Publishing to Groups - Please Read

Kathryn, this is timely and I couldn't agree with you more. Like your groups, Kathryn, the Chat & Connections Garden Cafe has become moderated because there were people posting anything and everything. So please, everyone, please ensure that you know the purpose of the group before posting to it.

I know the feeling...

Despite repeated reminders, no one bothers...

Your article is very timely...

Thanks, Ladies....and goodnight...goodmorning...

I figured this would hit a chord...hopefully, people will listen, yes?

Very timely, Kathryn. I, too, understand the frustrations of sorting through tons of articles that do not pertain to your own group. I mistakenly posted to the wrong groups but hopefully that has changed dramatically as I learned how vast the differences can be with various groups. I'm afraid, however, that this is just something we will have to contend with as long as there are people joining Gather.

to post an article like this obviously you are having a rough time with this publishing issue. i'm sorry you are having such a difficult time. i am a member of one of your groups. i dont believe i have been publishing to it or any of your other groups because what i have been publishing hasnt seemed to fit in your group(s).

i do try to get the group and what i am publishing to match up - to be appropriate. i may not always succeed - there are times when i leave a group out that i should be publishing to as well. there are people who do try to pay attention to the group(s) they are publising to and to get their work in the appropriate group(s).

it sounds like you are not often dealing with the people who do make an effort to be publishing in the appropriate group(s). that is unfortunate. your article is addressed to everyone, who is publishing to groups, so i read it. is it really intended for everyone or for a specific audience? i apologize if i have mistakenly been publishing something of mine inappropriately to one of your groups.

may be you needed to vent and choose this way to vent? i read your article because it was directed toward those publishing to groups - that means me, i am one who is publishing to groups. i am sorry you are having a difficult time with people who are inappropriately publishing material to your groups. i hope that issue improves for you. it's ironic that the problem you are having is similar to aiming an article at everyone when it is a select group you wish to target.

i hope the irony of this does not offend you. i do want to continue making an effort at publishing to the right groups. i also hope your problem clears up. there are some who are publishing to your groups appropriately - even if it is a smaller number than those publishing to your groups inappropriately.

i wonder if there is something that can be done to encourage those who are making an effort at publishing appropriately to your groups to continue to do so, rather than to lump these people into the problem you are having with those people who are publishing inappropriately?

i am new here. i have very little idea of what is possible and what is not possible. is there some way you can acknowledge those who are appropriately publishing to your groups? if publishing to groups appropriately were rewarded in some way perhaps people would begin to pay more attention to publishing in appropriate groups?

I thought this was supposed to be fun!

Thanks for the overview of the groups moderated by you, Kathryn. It gives a clear picture at a glance.

Wrick, about 1,800 people belong to these 4 groups of mine, with considerable overlap. I have sent out group messages and sent individual emails to people, but people join my groups everyday, because a person can see these groups on the first page of Groups, Popular.

MOST group owners have this problem. The problem lies not with you, my dear Wrick, who does read and publish appropriately, but with a LOT of other people on Gather who simply click EVERY single group they belong to and publish to those.

Also, Wrick, about 900 to 1000 articles are published daily on Gather now. About 20 to 40 articles get submitted each day to each one of my groups. Often, people are submitting the same article to several of my groups, indiscriminately, at times.

The sheer volume of articles coming into my groups prevents me from making individual replies, especially when some people repeatedly post inappropriately after I have explained the posting rules to them.

T - I - M - E - is a four letter word on Gather.

Thank you for the reminder!

Thank you. Everyone needs a reminder now and again.

Editing for content is strange. I never heard of someone admitting to doing this?
So, from there, is censorship the rule?

Alas, Kathryn, this is why I never started a group. I see many strange things on the groups I visit to read. Pictures, images, on poetry groups, along with political articles etc. I don't know how the owners/moderaters of the groups manage it.
I don't belong to any of your groups .... lucky you.

Thanks for addressing this issue again Kathryn. I think the majority of group owners have experienced similar problems. Everyone accidentally clicks on the wrong group occasionally - that's to be expected. But some people just post all of their groups without even trying to select the correct forums.

Helpful article, Kathryn, especially for new folks. Unfortunately, as Gather grows it will be more and more difficult to screen and moderate groups. One wonders, for individuals with many groups, and moderating all, where the line should be drawn and when to give up and not moderate and take the "good" with the "bad" in terms of applicability. Having moderated a major group for over 6 months here, I found it just took up too much time, and I kept trying to get volunteers to help, to no avail. Just thinking out loud, but I think sooner or later Gather is going to have to come up with some aids for moderators to make the job easier.

Good reminder Kathryn. There are plenty of groups that all content is welcome, so there is little need to post to specific genre groups to get noticed. The whole point of specific groups is to help separate different kinds of articles to make them easier to find, and comment upon.
I would add that group owners that have specific groups and want limited, or a specific quality or level of posting, please put that in the description. It will help also.
Some people have made little cheat sheets for themselves for publishing. If it helps, maybe others could do the same to help them remember.
Thanks.

I am new to Gather, but I would think that it would be common sense to discuss things that the group is about. Why join if it's not a topic of interest that you would like to share thoughts and feelings about?

