Gather...please control your children.

I prefer to read stories and life happenings... I rarely participate in games and other things that go on here at gather. I do not mind the help me out with something article either as you get a great deal of different opinions here on gather of what you might want to try. I agree though, the games and the recipes are really not needed here.

I give you a ten! This is a very good idea. I enjoy all of the articles, whether they be the games, the fluff, the poetry, the literature. It can be a little hard wading through all of the articles at one time trying to figure out what is what.

Right ON, Wendy! I, for one, plan to send copies of this to Gather--and I urge anybody else who agrees to do so also.

huh?

wow.. I feel gather is all about gathering weather it be freebies, poems,stories,or venting or personal life and such but you can choose what to look at and thats why there are groups you can sign up for .. or am I wrong?

One thing that makes Gather so great is the diveristy on here. We all have different groups to post our articles to. I have some for sewing, craft websites, different holidays, and belong to many that are for cooking and cleaning, etc. I love everything about Gather and love being able to share my recipes, get new recipes, craft ideas, ask questions, find new things out, etc. That is the spice of life. If we were all the same, think how boring we would be and we wouldn't need to be on here making friends and doing what we are doing. Why would I be friends with someone who is exactly like me and walks, talks, thinks, etc. just like me. I would be talking to ME! I want the diversity, the love, and yes, even the strife that being us causes.

what I find most intersting Lydia, is that I was always under the impression that 'big brother' sees all before it hits the page....

Why are they NOT ALREADY AWARE?
or...
ARE THEY????

Money talks and in this case, our 'chats' are bringin it in....

If they would just segregate submissions, I think most of the fussing would stop. I like recipes, I even enjoy an occasional email forward or freebie, I'm not even above a silly game on occasion.

It should be MY choice to read them though, I fully support your idea Wendy.

Give us "folders" to choose from.

~~

(and while I'm here, WHY do they insist on ignoring Art as a topic?)

Merrin, that is NOT the case.

Here's how it works, say I really like someone, I enjoy their serious articles, or I just happen to hit it off with them, so I connect. Well from then on, anything they produce shows up in my "articles for me" tab.

Articles for me, would imply it's something I'm interested in, well that's a thought anyway.

My only recourse to avoid the games, fluff and non original work is to disconnect from that person. At times, I've done this in spite of my fondness for that person individually.

I don't feel that it should be necessary to do so, and if there were a way that articles could be submitted to a "group" then I would not have to see what I don't want to see.

For instance, Jane Doe publishes a memoir, good content, strong writing and I'm impressed........so I connect

Then she adds some fluff (which I'm not opposed to, and I think it has some place here) IF she were able to post that article to a group for "email forwards" or "humor" or anything else that's applicable.........I would not have to read it.

I could click on the correct group, find her stuff, and still have a great Gather connection.

There are days when I have to run through three pages of stuff in order to find something serious to read.

What would you do with the cross-categorical stuff? A lot of my writing could be considered journaling or blogging but also poetry. Or maybe some of my stuff could be considered an essay although it's rooted in "fluff" or journaling... What would you do with that?

Well, I guess you would have to decide where you thought it fit best.
Or, in the event that it DOES cross, I would assume those in your subscriptions or groups, would find it (read that "seek it out") on their own. That's the whole point.

Lainie, I was thinking the same thing. I'm not sure where most of my writing would fall. I like the idea of having the games pulled out and put in a separate folder...I just think there might be some gray area with the writing.

Categorising would help us find aricles of our choices. I give a skip to fluff and sometimes miss out perfectly good artcles in all that maze. I agree to this.

I value my time and sometimes I have to waste my time wading through articles which bore me to death.

9.2 and moving downward....

interesting.

oh and on an 'obvious' note....

other areas could be added also.
(like games for an example)
Do a poll on it.
Decide which make sense to add.
Let us decide what areas there are a NEED for...

I use the power of my feet to vote for groups that are run the way I like. If a group continually allows fluff and cut and paste stuff, or what is posted there is generally uninteresting to me personally, I simply stop being a member of that particular group. In the case of individual members who insist on spamming my mailbox with notes to go read this or that contribution of theirs, well if it gets bad enough from any one individual, I block their messages.

It's all about free choice here. Spammy boring groups lose readers. If you don't like a particular group, leave it. It dies or survives and thrives. With or without you.

