Maybe it is just me, but lately I have found Gather to be boring. I know I echo a thousand different people before me in complaining about content, yet seriously y’all, I just clicked on the top 25 ‘Most Discussed List’ (something I seldom look at) and not only did I find it appalling, the article that showed the most artistic/intellectual promise was one that asked, what Sunday means to you? The reason I selected that one was because I’m sure the responders put some thought into their comments. Okay, I just looked at the article and there were mixed responses (from thoughtful to the ‘Happy Sunday’ sort) along with only a few people carrying on the conversation.
Of course, I found the games invoking Gather members to name a word that begins with B, which requires the IQ of a challenged ameba. One article was a rant along the same lines of this one, except the author was dismayed that his previous published efforts were no longer garnering 100 comments…holy hell dude 100 comments was a tall order in the best of Gather times, let alone now. Although I know that such silliness like games have always been ranked in the ‘Most Discussed List,’ in the past I believe you would have seen the list interspersed with actual articles, essays, short stories, and various reviews. You know, things that didn’t take five minutes to write.
Further, what is the deal with all the mass e-mails? How many people have to complain before the Gather Gods do something about it? Yes, I have blocked some major, if not prestigious, Gather members from sending me things. Truly it makes me sad because in the past I have interacted with some of these people individually, but the fact that they apparently have little respect for me or other members or faith that their articles will be read if they just publish them and then feature them on the various essential groups really makes me sad. Factoring in that many non-serious writers feel free to do mass e-mails (sometimes sending the same message a dozen times) I have to ask where is the sense of community? The ‘Most Read List’ is then further skewed in favor of established writers at the expense of new members. Overall, I would say that a new member’s desire to stay at Gather, along with Gather competitors, is in the response they get from their initial postings. When I was a newbie, I didn’t expect massive amounts of comments or stellar ratings (BTW, my first ever rating in Gatherville was a 1) but the few comments I did get I treasured and to be honest they kept me coming back.
Has anyone looked at the Alexa data for Gather lately? Since the change in comments, you know, people able to delete responses they don’t like, Gather seems to be losing people coming to our community. The data started to flat line in early August and seems to be getting progressively worse. The biggest numbers of the year are big spikes in late June and once again in July (they resemble a thin mountain range) none of the numbers from 2007 match the hike in activity from early 2006 or fall of that year. I’m assuming that all these spikes can be traced to media campaigns, contests or tensions within the community. It is also interesting to note that the influx of members who came here from the buzz agent campaign (that was when the hard core insipid games started) raised the level of activity, but not to the degree of great significance. I am also presuming that the spikes in the autumn of 06 were due to what has commonly become known as the ‘Gather Wars.'
I have gone on record that I do not like the delete comment feature. Primarily because honest debate cannot happen when the author of a posting is less than honest. I have seen plagiarism rear its ugly head again and not with a certain poet from an eastern coastal state. In the past such a confrontation may have been embarrassing for the ‘author,’ often they would proclaim themselves attacked, although it was obvious they knew what they were doing when they posted the material. Their options, if they were the sensitive sort (and oddly plagiarists do seem to be sensitive about protecting what they have stolen as well as defending their damaged egos) were deleting their article or making it available only to a private group in attempt to guarantee that only their nearest and dearest would comment and those comments would be supportive if not vague – of course, that would knock it out as a big point grabber.
Here’s another charming trend, I read a queer rant by some weak-willed woman who published an article damning someone else for pointing out the flaw of sending strangers whom you know only from the Internet your address for Christmas cards (Lordy Possy, if mass e-mails are a problem on Gather can you image the potential for junk mail sent your way). She set the comments so only her connections could participate, thus the poor wo/man whom she maligned for destroying her ‘Christmas Spirit’ really had no recourse to defend him/herself. Quite frankly, I am of the persuasion that if your ‘Christmas Spirit’ can be destroyed so easily, you never really had it in the first place. Oh and get this, if Mrs. Scrooge does happen to pop on this article thread I won’t delete anything she says.
