Dear Friends-
I am pleased to report that, this morning, Gather improved three important areas of the Gather experience:
- Content reporting and report processing
- Invitation and promotion systems
- Adult content filters
First, Gather is committed to providing the community with a clean, well-lighted place on the Internet. We do this, in part, by upholding our Terms of Service and our Community Standards. Protecting intellectual property is one important aim of the Gather community. Focusing our conversation on a debate of ideas rather than ad hominem attacks is another. To support both ends, we have significantly enhanced our content reporting system allowing the community to help us identify content that violates copyright or abuses a Gather member. You will find this new reporting tool at the bottom of each article and image on the site.
Second, Gather members come to Gather.com for a variety of reasons. Some come here to share their discoveries, knowledge, art and inspiration. Others come to connect with other people that share their passions. Many come to affect political debate by making their voices heard. And some professional or aspiring writers and photographers come to earn a return on their contributions to Gather. Regardless of why you are here, you can improve your own Gather experience and help our community grow and diversify by inviting your friends, family, and colleagues to join Gather.
To help, we launched a new invitation system today that allows you to more easily invite the people you know to Gather.com. Now you can upload address books from your email accounts at Google, Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail, or invite lists of people you know more easily. Gone are the days when you had to enter email addresses one-by-one.
We have also created links that you can place in your email signature or on other sites to invite people to Gather. At your option, you can be notified when people you know join through these links. You will also earn points as you help Gather grow.
Third, we have had members request that we offer more refined adult content filters. Some people don’t mind adult language but would like to block content that contains nudity. Now, in your settings, you can decide more precisely what kind of content you would like to see on Gather (and what you would prefer not to see).
We have a lot more coming in the next few months! Please let me know what you think about these changes and stay tuned as we build a better Gather, either here or on our improve.gather.com group.
All the best,
Tom
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Tom Gerace is founder and CEO of Gather.com
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Comments: 115
That would be unfortunate.
Drop the star rating system. No need for it. If an article hits a certain number of reads under the "most read" column, Gather could easily put their own symbol on that article showing the reader it's a popular read. Leave the comment section the way it is. I think you will find a lot less complaints from people who are tired of people just clicking anything, even when most times, those people never read the article. Two handfuls of stars mean absolutely nothing Tom, you should know in publishing it's the number of readers that transfer into sales, not the number of stars.
To protect intellectual property, we need to be aggressive in responding to complaints. When those complaints prove false, however, we need to be equally vigilant in addressing the false-flaggers. By making improvements to both systems at the same time, we expect to strike a better balance between intellectual property protection and encouraging free speech.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976945286
Some additional filters might be the easiest way to do this. If you have filters for nudity, violence, adult content, why not have a filter for some of the stuff that gets posted that is far from being adult reading material, or even reading material at all? The same standard that is held to nudity should be held to the rest of it. I think if people didn't have to see the "games" or other stuff that floods the articles list and the recent comments list it might cut down on some of the complaints.
When I read your words in the About gather section, I don't see your vision being a myspace, but a place for people to write and share that writing. Maybe your vision has changed and if it has, please just say so. Allowing the dross to outshine the efforts of those who take the time to sit down and write, whether it is good or bad, is disappointing and rather irritating. Thanks for your efforts and have a great day.
I agree one hundred percent with you. I read about this in the NY Times thinking it was going to be a great venue for writers. But, then I began to see that free coupons for tampons, and toilet brushes somehow is considered great works of literary genius.
First, groups, properly utilized, provide a decent content filter. We created the "essentials" to establish reasonable filters around content quality (and to aggregate conversation in these areas) in nine topical areas. Gather members have created thousands of groups that, when moderated, can do the same for other topical areas. Here, a member creates a space (and becomes de facto editor, and admits just content that adds value in his/her opinion to the conversation.
That said, we are quietly redesigning our back-end content system to better classify and organize information, allowing the filtering you suggest. Rather than "articles" we should allow members to classify content in a wide variety of ways (journal entry, opinion piece, news report, free-stuff listing) and then let you see just what you want to. This will take a few more months, but it's the core focus of several upcoming releases (invisible infrastructure ones first, then the new functionality in the interface after).
Finally, two notes about the people making short, useless comments solely to increase their own points (or trading comments with others for the same purpose). First, our points algorithms are more sophisticated than they suggest. Second, with the launch of our new commenting system, this behavior will become much easier to identify and prevent.
Thanks for the great feedback, as always. We'll see if we can't make some more rapid progress on both fronts.
MAny people still put a very high status on the rating system, as a way to monitor their abilities as they grow in writing skills or subjects. In the last week, I have heard from two different people that everyone of their articles were hit by low ! ratings while they were to bed. Will there be any changes to this rating system like the requirement of the rater being put on the comments with the score they gave to the writer. Many would like to know who and why they received 7 10s then a 1 while they were sleeping.
