The bulk update request #10538 is active.
create alias grain (5) -> grain_(disambiguation) (0)
change category grain_(disambiguation) (0) -> invalid
create alias grainy_image (8) -> film_grain (811)
create alias grainy_texture (8) -> film_grain (811)
create alias grainy (13) -> film_grain (811)
change category film_grain (811) -> meta
Reason: I've fallen off the deep end and into the grain.
I found an image that had a very strong film grain effect. I checked if we had a tag for film grain, and found that we indeed do. When I added it to the image in question I noticed it was a general tag, and thought it might be better in the meta category. Just to double check that it was mainly being used as a filter over the whole image, rather than on something like a TV in an image, I started clicking around and discovered a handful of tags that seem to be used somewhat interchangeably.
film_grain: I didn't look through all of these, but the ones I checked all appear to have a grainy filter over the whole image.
grain: This tag appears to be about half-and-half used for a grainy filter over the image, and for wheat grain. I think disambiguation is sensible for this as both interpretations are intuitive enough that people may not check.
grainy_background: About half of these have a film grain effect over the whole image, half have a paper or paper-like background, and a few have a grainy background with a non grainy foreground (imo the best use for this tag).
grainy_image: All of these have a film grain effect over the whole image, except for one (post #4262399) which was halftone rather than grain, I think.
grainy_texture: Same as above, except for post #5346744, which I think is a mistag
grainy: The largest tag by an order of magnitude (~1000 as opposed to the others ~10-100). I checked a sample of three images from each of the eight pages, and it appears to be overwhelmingly used for images with a film grain effect over them, except for one with only a grainy background.
My feelings on the matter are that we appear to have three distinct niches that need filling. The first is for the majority of images, which have a film-graineque filter over the whole image. The second is for grainy backgrounds where the subject lacks grain. The third, which as far as I can tell doesn't exist as a tag, is for images with a paper textured background.
I have some suggestions for resolving this travesty of injustice:
1) Disambiguate grain and add a more specific tag
2) Keep grainy_background as a tag for images where only the background is grainy, while removing images that do not meet this criteria.
3) Consolidate the other tags under film_grain or grainy via alias. I personally prefer film_grain as it is more specific, despite being less used than grainy.
4) Shift film_grain or grainy to the meta category
This has been a bit of a mission and grain no longer makes sense to me as a real word. Super open to ideas/critique on this one as I've never done a BUR quite so complicated before.
EDIT: The bulk update request #10538 (forum #440820) has been approved by @spe.
Updated by auto moderator