I don’t think I am off the beaten path if I observe that people enjoy debate and debate seems to encourage people to come back to a website. Of course, an issue arises when a comment a particular member took some time to write can easily be dismissed to their collective comments (highlighted in yellow) intelligent people with backbones tend not to want to invest themselves in discourse.
On a positive note, here are a few things that I think Gather has done right. Although a few months old, I do like the way our individual member pages look. I like that five articles are listed instead of three. I think it was wise to put the burden of wanting an article rated on the author (less complaints about rating trolls). Although I’m not hip on videos, for members who are that feature is a nice addition. I think the front page has improved and though some of the articles are not instant classics (I’ll add some of my featured articles into that mix) I have always enjoyed knowing that something I wrote on my humble word processor has been thus acknowledged. I like that flagging an article now asks for the reason/s why. The flaw though is that Gather has not gotten back to me on articles that I have flagged because of plagiarism concerns.
Changes I would like to see in the future include a way to easily access groups. Deleting membership in groups seems to be a far more lengthy process than necessary. Deleting articles that do not fit into groups we manage could also be easier as well. It would be nice if an article is featured in a group the author receives an automatic e-mail informing them of such. I think this would encourage writers as well as encourage group managers to manage their groups on a more frequent basis.
I believe much good will can be created if Gather employs something that will limit how many people members can mass e-mail at once. I would say 70 or less. Before anyone suggests to me about doing a mass disconnecting, allow me to state my philosophy about connecting. I will connect with anyone as long as s/he appears not to be a serial killer. My reasoning is thus, I think a community like Gather can expose my writing to a wide variety of individuals as well as expose me to many people who do not think or live the same way I do. I don’t write off people automatically because they play games, my hope is that some of these people who play ‘Candy Land’ oriented games will start to express themselves in a way that demonstrates the best a site like Gather has the potential to do. Chances are, if I’m not connected to them, I may miss this exciting transformation on the ‘Articles for Me List.’ Hey, who would have predicted that some of the more interesting and accomplished writers to grace Gather came from the Buzz Agent campaign?
I also believe that members should be limited in posting only one article in a 24-hour period. Yes, this is directed at the gamers, but then again, they can support each other. Some people, and you know who you are, are such point whores one would think Gather was dolling out heroin instead of points. As I understand it, Gather gives more points to members when readership is up. Certain members may invoke the tired argument (insert whiney voice) “If you don’t like something don’t read it.” That’s all fine and well, but folks look at the facts, Gather is on the decline and gamers/and or one short sentence essayists seem more desperate than ever to insure they have their monthly allotment of gather points. As I have asserted before, I’m not here on Gather for points, but points are a nice incentive and if I earn them honestly then I want them. Someone who continues to post games that feral children who are being raised in broom closets find unchallenging, then it is time to limit such a practice. The upside is that this leaves more room for legitimate articles, which has been the formula for Gather’s success in the past.
Primarily I would like to see the delete comment feature GONE, GONE GONE! I think the Gather Gods, as evidenced on Alexa.com, have backed the wrong horse – or horses as the case may be. They have listened to people who display the following traits, fragile egos, those that desire to spread lies within the community (remember the sick chick who posted the picture of her no longer missing daughter whom she declared was missing?) who plagiarize, or who ascribe to making Gather not a better place, but a boring one…Mission Accomplished! Yes, I know that sometimes the debates got heated, names were called, and lines crossed but overall such displays of immaturity tended to reflect more on the commenter – if things got really bad, Gather (I’m sure much to their annoyance) stepped in. It seemed as if people really participated more in the threads, often reading the whole thing instead of responding, “Thanks for posting this.” They offered support, but not necessarily as blindly as they do now.
The reason I’m writing this is because I have a feeling that this community is being overran by the inmates (dull ones that bang their heads against the wall or stare endlessly at their fingertips). I have invested a lot of my time and energy in Gather. Although I am a member of other sites, I feel as if I do have a niche within this community and I have made friends (some of which may just be receiving Christmas Cards). I don’t want Gather to fail for all of the above reasons. I hope if this article is read by those that make decisions, they see that by recommending certain changes for Gather I’m embracing it. (BTW, I’m not vain enough to think that everything I suggested should be implemented, but I emphasize to the Gather Gods the folly of the deleted comment feature.)