Today, my main concern is that Cameron Eittreim/Kirby Cube has returned to Gather - remember the little guy who threatened physical harm to a number of us (and his grandmother came in to apologize and state that she would ground him from the computer), stalked us for months, left disgusting, sexual comments on my daughters pictures and articles, and said things to me that even I have a hard time repeating? Whose account was supposedly removed because of his repeated inappropriate behavior? He's back, using his real name, listing me, Johnny, and Martin as tags (I was called down for inappropriate tags recently, and Cameron's article is NOT about the three of us that he stalked forever). I find it appalling that he is allowed to create a new account and flaunt this in our faces.
I won't mention being sad about the quality of content (featured on the front page even), the plagiarism, or the unfair ways in which TOS have been applied, since you have heard those complaints repeatedly and I have finally accepted the fact that you would rather I just leave than expect quality or respect.
I would follow your request and address this via mail, except that none of my mailed concerns are ever addressed.
Here's Cameron's last comment to me and a link to the article on which it was left:
the article
Well, I guess since you guys asked for a show you're gonna get one.
Fact 1: No one ever proved I was kirby, since they never checked the IPs how can you prove it?
The fact is your just going on gut feelings.
Fact 2: Sandy, if I wanted to insult you and your brat I would of done it better then that, the bottom line is I have money, loads of servers, and no free time from work. So why would I waste my time. The bottom line is, your a sim to me, your not real, and If i want to I can insult you and it wont even matter to me. Your not real, you have no feelings, and you use canned responses.
Fact 3: The sandy tales, Sandy is a gatherite. her life consists of, down rating peoples writing, posting sub standard stolen writing, and generaly being a leech to gather.
Fact 4: if someone said you died right now and I was the last one to insult you I wouldn't even give a damn, If i was at your grave, I would piss on it.
Fact 5: Totally GIRL POWER!!!! BIATCH
Cameron Eittreim commented Mar 30, 2007
While you are there, you might also notice another member who cannont seem to resist the urge to harass me. This linked thread is a tame version of her behavior, although she often returns to delete the evidence. If she does so this time, I can provide a copy of the entire conversation for you - and several other worse than this one. It doesn't matter much to me any more because I plan to find a community that does care about quality. It might matter to you, however, since this is pretty much ALL these members do, so they will find others to harass as soon as they've successfully run off everyone on the current hit list.
That is why so many want the ability to block certain members, or block or erase certain comments.
Thanks again for these upgrades today....
I believe I did address your question above. We have added work-flow tools that allow content to be reviewed and member services/editorial to act much more quickly than before. We expect this will allow them to react to member reports more quickly.
We will also be enforcing policies related to false flagging. Please see our terms of service and community guidelines for more information on appropriate reasons to flag content.
Respectfully, I cannot deal with member disputes here to protect individual member privacy. If you have specific questions you would like to raise, please email me privately.
Civility is another problem. I realize you can't monitor all the comments and articles but I see a large number of ad hominem/feminem attacks that don't relate in any way to the content of the article or the comment the attacker doesn't like. Fact 4 from the comment quoted above is a perfect example of things I see every day.
Thanks for writing.
I'm very glad to see these enhancements and I hope we'll see more of them soon.
One area I'd like to see some clarification (and, if need be, enforcement) on is the commercial postings policy. I posted an article announcing that my wife and I had set up a CafePress shop, and included some of the designs and a link to the shop. It was immediately flagged and my emails to Gather management about the flagging have yet to be answered.
My question is, what constitutes a violation of the commercial postings policy? I based my decision to post on having seen several other members post announcements of their own CafePress shops, the number of posts by members promoting their own books (often with links to Amazon.com or another retailer), the number of posts by people promoting specific products (the BzzAgents, for example), and the number of groups promoting affiliate sales organization, weath management systems, and even pay-for-content sites.
If I'm in the wrong, so be it. I can accept the policy and abide by it. However, it seems to me that this policy is being enforced with even less consistancy than the policy on copyright violations or plagerism. Some clarification, and tools for enforcement, would be appreciated.
Obviously, I'd like to see Gather give official blessing for members to promote their own original works.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
This is Chuck McGuire from Member Services at Gather. I just wanted to let you know that we have identified a small issue on some versions of Internet Explorer 7 with page display, and will be fixing this issue this evening. Sorry for the inconvenience. Please let us know tomorrow if you don't notice the improvement.
~Chuck
Sandy has been a thorn in your side, because she did email you, repeatedly, with problems, and you ignored her. Yet she didn't go away, did she? Instead, she chose to stay and fight for the Gather we used to love.
I wish you luck, Tom, with the idiocy you patrol. You, and Gather, are a major disappointment. So have a blast reading Randy's copy/paste articles, and his plagiarism, and Debra's narrow minded insanity, because I, and many other rational, thinking people, am outta here.
Something isn't right about all of this. Maybe you should call me?
Thank you and the rest of the developers of Gather for all the hard work.
So you are the person to private message about members harrassing other members in comment threads?
Another problem is a family member of mine uses the same computer and signed up. She got her welcome. She has tried to login and keeps getting told that gather does not recognize her user name or password. both of which she wrote down and saved. She is getting invitations to groups and a couple of friend invites but cannot access gather to respond to any of them. Can you help her?
