Good Egg Productions wrote:
the role of skilled photographer is almost useless to them.

...and theyre useless to skilled photographers.
well hey, this is in "off topic".
actual models still need portfolios, internet "models" just need selfies.

Paolo Diavolo wrote:

...and theyre useless to skilled photographers.

I've seen crazy pictures of tornadoes up close or lava flows with a few hundred likes while morons with street crap of a sidewalk and a sunset with palm trees have thousands.

FFantastique wrote:
So how would you reverse the decline?

If you're asking me, I really don't know. I'd rather have 100 members that are quality people than 1000 that suck. MM is a numbers game, but as usual, many of the "models" want to get paid for standing there with a blank look on their face. But that's another issue....

Good Egg Productions wrote:
a model's social media following is now far more important than her portfolio, and with all the advances of cell phone cameras and the tool available in Instagram and Snapchat, the role of skilled photographer is almost useless to them.

A lot of models have built their careers and book jobs from having a huge following.A lot of agencies will sign models based on their social media following.So their following actually gains attention of skilled photographers and paying gigs.

FFantastique wrote:
So how would you reverse the decline?

Take steps to make MM more model friendly.

L o n d o n   F o g wrote:
All good here in London, slowly and steadily it seems that the Eastern European girls are taking over.

No complaints here!

I agree. Whilst the forum is nothing like as useful as it used to be there's plenty of model activity in and around London. Moreso here IMO than on other UK modelling sites.

L o n d o n   F o g wrote:
All good here in London, slowly and steadily it seems that the Eastern European girls are taking over.

No complaints here!

I've worked with Eastern European models.  They're great!

Jerry Nemeth wrote:
I've worked with Eastern European models.  They're great!

Looks like we finally agree on something!

Yes they are amazing. I'd say that 70-80% of the models I now work with are from Eastern Europe, in particular Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Croatia and Russia. There's just something about the girls from this region, they are so naturally beautiful, so willing to go that extra mile for great looks. Many of them are top notch with their own make-up thus negating the need for MUA's, and most importantly they generally don't have any hang ups, and aren't particularly shy either!

All the right ingredients for amazing looks!

I think I might move to Riga!

L o n d o n   F o g wrote:

Looks like we finally agree on something!

Yes they are amazing. I'd say that 70-80% of the models I now work with are from Eastern Europe, in particular Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Croatia and Russia. There's just something about the girls from this region, they are so naturally beautiful, so willing to go that extra mile for great looks. Many of them are top notch with their own make-up thus negating the need for MUA's, and most importantly they generally don't have any hang ups, and aren't particularly shy either!

All the right ingredients for amazing looks!

I think I might move to Riga!

Personally i am thinking Budapest

I mentioned that i had found LA to be rich with good ( fashion ) models on MM ,,,i should have added that a significant number of them appeared to be of Russian or Eastern European background

Garry k wrote:

Personally i am thinking Budapest

I mentioned that i had found LA to be rich with good ( fashion ) models on MM ,,,i should have added that a significant number of them appeared to be of Russian or Eastern European background

Riga, Tallin, Budapest, Prague, Dubrovnik etc are all choc full of super hot talent, many of them have already moved to London, NYC, LA, Paris, Milan etc, and more power to them. And before anyone makes any snarky comments about Eastern Euro girls they would do well to know that many of these girls are naturally super hot, super stylish and know how to dress and look the business, and that's all that really matters.

Personally I couldn't give a rats ass if a model had participated in a 10 man gang bang the night before. As long as she turns up to my shoot looking hotter than fuck then that's all that matters.

This is an industry where looks, professionalism and style count for everything, the rest is totally unimportant and matters not one bit to photographers!

L o n d o n   F o g wrote:
Riga, Tallin, Budapest, Prague, Dubrovnik etc are all choc full of super hot talent, many of them have already moved to London, NYC, LA, Paris, Milan etc, and more power to them. And before anyone makes any snarky comments about Eastern Euro girls they would do well to know that many of these girls are naturally super hot, super stylish and know how to dress and look the business, and that's all that really matters.

Personally I couldn't give a rats ass if a model had participated in a 10 man gang bang the night before. As long as she turns up to my shoot looking hotter than fuck then that's all that matters.