Another great idea that Gather will ignore. Nice try, Wendy.

You have some great ideas, Wendy. Let's hope the powers that be are listening.

I'm just not sure how well the whole individual-groups thing even works. Lots of us wound up having at least one "post anything" group--me included--and that kind of defeats the purpose. I know owning groups earns us more points, but I'd love not to have to pick a bunch of groups every time I post, say, a poem, and just submit it to one where ALL the poetry's going. People get their stuff rejected all the time because things aren't set up easily for us to remember which groups take what, too.

Kate,
The problem lies in how long it takes to do that...
How many things do you pass by that you don't read to get to those that you'd like too?

Wendy, this is very sensible.
The three separate folders you suggest would solve the problem nicely....I hope someone UP THERE is listening.

Thanks, Wendy. You hit the nail right on the head.

Hear! Hear!

Wendy O. I agree -- a 10-star for you. Gather, for all that it offers, has a lot of problems. I'm rather new here (about 2 weeks on), & I'm no programmer, but even from the very beginning, I noticed there isn't much differentiation occurring here, not enough to be really useful anyway. What's the purpose of belonging to a group when you could just subscribe to the owner's page? I'm finding some difficulty with belonging to groups that match my interests more precisely -- and if those groups aren't large enough to generate some real activity, they seem effectively pointless.

Gather probably assumes that the cluttered (read "random") distribution of wide varieties of articles to wide varieties of people supports their advertising model best, but I disagree. I think there's too much clutter here, the tabs help but only in very limited ways, and ultimately it's going to alienate usership -- thus costing advertising revenues in the long run, or at least not at all maximizing them.

What Gather needs is a set (or several sets) of Categories based on tags -- similar to a Craig's List model (I would prefer no default to a geographic vicinity though -- but that could be one of the Tag Categories). One of the MOST FRUSTRATING things to me is that "tags" are SO UNDERUTILIZED by Gather. This would create niches certainly, but it would generate niche advertising, as well as generally trafficked areas receiving the big general advertising dollars. So we would all win -- and the children would be encouraged to parent themselves.

Makes sense to me. Sounds like a good idea.

you are correct.
The parenting DOES have to start somewhere.

Unfortunately there isn't a "protective services' organization for this type of thing.

No one is going to do so...
Until they are FORCED to do so.

How about a separate section for serious writing and one for "everything else"?

Thanks Wendy for posting the article and for everyone joining the conversation.

As Michelle W states , what makes Gather so unique is the tremendous diversity of interest, content and engagement. Different people want to participate in different ways.

Gather's role is to create a community and a platform that enables that diversity of thought and action. Gather currently has over 275,00 members, 8,500 individual groups, 37,000 subject tags and over 100,000 weekly submissions. In addition, more than one million unique people from outside the Gather community come to the site each month to read our community's content. We do not see our role to limit content, discussion or determine where it should take place. Rather, as long as members follow our terms of service, we welcome all forms of participation. It is our goal and hope that all members will find the right Gather experience that is most meaningful for them, whether it is blogging for their friends & family, sharing their thoughts with the world or participating in specific groups.

Our editors help call some of the most interesting content to the community's attention on our homepage and in Gather Essentials. Group owners perform a similar function by choosing what content is admitted to their groups and which of that accepted content they feature. In this way, the group owners you trust help filter out the content you don't want to see.

In the future, we hope to allow different kinds of classification for content, helping you to more easily find, and avoid, the things you want. We hope these current and future technologies will allow you to find the Gather you want, while allowing us to encourage and allow open expression on the site.

Carl Rosendorf, President & COO of Gather

Some things are a pain at times, but if you follow the guildines of the theory behind Gather, it can be a very successful experience. You may have to wade through some things to get to others, but if you're looking for something or someone specific, you'll find what you're looking for eventually. Write/post...read/view...rate...comment

I think Gather has made it perfectly clear that they support the nonsense when they featured the plagiarist instead of booting him, and when they allow the ass-showing, harassing, skank to remain but run off great writers.

