AAARGH! (I know I promised not to publish anymore til I leave my comments, but this is *sharing* and besides--) THIS IS INSANITY!!!

* Note: If I posted this to your group and you think it's unrelated, think again. The issue I'm discussing is vitally important to every member of the Gather community, specifically those involved in creative or socially engaging ventures.

Okay. I'll admit it. I liked the last update better than this one. To me it seems to be too messy, too large, too intentionally and obviously created for the goal of being "simplified".

I edit people's work, that is their fiction projects, both short story and novel. And if you've edited enough (or are a teacher) then you can tell when your writer is trying too hard to give off a certain feel, image, or whatever. Well this new layout seems just like that! It's way too obvious that Gather wants to make this an easier experience, more user-friendly, more aesthetically appealing, and more social networking like. Three words for you, Gather team, and don't take this the wrong way or personally:IT'S NOT WORKING!!! There. I've said it.

I've been on and off Gather for a while, trying to leave as many of the comments that I promised I would as possible. (You know who you are) During the triple points promotion, I mass mailed my friends and some of my group members (in mass mail groups) that I would leave TWO comments for every one they left on my work. And I got many more comments than I expected to receive.

As a result, I've been overloaded ever since. And to make sure that my friends stayed my friends (you're all still my friends, right?) I decided I would leave triple the comments and vow not to publish (oh, 'scuse me, share) any content (oh, 'scuse me, posts) until I'd finished leaving my comments. And I'm still leaving them for you! I DO NOT BREAK MY PROMISES!!! (Yes I am in an angry mood today) I set my email to alert me whenever anyone commented on my work, and every one of you who left a comment during that time are in my inbox, and I am going through your names one by one to leave my comments.

(I really hope the people who commented on me during Triple Points are reading this) So I really really really and absolutely truly was not going to publish (I mean share) anything at all until I had left all my comments. (It's only fair, right?)

But today, I got this email which most of you probably got too, with the subject line of, you knew it, Ch-ch-ch-Changes!!! How insanely corny. At first my hopes were raised, thinking the flaws with the previous update might be fixed to better serve the Gather members and enhance the Gather experience. But, alas, my hopes were in vain for they so soon were dashed!

I logged in and lo and behold I stood awestruck at the utter disaster of Gather! (The third version, since I've been a member). The layout is now utterly confusing and many options and activities hidden beneath layers of tiny ambiguous links. Terminology has changed to colloquialisms more befitting such places as MySpace or blogs (not that those are necessarily bad things, just that I thought Gather was above that)

I thought Gather was a place where we could gather, share our creativity and opinions, connect with others, communicate both casually and concerning deathly serious matters all in respectful and decent manners, and generally find a web haven free of much of the garbage found elsewhere. A unique and bold site.

We did have it. We don't anymore. Sorry to say but I'm lost. And I might be leaving. (But I'll probably end up staying anyways).

This was a wonderful site, especially the original (or at least first version since I was here) version of it. But now it has degenerated to a level I don't feel like stooping to.

Gather team, if you hear anything in these words, please, hear my desperation and frustration, not with you personally, but with what you want, with what you plan to do. You want to turn Gather into a social-networking site, don't you? Well do it in a way that will benefit everyone, not people who aren't even on the site. Do it so your current members AND future members will be happy. It's for everyone's good.





Again, to those for whom I promised to leave comments, I have not broken that promise. I am merely in the fulfillment stage of doing so. I am and will leave your comments. :) After all, I promised.

To the Fugitives group, thank you all for being patient with me this past month. I have logged on rather erratically and moderated even less (so especially a thank you to my kind moderator Julie who has to put up with me/this)

To the CWWH group, thanks for being patient for the past several months. Yes, I hate to admit it, and even more, to do so publicly (in this article) but thank you so much for bearing with me while nothing has been accepted to our group. :( Sorry about that!

To my friends, I hope I'm still your friend. I do so want to comment on all your work, but I'm still commenting on my commenters from Triple Points, plus, if you can believe it, my schedule has grown immensely more insane during the summer. Not an excuse, I know, but please, please, please, bear with me during these insane times.

All right, so I've ranted and raved and ranted and raved, and then ranted some more. :) But hey, that's the life of a writer and the job of the editor.