This is an industry where looks, professionalism and style count for everything, the rest is totally unimportant and matters not one bit to photographers!

hmmm ...

well i dont think i have ever met a model who has engaged in such activities the night before a shoot ( but maybe i have and she was just too shy to tell me )

I try not to make judgements though regarding peoples lifestyle choices as long as they are doing it of their own free will ( not being coerced or exploited ) and not harming others or themselves

FFantastique wrote:
So how would you reverse the decline?

The problem is goals and incentive.   Compare IB to a modeling agency.  An agency makes money by booking shoots and doing what it take so ensure those shoots go well.  IB in contrast is an internet board service.  They make no money by shoots being booked and in fact, it's a liability for them, not a positive. 

I think for what's needed is an incentive that to some degree resembles the way agencies work a site that makes in money from successful bookings, not from member numbers, logins, or clicks on ads.

A few one-sided moderator actions have also driven off some good members.     Again, this comes down to incentive.  IB doesn't care if the advice given in a forum is good or bad or censored.  They care about numbers.

L o n d o n   F o g wrote:

Looks like we finally agree on something!

Yes they are amazing. I'd say that 70-80% of the models I now work with are from Eastern Europe, in particular Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Croatia and Russia. There's just something about the girls from this region, they are so naturally beautiful, so willing to go that extra mile for great looks. Many of them are top notch with their own make-up thus negating the need for MUA's, and most importantly they generally don't have any hang ups, and aren't particularly shy either!

All the right ingredients for amazing looks!

I think I might move to Riga!

I had a model from Prague who was an hour late for the shoot last year.  She apologized many times.  It wasn't her fault.
On the way back to the hotel with another photographer they hit a javelina at night in the desert.

Barrister Photography wrote:
I've been away from MM from a couple of years.  I have recently started browsing again and trying to make contacts and what I am finding is that many many many people are now only checking their page every 3-6 months...and some are away. (Yes I was away too). .

I did the same thing (took 2-3 years off MM) and too was surprised by how much MM has quieted down in that time...

Paolo Diavolo wrote:

...and theyre useless to skilled photographers.
well hey, this is in "off topic".
actual models still need portfolios, internet "models" just need selfies.

Your thinking is outdated by at least 10 years and perhaps nearly 20 years.   The old days of carrying around a portfolio of 8 x 10's or 11 x 14's to "go see's" has gone the way of shooting film and hiring models from agencies, although I have never hired a model though an agency although I've worked with agency signed models.  All the major agencies are online.  Models carry their images on thumb drives.  Most photographers shoot digital although there are a few hold outs for film.  The vast majority of "actual" models are online with profiles on social networking websites.  Selfies are nothing to sneeze at as there are models who use selfies for marketing.  As crazy as it may seem, I even some models who make a direct profit from selfies.  At the very least, the use of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube make for great marketing tools. I'm on all of those sites.  Sometimes I even take selfies.

Barrister Photography wrote:
I've been away from MM from a couple of years.  I have recently started browsing again and trying to make contacts and what I am finding is that many many many people are now only checking their page every 3-6 months...and some are away. (Yes I was away too).  It also seems that a lot of the people that were on here in the past are gone and the over all numbers of people in my area has dwindled.

Is anybody else experiencing this or is this just my imagination?  I'm not trying to knock MM, just curious as to what the issue is and why.

I've never gone away, but I have noticed the slow down.  I no longer spend as much time on here either.  I'm kept busy enough from all the other locations on the Internet that I'm on.  Even the Facebook group devoted to MM gossip has nearly died ...  nothing new really happening here.

Good Egg Productions wrote:
It's not your imagination.

The reason is Instagram and Snapchat.

a model's social media following is now far more important than her portfolio, and with all the advances of cell phone cameras and the tool available in Instagram and Snapchat, the role of skilled photographer is almost useless to them.

That is a good summary of what has been happening.

The F-Stop wrote:
just look at the +18 winners. thats what mm is left with.

Granted Facebook is now taking heat for banning nudity even if it's a Pulitzer Prize winner, an iconic image of newsworthy importance, or a work of art.

Barrister Photography wrote:
Has MM Declined?

What's "MM" you are talking about?

Lesser chocolate candy production?   

Patrick Walberg wrote:
Even the Facebook group devoted to MM gossip has nearly died ...  nothing new really happening here.

There's several of those, actually... and the ones that I'm on have all slowed quite a bit. My take is that people have become way more selective about the time they spend on the intewebz in general.

