Is Gather snobby?

Ah, who cares what those whiners have to say. Use gather in a way that makes you happy. I've been having a blast since trying it out. I kind of go in a couple of directions. On one hand, I'm trying to my bzz best by doing what they asked us to - invite people, create groups, and post things. On the other hand, I'm also finding ways to use it to benefit me. I started a group that is only for my family where we can post things to and for each other and have a place to keep up with one another. I've started several groups about things that interest me and that I would hope to meet others with similar interests - as an example, I'm REALLY hoping to find others in my area into dining out. We could share info and tips on the fab restaurants in San Diego and even plan events where we go out and try places we've always wanted to but couldn't get others to go to with us!

I think Gather is what you make it. I choose to ignore all those negative people and use it to have some fun. I'll probably lower my interst level after a while, but for now, it's fun!

to be honest, i've only run into one snobby person,i avoid them...i have crossed paths with some great people,added them to my friends list, they have added me to theirs...which i feel honored they consider me..i post what i feel like posting..recipes,freebies...things that are frugal, useful...and i have posted a couple poems too..I would say go ahead and invite your moms,i think it is a great place to get opinions, ideas...a place to gather...you can choose who you feel like gathering with and who you don't...which is great...

You said "Moms posting freebies and deals are not welcome, recipes are a no-no, and definitely don't waste their time with posting articles written by others for the purpose of discussion."

Where does it state ANYWHERE that those posts shouldn't be on here? My Freebie Frenzy Group has 16 members after only 2 days of existence so I would think that SOMEONE here wants it here. I take that complaint to be a very RUDE and obnoxious statement.

You keep posting YOUR complaints and I will continue to post whatever the crap I want to. Isn't that what Gather is all about?

You just find one in every group, don't ya?

If Gather.com says there is room there is room.

Maybe Gather will create a way for people to block content they do not want to see. Where people can select categories they want to view, or block what they do not.

Freebies or recipes do not bother me at all.
If I see something I am not interesting in, I don't click on it. I see no reason why others can't do the same.

To those of you that are posting the freebies and recipes... you just keep right on posting them because I find them, not only helpful, but welcome.

Thank you Joyce, I agree completely. I mean, there were over 100 posts that I skimmed through earlier today that I did not give a crap at all to read.

Some people like this, and some people like that.....that is what makes AMERICA free and a wonderful place to live. It is people that think they can run everything that ruins it for everyone else.

Great questions! I've been here since February, so I consider myself a Gather veteran.

Have I seen a big change? Yes, in the fact there are a lot more people than there used to be! Originally most of the people that came here considered themselve writers, but, Gather never, ever advertised that way. You are gonna get complainers no matter where ya go, some would even complain if ya hung them with a new rope!
Don't let it bother ya, ignore them, let them complain...

I read an article and comments. posted two days ago, from the CEO, Tom Gerace. Tom says they are working on adding some new things...example, individual sections just for journaling, blogging, poetry, fiction, freebies etc.
That way the snobs can stick with other snobs...LOL!! Plus a new rating system etc.

Change is on the way...always a good thing. BUT, as we all know, change generates complaints too!

Angey, I enjoy freebies and deals too. I don't know what you find rude about my comment. I am simply asking if anyone else has felt unwelcome at Gather or if I just crossed paths with some discontented writers. That's all. I am trying to make up my mind if I want to continue here. I really like some aspects of Gather. I really like that I have not run across any pornographic content or pictures. I like that there are intelligent articles on complex subjects. If those things are tolerated and I can have my hobby subject boards like freebies and deals and scrapbooking, then Gather is probably a place I want to stay. It just bothers me that there are rumblings of content degradation.

You are great Lynn. I am glad you understood my question and I love having you on my list!

Always rumbles on Gather......that's never changed. Seems there are three groups, the good, the mediocre, and the ugly.

The good read articles that interest them, then comment, offering encouragement, unbiased views, setting nastiness aside.

The mediocre, read articles that interest them and leave no comments at all.

The bad, read ALL articles and leave nasty, personal insulting comments.

All in all....the GOOD wins out.

I was not coming off to be the "bad" person in all of this, but when it was stated that Moms need to not post the freebies and recipes, well I thought that is what Gather was all about. Seeing that my group already has so many members after just 2 days is enough for me to see that I am welcome to post the freebies all I want to.

If you can write poems or short stories, although I probably won't read them...I am sure there are hundreds more that will like to enlighten themselves by reading those type of posts.

That is just my two cents though.

Spider woman - YOu are very right about the internet language gap. I've seen complete community melt-downs over misunderstood sarcasm.

It's funny you mention the personality of literal writing. I used to enter police reports into the computer for police officers. For a long time, everything I wrote sounded like "just the facts, maam." I am really working to make my writing more colorful, but sometimes I forget.