Maybe my blahs are just the blahs (perhaps it is the 101.1 degree fever I am running…BTW, I don’t want your pity, I want your unconditional support here). Maybe my blahs can be traced to uncertainty that although I was e-mailed that I am in contention to be a Gather anointed political blogger, I have yet to read any articles spelling out who else is under consideration, or if the program is still a go (hey, but I did receive a mass e-mail from someone about it!). Maybe my blahs are because I’m feeling it is time to start investing in another writing site.
On a side note, I don’t know if this article will hurt me with the Gather Gods, but I feel better for writing it…even despite the fever.
© 2007 Westerfield
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 42
I too would like to see the delete option gotten rid of & the mass emails needs to be revamped somehow...
This was a really good article.
I'm wondering how you can survive being a member of so many groups. I've joined only about a dozen compared to your "four-score-and-seven" but even so I feel inundated with hundreds of postings per day. Yet many of the groups I joined are either writers' or musicians' groups whose interests overlap, so I usually receive multiple copies of the same article.
I know nothing about programming for computers, but if those GatherGurus who do know could figure out a way to reduce the redundant copies of the same message, that would be great.
As to the content... who knows I have felts it downfall ever since the created Gather groups and shut most of us out of getting published in those groups... sucks frankly...
But no one listened when I complained then... none is listening still..
starry starry night
paint your palette blue and Grey....
so Tom... where has all the Gather gone.. long time passing ..
I have just checked my connections, commented on some articles but there is really nothing happening. No discussions going, no funny articles to keep going back to...
hohum...
I agree the "words that have . . . " get tedious, and mass emails have to go. I only deleted one comment & that was only because the article dealt with my personal faith and this person clearly wanted to say something heinous/offensive to get under my skin. It was inappropriate. I don't mind if people disagree but be respectful. :)
I don't think we should be limited to the amount of postings -- sometimes during the week I am so busy I cannot post much at all but then on weekends, my down time, I can post 3-5 articles a day, plus photos. If you limited me to one a day that would seriously destroy the whole point of Gather, which is not only to make friends and engage in stimulating discussion, but let's face it, to earn a little extra income (which I need!).
Now I feel that those of us who fed off of the creative energy of one another are bored. Terribly bored is what we are because the fire, the spark and the creative urges are suppressed by comment deletion. A terrible new development: the option to delete those who dissent who are actually those through whom honest conversation and debate evolve. So sad.
Yes, Gather bowed it's head to those who posted falsified information about missing relatives, authorship that wasn't genuine, copied recipes and news articles, and a host of other plagiarisms that are actually prosecutable actions in the real world. That's when my interest began to wane. I see the work of my friends and associates posted here at least once a month by criminals who call themselves "Gather members."
I, too, have found a haven in other communities and it is there where my original work resides. If an author feels a need to email me, I hope it's for critique because otherwise it is an alert that tells me the work isn't worth my time.
I love your writing, Lisa, because it is honest, original and forthright.
The periods of dryness get longer and longer, the happy occasions of sustained hilarity grow fewer and shorter.
*cough* wordpress *cough*
the trouble is it is easy to say why advise that you are posting an article, I will tell you why,
I do not write fluff, I work hard at my articles and would like them to be read, not an unreasonable request for a writer would you say.
however I know that each gatherer can get as much as hundreds of articles a day, I know that I do,
I cannot possibly read everyones work,
and so I might miss some really good articles because of that,
when I get a mass email, if I like the content of that email I will go and look and that writer gets the recognition he or she deserves.
Kate, I have 1267 e-mails I haven't looked at…and guess what, I have been deleting them too! Half the time I sign on, I no longer look in my Gather mail because I just feel overwhelmed.
Magi, thank you so much. I think 'Chat and Connection Garden Café' is one of the best groups on Gather! I dare say, that you gals are great group managers and really do tend to your garden.
