Gather Is Becoming a Social Network

we are still connected...YAY!! Wanna be "friends"??? LOL

omg ... brain fart...if we weren't connected I wouldn't have seen this!! LOL

It's true though...sue...you have it all right!

Sue:

Hope they weren't "inappropriate".

I accepted your connection request, Taylor, because I love your name. I have no plans to disconnect as the name alone, gives me a smile.

Not at all, Nalita.

I share your views. I am just waiting for someone to pop up with a video of Paris Hilton sex cam or some other such nonsense.

I understand this Sue. I know I'm have a time with writers block and can't even think of anything to publish anymore, that's why I'm doing the muffin series. Every once in a while I can think of something, but then again, you can sometimes work hard on an article or poem, only to have the nasties take away the enjoyment of your publication.
Personally, I'm getting a little tired of the point begging that's been going on. I've taken to skipping those articles completely and won't even give a comment. Another type that springs up too often is the poor me rants. It's everywhere in the articles and comments and then it's all jump on the bandwagon to bash another unnamed member or members. The politics gets nasty. It's hard.
I do hope that I'm not one that you will disconnect from as I know my writing is not up to even my personal standards. I'm hoping that as people get more comfortable with the site there will be more articles of interest as that would be a good thing as well as it may give me some inspiration.

ohhh so you don't like me...just my name... :(

you can have that name too for the low price of lots of points!

Katie, if I disconnected from you it would be because I left the site.

so many people think I am a boy...LOL...i'm a mom!!! LOL

I agree with pretty much your entire article. I, too, am finding it increasingly difficult to find articles that interest me in the Articles for me section. It is filled with games and one question "articles", for the most part.
I find that I seek out the connections that I know write good articles, (amusing, thought provoking, etc.) and go directly to them.
A few months ago, I "cleaned house" and disconnected from about 40 connections. I later regretted some of my decisions, and have reconnected. I think that for now, I will just leave my connection list alone, and continue to visit the "friends" that I can count on for interesting reading.

I don't know you well enough to like or dislike you, Taylor, which is part of my point about joining for friendship. You seem like a very nice person though!

i know...and I am very loyal!

AAAwwww Sue, that's so nice of you to say. Don't leave the site whatever you do!!!!

I connect to people because I like their content...not because I wanna be friends. IT's crazzzzzyyyyy

I understand your point, Marsha.

What I like about Gather is the same thing I like about TV. If you don't like something, you can skip it, turn it off or ignore it. There is no one standing over your head saying you must. What I don't understand is why folks look for such import from an internet site that has, as I see it, no agenda at all. It provides whatever forum it's members want. It is what it is. I like it.

Cat-House Sonnets

Glad you like my content, Taylor. That's a sure way to stay connected to me! LOL

Yes, Margy, that's true.

Gotta run, folks. Write some stuff I can read later tonight.

I totally understand the need to clean up, I've been feeling like I need to do that also!

I've already deleted a dozen connections, because I'm not interested in mindless games or celebrity photos. And, as I've said before I have turned down more connection requests than I ever accepted. I actually research the requester, read their articles and comments, before deciding to accept or not.

I'm such a snob, sigh......

I'm keeping connected to those people that provide me thought-provoking articles and content.

I don't usually have a whole lot of time to really check things out so i leave all my article reading to chance. Therefore, if someone requests my 'friendship' i accept. I've thought about cleaning house, but that would just take way to much time to go through and read everyone's content. The greatest thing is how things are posted, newest being on the top of the list, and there is always a way to search for specific content. So, i don't worry too much about what specific people write about. If i happen upon a great article, that's awesome, and if I don't... it just wasn't meant to be.

As for the type of things that I post myself... I do confess that some of it isn't the greatest, but i like to share the things that i come across throughout the day on the internet.. news articles, weird news, articles that taught me something that i didn't know.. things like that. There is a lot of crazy things going on in my life, but i try to stay away from articles like that, i slip those little tid bits into my comments instead. :) (oh woo is me, i'm pregnant and miserable in this heat.. ugh!!) :) Maybe i should write a 3 page article on how swollen my toes are.. i don't think i even have actual toes at this moment in time. haha

Good thoughts!

I am finding it increasingly difficult to find articles I want to read. Most of the email I get from gather is deleted as soon as I read the first few lines and realize it's a game or other stuff like that.

The brain dead individuals who can't put more than two sentences together should confine themselves to places like Facebook and You Tube.

Sue: Gather Is Becoming a Social Network
Too late!

Juan: The brain dead individuals who can't put more than two sentences together should confine themselves to places like Facebook and You Tube.
I agree, but I suspect that would leave too many holes in the staff here.

sometimes, sue....narrowing the borders of what we see keeps us locked into pre-determined 'perspectives' of the world that keep us from learning more. I am cautious of some new 'friends' when there are so many sock puppets out there. But initially, I accepted most invitations to be friends. I dont make the same distinctions that Gather wants to categorize us into.....just so I won't be profiled by their computer. Having a proliferation of connections muddies the waters enough that they can't target you exactly. I don't know anyone who looks at the "my articles to read" pile of slush. Most folks go to groups that they frequent, groups of people with topics. The best groups are clearly defined and trimmed down by the owners to keep that focus. I wouldn't waste time worrying about who are your friends and not......too many other things to do. Of course I have a few hundred of them, and don't want to visit that.....I accepted folks invitations when they looked credible, and only delete those who are really lunatic. (yes, they could open a mental ward with the number of 'out there' members on Gather. but generally, folks are real. The profile lets you know if you are dealing with a real person or a sock puppet. There are patterns that you can see in their information that clues you into their real intents. People without profiles I studiously avoid. If they aren't willing to say at least a few things about themselves, then I wonder. Lots of the information is kinda invasive/no ones business (i.e. income, etc); but others are just helpful.

justa few thoughts...