They are in a 'BETWEEN' stage. According to Alexa, traffic rank and views are down, but the total views per user/per day are up. I interpret that to mean activity is static and unique views down, which doesn't satisfy what they promised advertisers. So, in order to keep the numbers up (to give the appearance that they are doing well) and satisfy that commitment to advertisers, it makes sense that they would triple the size of the "invite new members" button and support the members who publish fifty one-liners a day, and who will invite others who do the same, and who will harass the life out of anyone who thinks, mentions, or demonstrates quality content instead of caring about the few who produce quality content.

I think the wisest move for anyone who cares about adult behavior/content is to step away from Gather. Leave it to the the "good morning club" and "the clique" and let them bore and harass one another. It's obvious our complaints will make no difference. The only thing that might is pulling out and letting the numbers drop.

There's been so many ideas on this subject and technically all sound so good. However, I like a lot of different things and dislike some others. I like to take a peek though. I'd hate to wade through a lot of different categories to find something. I think if you set up your notifications correctly, this really helps. Another thing that is helpful is the title the person choses to put on their article and the few sentences that show up in the e-mail notification. This pretty much gives me an idea of whether I want to go read/see it or not. The only downfall of my method of deciding what to view through the e-mail notifications is, if you have posted to ten groups and you are also connected to me, I get eleven e-mail notifications. Other than that, I can pretty much read (those articles I decide on) everything my groups and connections post each day. From there I go to most read articles and photos from the home page. I know I still miss some things, but I still have an interesting view of what is going on.

By the way, for those who don't care for games, cut and paste, E-mails and the likes, I'm sorry to inform you that they are here to stay! I just re-read some of Gather's information, rules and regulations...and some wording has been changed to reflect they will always be allowed. Under a section regarding Gather Points tm, it used to read points were used for "rewarding its members for publishing quality articles". That same line NOW reads "rewarding its members for site participation", meaning Gather is more than willin to accept posts that are NOT considered quality articles. However, they still claim one of the best ways to acquire more Gather Points tm is by "publishing quality articles" even though the "quality articles" don't get read or commented on as much being buried in "fluff", while the "fluff" gets the most exposure. There's another section that states the "more value you provide, the more points you'll earn". I guess that means since the "fluff" is read, rated and commented on more; Gather makes more money off that. They're in it to make money, no doubt about that, so they're not about to cut off the hand that's feeding them. Who knows...in the future, we might see Gather become of site of "fluff" and they'll ban "quality articles" because the "fluff" makes them more money.

Rob
You don't have to be arrogant toward members, you just have to agree that there is an issue period. It is not the members that you need to attack , its gather. And attack isn't the right word.
EXPLAIN is closer.
If they do not know what everyone wants, they can't make an attempt to accomodate them.
Stop blaming the users and blame the creators. They are the ones who have the authority to mandate the changes. If we work TOGETHER and stop the BICKERING we might just be able to bring about the changes everyone would like to see.

Carl,
Do you have any type of timeline for implementing these 'classifications of content' of which you speak?
Having one, would do wonders towards settling the masses down...
Having such knowledge will also cut down on the complaints, if even just a little.
Keeping members informed of the changes, and when we can except to see them operational, would be greatly appreciated.

Having the ability to seperate post types into appropriate categories is a fabulous idea, there is room for everyone's type of posting...unlike the outcry of some folks that don't read so well I have never said anyone's posts shouldn't be posted unless they are stolen.....but I do agree that creating a tab that says Freebies, or Games/Entertainment, or such would be beneficial but the problem as I see it is this:
we already have groups and I've seen folks posting to groups with articles that have not a damn thing to do with that particular group. If folks can't even get that part right how will Gather make sure they are getting their article type right?
I mean hell I figured out why I don't get read so much, it's because I don't post all my articles to every group I am a part of...I keep them tagged only for the groups they actually would fit into...these days I read the articles and comments of my contacts and if a contact has a comment that inspires curiosity I will go to the original article to find out what moved them to post...but what I won't do is start sending every bit of writing I do to every single group I'm part of...ugh..it makes me crazy so I certainly won't do that to other group members.

I would like to address these statements from Carl R.'s comment:

"As Michelle W states , what makes Gather so unique is the tremendous diversity of interest, content and engagement. Different people want to participate in different ways."

I'm not sure how you define "unique" or "tremendous", so I will explain why I think Gather's "uniqueness" is not so "tremendous". I will admit that it is unique for Gather to welcome and features content that is not original - dozens of articles a day copied from email spam is not something I see on other sites. However, it is not something that many intelligent adults welcome in their mailbox, much less on a website, so I don't understand how that is "tremendous".

