Do you ever wish you could get away from the fighting, whining and putting-things-down that gets posted to Gather? There sure does seem to be a lot of it. The title notwithstanding, this is not one of those articles, but rather a commiseration with those who are seeking a more civil place to hang out. It’s also for those group hosts or pending group hosts who want to design successful group concepts.
I host several groups here on Gather, and it’s amazing how hard it is to keep the focus on what the Group was intended to be. Probably my least successful attempt was “Reading on Gather” where articles would direct readers to other great things that have been written and posted to Gather. The idea was that so many of us come here to write, and it would also be nice if we spent more time actually *reading* each others’ work. While there’s an occasional piece about someone’s favorite book, almost never is there a piece about some other Gather author’s work.
Oh, well.
My "Humiliated Conservative" group has had better luck, because politics are all the rage these days. People get the intent of the group and post about how disillusioned they are with the Republican leadership these days. Others will post their concerted defenses of the current administration, marriage of politics and religion, etc. Both types of articles are fine.
I am most happy though, with a group called “No Fighting, Whining or Putting Things Down”. When I started the group, I promised to jettison any article that had any of those characteristics. With very few exceptions that has been unnecessary. The title itself seems to make someone think twice before checking its box when posting something that doesn’t fit there. If I post something I think will be controversial, I don’t put it there either.
So, the lesson I get from it is this: If instead of having the group title say what the group is about, it says what is *not* supposed to be in there, people apparently respect that. This was a very rewarding lesson I’ve learned from having this group.
No Fighting Whining or Putting Things Down is a place where you can go and be reasonably sure you won’t find articles with titles like this article has. Today I’m making a push to bring more persons into the group. I think it succeeds in providing a place for those who don’t want to wade through all the whining, fighting and putting things down. Go ahead and test it. Scroll down through the articles. You'll notice almost no offensiveness or titles made up of fighting words.
Welcome. Make some tea. Relax and enjoy some actual writing.
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Comments: 19
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A couple of the players are having problems with each other, but they're both working hard to remain civil. And given that it's a religious discussion that now has some 300 comments, it's even more extraordinary.
I have eclectic interests, and I think a lot of groups try to fine-tune themselves too finely for me. I wrote about an ancestor who had a farm in Queens NY in 1645, and my article was kicked out of the Freedom group. Although, I didn't stress the part of my ancestor's reason for being in the colonies, I told about how he did fight in a militia against the Indians rights and freedoms. I thought it was apropo, but the group owner did not, and kicked my article off, so I immediately deleted myself from his group. Gather featured that article on their home page for a few hours, so it couldn't have been too bad. I still think the subjects of settlers and freedom are linked.
I have one group only that I have hardly advertised called Memorable Times. I think it has only 12 faithful members. Its purpose is to post memories, historical or personal; anything they find notable for stories that is lodged in their memories. I don't care what they post as long as it is decent. How do I know what they consider memorable!
Ron, I'm a member and love the group!!!
Martha, welcome. I'll remember not to send you an invitation (I'll be sending out heaps).
Kevin, I did take a look. Truth is a fascinating topic. A simple web search on truth and definitions of truth will find great material. I've been able to have rather civil disagreements with some on Gather, but I've also gone off the deep end. All sorts of discourse have their place, I guess.
Ruth, I used to post to a couple of groups that discuss gather groups and gather tips, but have routinely been rejected by them. It's the same situation as what you faced; your article was very appropriate to the group and still it gets rejected. I've had to learn not to take it personally. People are busy and I assume that includes group owners. I figured he was going down through and rejecting articles right and left and didn't have time to read them all. That must have been why the articles were bumped. Again, it's too hard to take it personally, hard on the spirit.
The other extreme is very common. Someone starts a group where anyone can join and anything is welcome. My Nonconformists group is like this. I almost never remove anything, because who in their right mind is going to champion conformity?
There are of course, in between groups with maybe a hundred members, where the topic is so obvious that at least every other article is appropriate. Food groups are like that. Whatever you do, don't take removal personally, and always, always make your posts available to everyone, because there is still a community taking place outside the group system.
One thing I do in the Reading on Gather group is the occasional post with links to the articles I've featured in my other various groups. It's appropriate and what I'd like the group to do, but I don't feature my own articles, unless the group structure demands a single featured article that serves as a welcome point.
I have an easy time actually with controlling articles of good taste, but sometimes a comment or three can be quite rude, or political. I hate to delete an authors article for that, even though the group description may say that type of comment is not allowed...?
Thanks.
ack!