What's Happening TODAY on Gather! Friday, September 28th, 2007

Thanks for the update.

thanks I was wondering what the new things were!

I like the new changes. I published an article and it went just as smooth as could be. Thanks Gather!

Thanks for the censorship.

Thanks Pam, it is always nice to see all the new happenings on gather.
One question I need to ask, how are the gather people handling the people who are deliberately flagging others.

Thanks forthe updates

Sorry, Pam. Nothing "exciting" about Gather's "upgrade". It is, in fact, extremely disappointing. "More intuitive" my ass.

To reiterate my comments to Jim on his announcement of this latest innovation:

From today's news I hear that the repressive regime in Myanmar just pulled the plug on the internet connection to their country--in order to stop the unpleasant images of Buddhist monks and their sympathizers being beaten, and killed, for the crime of attempting to exercise freedom of expression. At the same time Gather announces several new "improvements", including the option for writers to restrict, or remove, comments on the articles they publish here. Coincidence? Hm. I wonder.

Anyway, congratulations Gather. You've just succeeded in turning what was once a forum where freedom of speech reigned supreme into what will, inevitably, become a farcial pretense of meaningful discourse. You've just transformed the interstate highway system of free, lively, and open discussion into a matrix of one-way streets.

It was a long time coming, but not long enough. By giving authors the power to effectively muzzle any and every one else in this "community" who may be inclined to express a dissenting opinion you have, essentially, given people like, say, Osama bin Laden free license to declaim unopposed. Good move.

So, now that you've knuckled under to the candy-ass whiners who can't stand having their priceless words of wisdom contradicted or criticized, what can we expect? You've just ensured that we will be treated to an endless procession of self-congratulatory drivel unchallenged by anyone who may have thoughtful, or valid, differing points of view. Political partisans are now free to spew whatever kinds of extreme, outrageous, ridiculous, and untrue B.S. they please, without fear of having their insipid tripe refuted.

This is a sad, sad day in Gatherworld.

(By the way, folks, for anyone who wants to disagree with anything I've said here, or with anything I have to say in the future, bring it on. I, for one, am not going to be taking advantage of Gather's chickenshit censorship function. I can take it.)

Oh my! I never thought I would agree with Peter. Thank you, Peter, for saying that. Freedom of speech was something that I so admired about this site. And now it's gone.

Here's something I'm curious about. If you make a comment in someone's article and they delete it, do you still get credit for the comment?

Lera,

If a member removes your comment from their content, the comment does not get deleted. This works in the same way that content removed from a Gather Group doesn't remove that content from the site. You still get 'credit' for the comment, as it is still published to the site, but now only visible on your namespace.

Does that help?

Thanks for the changes!

I will be interested in learning how to use the new features.

It will be different using these, but i will still leave my stuff open.. I like the free speech option and if someone has something critical to say to me, I do want to hear their side too and let others see it as I am not always right and my way of thinking is not in stone.

Thanks for the updates though gather.

Thank you, Kevin. You're a darling!

Thanks so much for the information!!! It's about time.

Thanks for the info Pam. I'll be checking them all out, but I do agree with Trish.

The changes sound like they will be great, thanks!

Thanks for the information - now let's go gather!!!!!!!!!

I can't access my own pictures :^(

That revision to the comment system is insane. You have completely decimated any meaning to either comments or ratings by allowing the author to cherry pick who comments. Watch all the articles with a straight 10 rating and the reviews of sycophants who say only what the author wants to hear. You think someone who disagrees with you is mean - stifle it. You want straight 10's - choose your reviewers. only Gather t\could take a system that totally sucks and make it worse.

Has it ever occurred to Gather that they should ask us about changes before they implement them? Like maybe post what they are thinking of and get our feedback?

I think this latest "upgrade" might just be the last nail on the Gather coffin.

Thanks for the updates :)

I like the comment changes. If someone is in my home and is being abusive, I have the right to ask him/her to leave. I want that here too. Of course, once having done that, the visitor has the right to stand on the street corner and tell the world all about it. Or to go to this own home and bash me as much as he desires. But in my home - or on my piece of writing - I should be in charge. Thanks again.

Being able to remove an abusive commenter gives ME freedom as well.

Pam, if you want anyone to take you seriously I suggest stop posting your 'professional' articles with pictures of your kids trying to get away from you. It's a shameless attempt to get us to like you/your work based upon cute kids.

Don't get me wrong, I love kids....have raised 4 of my own, pretty successfully......just don't mix the two....your kids will never forgive you. Nor should they, for being used in such a way.

As for the changes you announce here.....the real discussion is on this oh-so-recently un-featured article….which disappeared once yours showed up: New Gather Features Give You More Control by Jim Bostick and Tom Gerace

Again, to be credible…..and have any sense of integrity…..you should really stop playing these silly games Bree….ummmm, Pam.

Crap, Marilyn. This is not YOUR home. This is a public forum. If you make a statement you should be willing to 1) take responsibility for it and 2) defend it--if you believe in what you're saying, that is. If you can't take the heat...you know the rest.

Now Paul, today is my day to be cranky...... ;-)

Geez, they even featured your article to appease you....and it still didn't work? They never do that for me :-o

I like most of the changes, except it takes so long to choose which groups to publish to, before it was so easy to click on the little radio button...

Good changes!

Corina asked: " Has it ever occurred to Gather that they should ask us about changes before they implement them? Like maybe post what they are thinking of and get our feedback?"

They did ask, back on this article.

Here's what I said at the time, and I've said it elsewhere since:

I'm OK with comment authors having some control over comments with one important caveat--that a marker be placed where the deleted comment was with a message to the effect of "This comment was removed by (name) on (date)." This applies to comments removed by the commenter as well. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to read through a discussion that has had comments removed. With a "comment removal marker", readers will have a better idea why the conversation seemingly doesn't make sense in places.

Of the options presented, I like the option of keeping the comment somewhere on Gather. Some people put a lot of thought and work into their comments and often the comments are some of the best parts of the the piece. If authors have the "power" to remove someone else's comment for whatever reason; people may be less apt to contribute thoughtful (or dissenting) comments if they think it may just vanish at someone else's whim.

Re: advising member services or the comment author about removals--I think you're just asking for trouble there! I'm imagining member services being inundated with tons of "boo hoo, she removed my comment" complaints.

Re: comment approval--I HATE HATE HATE this idea. I am imagining articles with nothing but fawning comments, no dissenting opinions, corrections of factual inaccuracies or interesting conversation. Boring. (11/29/06)

Most all sites do this - you just don't realize it because it's done behind the scenes. YouTube does the same thing.

I am fine with all the changes. Thanks Barb
Have A Nice Week End

It seems to take a little longer to choose groups when publishing, but it did work!

"being able to remove an abusive commenter gives me freedom as well"

If only it were that simple. This is the altruistic view. The reality will be, that members will not just remove abusive comments ... no, they will abuse their new freedom by deleting any comment that they do not agree with, that challenges their statements in an article, or does not sing their praise whether warranted or not.

This new feature comes to be on the heels of driveby ratings and flagging hysteria. It does not address either of those issues, but instead creates a third means for driving wedges into an already fractured community. Another Pandora has been released from her box.

...if only it were that simple ...

please help me someone who can solve my problem: how to use HVL-F32X into my sony Alpha 100

Never, in the year that I have been on Gather, did I think in my wildest imagination that I would ever agree with Paul G on anything, and I do mean ANYTHING. But I must admit, NO ONE has, or could have, said it better as to how f***ed up these changes are than what Paul stated in his two comments on this thread, let's just hope you have enough balls to not delete what he said....

cool

Thanks Pam :)

Thanks Pam!