I have probably belonged to and participated on as many writing sites (okay, I know Gather is not a writing site, but please humor me since that is what I was told it would be and I'm having a hard time adjusting to the truth) as anyone, and have yet to see another patronize a member who choses a picture of a butt-bearing girl humping a tree, who publishes nothing of value and spents most of her time insulting others, publishing lies about others, and complaining about people who publish quality content and allow her to claim the first name she has chosen to use on this site as a word that only she can use. That might represent a new form of diversity, but I don't see it as 'tremendous".

"Gather's role is to create a community and a platform that enables that diversity of thought and action. Gather currently has over 275,00 members, 8,500 individual groups, 37,000 subject tags and over 100,000 weekly submissions." How many of those members are active? How many of those groups truly "individual"? And, of those 37,000 tags, how many am only I not allowed to use?

"In addition, more than one million unique people from outside the Gather community come to the site each month to read our community's content. We do not see our role to limit content, discussion or determine where it should take place." More than a million unique people OUTSIDE Gather take a peek and decide not to join? I personally know at least fifty writers who took a look and decided they would pass. And, I know that many of those 'unique' viewers were people who came to look at my work when I let them know I had published something. Please note - that is past tense. I will not invite anyone else here - ever - do see the tree-humper and her friends harass and lie about me.

"Rather, as long as members follow our terms of service, we welcome all forms of participation." Including those whose only obvious reason for being here is to harass other members who were here writing quality content.

"It is our goal and hope that all members will find the right Gather experience that is most meaningful for them, whether it is blogging for their friends & family, sharing their thoughts with the world or participating in specific groups." Or publishing the same game daily, their email spam, or a "GOOD MORNING/AFTERNOON/EVENING/11P.M." article for the same people to come in and say the same thing back every night?

"Our editors help call some of the most interesting content to the community's attention on our homepage and in Gather Essentials." Your editors feature articles that are written on a fifth-grade level, articles that are not original, and ONLY articles that fall in "their" groups - which kinda makes that total number of unique groups mean not so much.

What Melissa said.

Sorry if it sounded like I was "attacking" anyone...I was simply "trying to explain according to my observations"; nothing more, using terms and phrases found not only in Gather's guidlines but by members posting comments. I may not care for something, but I really don't care what others do. I'll continue doing "my thing" the way I want, which has proven very successful thusfar, considering I'm not a professional writer and a relatively new contributor of just two months. Like I've said; write...read...rate...comment...and move on to the next of whatever one is looking for.

I see I found the party...

any nachos left?

Carl,
Since I know you are probably watching this article now, I would also like to point you in this (relevant) direction as well. It is a VERY INTERESTING read, if you have a moment.

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976962195

On a more serious note, I want to chime in on the side that is galled daily by points being awarded equally for Real Articles and two line posts of Games / pasted Good Whatever-Time-It-Is articles...

Divide it up. Keep the games and pastes just for fun, award the points for the meat.

point made.

now the question becomes...
will it be acted on?

or more precisely...

will any of them?

Carl, if you'd like to represent for the powers that be, this is the time to come back here and answer--doing so, and answering the concerns expressed simply and honestly, would let the people reading this thread know that it wasn't a matter of simply pressing the Form Letter Number 3 button for your post. We've seen an awful lot of that lately--"personal" replies that weren't anywhere near personal, and "answers" that answered nothing at all.

I'd like to think Gather's President and COO is up to better. Please prove me right.

A modest proposal with merit.

Looks like we got the "Form Letter Number 3 button." Nice try guys.

(Sorry for the "self promotion" below but it's easier to read it than re-explain it all.)

Wendy, you may remember my recently republished article It's Just That Simple. It outlined a way to deal with the "cross over" problem mentioned above, as well as how to incorporate groups to this MUCH NEEDED categorization while still allowing all types of content from all types of members. It would take co-operation between members AND management...but it could solve it. Simply and easily, much like you have outlined here.

It garnered very little attention. (Tho lots from you! Thanx!) Just like the first seven times I published the same idea in different ways.

At least you got the Form Letter #3.

Sigh.