The other thing is I would very dearly love to see is a way to save special emails that I don't want to delete into a folder. And I have these gather group gremlins 27 from invites to groups that I accepted or declined but the group thing says 27, First it was 3 then 6 then 9 then 11 and up and now it says 27 and there are none. How the heck do I get rid of that stupid icon that does not reflect the truth?
As to your comment above regarding repeat comments soley for gaming the point sysytem, why did MaryAnne release one that was flagged after I reported it? It was nothing but gaming the point system, and very blatant about it.... this action tells me you are talking out of both sides of your mouth.
And do not even get me started on your continual featuring of a Serial Plagiarist....
I guess this paragraph dispels the idea that permeates throughout, that Gather condones this type of posting. Thank you, Tom.
Lori- I do have customer service respond to some of my inbound mail. I do read every note. With 250,000 Gatherers on the site now and thousands joining each day, I can't respond to every note I receive. I wish I could, but it would be all that I do all day, 7 days a week, and I would still never get there. We have a terrific team that provides member services for Gather and I need their help to help all of you.
Queen is one of the first to copy/paste other member's articles, she took the user name of Johnny 5000 for several days. She demanded to see the obituary notice for Candida Eittriem's husband! She claimed that Candida's daughter and missing niece had been found. (America's Most Wanted is planning a show featuring the missing niece sometime this year.) They are constantly slamming KEO (Kathryn Esplin-Oleski). Their hit list includes running Randy D. off because he has been featured several times on Gather's Featured Article. Debra W. is another they attack needlessly. William M., (one of Gather's most loved), almost quit because of Sandy and John A. April L. has come under her guns. T. J. Williams suffered terrible abuse. Crazy Celebrity and Candida have left Gather because of Sandy. Sandy hollered and hollered until she got Mary Hanna kicked off. And yes, SHE claims to be the victim.
The one day of Boycott was the most peaceful day there has been on Gather since I first joined. It brought people together and instituted lots of new friendships.
Now, she is after Cameron Eittriem. She came to his site FIRST and flagged his article. Now he is next on her hit list. She will start a conflict, then run to her corner and whine, "I'm a victim".
I am sorry about hijacking this thread, Tom. However, there are MANY of us who are just plain tired of watching Sandy's antics and hearing her whine. She is constantly making fun of Mary Anne F. and Ben. (Gather Staff members). Kevin V. is another that is subject to her snarky and ugly comments. Janet B. started Kevin's Fan Club because of all the good Kevin has done for Gather and its members. Out of jealousy, Sandy and her friends set up "fan" clubs for all of their friends.
Sandy is reaping what she sowed. She complains about other members writing "stuff" and the "serious writers" being overlooked. However, instead of writing quality articles, she persists in writing articles that cause more strife.
Again, I apologize for this comment, but I am just tired to the bone of hearing her whine and cry because Gather won't bow down to her. I am afraid, by her staying on Gather, there are going to be many more excellent writers that will be aborting the Gather Ship.
Oh, one last thing. She started the GNN, (Gather Non-News), as a direct attack on your news correspondent, Marty S. All you need to do is check the comments on each of his articles, "Can We Talk About This?" to see the hateful and discouraging remarks that was made.
"The Queen," Lori and Nancy have just as much right to express their opinions as anyone else. It's a free country.
Last I heard plagarism was in fact against the TOC and I think that is the point that people have been trying to make.
Sometimes the names of the groups are misleading, and I tend to be forgetful what group will accept what.
Great upgrades from what I've seen so far..the site works quite spiffarifically with Opera and Avant browsers...-waves about my I loathe IE badge-
When June writes about hit lists, perhaps it isn't so wise considering that some of us actually do have copies of items written in a certain group which seems to have started the hit list greatest hits. Not that anyone would reveal anything potential embarrassing, I mention it just because.
Flit, plagiarism is a reason people do a lot of talking about Randy but it is also because he was featured on the front page that ruffled many feathers (being featured was not Randy's fault). The fact that several of these features were done is such close proximity of the plagiarism scandal gave many members pause as if Gather was attempting to get a rise out of the membership, which would result in articles and discussion, which would increase readership, which potentially could mean more money for Gather. I don't think I would be the only one to argue that such manipulation, although affective, demeans the overall goal of Gather.
Debra W., has never struck me as a wallflower and with a motivation I do not understand, drops comments and images in articles littering them with f word bombs, obscene photos, and other nasties. She seems to be someone, who at the very least, who wants to be noticed. I also was highly amused reading her comments to Travis about the 'Spam' and other things, after all, if this isn't allowed anymore on Gather I highly suspect she will have nothing to do. P.S., Debra I do appreciate your sense of humor as demonstrated by the different Jackie dolls.
