Gather Member Survey - Your Input Requested

Numbers 1, 5 and 6 would be at the top of my list.

7, 10, 13, and 1 in that order

4, 1, 2, 3, 12 ... a lot of this is self-explanatory once you play around on the site a bit. I'd say go with the things that new and old users alike can benefit from right away. Did I mention 4? *nudge, nudge*

2, 3 and 4 (thanks for asking kevin!)

Number 4 is very important and people do not understand that. For example you create groups for people to share their experiences and instead articles get posted that are fact sheets on the said topic from a national site with no permission to post it and no mention that this is not their work.

You can get all your work copyrighted for $45. I printed it out a few weeks ago to do, even though my site at BellaOnline is copyrighted. I have sent cease and desist letters and also have a google alert set for my name and my topics to see where my content ends and then contact them.

I think it would be best if people cite the source, post the link and then add their commentary. I shared a link to an article in Time magazine and now there is a discussion on that article. That is what I would like to see instead of content that was not written by members.

So something with examples of what type of statement to use saying it is copyrighted and then the links to the copyright office to get your stuff done and sample of cease and desist letter, etc.

Sounds like I could have written an article on this based on my experiences, but no place really to put it. Maybe a specific group here on that type of issue for writing online and the legalities of it all. What do you think?

The only topic I am interested in is #1. The others can pretty much be learned by playing around.

1 and 5 would satisfy my questions. Thanks Kevin.

I think that is a great idea Bonnie

12
2
3
5
7

2, 3, 4, 5 & 11 I also remember someone, maybe it was you when I first started usinng Gather, published an article about using html markup to make your comments and articles more interesting. And what size to make images so they do not get so distorted. That was very helpful for a beginner. I have it saved and refer to it still. I did not however, copy the author. Sorry, I was new. Gather is very lucky to have you.

Links in comments.

Kevin, I would like to see tutorials on numbers 2,4,5,10,11....however you can add the others as well! LOL We "newbies" on the site would appreciate any help we can get figuring out the "animal" ! LOL Thank you for offering to do this....it is much appreciated!

I don't live in San Francisco, yet I'm all fogged in concerning the first item.
What's it all about? Thanx.

2, 3, 4, and 5
Thanks for all you do Kevin!

1,2,3 & 6 for me, thanks, Kevin.

Foo. I want to learn how to put links into my articles, so, of course, that isn't one of the options.

Danielle, I would cover adding links in articles as a part of the guide on publishing. I would also provide publishing tips, and discuss some of the quirks associated with the publishing process.

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Nancy, I have already written a fairly comprehensive guide to putting links in comments, as well as other formatting options. I may update it to reflect the new Gather design (with orange 'balloons'), but I think you will find the article covers everything you need to make your comments 'sexy'! Please follow the link below.

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Paul, There have been members experiencing multiple image/article publication problems, and duplicate mail messages as well. Perhaps that is a part of the problem. Also, some individuals only read their mail occasionally. Hence, you may be receiving fallout from the mail message you sent out a couple of weeks ago.

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I think they are all important,

but I would say 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 for me

2, 3 and 5, Kevin but they're all good. Thanks for all you do :)

12, 8, 6, 5, 2--- However, they all seem to be of interest and I look forward to each of them. I nominate Kevin as the Gather Guru.

Bonnie, having access to a single Gather resource for information on copyright and fair use guidelines would be my goal. If you would like to tackle this, I am certain that Gather members would be most appreciative. I would only suggest that you keep it concise, and well organized.

As for creating a Gather Group on this, I am not certain if this would help or hinder. However, having a place to 'report' potential violations might be a good thing (until Gather expands their flagging system). Hmmm...I will need to think on this a bit more.

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Bonnie's comment is helpful to me but I think we need to discuss it further since # 4 - Copyright and Fair Use, is my main concern right now. I spend most of my time on Gather reading articles and leaving comments where and when I am inclined. It bothers me a lot when people publish articles without giving credit where it is due.

I just now read almost all the articles published by one member and I realized this member was publishing jokes and stories that are definitely not original... I recognized them as jokes and stories being forwarded ad infinitum via emails. I have no trouble with the writer sharing them with the Gather community but I believe it is a violation of the Gather TOS if the writer does not give credit to the original author (or at least attach a disclaimer for the content?). I truly believe publishing unoriginal work takes away from the real writers who labor over their creative pieces and it also is terribly unfair to grant Gather points for plagiarized articles. I know these are just jokes, but publishing them without disclaimers make it appear like the publisher actually authored them!

I would really love to have an option to report such articles to Gather by just using a button similar to the "potentially inappropriate" button. Since Potentially Inappropriate only covers adult/ mature contents and language, I think we need a different button or system for reporting suspected plagiarized contents?

Am I being too touchy regarding this?

Kevin, thanks for providing us with this forum!

Pearl,

Gather is expanding the flagging options to include suspected copyright/fair use violations. However, I do not know when this is expected to be implemented.

Until then, you can send an email to abuse@gather.com to report potential violations. An easy method would be to use the 'email to a friend' option available on all articles and images. You can then include a short note for Gather identifying your concern.

Although, there may be substantial value is discussing these issues in a public forum. Thus, should/would we use a reporting group where members can publish suspected violations (in addition to reporting to Gather)? Then, have an open discussion on the content to identify the majority opinion?

There are many positives to this. Although, on the down side, this could be viewed as a public trial for all reported content.

What do you think?

A public forum for discussing potential copyright and Fair Use issues in an article sounds good. However, as with all publicly available options, we must accept the fact that it could be abused just like the flagging button is now being used maliciously. If safeguards against abuse can be instituted, I think a public forum would be helpful to Gatherers, in identifying pitfalls that writers must guard against. Barring the community's negative reception to such a forum, then I would recommend an option where reporting such articles with attached explanation and source of original content to Gather, suficient for now. I also recommend that these reports be non-anonymous.

Numbers 1 through 5 wouild be my top five, Kevin.

I've made this a Feature in Unofficial Gatherholics. Thank you.

Hi Kevin
This will be a great resource
My list first and foremost starts with number 12 - which would probably include all the stuff I struggled to figure out within my first 6 weeks. Numbers 4 and 6 are not far behind. I would also be interested in numbers 8 and 10.

To me, finding stuff #9 would be handy. Overall, things for newbies is probably best. We would all benefit from that as well on our viewership.

2,5,6,9

2, 5 10 in my list.

1, 4, 12, 11, 10, and everything else as you find the time. I'm sure before you can get all of this done, something else will come up. Thanks so much for helping all of us. I certainly appreciate it and from reading the comments in this and other articles am sure many others do too. You are a godsend!

1,2,3,5 & 6 in any order. It's incredible you would take the time to do this -- thanks.