ViewBug

Serious photographers need not apply! Been a member for about 4
Months and have to say this is one of the most disappointing sites I
Have signed up to. The platform they use is weak good photos get
Buried by members bulk uploading snap shots from their party the night
Before. Members of the site post spam comments on photos to gain
Points which give them the chance to spam more members.

For a photography site design to promote better photography all they
Seem to care about is getting the 60 bucks from members who have very
Weak portfolios! Just another flickr site with a gimmick. If you
Have the time to waist its a great place to go if your looking for
Examples of what not to do related to photography. The contests are a
Great idea however the management has proven time and time over its
Failure to enforce any kind of standard. Members enter photos of
Animals in abstract photography contests which proves they lack the
Basic understanding of the fundamental of photography.

Any person who is serious about photography will see the flaws of this
Site on day one! Members comments are nonconstructive and done mostly to gain points which seem to be some kind of measure of success on the site. This site IMO does nothing more than encourage weak photography making it more difficult for the serious photographers to get the recognition for the time they have invested trying to better themselves and the industry.

NOT Recommended!

I have been an inactive member for five years, very active six years ago. But like other reviewers I see no real benefit yet am bombarded with spambot roboreps informing me I was chosen yada yada. Front face it looks cultishly like a scheme. It's the back room I've been wondering about. How do they REALLY make money, increase value for their investors? It MUST be the images. They've built an enormous library they can sell with no ties to me or the other saps whove uploaded cool pics. Just sayin'. Fun to look through nice shots, though.

Not the best of the photo competition sites, but not the worst either. Nice that it has competitions with prizes, but far too many clickbait emails and persistent notifications trying to get you to upgrade ($) to see your stats, enter off-limits competitions and gain other pointless social media-type benefits (ie, ones where you do the work and pay for the privilege). It has a ridiculous 'curator' system that encourages you to send pre-formed messages to complete strangers in order to get them to be more active. The UI is a bit bonkers, and makes it hard or impossible to see precisely how well you are doing or have done in challenges, how many votes you got, etc. Makes one wonder if there is deliberate obfuscation going on for some hidden purpose. Maybe the levels of user activity aren't as great as they like to imply.

Having been on this and other photo contest sites for several years, I think the biggest problem is that its peer image voting system (showing four photos of different sizes on a screen you have to scroll FCOL) simply doesn't work. Far too often the peer voted 'winner' in a challenge just isn't that good. This isn't sour grapes - it is an objective opinion that the site throws up poor images as winners far more often than other sites. This, again, suggests that the volume of voting isn't high enough for the magic 'algorithm' to work.

With all the reviews stating that this website is untrue and biased towards certain members it raises a huge amount of doubt in my mind. I have been a member of this website for 2 weeks now and it seems that their only goal for me is to buy a membership spend more than $100. I have submitted photos and it seems like fun but I cannot find anyone that has actually won a prize from this website. There are many red flags telling me that this website is misleading and untrustworthy. People are going out of their way to inform fellow photographers that this website is a TRAP. After reading all the reviews, finding a Facebook page dedicated to informing people that this website is a scam, and reading countless reviews about this website deceiving people and not replying to them via email, it is safe to say that this website is not worth its while and I would highly recommend a cautious approach to it. I would not share my images with this website and I will no longer be a part of this website. It is more likely a SCAM than not.

I have been using it for like five or so months now. At the begining i was so happy with it. Uploaded photo, taking part in contests that are free... I have gained 45 trifecta prize over the last months and it was amazing untll oneday i cant loginn anymore to the site.

They show me This >> You are no longer an active user in Viewbug. Please contact us to reuse your account. Code: ******* <<

I was shocked to find that my portfolio has been erased and all my photo has been deleted. I tried to contact with them but i gave up after four email. One facebook inbox masssage and one tweet.

They dont response at all.

This site maybe a good place for beginner photographer, with all the free contests and good encouraging comments from community, but for serious people, its not a place they should waste their time on.

I was attracted to Viewbug by their long list of expert judges. There was virtually nothing to tell me about how the site operates, but I expected it to be similar to other sites that offer juried competition for a gallery exhibition or other prices.

This site is different. Most winners are decided members votes. Members range widely in skill level and experience. Look at the work posted on Flickr and similar sites to get an idea. If you are an advanced photographer, these competitions are not very useful and similar to the ones you can get for free elsewhere online. The juried competitions involve members narrowing the selection down to about 50 images (from thousands) and a more experienced juror (a website staff or other) just looks at top 50 images.