As far as people almost quitting because of mean things written. I dare say Miss June certainly has demonstrated how low members can go in writing nasty comments. She seemed not to have any qualms about writing how Sandy wouldn't know how to act on a cruise ship because she couldn't afford to go on one (a comment reeked with classism and sadly said more about the commenter than the one being commented on). I also wrote to June about comments she was leaving on a thread (Tom, you may remember the Mary Hanna image thread? If you don't ask MaryAnne about it, I suspect she remembers it). Within this thread, and mind you I know both sides were going at it pretty good, June, Moggy, and Mary (I don't remember if Debra W. was involved or not) were talking about how poorly raised Sandy's daughter was and how Sandy shouldn't have been allowed to breed. I told June that it was one of the meanest things I had ever read and she wrote back on the thread directing her comment at me that she stood by her words. I hope she won't mind if I stand by the next few words I write. That day taught me a lot about self confessed Christians.
Wasn't Crazy Celebrity a composite (multiple people operating it) identity?
As far as the fan club stuff, of which June throws around the word jealousy as if she has it copyrighted. I'll note, ironically I find those groups as the ones I am most likely to look at. I tend to think of them filled with work by not only the namesake but also with articles that members think the namesake will enjoy. I for one wish more people had fan clubs!
I observed that the days June isn't around to write long winded, whiney, less than insightful articles (ranging from political taunts to member rants) that the general good feelings of the community goes up. I, and maybe I am speaking alone but I seriously doubt it, am tired beyond the bone of June (to the point I'm thinking about starting a campaign to rename the upcoming month) trying to speak as if she is the fount of Gather insight. More excellent writers have exited this place for things she defends, sometimes unknowingly (she complimented Randy so many times on his plagiarized articles that I almost felt sorry for her for not recognizing them as such – hint a man who makes under 35 grand according to his profile, isn't a major wheeler dealer of business concerns in Maine) than have ever thought of leaving due to anything Sandy has written.
Oh, BTW Tom, I do like the upgrade on flagging articles. I haven't tried it but it seems like it is on the right track. If you could make it easier to access the groups that would be nice. Rushmore wrote an article with some nifty suggestions about that.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976939820
Ever since I joined I have been attacked by Sandy and her "GNN group" because I am to "myspace" in their eyes. I have had nearly every one of my articles blocked, and I am now subject to countless parody articles and other insults on almost every article I write.
In fact, Sandy has even went so far as to create a bogus account named ambersucks.gather.com to make fun of me!! (I have to thank Maryanne f for taking care of that - thanks again Mary!!)
I came to gather to enjoy some time writing while at work, but I have come to realize that certain members cannot accept a yonger crowd here.
I am friends with Candida and know that her daughter is still missing. I have seen how every time something is said that goes against Sandy, she drags out those yearly old "war" articles that only torture Candida more. And to ask to see your husband's obituary is going way beyond the limit, which is what Sandy did to Candida. (I am still in touch with Candida by phone, and know how much she has suffered at Sandy's hand!)
Crazy Celebrity was not a mixture of people. She was a fun and outgoing person, who is greatly missed by all her friends.
Speaking of other ID's, how about Sydney Carton? Mary Anne took care of that one, along with Heraldo Rivera and several others that were clones from your group of friends.
Randy was chastised by Gather for his revision of T. J. Elliott's poem. I do not like Elliott and thought Randy did a better job in his own version of the poem. He has apologized for the use of that poem but You will not allow him to write without going over to his website and throwing darts at him. This is a man who is waiting for a liver transplant and trying to make the best of the days he has left. (BTW, that poem is the only work he has ever plagarized. Any other items always gave full credit to the originator.)
Sandy and John A. Antichrist both are guilty of the same thing that you accuse Randy of. (Thank you Gather for taking care of John A.). However, there was never any apology from either of them for the stealing of other people's work. Or all the cut and paste items that Sandy publishes.
Amber B. has been accused of being Randy D. and Kevin V. The accusation being made by the "elite serious writers" of Gather. How childish can you get? Jackie wrote a nasty article about Amber. And now the goal seems to be to kick Cameron off of Gather. And yet, SANDY is the VICTIM?
I wonder if anyone else noticed that Sandy (Queen), made those comments to Tom, but when someone tries to set the record straight, all her "friends" come in and attack. Sandy just sits back and smiles. None of you seem to understand how you are being used by her.
I would invite anyone to read my articles or comments and point out where I have ranted against a member or whined about Gather. You have your people mixed up Missy La La, you keep writing about the things Sandy is guilty of but putting other people's name in her place. I have defended my friends when needed, such as Mary Hanna. Of course that whole situation was ugly, but Sandy attacked Mary's beautiful picture first! The same with Tj Thompson. I don't understand why, if you don't like someone, or their writing, why bother to read, comment or rate?
Excuse me La La, but Sandy is the one who is constantly bringing up the "hit list". It has never been proven and no one has ever bothered to produce any evidence that such a thing existed. This was before my time so I have no knowledge either for or against it. However, I feel it is time that the subject was dropped. It seems evident to the general consensus that SANDY is the one with the "hit list". After all, she managed to run off Mary Hanna, Crazy Celebrity, Clay Douglas, Al Turner, Candida, Zenth and several others. Now THAT seems like a "hit list" to me.
