A pet peeve- forum signatures

Over the years I have posted to many online photography forums. Both in the capacity of asking questions seeking information and answering the questions of others to the best of my ability. I hope in some way to have returned a bit of the useful information that was passed on to me this way.

During this time I have seen many interesting examples of what is known as the forum signature. Its the little bit down at the bottom that always shows up when a user makes a post. The content of this signature is completely up to the forum user and the uses people make of this space are many and varied. Some examples include a clever and interesting quote, song lyrics, some philosophical musings, a reference to another funny post that was made in the past or links to other pages the poster may have, such as a photo sharing site or a blog.

But one type of signature that I repeatedly see, and one that has always to a degree perplexed me, is a list (of varying length) of the photography equipment owned and used by the poster.

Errrr....ok.

I suppose I can understand this a little bit. Maybe as a reference of 'Hey I own these types of lenses or this camera body so if you need info on them send me a message'. Yeah, I get that. I suppose. But increasingly of late I have seen the most inane gear added to this list. For example, a recent one included the exact model of an extra battery the poster owned and used.

A freaking battery? Are you kidding me?

Why the hell would I care about which battery you use in your camera? Or which strap you use (complete with the info that it was real leather while also describing which color stitching was used)? Or which tripod mount or L bracket? Yes, I have seen all of those listed in the sig. This smacks more of mental forum masturbation with a side psychosis of hoarding then anything that has to do with photography.

I see this over and over. People proudly listing every camera body and lens and lens adapter and flash and backpack etc, etc ad nauseum. It seems like they are more concerned with the collection of photographic gear (and their proud ownership of it) then with the actual art of creating imagery.

How about this instead...post a link to your 500pix page, or your flickr page, or your Ipernity page or whatever. Show us the photos you have made. Wow us with some examples of creative and compelling imagery. Or at least show us that you are trying.

My most recent sig? A quote from The Art of Noise that I have found to be all to true on many forums.

Debussy understood that a work of Art, or an effort to create beauty, was always regarded by some people as a personal attack. - The Holy Egoism of Genius

Give it a listen.