Do any of you check out a Gather member's connections before you read or comment on their aricles ? And if you answer yes to this question, may I ask why ?
I ask these questions because I was told that some of the people I have chosen as connections are costing me readership. What this person failed to realize was that a few of my connections are the ones that I have bickered with on some subjects, and later we managed to find some common ground where we had the same opinions and concerns.
Now I'll be the first to admit that I don't think like most people. I was cut from a different mold, and then my maker threw the mold away. The way I was raised and taught also contributes a lot to my train of thought.
The way that some people behave and think leaves me scratching my head in utter confusion. Just why some Gather members check out another Gather member's connections is just beyond my train of thought. I have never done that, nor will I ever. Quite frankly, it's none of my buisness who another Gather member has chosen as connections. So considering that, I also feel that my Gather connections are nobody's buisness but mine.
I have chosen my connections, and I'm sticking to my guns.
If anyone has a problem with my connections, then I must assume that they are bored and they have nothing else in life to worry about.
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Comments: 33
I take my connections seriously. To me, the internet is part of my real world and I treat it the same as my real life. I think it is important for me to know if one of my real life friends socializes with child molesters or thieves, and I think it is important to know if my Gather connections socialize with men who stalk young girls and drool over their pictures or congratulate others for publishing plagiarized material. Also, even though I dearly love some children and people who think and behave like children, I do not choose to invite them to my adult parties. I know much of what I write and say is not suitable for children or immature adults, so it would be rude to invite them to my Gather parties when I don't really welcome them there.
I also want to keep up with what my connections publish. Since I don't appreciate the one-line "articles" and games, and I want to return if the discussion becomes involved, it takes more than a minute to read what my connections publish. Therefore, I have to keep a number than I can handle, so I choose those I either have the most in common with or enjoy the most.
For me personally here on Gather, I really don't care who another Gather member has connected with. In real life, I am VERY cautious as to who I choose as friends, and yes, I look at who they hang out with, criminals and such. Outside of that, it really doesn't matter to me. In real life, I have friends who hate eachother.
BTW Sandy, you should remember that if I were concerned about how other Gather members felt about my connections, I would have deleted you and Travis a long time ago.
These questions were the basis for my article here.
As for the messages you are receiving, I think the petty people who are sending them to you are pulling your leg. Travis and I both draw a lot of attention -- good or bad. If you are losing readers because of us, I feel very secure in saying you are losing losers - the same losers who have tried to manipulate everyone behind the scenes forever.
I appreciate that you are still willing to read and comment on my work, and that you don't run me off if I come to yours. However, the divorce was a sting.
One night, he came to an article that was not his, insulted nearly everyone there, and asked somewhere around fifty inane questions of many of us. (this is typical behavior for him.)
Ignoring his questions does not work. He goes into some weird meltdown stage where he repeats his questions, insults people for not answering, and finally dares them not to answer.
That article was deleted (like so many of his -- well, like ALL of his) overnight.
The next day, Jackie published a new article in which she repeated his questions to her and answered them. Several of us came to the comment thread and did the same - repeated the many questions he had asked of us and demanded we answer.
Randy flagged that article and reported us to Gather for "plagiarizing" him when we repeated his inane questions. (YES this is the same Randy who plagiarized T.S. Eliot last week, and who frequently borrows words from other people and then copyrights them under his own name.)
So, tonight someone published an article about rude people on Gather. Randy jumped over there with his criticism of all those rude people and, of course, to tell what a shining knight of goodness he is.
I copied one comment of his from a couple of articles, to show that he does exactly what he was criticizing others for (since he consistently removes the evidence). He spent the next few hours copying my comments to other threads.
I believe Randy should be held TO HIS OWN WORDS. He claimed others plagiarized him for copying his comments, so he should be held to that claim for copying my comments - since INTENT is truly what should matter for a man who claims to be such a knight of shining goodness.
Randy has probably asked all of his connections (and here's where we get to the real deal about connections) to write complaint letters to GAther about me. His connections are "like that". They don't care about truth or justice or decency. They will write.
I would never insult my intelligent, mature, sensible connections by sending a mass mailing asking them to complain about him (I don't seend mailings to all my connections for any reason). So, when Maryanne gets 1000 complaints about me tomorrow and none about Randy, she is going to assume I am the trouble maker.
Another element to consider in the connection conversation.
People who send emails like that are the ones I watch out for the most...
If I worried about my connections costing me readership I'd have to disconnect from everyone and start all over again, probably with people I didn't like.
One day I will disconnect from Wendy just so she will have to reconnect to me...
We will all make mistakes with the connections we make,and it is only with time you get to know your connections through their comments and articles. I have for three months limited my connections to under forty. As I find it easy to keep up with that amount of people. Yes I tried to choose writers and poets who aspired for the same goals as myself, and I have read just about everything my connections have ever written. After three months of applying my honour system, hardly any of my connections read my work anyway. As for who people connect to, it's their business, I judge my Gather friends and connections on the content of their articles, and their comments, and the manner in which they conduct themselves. Good article Tim, it raises a question in regards to our connections that we all need to ask ourselves. As a matter a fact, I am going to delete about ten of these people, right now.
Darcey D.
But to answer your question, no I dont check who someone is connected to before I comment. I feel that each and everyone of my connections are special people. Good article Tim
I'm well aware some of my connections don't like each other. As long as they don't try to make it my problem, we get along fine.
I did lose three connections after Sandy commented on one of my articles, but I gained five who actually comment. I think I got the better end of the deal there.
My readership has also gone up since I've been commenting back and forth with Travis.
Not that it matters. They are two people I like and anyone who has a problem with it can go spit up a rope.
I don't think the "white knight" can count.