I'm glad you moderate your groups closely. I find it a much more pleasant experience to actually find articles that are specifically for a particular group than articles that have nothing to do with the interest of the group. I appreciate the work this involves and thank you for your attention to details. :-)

Thanks Jovie and Martha !

Thanks Jovie and Martha !

Katz, it isn't censorship; it's adhering to the group publishing rules that we owner/mderators set up. Many people do not moderate, but just as many remove articles that do not fit the group's posting rules...Most groups, as a matter of fact, have a particluar angle or slant to them; a few, such as pandemonium.gather.com are for ANY content.

There are some others that accept ANY, but their names are a bit long and I don't remember them offhand.

John L., I remember another time you emailed me with the same wonder - how moderators do it...well, many do not moderate or remove articles, but the downside is that these groups become a pastiche of articles, much to the moderator's discontent.

If you publish a poem about Gatherland, will you PLEASE publish it to Unofficial Gatherholics?

And if you publish a poem about a FIRST, will you PLEASE publish it to Famous
Firsts and Not So Famous Firsts?

And, if you publish a poem about the Sixties, will you PLEASE publish it to THe Sixties?

I wish several groups I'm in had any degree of moderation. I really get annoyed at people spamming articles that are off-topic for half the groups they send it to.

That is very true, Linda. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but some do publish to all the groups. it does not help matters, any. Sometimes I'm just overwhelmed.

Ed, I remember when you were going through all of that. I don't know how you did it, in all honesty...!!!

Ed, I remember when you were going through all of that. I don't know how you did it, in all honesty...!!!

Ed, I remember when you were going through all of that. I don't know how you did it, in all honesty...!!!

John S. a tip sheet - now THAT's an idea worth writing HOME about !!!

Well after reading this I'm thinking that....yes many groups are self explanatory by their name but when you're publishing all that is listed is the name only to publish too and if there are any particular rules for a group...they're not showing there. I have a good memory but can't remember that well with so many groups. It would help if each group had one line to put an important rule right there. Then there should be no excuses and it might make your jobs a lot easier too. I don't intentionally post to anything inappropriate but it has happened. Just my suggestion.....

Most groups are fairly clear in their names as to what acceptable submissions should be. Though some, like the OCD group, contantly reject articles that have to do with related issues. What? are we supposed to write about our repetitive behavior over and over again? That would start a redundant cycle. LOL Though I am sick of scrolling down a whole page of groups to get to an article. Thanks for letting me vent.

But this is not a famous first - this topic has been covered multiple times before ;-)

Thanks Nastacia M. and Marsha B.

Bryan, it would be great if more groups did have some degree of moderation.

Lori, it is true that when a person gets an invite all they see is the invitation. But if a person has a question, they should go directly to the group and they will see two descriptions of the group - one short, like that above and a longer one on the group page.

TOO many people are just publishing to groups without thinking at all.

Amanda, how ironic for the OCD group to reject relevant content. Repeat action until accepted, unless you wear out, first.

Amanda, how ironic for the OCD group to reject relevant content. Repeat action until accepted, unless you wear out, first.

Sandy, it is important that a copy of this article is in each of my groups that have a problem, and which are mentioned here.

I would think you would see that right off the bat!

Thanks Kathryn, I realize what you're saying but I'm not referring to an invitation........when I get an invite to a group I go there, check out the content, read the rules, read some of what the writers have penned and check out the group owner's profile, not necessarily in that order. I'm talking about when I'm actually publishing the article or image. On that page there is only a HUGE listing of all the groups that I belong to with the name and a little box to check...that's it. It would help me tremendously, especially as being kind of new, if on that page any rule.....for example Aunty Fluff's group says post 2x a month.....showed on that there also. You can't leave once you are in midst of publishing and check these things. I've often thought that I missed a group that I wanted to send the article to or sent it to one that I didn't because of this.....

Lori, I think that would be a technical difficulty to provide that kind of info on the publishing to groups page. Not certain, but it is my impression. Besides, I belong to more than 200 groups - it is difficult as is to see what groups I have - it would be even more difficult...

Liz, not sure if I am dynamic or not, but I am fairly outgoing and do adore dynamic people. I think your love of music and your ability to dream of music and to dream in music is simply fabulous !

Kathryn, i know this is going to annoy you enormously, (and I apologize coz I also admire you enormously), but I'm beginning to question the absolute need for publishing to any group at all...I do not commit the cardinal sin publishing indiscriminately to all groups...in fact, sometimes I am hard pressed to find a single group that fits into my freewheeling articles...I suppose I should be more structured, but I write (not drivel) about whatever idea pops into my head...why can't good writing be just that...good writing...does it really need to be categorized?

Thanks for the reminder, from now on i will check my group and posting..

Firoze, my dear, you haven't annoyed me and I admire you, too - you are right - there really isn't any need to publish to groups at all...I only started publishing to groups when i started my groups, 2 months after groups were introduced back in February. I think some people publish to groups because people are basically sheep and some people publish to groups in the hopes of getting more readers and comments.

Anita, you publish very appropriately, thank you. I have found that some people are still doing this with my groups, and apparently they did not see this...oh well...life is life.