Pat, I had some of the same complaints, as you. However, I have met some very nice people on Gather. the advice I was given and will give to you is: Make Gather what you want it to be. If you want to post a recipe or a hundred, do it someone is always reading and looking for something good to try. If you are a mom and have mommy or family issues, post those, someone will have advice for you. Make Gather your own place and those few people and comments that are making it hard to be here, toss them aside it's not the whole opinion of Gather. If you are doing something wrong or they don't want on Gather. THE REAL POWERS AT BE will contact you, until then let the rest just rolloff your shoulders and enjoy Gather. Gather is for everyone.

The "Creators of Gather" are not God here. The members are. We get to choose what kind of community we want to build. If a bunch of people join and decide they want this to become a free-for-all of word-of-mouth (viral) advertising, have at it. That's not why I'm here - in fact, it's the opposite of why I'm here.

Minnesota Public Radio shut down their online forums several months ago and told its members (including me) to come here. You'll notice that on your profile you are asked if you listen to public radio, which station, and how often (and no, JACK FM - commercial radio at its worst - is not a valid answer). And so there is still a connection, however increasingly tenous, between Public Radio and Gather.com.

Public Radio listeners do not cotton well to commercials. So, yes, those of us who were driven here by MPR (for example) will bristle against Gather.com becoming a dumping ground for "Have you tried this great new product? It really works!" articles.

It appears that I have come across to you as unfriendly, or "snobby," or whatever. I don't represent Gather.com. I just represent myself. Sales pitches and money-saving tips are not what I came to Gather for. I came here for quality writing, intelligent conversation, and dialogue with the kind of people with whom I share common values, interests, and curiosities.

Is Gather.com snobby? No. Am I? Apparently so.

Julie
Nothing personal to anyone, I assure you. I am just trying to learn more about Gather. Without changing screens, I don't know who you are or what you have written. I have been very curious about the history of Gather and why there is a Public Radio connection. Thank you for sharing your earlier introductions to Gather because I had no idea this might be where some of my feeling is coming from. I'd like to know more about the the original purposes and members of Gather so I can understand more about its active members. In other communities where the content is group based (think Yahoo or Geocities) there is plenty of room for everything from Carseats to Nuclear Physics because the Groups don't overlap. The same for bulletin board based groups. This set up is different from any internet community I've participated in. I originally came to gather for intelligent adult conversation and clever writing. For me, a combinations of those elements plus the practical uses such as product recommendations would make a complete community for me. I must say that I am shocked at the tone of some of the responses to this article. I'm just trying to learn to use and maneuver the site.

Yes, there are Gather snobs. No, you should not leave because of them. There are what, 20,000+ members here? I have no idea. Do what you want and ignore the naysayers. You'll find your niche.

I don't care at all about free stuff, but fortunately, it's easy to ignore those articles. As long as people keep posting things in appropriate categories, and use tags correctly, we should all be able to filter through the info that's here and find what we like. Like Julie, above, I came here looking for a community that's more intelligent and adult than the typical social networking sites. I think Gather can be that, with filtering and tagging, but like any site, there will always be a diversity of opinion as to what's valuable. My biggest hope would be that they include a spellchecker for articles and comments, because there are some atrocious spellers out there whose writing is pretty tough to read! I guess in that sense I'm a snob.

There is plenty of room here for all. There are hundreds of groups to belong to, and I say enjoy yourself and do what you like. The more variety here the better. Don't leave because of a few.
Take care.

Pat, I took the accusation of snobbery personally because I am one of the Gather members you describe in your article above. I can't imagine what has been shocking to you in the comments above, as they are all fairly benign, but if through some misunderstanding I came across more harshly than intended, I apologize.

When I scroll through the "recent articles" page and I can see company and product names (in the title or in the first few preview lines) before I even click on an article to read it, the "it's easy to ignore" argument rings pretty hollow.

This morning a member published an article saying "This product is great! Try it!" They did not identify themselves as a Bzz Agent, but they are a member of the bzzagents group, which means that in all likelihood they are a Bzz Agent. Isn't it a violation of your Bzz Agent Codes of Conduct to promote an item WITHOUT first identifying yourself as a Bzz Agent?

This is why I am opposed to the "invasion."

Ahh I am sorry you are concerned, there are "many" gather.com(s)
You will find your niche.
gather.com is a reflection of any and every community I have ever been part of, family, school, community, workplace, church.
It is always possible to find a way to enjoy what you are part of. We are all always part of . . . .

I have thought for the last two weeks that Gather is a friendly place. I don't like being accused of pushing products just because I also am on bzzagent.com. I don't think I have done that.

