I write on several writing sites and I am amazed by the differences within these writing realms as far as what people enjoy and what they dislike.
Just for fun and my own insatiable curiousity:
1. How do you choose which content to read on Gather:
a. From your connections list.
b. From people's comments.
c. From the list of most read, most comments, and most discussed.
d. all of the above.
e. other and elaborate
2. What do you like to read about the most?
a. newsy articles
b. politics
c. debate
d. personal essays
e. poetry
f. technical
g. how to's from an expert
h. arts/media/literature reviews
i. music
j. other...define
j. last but not least...on-going dramas and feuds which by the most discussed and most comments lists seem to be what most people want on gather!
3. Do you primarily come to Gather for:
a. friendship and connection.
b. to practice your writing skills.
c. to be entertained.
d. to enact social justice for the masses.
e. to help others/make a difference.
f. to read good quality articles.
g. to get informed.
h. any combination of the above.
i. other...define.
4. What is the best thing about Gather?
5. What is the worst thing about Gather? (I know someone will say polls such as this one!)
6.. What is the one thing you would change about Gather if you could and how would you change it?
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d. all of the above.
2. What do you like to read about the most?
j. other- RECIPES and food writing
3. Do you primarily come to Gather for:
j. other- to share recipes with other food lovers like myself
4. What is the best thing about Gather? My new cyber friends
5. What is the worst thing about Gather? It is too sloooooooooooooooow!!!!! With our internet connection, we enjoy fast connections. Until I log in to gather that is.
6.. What is the one thing you would change about Gather if you could and how would you change it? Make it faster so I don't have to constantly refresh and could work on a charity article that would load more quickly for EVERYONE, not just those of us with a fast internet connection.
2. personal essays or stories
3. a, b, c & f
4. the best thing, the people
5. the worst thing, some of the people
6. I would change the way the groups are posted when you go to publish. I would also like to be able to arrange my people, my articles, and everything else I put on here. Right now, we're at the mercy of Gather.
i agree with you shannon...gather has been exceptionally slow to load. wonder what is up with that?
i agree with you too joanne...i wish i could arrange my groups especially. i hope they tweak the design soon.
2. D, E, G
3. H
4. The new friends I've made here
5. Worst = Gather Wars
6. I'd like to see my connections and groups at LEAST in alphabetical order. Get rid of the pathetic rating system.
good one lynn...the rating system...must go!
a,b,e
2. What do you like to read about the most?
a.b.c.d.e, g and h
3. Do you primarily come to Gather for:
a,b,g,e
4. What is the best thing about Gather?
found new friends, and bettering my writing skills
5. What is the worst thing about Gather?
Gather wars, and those who continue them
6.. What is the one thing you would change about Gather if you could and how would you change it?
get rid of the rating system all together, be able to delete individual mean comments, and have articles and groups in alphabetical order and by type.
Short answers:
1. A and B
2. D,E,G,H and I . Seldom look much at the debates and political stuff, as the doctor said to avoid such stress after the myo infarct.
3. A, B. C, F -
4. The people whom I read and exchange thoughts and comments with are some of the most loving, caring, generous, warm, deep and stimulating people I've ever known. The caliber of work done by some of them makes me feel as though I were living in some art colony of the past where one might rub shoulders with the painters, poets and writers who are considered classical today.
5. Worst is when I - just in passing, never intentionally, - stumble across a string of comments in which talented, gifted people use their gifts - and expend their ever dwindling time in this life - for nothing more constructive than to bicker, argue, attack and retaliate. Such a waste of brilliance only saddens me.
6. I would allow some type of index on each writer's home page to allow all of their titles to be listed rather than just three; and I would allow the writer to delete any comments which were left on his or her comment space which was felt to be vile or inappropriate, so that only comments would show which were constructive, helpful and generally decent.
Thank you, dear D.... all the best to you!
I check "Articles for me" most days, and then I go on to check in with my favorite authors to see what they have brought to the table today.
Also, I have put my favorite Gather people's feeds in a folder so I can go to them quickly.
I always read my emails, connection requests are investigated before I accept, and I pick and choose which groups to join just by topic.
I do check the main Gather page to see what is the topic of the day, and sometimes participate in the poll if I have an opinon.
hey vicky! nice to see you! i do like your system. my system is ...much less organized. i meander about quite a bit and often get lost in the process!
webduck...i like your idea of putting favorite people into a folder. wish gather had some sort of sytem for doing that.
mike...lol...now i would like to see this parallel gather universe run by you! what would it be called i wonder?
(1) I read virtually everything posted to the Chat & Connections Garden Cafe, and then primarily from my connections list - also, but less often, going to articles via comments.
(2) I prefer poetry, humour and personal stories.
(3) Your h point.
(4) The friendships on Gather are its strongest attraction for me.
(5) The worst things about Gather include the sheer and increasing volume of advertisements, the too basic functionality (especially the inability to organize my articles, connections, groups, comments and tags as I'd like them) and the Gather management's insistence on controlling everything, without actually taking on board the wishes of members. The competitions promoted by Gather are incompetently conducted, resulting in unfair popularity contests (with sabotaging, poison-one drives-bys) rather than quality writing adjudicated upon by independent judges. I could go on and on.
(6) I would address the poor functionality as the first and highest priority by providing user-defined FOLDERS as in Windows.
or from people who post to my groups
I refuse to read about feuds
and I am on gather for friendships and as I am a professional writer to be read