I found the nondisclosure of that up front together with listing of great many expert judges creating an impression that the competitions are juried by experts. Even when you do become a member, it is difficult to find out how the competitions are organised. By that time it is too late and 3 weeks after I signed up for a year, I was offered only about 1/4 of what I paid back. I found this deceptive. I hope that you didi better research of this site than I did and that you learn from the experience.

I have been on Viewbug for over 5 years. When I started there were photographers posting quality work. Now 75% of the photos posted are garbage. I am a professional photographer and instructor of photography. I would never, even in my early days of learning photography, posted some of the images I see on Viewbug. Apparently, the individuals posting this junk really do not care and just load up the Viewbug site. It's clear they do not care that their junk they post reflects on them as a photographer. I do give peer awards to the photographers work that recognizes the beautiful art of photography. 25% of Viewbug has photographers that display absolutely beautiful work. In teaching photography the novice learns by viewing the work of other professional photographers. Unfortunately Viewbug is not the place for a novice or aspiring photographer to view this type of work 75% of the time. Some of the images I see that win in contest are awful and clearly shows the judges have no clue what their doing or the photographer solicits votes from all their friends (very unfair) not caring if their work is worthy of a win. To a serious photographer I would not recommend posting your work on Viewbug if you wish to be noticed. If you want to be noticed try Fine Art America. For over 35 years I have made my living doing professional photography and teaching photography. When Viewbug began it was a great site now I would not recommend it. Also, to be a paying member is out of the question. With this said good luck.

Not overly impressed with the service as some of the winners of the contests are not by any means the best within the community and or the contests. They seem to do very very little as far as running the site. They have two categories for there contests those who payed and those who did not. They do have a points system with unlocking badges but thats all they do is unlock they're useless trinkets. The biggest problem with the site as i see it. Is anyone who puts up the money can enter even the worst of quality or even no where near what the contest was about. So in order to vote for a favorite you have to go through thousands of pics by those not serious about photography what so ever. If the useless badges unlocked contests and then allowed you to the next level people might actualy talk and ask more about the pics and how they were done or want to grow as photographers. In todays age of cameras you certainly dont need to spend 10's of thousands to get a good shot. But to have all levels competing depending on the almighty buck is frustrating and very time consuming. Even when the voting is open or the second round theres still a ton of crap to sift through.

Viewbug isn't just a platform to share photos. It is a place where I have developed skills that I never thought I could master.

Sometimes, it feels like ViewBug's marketing plan is to get you to not only do your own marketing but their marketing as well. It's very easy to advertise yourself (and thus viewbug) on social media. Although they encourage you to pose photo challenges, it's a crap shoot as to whether they will put your challenge of the "hub" where others can see it. And if you don't make the hub, all you can do is spam your contacts on social media or individually invite ViewBug members without the ability to copy-and-paste or even share your challenge URL. What's up with that? And "reward points" are just vanity points, like all the silly "badges" they give.
THAT SAID, the site is addictive. I quit at one point of frustration with the patronizing attitude of "support." But I discovered, I just didn't shoot as many pictures, much less better pictures. I rejoined for the fun and learning I get from competing with professional and amateur photographers all over the world. The chances of winning any real prize (like a camera) are miniscule, but you can get rankings as how you compare to other photographers.
All in all, it's one of those sites where the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

This site is a great way to connect with others passionate about photography. However, it's main goal is "traffic". The more people interact with the site the better. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I've chosen not to make any monthly payments for the "PRO" or "Premium" status as those will get you to enter every contest instead of a few dozen. If you treat the site as another branch into a community of people that LOVE photography it is 5 stars. It's very addicting an satisfying to get feedback and give feedback.

If you treat the site as a way to further your photography business and exposure you will have to work very hard at building a base of fans to get your photos up to the top tier awards and possibly winning. Every contest will have 10's of 1,000's of entries and members are allowed to repost their best shots over and over for each new contest. Contests are the way to lure people in as a source of income. As long as you don't fall prey to ego on your photography skills thinking you have a chance of winning you'll have much more meaningful interactions in creating your own contests and connecting with others.

I don't plan to spend a dime on Viewbug memberships and have been enjoying the site despite that decision.

The interactive nature of the contests is so engaging. It is more than just a competition. It is a way to connect and grow.