The solution to the whole problem is simple: if you don't like the writer or their articles - - ignore them. Stay away from them and their website. Let peace reign among Gather so we can ALL enjoy the Gather experience!
Here's a clip from Rich's article.
"When I was invited to the Solution Room, the first thing I saw, dead center on the main page, was an article with a hit list, or black list, or whatever you wish to call it, of other members that the group was petitioning to have removed from Gather. I do not know under what authority the group was acting, but it appeared they just expected enough supporters to "sign" the petition and send it to Gather. I was appalled and speechless. As I read the list I saw 3 people who I corresponded with daily. This was clearly yet another case in our society of one group imposing standards of behavior on others. The members singled out on the list primarily used Gather to write articles, post comments, engage in discussions, and even some heated arguments. I don't agree with the tactics these members use in some of their arguments, but that doesn't mean I thought a secret society should meet to have them expelled."
From the article: "Hit Lists" targeting members
by Rich Sadowsky, January 16, 2007
I have the entire threads (before anyone started deleting comments) of both hit list/witch hunt articles, complete with admissions from the few people who didn't leave Rich standing alone if anyone is interested. I would prefer to resolve this in the open, since hundreds of people have received emails about me that were far from honest, but will honor Tom's wishes and provide the information privately to anyone who asks. I do believe I deserve the right to rebut the lies that have been told about me and the damage the "behind the scenes" emails and complaints have caused me.
And I do believe we all deserve to know why one member who admits that his previous account was removed has been allowed to return and flaunt that fact, with his heckling team at his side. (For the record, Tom, I reported his return privately, days ago.)
Have you ever googled Candida's daughter's name? Check out this site, http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/located.html. and this document might explain why she left (and may I add if my boyfriend did that, not that I would have ever dated someone like him let alone live with him, I would have run for my life as well) http://www.cjlf.org/briefs/Fry/FryJA.pdf Further, if Ms. Eittreim was concerned that people might get the wrong idea about the situation with her daughter's missing poster then logic dictates that she should have addressed it at the time on the thread. For example, 'Yes, I know some websites have reported by daughter found but that is because…blah, blah, blah.' Isn't that what most people would do if they thought there was false information out there indicating that someone they love has been located when they have not?
June, you are a fine one to talk about going over the line. I will give you this, you are loyal to your friends, naive and misguided perhaps, but loyal. I don't know about Crazy Celebrity, I remember someone said they thought it was a multiple account. I don't remember much about her except for the name and that she took Hulk Hogan's daughter's image as an icon on occasion. How do you know differently? Did she/he/it/them mass e-mail people to tell them why they were leaving or did Gather kick them off?
I remember the name Sydney Carton, and believe she/he had a recognizable icon, but I don't remember anything else thus can't join in a debate on this member.
Eliot is spelled with one L not two (this was pointed out to me by David). Randy plagiarized much more than the Eliot poem. You are welcome to view what I said about the matter on my 'Peaches' thread (it is one of the last comments I made and is numbered) otherwise I can provide evidence of some of his plagiarized articles on another thread (I would prefer not to use this one). Just tell me where you would like me to post the evidence, I have five articles that Randy posted and the links to the original articles.
Although it is sad Randy is in such poor health which requires him to be on a waiting list for a liver transplant, that does not excuse his plagiarism. To suggest so makes it sound as if anyone with a diagnosis has Carte Blanc to do what they please without being held up to the basic tenets of the accepted social contract. To hear you tell it, Randy's failing liver caused him to cut and past and to proclaim 'Hollow Man' as his own. He even copyrighted the work of others just in case they might want to steal it back from him. A pretty cheeky move despite the jaundice, don't you think?
June, if you carefully read what many people have written about the plagiarism issue, you will find members are griping about Randy was featured so closed to the scandal. I am sure even you will agree with me that he didn't actually put himself on the feature page. In some ways I believe Gather used him to increase activity on the site because they knew people would write articles and others would write counter-articles and more clicks of the mouse means more money for this site. I personally don't like the smell of manipulation the whole situation stinks of it. One time I can forgive as a mistake, the other times afterwards when people have written their concerns and management has not gotten back to many of us suggests something else.
Wasn't what Sandy and John did satire? I know others have been through this with you in the past. I recall the articles you are talking about but I don't remember any details to provide a healthy debate on the issue at this time.
What is your aversion to people who take pride in their writing? Good heavens, reading your rants you would think decent sentence structure is a more punishable crime than plagiarism. Wow, I just have to take in that within a year of being a member here 'writers' went to 'serious writers,' and now 'elite serious writers' – please e-mail me when the label morphs again to 'elite serious writers super friends.'
If you can thank Gather for kicking off John, allow me to thank Gather for giving the boot to Mary Hanna. Tom Gerace this is for you - thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm sure she was as sweet as punch if you agreed with her, but disagree and suddenly she became the Incredible Hulk with porn star language.