Lori, I understand why the delete comment feature is beneficial for certain individuals under certain circumstances, but the price the whole community pays for such a feature is too much. I'm going to give an example from the past. A woman wrote a political article (not one of those that used harsh language or was severe on those who thought differently) and a guy, very right winged as I recall, came into the thread and posted a bunch of images of westerns being beheaded. Here's how much I believe in freedom of speech, I thought his images totally inappropriate in terms of the jest of her article, but if he wanted to post them in an article he wrote (mind you, with the appropriate warnings) then that was fine. Gather, to its credit, removed the images and soon removed this man from the community.
That type of incident was memorable because it didn't happen all that often. Sure, commenters cross the line, but more often then not, it is the author who seems stunted in how to accept or deflect criticism. This isn't really surprising considering that such information isn't taught in schools unless one is some special training such as an MBA program where the art of management is discussed. Can people within the community hurt your feelings? Sure they can, but sometimes as an author you have to stand back and process what they are saying. Maybe they could have said something in a nicer way, but that usually doesn't make their point moot. If people are trying to get your goat, don't give it to them. If members call you names point out the absurdity of doing so. If someone has hurt your feelings you have every right to say, "That hurt my feelings." All of these things are much more productive than simply deleting a comment because you don't like it or agree with it.
By having comment deletion as an option, the problem is that responders aren't going to invest in well thought out comments if they think there is a remote possibility that their effort will simply be thrown away.
Jim, I have accumulated too many groups within my tenure here. Part of the problem is that is seems to be a major overtaking to delete groups. When I first joined, I was thrilled if someone invited me into a group. I also joined particular groups because I thought their content sounded interesting although I knew I would never post anything there. I joined other groups because the group owner was a friend. Another thing too is that my range of writing is from book and movie reviews to short stories to a political blog to 'Project Runway' blog (November 14th everyone) to essays like this one, thus lots of groups. I know I posted this to a lot of groups, as I do most of my articles, which I'm sure proves annoying…sorry. When I go down the group list as I am publishing, I think about if a particular article will fit the theme of a certain group. Another thing I think Gather has done right is posting the groups and tags until the very end. I think this makes the practice of over grouping more palpable to the reader. Further, I do love to write creative tags.
Sue, thank you so much. I know, 100 comments! I feel fairly successful on Gather too and I can count on one hand how many of my articles reached 100 comments. I suppose that is one of my complaints about other member's rants, often they are complaining about something that other members would love to experience and it weakens their argument. In his article, he made some valid points and then ruins everything by mentioning his lack of comments. Forty comments on average is an awesome success story on Gather. Boo-hoo-hooing that your talents are being ignored tends to make readers like me think less of your talents and not more. Sue, I know you, like me, have spent enough time on Gather to figure out that there are times when you feel popular as a writer and times when you could have written something brilliant like the Gettysburg Address and were lucky if you had two comments. Some articles that you think will fly come crashing to the ground while others you thought were the ugly ginger headed step-children (just kidding for all those ginger headed people who happen to be step-children) sprout wings and are adored.
Matthew, and despite it all you still consider yourself the luckiest man alive. Part of my problem with the mass e-mails is that they simply overwhelm. Sure, I can ignore a few and I can forgive the occasional one, but too many people think nothing of reminding me that articles and images that they recently posted are available for me to check out just in case I don't check out articles and images for me. I compare the feeling, to a lesser degree of course, to the whole Jesus and the leapers episode (as presented in 'Jesus Christ Superstar' one of my favorite musicals – I sing a mean version of 'I Don't Know How to Love Him'). First it is a few people wanting me to look at their articles because of special reasons…okay, I look. Then it is more people, I start to feel pushed. Then it is a whole crowd and their articles, images, and videos are nothing new, exciting or special in any way. I know people complain about e-mails asking support for various contests, and you know what? That is okay if the person is someone I have interacted with. I don't think all mass e-mails are worthless. If someone wants to share a new writing site they are developing that's fine. There are many reasons why you want to spread the word to the community about something, but I think a lot of members aren't doing self-editing and it is a turn off and one huge strike against coming here on Gather. I think if people simply feel overwhelmed by simply looking at all the mail in their Gather box it does take a toll on the overall feeling for the community.