Sue, you must have missed the memo. Gather has been a "social" network for months now.

Actually, Frightening Icon. There's a lot smarter snark over at Facebook. And tougher skins.

Lori, I have only watched two videos, one of which was truly exceptional. It was a video on immigration and the population explosion it's creating here and its economic impact posted by Gaelyn who is now having a problem posting articles and comments. If you get a chance, everyone should see this.

Please listen to the entire message it will change your opinion.

Please also leave her a comment since she is getting disgusted with her inability to post articles and comments and encourage her to stay since she is considering leaving because of the problem and Gather's inability to solve it.

Priscilla and Susan B., thanks for your comments.

After that comment, Chandra, I had to look to see if we were still connected!

Ys, Jillian, I should have taken the extra time to explain in the article, but it wasn't that this person just checked the "friend" box. He wrote a note that he would like to get to know me better and become a friend but was disappointed that I didn't have a profile filled out to find out more up front about who I am. One of the things my ex and I always agreed on was not to tell people things like where we went to school because they always tried to impress us when they knew. We both hated that so much. That's one of the reasons I like to get to know people on here and have them get to know me by what we write rather than who we say we are in a profile.

Also, I had my last days of pregnancy in the heat of the summer so I know what you're going through. It didn't help that I had a propensity toward Greek salads in those days with all that added salt. I lost 18 pounds during the 1st and 2nd days after delivery, all water weight! I also dispelled a blood clot the size of a large jello mold and almost equal to the weight of my child, 7 lbs 2 oz., that helped as well. In less than a month I was skinnier than I had been before I got pregnant, so keep that thought!

Taylor I don't know why people would think you're a boy. They only, once again, need to read what you write to know.

Thanks, Michele, I share your pain but I don't have any Gather news sent to my personal email account. The one here spams enough.

Juan, although that wasn't my point, I understand yours.

Frightening Icon, I know it's too late. The article should have been entitled Gather Has Become A Social Network.

Yes, Joanne, I did miss the memo but I didn't need one to see it happening. This article is not any news, it's just that I'm now in the throes of the effects when before this, I had only experienced some minor discomfort.


Once again, Patrick, I'm not referring to the "friend" label in the connection request. the reason I go through the Articles For Me is because my Groups links are so slow to load that I get exasperated. I may as well add here, that the last two articles I posted almost didn't post. I'm wondering if I might soon be of the "can't post" group.
"The profile lets you know if you are dealing with a real person or a sock puppet." I don't agree with that. As I wrote in the article, anyone can say anything in a profile. "People without profiles I studiously avoid." So is that why we're not connected? I'm going to send you an invitation now because from your writing and those nice emails I think I want to connect to you. I'll put something in my profile for one day if it makes you happy.

I see others have already mentioned the social network chronology thing. I've been here a year and it was that way then. The one thing I don't understand is the mysterious disappearance, some call it eradication, of the Subaheim-Wurbizer sub-network.

That's just ashame, Nippy, because there was absolutely no reason for such a thing to have happened, but I think I might have a clue about the identity of the person who set the wheels in motion for Gather to do this. It is, by the way, no one to whom I am connected. I am going to email Elizabeth because, although I think she might already know, if it corroborates her suspicions, I would be pleased to contribute.

Right now I have to go to a barbeque but should be back by 7:30 or so if I can still type after the libations.

Sue, here is what Nippy is talking about: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977116370

I know to what Nippy is referring, Patrick, although I hadn't seen that particular article before for which you left the URL. I think you might be confused and I don't think it was Dame Ruth's intention to make anyone think she authored the Wurzbizer series, but I think you might think she did. She is just venting her frustrations on the stifling of creative content on this site. Elizabeth is the one that authored the series.

Before I knew it was Elizabeth I sent an email to one of the characters, I believe it was Ursi, to congratulate whomever it was that authored this because I thought it was an excellent creative endeavor. I mentioned that I had an idea to do something along the same lines with alters (but not the same theme) and congratulated this unknown at the time for "beating me to it."

Since I followed the series I know all that is going on and that is why I think I have an idea about who might have caused Gather to to remove these artilces. Once again, it is no one to whom I am connected.

I agree with what you are saying, the site is changing. I actually was afraid when I came here that someone would want to "get to know me" and the whole internet friendship thing really was something I wasn't interested in. Gradually, I found I had things in common with a few people here...and I do consider them friends now. I am still careful-I finally added to a profile, but didn't add much. This is the only site I'm on, the MySpace types sites aren't for me.

I hate people using alters. I feel like it's a trick and I don't like bing tricked.

It's one thing to use an alter and represent it as a real person. It's another thing to use an alter that's obviously fictitious.

Good points, all. But if I hadn't taken a chance and added some folks, like Patrick, to my connections I would never have heard that incredible idea for the Great American Novel that he has (that I intend to steal)...

vjw

I hope you consider my articles worth reading and find me interesting enough to keep as a connection.
P.S. Thanks for the comment on one of my latest articles about cars and weight restrictions. It got featured today - yay!
I do try and put a lot of thought into most of my articles and write something that people might not know, even if it is fiction or humor. I strive to be either fascinating, humorous or informative - sometimes even all 3 at once :)

That was a very good article, Jane. Congrats on the feature! I'll pay more attention to what you write from now on.

Thanks for your comments, VW, Lera, and Sue S.

Nippy is right on this last comment.

loving your content sue!!

Gee, Taylor, thanks, but don't say that too loudly!

Maybe gather isnt what you want it to be and more of what Gather want's it to be.

Funny thing is, you CAN be anyone you want to be, but you are yourself mostly when you post.