Getting to Know You, Gather!

Getting to Know You, Gather!

I’ve been a member of Gather since April 24, 2007. I’ve been using that time to this present time to get the feel for the site and its members. Initially I found it rather hard to get around in and to be able to get to specific topics written by the Gather staff/owners, such as policy, copyright, etc. It wasn’t that I couldn’t find them as I was just opening and reading all of the “official” pages telling about the site. It was when I went back searching for specific areas of topic that I felt like it wasn’t set up as user friendly as I thought it could be. It’s easier for me now, but I still believe there are areas not well addressed, and some not addressed at all. For instance, the often discussed topic of no clear clarity of how the points are tallied. The one area I have not seen addressed at all is whether or not publishing to Gather and, thus, earning points changes a person’s status from amateur writer to professional; which, by the way, could be a problem for anyone entering contests or anything that requires them to be “amateur”. Anyone have an answer to that one? 

Other areas that I was uncomfortable with initially were determining what groups were for me and which members I might later want to invite to connect or subscribe to, and why. It all felt very time consuming and overwhelming. The logic behind why someone wanted to have page after page of groups, subscriptions and ‘people’ was lost on me, in the earlier stages of my membership. As a newbie, my knee-jerk reaction was that the site was too far developed for someone new to ever become a recognized member of the “pack”. Eventually it sunk into my mind that the members were using this method of mass-subscribing and connecting as a means to increase readership, ensuring one’s articles are published to as great a variety of groups’ members as possible. Partnered with that was the ease it made for a reader to keep up with specific member’s writings more easily. I still find that area a bit cumbersome the way it is set up.

I’ve found on this site that there is such a mix of socializing and intent to focus on writing articles of value, hopefully honing one’s skills, that it gets confusing to newbies about how to respond and what/when is appropriate to publish. I’ve seen a lot of “articles” that are really personal communications meant to be seen by many for a variety of reasons. On other sites, the function of this need is served by adding a forum to the site. I am hoping this is something that will be considered in the future by Gather. In a community where online socializing is encouraged, but the foremost purpose of the site is to write and publish, I think a forum is an absolute MUST have. I would have thought that a forum would have been the route to go for the function of Greeter and Guru, as well. A social outlet is definitely necessary here. 

To sum up this article, while Gather has a way to go yet, to make this site flow in a more user-friendly fashion, I have found myself drawn in to all that is good and all its potential. I’m spending hours here in this lovely community and it appears I’m going to be around for quite some time. As with all functions of a group, be it meeting in the physical or meeting via the internet, there are always going to be growing pains; without them a group will become stagnate. I’m so glad I’ve found a second home here!