I was unclear as to the purpose of Gather. Is it to bring people of like interests together? Is it to bandy about different opinions of the news of the day? Is it for fledgling writers to get a crack at being published?

None of this was made apparent when bzzagent asked us to join Gather. It's like, here it is, try it out. You can't make reports on the Gather bzzblast. They only want your opinions if they survey you, and so far, I've gotten no survey requests. I dont' think that bzzagent knows that there are so many anti-bzzagent people on Gather.

My idea of Gather is that it's a internet website like Myspace, but more mature in nature.

I feel like I've met a lot of interesting people on Gather, and that it's expanded my world just a little bit. I don't mind recipes (I've found it useful!), or looking at freebies. If I don't like something or it doesn't pertain to me, I just go to the next article or photo or group. It's like TV, don't like it, turn the channel or turn it off.

Someone earlier mentioned that Gather "never, ever" marketed itself as a "writing website." This press release (" GATHER.COM LAUNCHES WEBSITE FOR 30 MILLION PUBLIC RADIO LISTENERS TO INTERACT AND SHARE DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES") includes the following sentence: "Gather provides a high-visibility environment where writers, bloggers and other individual contributors can come together to provide a 360-degree global view into shared areas of interest -- and get paid for it."

And this press release (" LEADING BOOK PUBLISHER, MEDIA AND BEST-SELLING AUTHORS TAKE INNOVATIVE LEAP ONTO GATHER.COM") would seem to support the idea of Gather.com as a "writer's website."

Granted, Gather.com has grown in fits and starts and perhaps no longer fits the definition of a "Public Radio" or "Writer's" website, but there are many of us who feel that it still should.

I second what Mark says, it's all nonsense. However, it was marketed to me as a site for "writers" many months ago. So I believe that, rightly so, some do view it as a marketplace for writing and that is causing some friction.

I have a better picture now of what Gather was and is now. I hope to participate while Gather continues to evolve.

Gather is evolving. Chill out and enjoy the ride. Don't fret if the community becomes something that does not match your preconceived notion of what it should be. Gather will be fine, and so will you and I.

I fill the same way. Do you sometimes dont fill welcome. The ones that been here longer, know how to get rid of you fast. Its like there frowning on you. When you dont go by there rules. They can run you off fast.

YES

NO, I don't think Gather is snobby at all. I think if you write well and convey your intent with sincerity you get good results here. If you are not a writer, as long as you don't plagarize someone else's work you will also get good results. I've noticed a lot of backlash from new members who are commenting without reading older works and that could be part of the problem. No one new wants to understand what the "old guard" feels they have lost. The best way to acceptance is understanding.

"No one new wants to understand what the "old guard" feels they have lost."

This is what I was trying to find out. I have a little better understanding now.

I have only read the comments up to Liz RS.

Gather IS large enough for everybody. At last count (April) Tom Gerace said Gather had 25,0000 registered members and many times more unregistered members.

At that time, I was receiving about 600 email notifications in my inbox; now, I have about 4,000 email notifications every day...

Who knows how many people are registered?

In July, about 200 articles were published per day. I counted them. At last count, one day last week, I counted 700 articles published in one day.

Read what you want, ignore the rest.

The people who have commented here all have great articles - check them out...Stick with the kinds of content you know and love - if its freebies, then stick with that.

Plenty of people publish jokes and email forwards. I don't do that and I don't read them. But I find nothing wrong with that, as long as they say that they were not the originators of those items.

Gather.com is a microcosm of society; it is made up of all educational, age, and socioecconomic levels.

Gone are the days back in April when Tom Gerace stated that Gather's average age was 44 and that 70 percent had a college degree.

There are people of all political and religious affiliations, as it should be.

Have a great day, Pat!

I have only read the comments up to Liz RS.

Gather IS large enough for everybody. At last count (April) Tom Gerace said Gather had 25,0000 registered members and many times more unregistered members.

At that time, I was receiving about 600 email notifications in my inbox; now, I have about 4,000 email notifications every day...

Who knows how many people are registered?

In July, about 200 articles were published per day. I counted them. At last count, one day last week, I counted 700 articles published in one day.

Read what you want, ignore the rest.

The people who have commented here all have great articles - check them out...Stick with the kinds of content you know and love - if its freebies, then stick with that.

Plenty of people publish jokes and email forwards. I don't do that and I don't read them. But I find nothing wrong with that, as long as they say that they were not the originators of those items.

Gather.com is a microcosm of society; it is made up of all educational, age, and socioecconomic levels.

Gone are the days back in April when Tom Gerace stated that Gather's average age was 44 and that 70 percent had a college degree.

There are people of all political and religious affiliations, as it should be.

Have a great day, Pat!