I believe you were someone who was advocating for a spirituality essentials group. Although I am not religious (despite the fact that some of my favorite musicals are religious – 'Fiddler on the Roof' anyone?) I do sympathize with writers like you (once again I'm assuming your advocacy, if I am wrong I apologize) who felt your genre of preference was ignored. I can also see why Gather shied away from it (talk about a category that could easily lend itself to controversy). Overall, I think some of the categories could be merged. I think the Essential Writing category deserves its own sliding space.
Jim, no sweat. I know I post to a lot of groups. In fact, I concede it might be healthier for Gather groups if the number of how many one person can post their articles to were limited. It that was a restriction, I would learn to deal with it. Just don't mess with my tags, I LOVE making up silly tags.
John, begging for attention through mass e-mails does have that affect on what I would term, 'seasoned members.' Of course, new members are probably more willing to check out articles and they also learn bad Gather etiquette from members who should know better. I think this practice tends to turn people off from Gather quickly.
Kate, I have seen Gather participation go in waves, but the comment delete feature feels oppressive. Many of the people who are known for writing long comments wrote many comments to articles Tom Gerace published stating that they did not want this feature, while other members wrote one line sentences asking for it. You take out the aspect of authentic debate from a forum such as Gather and you gut the spirit of it.
John, thank you, the Ben Stein piece was a fun one to write. 'America's Most Smartest Model' the title alone makes me giggle. Thank you Ben Stein. As far as the mass e-mails, I'm predicting the Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas/My Birthday Season is to blame.
Charles, I feel duly anointed.
Duckie, I took some Ibuprofen last night and I was fine. Talked to Madame Donna three – four hours on the phone. I blame the issues addressed in this article for firing me up! Now as far as why you were tired, I hasten to guess. Article wise it often feels like there is a lot of junk food on Gather and not enough articles that provide nutrients.
Felix, thank you.
Mary, I can see why you would delete that comment, it does fall under a legitimate concern, but you seem quick witted and if you didn't have the delete option I bet you could have addressed the situation as you have here. Tell the person that it is an inappropriate comment that s/he to get under your skin and you prefer to take a higher road.
You do have a valid point about schedules. Maybe limit how many articles a person can publish within a week or a month?
Marianne, first allow me to say welcome to the community. Just like any other community be it a new job environment or new neighborhood the inside jokes and such take time to start getting the hang of. Overall, that might be one of the reasons why I haven't divested in Gather and invested in other writing sites. It takes awhile to understand the interface and major characters. Obviously, I think Gather still has potential or I wouldn't have spent part of my afternoon early evening yesterday penning this article with a fever. Recipes is a great place to start. One thing I think Gather still offers is connecting with people who are interested in food writing. There are a lot of great chefs/cooks who do wonderful photography and have great delectable insights.
Madame Donna, EXCELLENT POINT about feeding off our creative energies. The comment deletion option feels like a punch in the stomach for many of us. The sad part is that I think many people who wanted the feature wanted it for selfish reasons, while those of us who didn't felt that the community was at risk. Granted, as a community does grow (Gather is a business after all) the intimacy of the place might not feel the same, but the only new exciting writer that I have seen emerge in the last few months is The Chive (who claims to be three people) and it used to be that every month brought someone worth noticing. A lot of us still roll with each other but there does feel like an emptiness has descended. Perhaps it is something natural, or it is because everything the majority of the more serious writers advocate for seems ignored, or maybe it is a mixture of both. I do admit after penning and posting this article I do feel more energy and it is comforting that a lot of people feel the same way.
Marianne, I will check them out. I must also confess that I have been limiting the amount of time I spend on Gather in regards to comments because I need to invest my time in writing. Thus, I do read several articles off line even if I don't comment.