PS. I am STILL willing to volunteer (as in for FREE) to help get the group category project off the ground. Just in case anyone is still listening.

"Our editors help call some of the most interesting content to the community's attention on our homepage and in Gather Essentials. "

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL sorry but that is some funny shit right there...featuring plagiarists and plagiarized works must be terribly hard to do.


"We hope these current and future technologies will allow you to find the Gather you want, while allowing us to encourage and allow open expression on the site."

Why not just have the balls to limit some of the copy and past crap? It really isn't that hard to do.

"and over 100,000 weekly submissions. "

I also take exception to this statement, as it is clearly not true. The only way it could be true is if there were roughly 96,500 images being posted every week. There are about 3500 articles or so posted on a weekly basis. I know. I dig through them almost every day. On average I would say there are about 25 pages of articles a day and each page has twenty I beleive. I dunno who is crunching the numbers for Gather, but they are clearly smoking too much crack in any case.

You go, Travis!

Dawn..even if you factor in activity in private groups, the numbers he posted are false. He might get away saying that to advertisers who don't bother to watch Gather activity, but it doesn't fly based on what I see every day. Besides, what happens in private groups is not relevant and cannot be compared to the public activity by anyone who is trying to be honest.

Or that lovely stuff from your pipe, Travis.

no, because that allows you to think rationally, despite public warnings to the contrary.
Just ask Willie...or Montel...or woody....or....Oliver Stone...or...ya well, ya get the idea.

eh Robi...maybe so, but laced with something else methinks.

So I decided to try and work out some of the math based on a couple of the erroneous statments made by the COO.

I went back and looked and found myself to be wrong to some extent. Yesterday there appears to be 42 pages of articles posted. That still is only 840. There were 38 pages of images so that puts is around 500 images daily.

That would put the total of articles and images still only around 9300 or so a week. I realize that is probably a very rough average, but it comes nowhere near to being close to 100,000, even if there was a whole lot of private activity happening.

I'd also like to add here...
(I can cuz the article is mine..REMEMBER?)

Every single one of you came to this article without a MASS EMAIL advising you to do so...

Amazing, isn't it?

hint, hint, HINT!

I was just going to mass email about it..:D

lol greeeeaaat
I'll just go delete it like I do the rest....

about what you said yesterday Trav.... I know, and I tried...I really, really did.
I just had to give it one more shot.
Last attempt, I promise.

I almost forgot...

Rob,
I appreciate your apology.
Now, just hope that everyone else who took it that way...
does also.

Wendy..deleting will only make me stronger..:D

You know I also wanted to throw this out. What if everyone, and I do mean everyone, posted say 9 chat threads and say and extra twenty articles that were cut and paste email forwards? How about every day? If that is what Gather wants then maybe that is exactly what they should get. Would it piss people off? It might, but you see that is what they are allowing some to do and benefit the most from. It should either be acceptable for everyone or none at all. If they would simply take a stand many would not be irritated and many more would not have left.

agree wholeheartedly.
Unfortunately, that means nothing.

Did ya ever wonder what would happen if we ALL posted say 10 copy/paste articles a day for, let's say, 5 days?

I can imagine in the Gather offices:

"So, there's another article calling for one of us to respond. Who's going in this time?"

...laughter all around

"Maybe we can ignore them. Who bought these donuts? They're really yummy!"

"I don't think we can ignore it. The natives are restless and even though we pretend a lot of things, I've gotten 35 emailed links to the article and we can't pretend we didn't know about it"

"I think Carl should do it- he never has to!"

"Yeah! Carl should do it! He's got those powerful letters after his name! They'll believe anything he says!"

"Well, Tom can't do it because they don't believe him anymore."

Carl: "Okay, I'll do it this time but I'm only going to post once and be done with the fools. I have better things to do with my time. Do these people really think they matter to us?"

"Okay, Carl it is then. Make it good Carl. We need to shut them up for a while."

ahahah good one Lisa..

Madame Donna- I was thinking more like 20 each. But, Gather makes out like a bandit on it and those who usually post that type of thing would think that they've died and gone to heaven. Oh yippeee, more games and stuff!

I publish kind of fluff pieces. I do not post something every day, except for comments. It depends on what my brain has to get out. However, I do not participate in the Good Whatever It Is articles. Those are kind of annoying to wade through, imho.

roxanne...we aren't talking about occassional stuff...we're talking about EVERY single day.

