Recently I did my first poll and asked whether or not you've used the critique feature yet. The poll didn't get a lot of participation, but the result is a little disturbing anyway: Four out of ten people had never heard of this feature.

The critique feature (for details see FAQ #95: What is the Critique Feature and how do I use it?) was introduced about two months ago. If you have a subscription, you can use this feature to request critical feedback on your work or provide it for someone else's work. But even if you don't have a subscription, you should still be able to see critiques on other people's pictures... So I'm really not sure how anybody could have missed this feature.

Anyway, there's one key difference between writing a critique and writing a normal comment: The critique feature forces you to write at least 100 words — otherwise it won't accept your text. You may have noticed that most comments look like this:

"Nice shot!"

"I like it."

"Wow that's so kewl!"

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate those comments too, but they don't exactly facilitate artistic growth. What do all these comments have in common? Right, they're short. And that's exactly the benefit of the critique feature: The 100 words limit forces you to actually think instead of verbalizing your spontaneous emotional response. And once you've thought about a piece of art, you are much more likely to provide meaningful feedback that can actually help the artist. Of course, it's still just your opinion and other people might disagree, but it's much better than the comment examples above.

I've noticed a little problem with the critique feature, though: People just don't use it. I'm currently watching 64 people and only one of them (^kkart) writes critiques on a regular basis. I've gotten one critique so far (guess by whom — right: ^kkart) and I've written seven. By the way, critiques have another positive effect aside from getting feedback: The watchers of the person who wrote the critique might view it and thus see your work. ^kkart's critique got me a lot of s and a couple of new watchers.

In my opinion the critique feature can be a really powerful tool, but only if people use it. If you have a subscription and you've requested or written critiques, feel free to comment and let me know about your experiences. I'm interested in your opinion.

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