June, you are treating Amber as if she, the poor innocent match girl (with only the junk in her trunk to ward off the winter chill) has never written about other members. The one time I flagged her, before this was added to the TOS, was when she printed (I kid not) at least seven articles making fun of members who were on Gather during the day. I think the term of endearment she used was 'welfare moms.' I know, it is sad that some people think welfare moms should be shot in the head and their babies adopted by Hollywood power couples. When certain homebound members (who weren't welfare moms but were on SSI) replied back that due to their physical conditions Gather was their one social outlet and her article hurt their feelings. She ignored them. Surely, you of poor Randy with failing liver fame, can show some sympathy for these members.
I know others besides my humble self have seen her numerous articles aimed at the 'elite serious writers' for this or that. Plus, it is highly unlikely that she is actually the woman in the icon image she uses most of the time. You know the one, it stars the butt as 'The Butt of Gather.com.' Speaking only for myself, although I would love to have that figure again (I still have a pretty face) I am not jealous of her because even if I had that figure again I would never post such a picture of myself posed in that manner. I think it was T.J. who pointed out that she doesn't have any other pictures of herself which is odd since she is cute and SHE THINKS SHE IS REALLY, REALLY CUTE. I mean if she wanted to attract men aren't there other angles to use to further show off her asset? Just some food for thought.
Is the goal really to kick off Cameron? I haven't gotten that e-mail yet. I really wish people would keep me in the loop.
June, you rant against members and then you either delete the articles or change the viewer setting. You also don't see yourself as guilty as others you criticize. All of the above you are ranting about Sandy. Granted, your rants tend to be motivated by reacting against something Sandy or someone else has uttered, but you appear to take the role of defender when sometimes it isn't your battle. You are also acting as if anyone who believes differently then you then thinks the same as Sandy. Hey, I like Sandy and she has been very supportive of me, but everything Sandy does or says does not reflect my thoughts on every matter nor do I imagine it does for other members. QUIT GROUPING PEOPLE AS IF WE THINK AS ONE!
I agree that you were defending Mary Hanna, but your words turned very ugly in that thread about her picture and in fact other threads where Mary presided. I found some of Mary's articles interesting but, as I stated before in a different way, when she got angry her message got nasty and I think that she drug you into the sewer with her. She tended to start fights and say nasty things about other people's religions and children. If that is the sort of person you want as a friend then I suppose you deserve her.
Once again, T.J. is obviously intelligent and in many ways did not need your help. I was one who criticized him for entering conversations and calling people names. Lately (and I may be wrong) I sense that he has learned a few lessons on how to get along with people who don't view the world the same way as he does. I don't think he calls people names upon first encountering him and I think he might be more sensitive in talking about issues that people feel strongly about. I know that he has felt some heat for being a Mormon and although much of what was thrown at him was rude and insensitive, perhaps he got the feeling of what it feels like when he is rude and insensitive to others. That is a powerful lesson and one that if does something in any field that calls for the talents of diplomacy and persuasion, will serve him well.
Oh June, the hit list existed. My comment about it wasn't directed at you.
As far as Sandy having a hit list, I doubt she is in a position with Gather management to make any demands on who is booted or not. Mary Hanna is gone, I imagine her ugly words did not help her cause. Crazy Celebrity, I think, was booted because of multiple membership of one icon, but I'm not for sure you say she was delightful and I will not doubt that with you she was. Is Clay Douglas gone again or are you talking about the first time his left? You do know that he was Al Turner? I think Candida's final straw was when she found out that Lorraine was someone she had targeted in the hit list. I do not doubt that she has felt some heat here. Zennith I always liked and kind of wished she didn't follow Candida.
June I agree about staying away from other's web pages for the most part, but I do believe that if misconceptions aren't corrected they become the perceived truth of the matter. When you write your revisionist histories often getting observable fact wrong it prompts me to write back.
I understand now that many of Gather's early members responded to an ad that targeted Gather as a Writers' website and a place to get paid for your writings. However, IF that was the original purpose of Gather, they have evidently redirected their vision. Since it is now listed as a Social Network, it is time to stop all the bickering and negativaty and accept Gather for what it truly is. A place for everyone. A place for jokes, recipes, fiction, non-fiction and interaction among friends and connections.
Genuine friendships have been formed through Gather, and I treasure each and everyone one of my friends and our ability to interact with each other.
La Lady this actually does not concern you nor I. I felt I had to speak out because Sandy is always whining and bringing up things that happened in the past. She can't seem to understand how to let go and get own with life. I grow quite tired of her attacks on my friends. I don't usually jump into anything like this as I have learned it seves no purpose except to cause more friction. I admit I used to jump in all the time, but now, I just try to ignore and consider the source. (Life is more peaceful that way.)
I have enjoyed your writings, Jackie's, Lori's, Madam Donna and Dame Ruth. I am hesitant to comment on them because I don't want to have my feelings hurt. Maybe this wouldn't happen if I did comment, it is just the way things are going that makes me afraid to. I am tired of all this bickering. It goes nowhere, and accomplishes nothing.
Crazy Celebrity left because of a picture that was posted. (I am sure you remember which one I speak of.) She did not have several ID's, and she was hurt to the core by that picture.