Lisa, I have a feeling if we all followed that lead with copy/paste and plagiarised posts and recipes from mags and cookbooks, then Gather would eventually lose readership. I can see most magazines online and the rest is forced upon me in my email, so why would I need Gather?

Wendo O wrote "Some members are tired of sifting through pages and pages of freebies, recipes, copy and pasted emails that have already circulated the globe several times over, among other things."

Hummm.. lets see
Travis B. posts recipes
Melissa in Black posts stuff copy and pasted from her emails
Lisa D. posts "What is your favorite eating utensil?" and "What did your cat have for lunch?"
Madame Donna C posts recipe after recipe after recipe....
Napoleon BlownApart {aka: Michael } M posts fluff daily


Where does the hypocrisy end??????????? lol

AMBER,
what you failed to realize, (Insert "Red Foreman signature phrase" here), is this...
We are trying to find AN ANSWER.
We are NOT pointing fingers, and NEITHER should you. This isn't about that. It is about bringing about the changes to satisfy EVERYONE. If I wanted to point fingers, trust me, I could. Certain emails have been recieved that could for sure have been brought into play. They were NOT. Yes, a lot of us are aware of them.
But,
that's not what this is about. Had you actually READ the article (or hell, comments for that matter) you would have known that we were discussing how to catago...oh hell, never mind! If you didn't read it the first time, I am not explaining it. Suffice it to say that I would prefer you NOT enter into my articles and point fingers. If you have nothing of VALUE to add to the conversation, might I suggest you go back to your "AMBER 10"and rants about us hypocrits, and leave this to those who are mature enough to look for compromises rather just point fingers.
We'll call you if we need you...

Yes DW, apparently they do.

Why not attempt to make a difference while you're here?
Why not try to make improvements?
It has to start somewhere...
If no one says anything, no one does anything.
and sometimes even then, they won't.
Welcome to 2007 on Earth.

But, wouldn't it be so much easier if you had these suggestions to work with??
And, wouldn't it be easier if the drama would end?
Ya know the whole "kill two birds with a stone" theory?
Just a thought...

that shoulda been 'one stone'

Even smart people make mistakes.

It does happen...

Bec,
That's ENTIRELY the point.
Shouldn't we matter?
Even if it's just giving us enough to keep us here clicking?
As it is it is getting harder to LIKE being here.
No matter WHICH side of the fence you're on.
It's not ONE 'set' (read that 'clique', if you must) of people who are considering making an exit. A ton of people are finding everything listed here an annoyance. Granted, the term Gather Gods, is in jest, however it doesn't deter from the fact that they indeed, hold the cards to change this. I really don't like hangin out in places that are filled with Drama and functions that are difficult to execute, when I can simply go elsewhere just as easily.
Ultimately, I"m actually trying to do EVERYONE a favor.
Including Gather.
I was just showen em' a way to avoid the 'possibility' of having to explain to the advertisers that the sudden decline in numbers (that they 'might' experience) 'could have' been due' to the inability to satisfy clients needs so most of them left...That's all. Honest. I was trying to avoid and end problems, not cause them.

I know, there should be a comma between the 'it is' and the 'it is' .

smart people make mistakes too.

and I ain't rewritt'n it.

wendy, just a few days ago you jumped on the bandwagon to clown another gather member. when that member appeared, the first thing you said was, "this article could be about anybody. it could be about me. what makes you think we were talking about you?!" i found that hilarious. im sure some of the gather shirts and ties did too. why should they take you or any of your suggestions seriously?

It's relatively simple actually...
At that point, it was done to settle down the drama.
How can there be anything further if no one can pinpoint positively 'who' it concerned.
At that point, it became 'friends having a conversation'
It protected ALL parties, in all actuality.
How was anyone's reputation placed in jeapardy at that point?
Do you have a definitive answer as to whom it involved?
You shouldn't, and if you do, I'd only ask why?
More importantly, How do you justify how you do?
(if in fact, you do)

How many times does this need to be said
If you dont like games, dont click on them
If you dont like recipes, dont click on them
If you dont like copy and pasted emails, dont click on them

Gather has GROUPS "(Insert "Red Foreman signature phrase" here)
If you really came to Gather for the quality writing, you could simply create a group, invite those individuals you deem worthy to join, and ahhh...ha!! you have your Gather with quality writing and no games, recipes, cut and paste.....etc...since you can moderate it yourself

BUT NEWS FLASH (Insert "Red Foreman signature phrase" here)!!
MOST PEOPLE LIKE GAMES, RECIPES, GOOD MORNING GATHER, FAMILY STORIES, ETC... Most people dont want you to force your idea of what Gather should be on them!!!!!!!
Dont you understand that???????

EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SCREAMING WITH YOU ABOUT THIS SAME WHINNY CHANT ABOUT THE GAMES, RECIPES, ETC....PUBLISH THOSE VERY SAME ARTICLES AND ACTIVATELY PARTICIPATE ON COMMENT LISTS OF GAMES, RECIPES, FAMILY STORIES, ETC....!!!!!!! LOL WHAT HYPOCRISY!!

Hummm.. lets see
Travis B. COMPLAINS ABOUT REICPES, THEN....posts recipes
Melissa in Black COMPLAINS ABOUT CUT AND PASTE CRAP,THEN..posts stuff copied and pasted from her emails
Lisa D. COMPLAINS ABOUT THE LACK OF QUALITY ARTICLES, THEN....posts "What is your favorite eating utensil?" and "What did your cat have for lunch?"
Madame Donna C COMPLAINS ABOUT GATHER CONSTANTLY EVEN TRYING TO START A BOYCOTT, THEN.....posts recipe after recipe after recipe....
Another Gather griper opens a group called "butt shots"??? another Griper opens a group about "I going to copy your article and post it myself" another Griper opens a group called "poop wars" another Griper opens a group called "Gatherfulff"
I could go on and on!!!

DOES THE HYPOCRICY EVER END WITH YOU GRIPERS???????


But for you to keep beating a dead horse with this whinny argument "Boo-hooo.....Gather is full of crap....Boo-hoooo" and then snuggle up to hypocrites like these

WHAT EXACTLY IS YOUR POINT????

If your my friend and kiss my keesh, hey I'll let you pass with your wonderful recipes, articles about poop, questions about electronics, what I did this past weekend, etc....

but for everyone else - POST HIGHLY ORIGINAL, IN-DEPTH AND WHITTY LITERATURE PEICES OR IAM GOING TO COMPLAIN TO GATHER ABOUT YOU, CALL YOU STUPID, DUMD, LESS THAN HUMAN, AND GARBAGE FOR RUINING GATHER????????????????

What the fudgenuggets????????????????????????

lol??????????????????????

Hypocrisy at its best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok this is getting old...
We are not saying that you or anyone else SHOULDN"T be allowed to write them. We are suggesting buttons taking you directly to the content your SEEKING. The groups FOR those subjects, would then be accessible. Please pay attention and stop attacking. If you have anything to add , please direct it to either Mr. Carl Rosendorf, President & COO of Gather, MaryAnne, Director of Member Services
Gather, Inc, or, Mr. Jim Bostick, Dir, User Experience on Gather, all of whom, have visited the articles that you have raised your voice in. A voice use chose to use rather loudly, it seems. They are attempting to address everyone's concerns...both viewpoints. Viewpoints that are very similar once you see the big picture, I might add. Because I find you somewhat difficult to deal with in a calm manner, and less drama is one of my goals, I am openly stating that I will no longer respond to you. I'd really rather not go there. Fortunately, I am above that my dear.

Mr. Rosendorf, Mr. Bostick (it's a respect thing, sry) or MaryAnne,
Could you (in all seriousness) consider the addition of a button to block/hide a user and their activities (comments, articles, etc) from a member's view? ...like an ignore button. It truly would make things smoother. I don't see how some like like this could be abused, or cause grief. I could be wrong, I don't have all the answers...but could ya take a sec and mull it over? I'd appreciate it. ;-)

So according to Wendy it is only "civilized" to complain about Gather!!

????

If you actually like Gather and stand up for Gather
If you point out the hypocritical users who gripe about the very content they and their friends publish...your an idiot and should be censored???

LOL.... too funny!!

She is now advocating blocking/hiding users who she does not like or agree with??
Wow....that would make for some good debate on issues!!! LOL
Instead of defending a viewpoint, ban and exclude dissenters!!!