Vickey, I have always said that if it is about the points it isn't about the writing. As I noted above, the points are a nice motivator and I want the ones I honestly earn. My problem is that many people are earning points dishonestly. Granted, I don't know how many points they earn per se, but games, particularly dumb ones, should never receive the points of anyone's original poem, short story, review, recipe, or essay. Further, the mass e-mailing is cheating too. If the article/video/image isn't special or worth noting on its own merits don't abuse the system and e-mail just because you can. OMG, I've had one person e-mail about an article that they plagiarized. I suppose this might be a good place to also note how some members are so desperate for points (I have heard that some pay their part of their rent with Gather cash points…rolling eyes to the ceiling) that they are complete bottom feeders. One particular member of this ilk, awarded with an essentials spot no less, stole an idea for a group that I developed. Instead of asking me if he could do something with my original idea he just swiped it. Since I had pride in my idea (which BTW, didn't directly benefit me but was a nod to new writers) it really felt like a theft and was less fun to manage the group. He on the other hand has appeared to reap the benefits of my idea without giving me any credit. Does it bother me that he has gained points, possibly paid his rent, by something that was my brain child? Yes, it does. Would I feel differently if he had e-mailed me and asked if he could change a few details of my original idea to form another group would I have let him? I probably would.
Dame Ruth, yes, the creative energy that used to rule this place feels depleted. I don't know if Gather Greed is to blame as much as bowing down to the sentiments of the wrong members. I understand that Gather is a business, but it seems that they made some poor development decisions. I give them snaps for writing contests and other contests that appeal to different mindsets, but the issue is that I don't think they keep many writers here on Gather because of everything I noted in the above article. A good analogy might be public education. One of the main problems with public education is that it constantly bends to the lowest common denominator instead of nourishing the best and the brightest. Gather seems to have made decisions that allow dumb game advocates their say in how things should be conducted (I assume that these people are probably the types that constantly complained to Gather whenever they felt the least bit slighted and seldom see how they slight others, I also feel that they have several private groups where they lick clean each others' fragile egos) while not being so on top of the needs of the more serious writers. To emphasize this point I am thinking about an interview I read with Lorne Michaels (producer of 'Saturday Night Live') in which he was asked if he would prefer working with talent that was troubled (such as John Belushi) or with a comedian that was no trouble (sober, on time for the rehearses) but with less talent. Michaels said he would take the troubled but more talented star every time. I suppose 32 years on the air does say something for this theory.
Peter, true. What I'm sure is more troubling for the Gather Brass is that the numbers of visitors to this site is dropping too.
Elizabeth, thank you very much! I hope so too.
Wendy, does * cough * Wordpress * cough * delete comments? I looked them up on Alexa too. Damn, that site is on fire!
Melinda, thank you and what you wrote about being called a name and now just are deleted is EXACTLY what I'm talking about! You combine that with now more limitations to your time and it is not a winning formula for Gather.
Carol, my personal problem * warning sad member confession ahead * is that I'm a bit obsessive/compulsive, and mass e-mails immediately give me a feeling of anxiety. Yes, I know I can use the delete button, I also use the block sender button, and I take time to write about how much I dislike mass e-mails. You know, I might be making a thousand more points a month if I decided to mass e-mail my connections with everything I post because like you I don't write fluff and I would prefer my articles be noticed as opposed to ignored. I don't mass e-mail because on a basic level I trust that if people in general, and my connections specifically, want to read something I wrote then they will go to the articles. Although many of my tags are silly, if I tag an article correctly using every variation of movie review movie reviews, film, movie, movies and so forth a movie review I have written will pop up if someone wants to find a movie review. Do some of my articles, like the articles of others, fly under the radar because I haven't mass e-mailed my connections about them. Yes. Yet, you know what, I'm fine with that because perhaps in the absence of not noticing my article they read something by a new member or a member who really hasn't come into their own. That was how I got my foot in the door. Part of the price and the strength of being in a community is a willingness to share.
Overall, and though I know it is corny, I do believe in the golden rule. I don't mass e-mail people because I myself do not want to be mass e-mailed.
Oh crap. I'll p.m. you later tonight. I feel sudden pangs of guilt talking about another site on Gather's time.
