I have spent these early morning hours reading posts that are ranting about other member's rants and also how so many Gather members have disappeared. Either being kicked off and removed, or just stopped Gathering altogether. And these members were considered the "pillars" of Gather.
What I find interesting is the how people are surprised that there are so many rants. From the time I signed up on Gather, there have always been a lot of rants...so in essence the rants don't surprise me. But the folks who are leaving do.
I was going through my emails to find the address of one of my winners of the last contest I held. I have been late getting the prizes out and I came across this Gather member "gardengirty" who had given me her address a few days ago for the birthday club, as well as the snail mail club. And now she has been removed. This individual to my knowledge never did anything to ruffle any feathers and seemingly was looking forward to being a part of my groups.
Does anyone know what happened to her? Luckily she gave me her personal email address and so I will email her and ask her why she left.
Another person who has "somewhat" disappeared is the ever-loving Berf, who is known for writting many controversial posts. He/she has not logged on since the middle of February. After reading several posts tonight I finally found out that "he" was actually a "she." That blew my brains. I have thought that Berf was a "he" for so long, it almost seems weird to think that "he" is now a "she." LOL I hope things are okay with Berf.
Getting back to the ranting... The reality of it all is...that what bothers some people will cause others to not flinch or bat an eye, one iotta. There are some who hate reading other people's rants, but don't mind writing and reading their own. For some, the rants are stressing them out and for others, it's almost become entertainment for them; as if they were going to a local boxing match and they just received front row tickets to the event.
That is what makes this world unique, I guess. Not one soul is alike. Even though we can't stand the differences sometimes, the world would be a very dull place if we all thought, acted and responded the same in every situation.
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Comments: 43
Hopefully they have just gotten busy with thier own lives and will be back at some point. I'd hate to think that Gather is not a place where one can share their own views, that's the whole point of the site. Just because someone doesn't agree doesn't mean you are wrong...
I keep *trying* to get back into the swing of it all...hopefully one day I will, lol :)
Please join my post it all group for all my contacts and friends on gather!
http://krystalsfriends.gather.com/
I think it is really sad that people are getting soo upset. Maybe with all of these people leaving/getting termintated things will calm down.
I HOPE IT GETS BETTER...........
First, when a ranter gets nasty, I feel that he or she looses the argument. I don't continue reading anything from that person.
My big complaint has to do with the second reason rants can be a problem. That is when the ranter blasts their rants to every group they belong to on gather. I join freebies groups to read about freebies, not to read an anti-Bush tirade, for instance. Posting rants to groups that aren't related to those rants is very rude to other members and causes me to discontinue membership in those groups.
I to have seen many people leave Gather. Kathryn E is right. Many people have left in droves after the upgrades. I myself have seen a decrease in activity after each upgrade.
Diversity is what makes life interesting.
Rants are elicited from passion and belief and so I do not mind them at all.
as for the rants, i rant online cuz there are no other adults that i can rant too. After i post a rant on Gather i feel much better and move on:)