken, katzen, hände in der sonne usw ..
guinastrapazi · 2012-06-20 17:14
(und gute idee übrigens ;))
buckshot · 2012-06-30 08:49
I'd like to add a note of support for LSI here, because I think the Selected page is fine the way it is now. It might not be very democratic and the selection process might not be very transparent, but it's a great way to get a quick overview of what's been uploaded recently and there is, on the whole, a fair enough mix of great shots/mediocre shots and lomogurus/newbies featured on there. Remember that YOU choose to visit the Selected page, you choose whether or not to hit the 'Like' button and you choose whether or not to visit a selected Lomographer's home and see more of their shots. All that choice cannot be a bad thing, surely? Also, the Selected page is just one of the very many ways the site offers for you to explore people's work. (I personally love the community activity page available via Homes > Homes.) In summary, I applaud LSI for giving us so much choice in how we interact with the site and with each other. My only complaint about the Selected page would be that it should be updated every day, including during weekends and holidays.