One thing I discovered last week is that you can remove a connection by going to that person's namespace. It's handy when you see scores of comments that don't interest you. Just click on the icon and you're there.
I find Gather to be the most
..the most...
Gather is the.... uh.... the most...
you know... if it weren't for Gather, I'd be..
uh...... the most...
I saw an article a few days ago where someone needed 700 points by 3:00 PM that day and asked people to post at that article so she could achieve her goal. I've been on gather for about 8 months I only have a little over 700 points.
I try to write articles that mean something and that contain more than three sentences. I only read articles that are written by adults not adults who are adults in age only.
Oh yeah, and why can't people use capital letters when needed and maybe some punctuation, and spell out a word like "you" instead of "u?" Nothing wrong with using a spell check every so often either or rereading what you wrote. Your "pearls of wisdom" will not fade away if you take an extra five minutes to go over your article.
I fully believe that this site is coming to an end, thanks in large part to teh unwillingness of the site admin to enforce TOS evenhandedly, to take action against plagiarists, or to learn from their own mistakes or to read and respond to thoughtful articles such as this one.
You have been a good supporter of this site: consistently posting rich original content in both fiction and nonfiction, humorous and serious. You, of all people, would be someone Site Admin would listen to. Alas, they do not.
(Meanwhile, can I steal your great line and create a Westerfield Game?)
Lisa, this is terrific, and I'm especially with you on the groups. I don't mind the new system of scrolling through groups when I publish, but it's a pain in the, uh, neck to try to go to a particular group when you click on "my groups" and get them in absolutely random order every flippin' time. We can have a delete button, but we can't have this one little step improved upon?
Don't even get me started on the flags...
By the way, it's ironic - I share your ennui, or I did until I got to this article and found many of the writers I like to follow were here before me. Now that's a way to liven up a Monday afternoon!
Not being here near as long, I, too, have felt your blahs. It is validating to know someone more experienced feels them. You already wrote my piece about the chat and games and how hard it is to find serious material as well as the disdain for point mongerers.
The only thing I took some exception to was the lady and her Christmas list. I perceived her as highly anticipating what she had planned, empathetic to how crushed she felt when that fell through. And that is a valid consideration going a long way to, "(I) can expose my writing to a wide variety of individuals as well as expose me to many people who do not think or live the same way I do."
I'd like to recommend that you copy and paste this article into an email to Gather. If you don't have an email address that responds to you, I'll provide one. It may take a couple of weeks but they always do personally reply. And they seem eager to hear recommendations? I, for one, would love nothing better than what you've proposed!
"Thanks for a great article!" (lol)
PAY IT FORWARD
I don't mass email either though sometimes i could scream at not being read. (I write short tales and love writing but get dissappointed when articles that are inane get heaps of comments.
i thought this site was for writers when i first signed up but there seems to have been a take over of some kind.
Oh well, i suppose i'll keep plodding on
Nippy, I shyly look down, I've never disconnected from anyone. Once again, if you look up at my article I feel strongly about connecting with people I have little in common with. Yet, I have completely blocked a lot of people…thirty and counting at the moment. As soon as someone sends me one they are blocked, unless I know them and then I give them a chance. I don't think all mass e-mails are bad. We have made friends here and sometimes there is news that we want to share with people privately without trying to form a private group. I think the practice is increasing and I do think that Gather needs to address the practice, especially if it is being done by people in Gather appointed positions.
Bart, are you at a loss for words? Are you at a loss for Wordpress?
Sandy, are you an oracle? Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING you warned the community about has come to pass in regards to the deletion feature. It seems so benign as first. You think that maybe people will use it wisely, actually delete comments that are out of place that are truly rude and disrespectful, but then you see comments deleted that aren't rude but simply disagree with an opinion or point out a writing flaw. After, the author may just ignore the deleted comment or try to act as if the responders were rude when they were not. A whole conversation is changed and revisionist history is put in place.