Wendy herself was the first one who began with personal insults!! "(Insert "Red Foreman signature phrase" here)" were here exact words if my cut and paste remembers correctly.....lol

*Wendy World Disclaimer*
Be advised that Wendy World has not once EVER claimed to have all the answers.
I openly admit that I don't.
Not a single answer here, Nope, not a one...Ideas yes~answers no.
Ideas have never hurt anyone, and are only shared for the betterment of a money making venture, in this case Gather, Inc. Last time I checked, 'betterment' raised revenues. Businesses were built on the simple knowledge that 'A happy customer generates profit. This situation affects that theory from two angles. Both the user/literary contributer as well as the advertisers. Both stand to gain or lose if Gathers numbers fall. That's all.
Ok, well, that and I would like my time here to be more enjoyable than it currently is. So from that end, ya..it's kinna personal. For my own reasons, I like it here. So?

'its relatively simple....'

yes, it is.



'....it became 'friends having a conversation'.'

do your 'friends' know that? cuz theyre the same ones complaining that gather isnt a chat room. but then i guess it all depends on whos 'joining the conversation'.



'do you have a definitive answer as to whom it involved? you shouldnt and if you do, i'd only ask why? more importantly, how do you justify how you do? (if in fact you do)'

yeah that right there. funny stuff!

No one is going to be completely happy. That's a given. Most, (myself included) are only asking that Gather address the issues that they can, or that seem logical. Most appropriate, and most fair.
I think that all members would find this acceptable, but I guess I could be wrong.

10
Now here's my gripe.
........................<----See? It's right there.
I save your from hearing it.
So... Some of you don't or have never read any of my articles because you can't fins them? I'll help you out. Click me! Click me!
I'll admit that my stuff could bore some of you but it also wouldn't kill you to read it either.
I think Gather needs to set up a chat room. I understand all the bickering going on and I'm not about to pick sides. I am a part of both of the worlds on Gather! That being said, I do agree there needs to be an easier way to weed through what any member really wants to read. GATHER needs to get on the ball and make some logical changes and "color scheme" isn't what I'm thinking of either. Have a nice day everyone!

Great article.

you made your point.
Let me make mine...
If a parent, any parent, isn't doing their job...what happens if no one tell them?

Even my children are allowed to voice concerns or address situations they deem unfair. They just know they must do so with respect, if they expect a response or to be 'heard'.
They also must understand that parents make mistakes, and be forgiving.
If their case has validity, I will address it, and make the changes needed.
However the bottom line remains (as it should be) up to decide, I am the parent, after all. They know this.

Thanks for inviting me back to comment.

There have been a number of constructive comments and excellent feedback in this article. As we continue to grow and develop Gather, we recognize that there is much for us to do. We do have ambitious plans over the next few months for enhanced functionality and improved processes. Your input drives many of our decisions. We appreciate you caring as much as you do in assisting us to build a better community.

Carl Rosendorf, President & COO

Mr. Rosendorf,
So nice to see you back. (truly, you have no idea...)
You also may be interested in a few of the other recent article tht I have written.
You know...for research reasons. lol hmmm.
Annnyhow...
If I understand what goes on at your end of the hallway correctly, then I suppose you have already seen them. If not, pointing you in the right direction, can't hurt, right? lol. You should already know do this (lmao hmmmm) but I'll tell ya anyhow, just in case. See Sir, you look up there ^ and you'll see my name. Click it. (this will get you money too! *bonus!*) But, it will also get you to my page (you , do know how to do this, right? I mean seriously, it's so easy...lol)
But as long as you're doin you're homework, you might want to do it all. ;-)
By the way...feel free to Find me anytime! Well, as long as I am still here to find. You understand.

umm seriously Sir, could ya consider the 'edit comment button' that I've mentioned several times (elsewhere). It really would be useful now. I woulda fixed that mess up there for ya. I promise.
;-) sorry.

Great article Wendy. But in order for Gather to control their children they have to have some sort of control of themselves. I mean COME ON. What type of WRITERS site would have a featured of the day on their FRONT PAGE that is CLEARLY a plagerized story by a VERY well read author? I wonder sometimes if Gather is owned/operated by someone/ANYONE who actually knows ANYTHING about the written word.