I have been MIA from gather for a week due to lack of Internet. Upon my arrival back to the community, I found a lot of comments stating that they were not receiving no points. It seems to have many upset. I contacted Gather and received a prompt reply from Chuck of member services.
Personally I would rather get an official statement and stay away from spreading the gossip. Like the real world, we each have different ways of dealing with problems and such. So this is what I found out. I hope it helps to relieve the stress that many are under from the point program at Gather.
I did get permission from Chuck to share the following conversation with you in the Gather community.
Connie : "There is a rumor going around that Gather is doing away with the points. People are saying their points are not moving at all. I cannot find an official post with that information. Is it true or just a rumor?"
Chuck: "No, we are not doing away with Gather Points. We did, however, reduce the number of points that are being distributed, so people have probably noticed a decrease in how much they are earning. On the plus side, we made a change so that accounts that are not active (which can still earn points from content published awhile back) will stop earning points. It will take a little time for some of those accounts to have their earnings shut off, but when that starts happening en masse, active members should see their own earnings improve."
Connie: "Also the site is really slow."
Chuck: "As far as the slowness, well, it's been an issue for awhile and we are aware of it. I wish I had something better to share on that front but unfortunately I don't!"
Personally I find the information to so much better than speculating what is going on. I do hope this helps each of you to be aware of the situations that are being discussed in the community.
I know each of us wish the site would speed up ( Lots) but it does not look like that is going to happen anytime soon but active members in the community should see improvement in their points soon. That is good news.
Please remember that when you contact member support, your response will usually be sent to your regular email address NOT YOUR GATHER email.
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Comments: 132
I hope it calms eveyone's fears a bit. We don't need any more stress than normal life throws at us. :)
Have a wonderful night!
When I got on gather yesterday, I did not pay any attention to my points at all until I saw all the commets and post that was done up with the fear that points were no longer going to be available. I then watched my points and they were not that much out of the norm for me.
I just hate for people to worry about their points. I know there are many who need those gift cards and paypal to add to their normal income.
Now they know they do not have to worry.
I know Gather has never really told us in detail how we do receive points but I never did see an increase in points from my groups and they were very active.
I think I just now realized what you are saying! DUH!!
You mean when the group owner puts the posts up for comments and such? Maybe groups should begin with a current date and send a mass email to those in the group explaining this. Just a thought.
Connie it is stuff like their pictures and things that we are weeding through oh well it will all even out I hope
I had been working for awhile to just go ahead and clear content from members in the group that hadn't logged in to gather for over a year. What I tend to find is that so far the majority of them didn't put more than 5-10 things into my group, if even that before going inactive.
Love the new icon. How are you doing?
Doing pretty good, actually. How about you?
Mine is normal also. I guess I missed all the "0" point days.
I like the thought of my points increasing in time though. :)
I love gather. I am here for the friends that I made. However I do love the points as well. I may whine a bit but when it comes down to it, I would be here without the points. I find the community much more inviting than facebook.
I deleted my Facebook account because of the privacy problems.
I do hope you feel more at ease now.
I may have to comment stalk you to find all the gossip. LOL
I loved hearing (reading) your thoughts while thinking out loud. Chuck was quick to get back with me. I emailed him last night and got my reply today.
A LOT~I've received 17 pts. since my last post 3 days ago, and I easily made that in a day!
The only thing that bothers me is the inactive thing. If I go on vacation and am not on for a week, am I going to be shut off from earning any more points? How long does it take before an account is considered to be inactive and can the member reactivate his/her account by posting something?
This is only my opinion but I think they are referring to those who joined and have not logged in for a year or so. I really don't think a week or even a month would count as inactive. However this is not an official comment.
There are plenty of those. I will gather questions on this post and contact Chuck again later next week. I hope to have more information by then.
I just wanted to share what I have found out to this point.
I'm not here for the points but his statement just brought out the writer in me.
Don't you worry! You will always be active in my book. :)
I am here for the friends that I have made. I did come for the points but stayed for the feel of the community.
By the way, I started to type "4" today then remembered your tutorial and typed out "Four". Are you proud of me?
LOL
Well now that's interesting.
I don't think anyone is shocked to see that the points have been reduced. I think it's kind of neat that they are shutting off the points for inactive accounts. Any word on how long a person has to be inactive before it gets shut off?
