Every now and then I test sharing private images only on groups, and get some interesting results. What I mean is that I keep the image as "Visible by: Me only", but then I share it on some group. What happens is that ipernity asks if I really do wish to share the image on the chosen group, and let other group members to see and comment the image.

The test part is to find out if people actually view my image within the group context at all. And then the test reveals if the group is actually used as an active place to view any of the group contributions within that group.

⇨ Challenge groups

So called challenge groups seem to give a quite high rate of views and comments. This is because members of those groups are more committed to do so. It is either voluntary or done because it is told to do so in the group rules. It means people indeed opens the group pages and see what new there are to see on contributions.

Some people don't like challenge groups because they often fill the Explore > Gallery with somewhat similar images once a week. And if and when there are several groups like these, then this happens several times a week.

It is of course possible to publish pictures as private or with friends only, and then share them only within selected groups. That way members of those groups can still view and comment. Then those images does not become "explored". However, I personally think all of us has to have a freedom to do as they wish. Let all flowers bloom, except of course not the inappropriate ones.

⇨ Game and play groups

As far as I know, at the moment there are only very few game groups that are active. The idea of game groups are that the group members as "players" pay attention on what others have posted as contributions because the group and game rules require to do so.

These game groups can be a great way to share even old uploads, and make them viewed again.

There are also so called contest groups, which can be seen as forms of game and play. But surely contests are also challenges, and therefore highly visited by the group members.

⇨ Theme groups

With theme groups I mean hundreds of groups where the topic is either very broad, very narrow or something in between. When I have posted private images only within theme groups, I hardly got any views from anyone else except maybe from the group moderators and administrative.

Theme groups are good on one aspect. They can provide a reviewed and international collection on some selected topic. For example when one wishes to find pictures of birds, groups can offer a better selection than searches:

• word search for bird
• keyword search for bird
• group Perching birds

This pretty much proves my expectation that people usually only "dump" the images to such theme groups but do not visit on those groups very often to see what others have posted. This is probably because most of us also publish the images for all of their contacts to see, and therefore people actually have seen them on news, and not in the context of any theme groups.

There are maybe few exceptions in case the group theme is for example either:

• very seasonal (e.g. Christmas)
• somewhat funny (e.g. pareidolia)
• inspiring (e.g. in camera movement)
• very popular (e.g. Fence Friday)
• shared interest (e.g. meeting)

People then do seek images on that particular theme by visiting the group pages, to either get inspired, to have fun, share opinions, or simply enjoy.

⇨ Reviewed and moderated collections

In general the best ways to browse images at ipernity are various groups used to selective choose images that stand out. It is an alternative for someone's personal favorites. When using a group as a tool, the selection criterias can be more focused and open for collective suggestions.

Suggestions

Most of us probably limit our daily ipernity followings on the news page, and as a result we very likely then see only what our contacts are up to. Instead of being a member on hundreds of groups, I recommend trying to limit membership on challenge, game and theme groups you really like. Then you may find time to pay attention on contributions posted by other group members as well. You may become even positively surprised to find something entirely new, and also new contacts to follow.

So, better not to waste time especially on myriad theme groups. People usually only follow their contacts on news, or active challenge and game groups. Only very few theme groups are worth to share with and follow.

Then if you sometimes miss something specific or entirely new, try the excellent ipernity search feature on top of the pages. Try also the more specific search options to limit the search for example to most recent first. Keywords (tags) can also work, but usually people don't use them. Therefore in many cases the search feature gives better results. Try also multiple search words.