It makes me sad that we all want Gather to survive and to share all the great benefits this site offers. I would like to see everyone get along, and respect one another. I don't know you, Jackie, Lori, Donna or Dame Ruth well enough to even make a decision upon your likeability. I have read some of the comments you and others drop on each other's articles and I see a lot of humor and playfulness in them. Perhaps, one day, this shall all pass and we find we really do have a lot in common.
Let memories be learning experiences, but do not keep living in the past....
If people want to fight with each other, starting from a point that was brought up on a thread like this, then they should just say something like "hey, everyone who wants to read about us fighting with each other, come on over to my OWN thread, away from here, so you can participate THERE. This way, people who don't want to read about it and want to read about THIS thread can stay here and enjoy their life on Gather not fighting!"
How does that one sound?
Faith, but then Tom wouldn't get the points from the flame war. And you know how much that matters to some folks.
ducks and runs
Best regards,
Nigel for President -exploratory committee..
PS- How come -I have never been featured??
Promotion is always a two way street!
In general I would like to say I do appreciate the changes that you have done to Gather.
"Finally, two notes about the people making short, useless comments solely to increase their own points (or trading comments with others for the same purpose). First, our point's algorithms are more sophisticated than they suggest. Second, with the launch of our new commenting system, this behavior will become much easier to identify and prevent." Said by Tom
Although in response to your comment about the whole point issue I have quoted by you above here...
There has been some attention drawn about people doing copy and paste commenting. In regards to this, for me this kind of hits home. Due to the fact I have fully admitted I do copy and paste not all, but some of my comments I leave people for their Articles. For instance I will put the copy and paste comments I tend to leave people in this comment so you can see the type of comment I do leave and I will explain why I do leave them as well. Especially since I do leave my so called copy and paste comments for valid reasons.
First off, I do use my copy and paste comments to notify people when I have to reject an article from a group of mine. As well, especially being in college and taking a good course load, and having a life outside of Gather, I sometimes feel massively over loaded in general in life. Than when I come to gather or even my email and I have 300 emails in one day just letting me know my groups I own have articles and images that need to be approved for the groups. So I do actually read the persons articles. Some times I do not have anything at that current time to really say about the persons article but feel since one I have stopped by and read their article that they deserve the comment I leave them.
Examples of My Copy and Paste Comments, they are in quotes:
"For you being you, and taking the time to publish this piece you are getting a lovely ten star rating. Yea For you!!!! :)"
This one is left for a person, when I have stopped by after reading their article and checking it out and seeing if it is appropriate for the group they are asking me to approve it. And honestly, it is pretty much in every single comment pertaining to any article or image that was submitted to any of my groups.
"Also hun,
If you have not yet already submitted this to my group called: "A" ~ Articles/Images That Start with the letter "A" (All subjects matter allowed...). Please do so...
But if you had sorry I have not approved it just yet... Fell kind of behind due to appointments so far this week... :)"
Now this comment is normally attached with the 1st copy and paste comment I have shown above. This or a comment very similar to it is also added when I see that their article can also be added to one of my groups I own. I put it there so the author, who might or might not be aware of my group, can know there is a group I own that will accept their piece. (Mind you I own several other groups, one for CSI, one for Diabetes, etc., so there are a variety of different groups this type of message might be put up about.)
"You submitted this to my group called: "B" ~ Articles/Images That Start with the letter "B" (All subjects matter allowed...).
But unfortunately I need to reject this article/image from the group due to the fact like it states in the groups title, it does not fit correctly into the groups guidelines... I am sorry..."
Now in regards to this comment that I will as well use and copy and paste, and change depending on which group I have to reject an article from is all due to recently after a few people started to wonder why I was rejecting their pieces from my groups I own. A lot of people were feeling like I was unjustly rejecting their pieces from my groups. I was at first just trying my best to message them in regards to their piece. And again, due to the extreme amount of submissions from all of my groups, I figured this would be the best civil way of letting them know and be informed to me reasoning why they had been rejected. I currently own 14 groups. So it can be overwhelming at times. So depending on again which group they have submitted an article to, the comment I have quoted above will be copied and pasted, and changed depending on which group they have submitted it to and it is getting rejected from.
Now these are to my knowledge the only copy and paste comments I use... I could be wrong, I am trying my best to pull in to my memory files and see if there might be more, but am not finding anything.
Actually I just remembered there are some other comments of mine I do copy and paste. They happen to be when I am posting my new point updated amounts to people's articles that have written about their point updates, and ask for others to post theirs as well. Now when I do copy and paste, I do not copy and paste the exact same thing in each comment per article I change in the info, the date and time, and things I might mention in the comment as well. So in actuality I am not really coping and pasting the same comment in the same article, I just use it as a format for the next comment.
Although, I might copy and paste those same comments I placed in one of those updated point articles to some one else's article, but it is not like, one I do not have permission from that author saying they do not want me doing that, and if they did I would stop. Second, I am transferring my point updates that I left in ones article to another just because they do as well also apply to that new person's article as well. And again none of the authors who I have done this to, have ever told me not to, please stop. It is just some certain people who dislike either me or how I try to pass my information on.