The comment above was my thought on the time limit not the official statement from Gather. I will contact Chuck later next week after this post has time to pull in everyone's questions.
They are all just so busy with the other side of Gather that they don't have time to worry about us. I don't think it is that they don't care.
It is for that reason that I contacted Chuck. He was quick to reply to my concerns. I got his permission to share the information with the rest of gather. I will gather the new questions from this post and submit them to him next week. So look for an update.
I may upset a few but I have thought for awhile the ones who aren't active shouldn't be getting points for their items. I am not talking a week or so. Such as my internet was off for a month, I didn't get on anyplace else I didn't expect to get points. When I came back I noticed I did and honestly didn't get it. It did show apparently points had to do with views. However, why should Gather reward us for not supporting their site by being active? When I say not active I mean not log on period. Yes we all go on vacations, or have times we aren't on. I don't know just my view in this.
I think the change in non-active members no longer receiving points is a good thing. More points for those who are active. :)
yet I know things will work out,, and thanks for getting a quick response to this..
Are you a blond? I have to admit, I smile at the blond jokes but they could not be farther from the truth. :)
Gather is weeding out the members who are inactive for a long period of time. These inactive members have been receiving points for views on their posts even though they did not log in.
Those points that were previously being added to the "inactive members" account will be distributed to the "active members". So in the long run (after all the inactive are closed to points) the active members should receive more points.
Active members refer to those members who regularly log in and participate in the site. Viewing, posting, commenting and such is participating.
Does that make sense?
It sounds like after things calm down and all those who are no longer active quit receiving points on their posts, photos and videos, there will be more points for those of us who are active.
Hang in there till the dust settles, so to speak.
I am so glad you added your name! It is fine that you did a post. I just want to get he word out there in the community so people can relax and not worry. I hate for the members to worry when there is no need.
The economy is enough to worry about. I know everyone is just barely scrapping by now.
Then I went to all the groups I belong to and if they weren't active (Features still up since 2008 or 2009) I deleted them. If the group moderator isn't moderating why have a group? Makes no sense to me.
I think so too. I think it is a good thing and will benefit the members who are active.
I am sure someone will find something to complain about but at least it won't cause so much stress for everyone. LOL
Have a wonderful night.
Don't stay awake tonight thinking of something to complain about. LOL
It sounds like after an adjustment period, they will increase for the active members. That is a good thing. Just hang in there. :) Have a wonderful night.
Thanks, for the information.
Thanks Connie...
Whenever Gather changes their point system I have to wonder at their motivation. I am not sure why they would be so concerned over nonactive members gaining points. If the person is not active what are the odds that they are going to bother to continuously check back in to see if they have enough points to cash out. Meanwhile any thing they have posted will still turn up in a search engine which will direct people to Gather thus creating a view. Gather still benefits from that view. Once again I am not sure why they would reduce the number of points current members receive. For a long time their actions have set a trend for this site which does not benefit the people who do count on their points in a financial manner.
The only thing new is about inactive members not earning points anymore, BUT how is "inactive" defined? How long do you need to not come back to be officially "inactive"?
More questions than answers ;-P
So hmmm, are they paying out for those... doesn't sound like it. So to me... it doesn't make sense.. that they slowed down points. By stopping points from being awarded to those dormant accounts... it does make sense lest they come back and get to cash in, but gee if they provided content and people are reading it... even if they are not active.. they did provide a service. Will this lead to them turning off points on all articles written, let's say before 2010 or 2011 at some point.
I love the site, don't get me wrong, but either way doesn't Gather's income depend on page views. I would imagine, like the commercials during the Superbowl... go for big bucks because of the amount of people watching it... doesn't the cost of advertising on here correlate to the number of page views...
So hmm, they want the page views... helps them in their income... but now if you aren't here for awhile... you get nothing. Remember we get points for posting new stuff... and viewing.. and having our stuff viewed.
Maybe I'm over tired... but wouldn't it have been nice of Gather shared this stuff with us without someone asking?
I really have seen a decline in article posting etc and I think it is directly related to the slow points.
Gather will do what gather will do, and we have no idea if they are doing well or not... but it doesn't make sense to me.
Great point Heather, and a "duh" moment for the rest of us!
"Will this lead to them turning off points on all articles written, let's say before 2010 or 2011 at some point."
I already think I don't get credit for my old posts.
Either way thanks Connie for updating us as you always come in with the answers.
This explains things really well!