Sharon, I'm sending you a connection request…something I don't normally do. Although I connect and never disconnect, I have not been big on asking people to connect with me. You know, sometimes a lady just wants to asked to dance first. I looked at your namespace and you seem to have a lot of worthy articles begging to be read. I was much like you at the beginning of my tenure here. I remember bragging at over a month on Gather that I made over 100 points…and this was at a time when points were much more plentiful. It does gripe me when gaming point whores crowd out more serious articles and they take it for granted that you want to help them on their quest to make their flimsy point goals.
Faith, I feel as if we are all characters in the musical 'Fiddler on the Roof' and we are being forced to move out of our village because of the evil Russian soldiers under the control of Czar.
Dannielle, thank you. I have to admit that I am mystified by certain things Gather does. The whole plagiarism issue is now being taken to another level where many of us just simply inform the source of where the material comes from and allow them to press their suit with Gather. Their responses to their mistakes seems rather slow. It isn't as if I don't expect them to make any, but it seems odd that they don't correct certain flaws. For instance, (disclaimer, I did attempt to become an Essential Correspondent) a large percentage, perhaps over half, of the correspondents they hired in February are no longer correspondents. A few, like Wendy, stepped down but are still active within the community. Yet, a ton of them just simply quit the site. Gather hired a bunch of them outside of the community for whatever reason and most of these outside hires stopped signing in by the Spring. People may point to dissatisfaction within the community, and that may have played a role, but overall, these people didn't receive responses to their articles because they had not built up any participation with other members. I think several of these people thought that everyone was going to immediately fawn over them because they were often on the front page. It was as if they didn't need to put their time into building up connections. Perhaps their expectations for readership were high and the feedback was only a trickle, even by members who claimed that they welcomed these new correspondents with open arms. BTW, whatever happened to June?
Here's the punch line, once again they hired a new movie correspondent and guess what? Not only is he new to the community but he is from Boston (yet another movie reviewer from either the east or west coast…you see, we in the middle and south, who live in cities that can't be described as 'mega' don't watch films or have any insight into entertainment.
Thank you for your compliment that I have enriched the community with my stories and articles.
Kris, thank you. The group thing has been a problem, I imagine, since their were groups on Gather. There are some groups that I belong to that I must have clicked on accept instead of decline and have yet to weed them out because finding them is such an undertaking. I don't think I'm asking for the moon and stars for an easy way to streamline the process.
Erin, thank you.
Kieran, thank you. You know what really ticked me off about the lady and her Christmas spirit? It was the way she maligned whoever pointed out the flaw in her plan (because let's face it, it was a major flaw) in such a way that did not allow them to respond in an open forum. I referred in my first mega comment above, that someone stole the idea behind a group I started and claimed it as their own. Even now, people continue to congratulate this individual for having a community spirit and yet he has never, as far as I am aware, said well it was La Lady's idea and I expanded on it. At the time it happened I informed some of my Gather friends and recently I have been more open about my anger but I didn't write an article which would have had a thousand different responses because I didn't necessarily want to cause a huge uproar. Overall, one thing I wouldn't do is state in open forum my anger and not allow him to respond. It was as if she was having a tantrum and a bunch of people of her choosing continued to feed her feelings of victimhood.
I wish I could say that I have had the same experience you have had with e-mails to Gather. That has not been my experience. I have e-mailed them about missing articles, articles that I did not set to private that are suddenly set to private (WTF?) and I have recently reported articles that are plagiarized, but nothing has been the result. Since none of the Gather Guides or employees have been on this article thread, and I know it was on the 'Most Read' list yesterday – I assume they have looked at this article and decided to not touch it.
Maria, like Sharon above, I'm sending you are connection request. I checked out your namespace and obviously was impressed. I think too many writers, and you have been here over a year, are falling through the cracks. I hope that will change and I hope that gather makes some changes, otherwise, as Wendy said, there is Wordpress.
Joanne, I can believe it.
Jessie, thank you.
"I understand why the delete comment feature is beneficial for certain individuals under certain circumstances, but the price the whole community pays for such a feature is too much"
This was what I said in my letters to Gather as well. They asked for my patient assessment of the real impact of the changes. My opinion has not changed, and I am glad to see your voiced concerns here.