Some people find that me doing my copying and pasting is over zealous, but honestly about 99% of the people I have done this for and have responded back to me have only said sincere things about it. There are a select few of people that have complained. Now mind you I will not comment on who they are. I have just figured it would be better to state there are some.
Now in regards to supposedly people be out for only trying to acquire massive points to grab rewards. I will first state. Yes getting a reward is nice. But to tell you the absolute truth, I am here to make friends and new connections. I love meeting people. As well, I love coming to gather to have fun, and making friends, and putting smiles on peoples faces.
Now if someone who does not know me, here is another tidbit of information for them, and most of the people who do know me on here already know. I am a MATH JUNKIE... I love figuring out averages and all that great stuff. So when I post an article or join in on someone's article and it has anything I can do to figure out their averages. It totally excites me. I love helping people figure out things. I have seemed to get some grief again by some chosen few. I have unfortunately been driven to arguments with these peoples. I have apologized when I have, by trying to be an adult and grow up and admit my mistakes. But sadly, I have always been under the impression that gather is a place for anyone who wants to meet new people, share information, whatever matter it might be. Though yes people do copy and paste information that might be found some where else, and technically it is considered plagiarism when they forget to give credit where credit is due. Some times in that case, the author of the piece that is on here, might just need a simple message to them reminding them they have a piece up that was taken from some where else and they should give credit to the original piece. Just my two senses.
Also, one last note... For me personally, I some times enjoy having conversations with people via comments. Especially since some people do not use any messenger service, or just find it easier to chat on here. So I know for me personally, if I have an article or piece and people want to have a conversation with me via comments, and it gets off topic that is fine with me... Again just my opinion... It does not make me right.
I can not receive Cash if I wanted currently. And yes I live in America so I could do the paper work. There are other reasons why I cant. I honestly do enjoy the points, but I can careless. Again, I do enjoy just figuring out mathematical equations. Until you literally get put into my head, you can not truly understand me. But I have come to understand no matter what I say or do nothing will make you happy with me, and that is fine.
Though on a separate note. If you truly have so many gripes with things done on Gather, have you ever thought of building a creating a site of your own that you can have all the things you love about Gather, with out all the things you hate about Gather? I am not trying to start a fight just a thought I had.
I for one do not have disputes with people here, other than one minor thing with Amber B. that is done and gone at this point.
I did have one issue that I emailed Tom and Maryanne about. Someone was sending messages to beg money. It was responded to and dealt with VERY fast. I do not know why people complain about silly arguments not being handled by gather. I know some of them are serious, but alot of this stuff can be dropped and forgotten about, without having to call in the authority figures. I swear sometimes I can just imagine a shrink sitting back saying some of us are crying out for Mommy and Daddy to come spank brother...
Maybe all the dread over having to babysit is why some of these issues have not been responded to very fast? :) (No not pointing fingers, some of you have valid complaints.)
In reply to Amber's comment up there...
I came to gather to enjoy some time writing while at work, but I have come to realize that certain members cannot accept a yonger crowd here.
Amber B. commented Mar 31, 2007
Younger does not seem to matter so much from what I have seen. My younger sister is just 21 and gets on great with some here. maybe it is just that you have not found a good group of connections that are like minded?
I am hoping Tom does take the time to get past the bickering and actually read my comment at least and respond to my comment. I am actually really curious what he has to say about it. Maybe that is just because I am a curious person, and I am actually always wondering what people think, especially about me. I think I just rhymed again he, he. :o)
Don't forget the rationalization..
We have a teenage mormon kid who puts more effort into his articles than a lot of people do. What does it tell you when a teenager can do this and adults seem totally incapable of that? It says a lot and what is says aint pretty.
Who are you talking about the mormon kid??? Sorry I have no clue who you are referring to.
Why doesn't Gather provide a space where members can rate how the browser (or browsers) they use function on Gather ?
I've got Explorer 7 and Firefox , and find that publishing on Gather is much easier with Explorer 7, but navigating the site is much easier with Firefox.
I'll bet, many members have no idea that problems they might be having on Gather might be related to their browser.
That is a great idea... I mean I notice issues with gather often where the comments don't match up in the bubbles, and I use Firefox.. I kind of feel when I us Microsoft Explorer it runs really slow... (Well every site does... )
So does he have his own account on here, or do you let him browse through by him self... And hun... Please make sure his viewing guard is not on (the where he cant see bad things) if he ever plans on looking at mine.. just fair warning.. :o) But I have even flagged my own material on that situation...
That is cool hun... Actually I did not know you could surf the gather site with out being a member... Hmmm interesting...
And has any one noticed Tom has not come back to comment on this article at all... Or is it just me???
Thank you Tom and the Gather team...for all you do to build and maintain this awesome community. A community that is FULL of talented artists, photographers, and writers from all over the world. A community that has enriched my life in an awesome way. THANKS!!