PK Brazil wrote:
MM's social media features are extremely outdated. The site initially did a good job implementing popular MySpace-era social media features (friends, pic comments, tags, etc), but MM hasn't kept up with newer social media features (likes, trending pics, friend feeds, event invites, comment/tag replies, @user replies, etc).  Lack of contemporary features leads to much shorter stays on MM and infrequent logins. Former daily users now log in weekly or monthly.

FB, IG, Tumblr are much more engaging and have taken a lot of the MM traffic. They of course lack some model site features like local talent searches, casting lists, travel notices, etc, so MM remains semi-relevant. 

Also, a lot of web traffic has gone mobile and MM has a very weak mobile game.

Absolutely!  Traveling models that I know "live and breath" by their mobile devices (fancy term for smart cellphones) and now Live Streaming is picking up major steam as a required tool in communications.  Some allow one on one communication like Skype while others allow broadcasting with an audience in a chatroom like on Facebook, and even guesting like Younow.   Live streaming is the future.  This Modelmayhem site doesn't even have a chatroom, as Shout Box hardly qualifies with it's 1990's technology as a tool.

Barrister Photography wrote:
I've been away from MM from a couple of years.  I have recently started browsing again and trying to make contacts and what I am finding is that many many many people are now only checking their page every 3-6 months...and some are away. (Yes I was away too).  It also seems that a lot of the people that were on here in the past are gone and the over all numbers of people in my area has dwindled.

Is anybody else experiencing this or is this just my imagination?  I'm not trying to knock MM, just curious as to what the issue is and why.

I've been booking paid and collaborative work through social media and word of mouth. I've always kept my email notifications ON so there was never a need to check my account or inbox.

I've been off MM for at least a year, maybe two, and I don't think anything has changed. Forums look the same, castings too. Not sure why I came back, but I did work with two super cool models from MM recently so if anything, this place was certainly worth revisiting.

.

L o n d o n   F o g wrote:

Riga, Tallin, Budapest, Prague, Dubrovnik etc are all choc full of super hot talent, many of them have already moved to London, NYC, LA, Paris, Milan etc, and more power to them. And before anyone makes any snarky comments about Eastern Euro girls they would do well to know that many of these girls are naturally super hot, super stylish and know how to dress and look the business, and that's all that really matters.

Personally I couldn't give a rats ass if a model had participated in a 10 man gang bang the night before. As long as she turns up to my shoot looking hotter than fuck then that's all that matters.

This is an industry where looks, professionalism and style count for everything, the rest is totally unimportant and matters not one bit to photographers!

I've worked with a number of Eastern European models (heck, I've even married a Russian woman! ) but I've found that their skills and attitudes are similar to other model groups from different origins. There are good ones and bad ones.

And if you talk about professionalism, I'd much rather the models I work with go to bed early and drink a lot of water the night before a shoot than partying all night and coming to set with no energy, bad skin and bags under their eyes, but that's just me

Fotopia wrote:
In the Atlanta market there is an ever decreasing number of viable models because of the disgusting behavior of many local "photographers".

Two Atlanta men  have vacated mayhem recently, one under police investigation for criminal sexual assault following allegations from 20 models personal experiences.

Another with unprofessional conduct leading to models quitting the business likewise is gone.

Nothing is produced here in greater numbers than grossed out, fed up amateur models.

Must be something in the water!

L o n d o n   F o g wrote:
Must be something in the water!

We do have water filters, but they aren't strong enough for Georgia.

PK Brazil wrote:
MM's social media features are extremely outdated. The site initially did a good job implementing popular MySpace-era social media features (friends, pic comments, tags, etc), but MM hasn't kept up with newer social media features (likes, trending pics, friend feeds, event invites, comment/tag replies, @user replies, etc).  Lack of contemporary features leads to much shorter stays on MM and infrequent logins. Former daily users now log in weekly or monthly.

FB, IG, Tumblr are much more engaging and have taken a lot of the MM traffic. They of course lack some model site features like local talent searches, casting lists, travel notices, etc, so MM remains semi-relevant. 

Also, a lot of web traffic has gone mobile and MM has a very weak mobile game.

I generally agree with you but for different reasons.

The laptop/desktop user experience for the most part is fine. Its the mobile device user experience that's a borderline nightmare. If people can't (or is hard for them) to check & reply to message, what's exactly the point of using this site? In my opinion, it all stems from that.