The Way We See It

Too true, but if you write something and you know in your heart it's good, no one beats you up for republishing.

You're SO right, Wendy. There really is no rhyme or reason for it, I've noticed too. Sometimes my feelings get hurt over it, like when someone drives by and puts a low rating on a picture of my cute little newborn. I mean, who does that stuff and why? Do they do it just to make themselves feel better? I know there are plenty of people who have the same concerns and the same questions, but I don't know if it will ever change. As long as there are people in this world who get some kind of sick enjoyment by squashing other people's work, then this will go on and on and on and on....

Looks like someone had the pleasure of give me a drive by low rating ! They could have left a comment and disagreed with me . After all I did this to stimilate some debate !!

I understand completely

people are asses! I recieved a 1 for an article and wanted to holler. but i was calm and called them a jerk in my comments! I think that it should show who gives what ratings, but that might just be asking for trouble. Most who only give ones dont make comments because they are just trying ot be jerks. I give oyu a 10~!

Oh those drive by people are just jealous kids that like to stir people up. Ratings really don't mean much here at Gather - for now at least. Don't let them get you down. It is a lot about luck and a lot about talent too. Talent will keep people coming back to you, but so does friendliness and a great attitude. So just keep doing what you are doing. Sometimes people just have a way with catchy titles that bring people in - or very debatable topics that send people railing at each other - thus bringing a lot of comments. I personally prefer to earn comments in other ways - not that debatable topics are bad - I even get caught up in them at times. It is a huge mix here at Gather and a lot of it all boils down to luck/timing/ connections.

I try to just enjoy the experience - the amount of comments and revenue gained from Gather is just a bonus to having a place where I have learned a lot and met some truly wonderful people. It is a place to be able to post with a professional appearance and meet other people with the same interests at a variety of levels of skill. Some I learn from, some I teach. It's a great thing.

You know, Dawn really does have a great point. I totally forgot about the republishing groups. It's so nice to know that if someone comes by and rates low just to be a turd, or starts threadjacking for their own agenda, that we can republish to people that really do care and really do want to read what we have to say. Thanks for bringing that up!

Hey , Faith ! This is delightful we don't have to carry on this conversation by our selves ! But I think you should be good for a poem or two , how about it ??

I could give you the link of my REPUBLISH group - but that could be seen as threadjacking lol. I think that a well planned republish is great - but if you republish too much too soon, people get irritated. That is why I asked for things to be 6 mos old or more before republishing to my group. It is a rule designed to help members, not punish them. It would be cool if we could republish something where our older connections would not be notified, but new ones would. Then you could have the opportunity to get more feedback or have connections learn more about you without causing problems to other connections who have seen the same article before.

Hi, Wendy - yes... this IS nice having other people to talk to, rather than just you and me all the time. Now I'm not saying I don't enjoy our long-winded chats, but I'm sure I start to bore you after awhile, right?

So, are you saying you want a quick little poem from me?

Drive by ones
aren't much fun.

There you go, haha.

Preach on sister! lol :D

One thing that bugs me so much is when people start acting like the victim on here. I'm not saying that YOU are acting like a victim, or have ever acted like that, but what I'm trying to say is that I hate it when people start blaming everyone else for their low ratings, instead of looking inside themselves. I know one person on here lately that has been going on and on about the cliques on Gather, and basically saying that people's junk work gets higher ratings than her content because that other person is in a "clique". That just urks me. The thing is, we all know that you catch more flies with sugar than you do vinegar (a wise person I know once said that) and that saying sticks like glue here in the Gather world. I basically just make sure I'm commenting back to people who have left comments for me, and then I try my best to send comments to at least 10-15 new people each day. That way I know I'm doing the best that I can, and everyone's covered. I'm nice to everyone, unless they are just blatantly mean to me, or one of my connections... and then I tell that person how the world works. I even do THAT in a nice way too!

Well said Faith, with 4 kids I don't know how you manage to make all the comments that you do ! Of course if " I " were 31 again , instead of "48"[speaking only for me to all of those of you who are 48 and over ] I would have a lot more energy to put in to this program . I didn't have my grocery list of health problems back then.
By the way the title should say , The Way Faith and I see it " LOL

you are a wise woman faith!

Haha Wendy. When did I get an extra kid? Ok, Ok... I get it. You're saying that Travis (my husband) is another child, making me the mother of 4. I see! Wait until I tell him you said that. Should I wake him up for that one? I'm just kidding. GREAT title revision suggestion, Wendy. You gotta remember I've got quite the array of health problems too. I'm just a fast typer and am pretty good at multi-tasking. I promise, the kids are all taken care of, meals are cooked and served and the house is even clean!

Hmm... Amylee just said I was wise. THANKS, Amylee - that's really sweet of you.

I was off taking a picture of my shadow -

Monica - " I could give you the link of my REPUBLISH group - but that could be seen as threadjacking lol. " You can hijack this artile if you want !! We are looking for exposure here !
Speaking of republishing here, I have done some of that already. However as soon as I did I saw that I should have done it a different way . I merely posted to some new groups that I had not heard back when I wrote the article. In October when I joined I didn't even know that that groups made a difference in how much exposure I got .And didn't have more than ten connections back then either. I thought publising to every one meant that everyone saw it .
I am waiting for six months to pass on some of my article and I am going to take some of the advice you have given in your guidelines for the repbublishing group and go another round with them .

That sounds like a good idea, Wendy. I know what you mean... I had no idea how this whole Gather thing worked either when I first started. That picture of Misty is cracking me up.

Boo- hoo
Honey, give me a tissue
And he asked
Why all those tears?
Oh I said to him
I joined Gather
You know how good
I am at blather
Boo -hoo, boo- hoo
Some people
Were mean
They made me green
They left no comments,
They rated me ones
Boo- hoo
Boo-hoo
Hand me another Kleenex
Will you!

I guess I should make an attempt
To say more than just blather
I year ago it didn't really matter
But now it does…
I am addicted, and I have learned things
And I have made some friends
And I get points to buy books
Boo –hoo
He say why should they care about your looks
No, No I said
I am saving my points to order more
BOOKS.
Go back to sleep my dear,
I have to publish this poem to Gather!

Oh my word, Wendy - this is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO funny. Now you're going to have to publish that one as it's OWN article. That is just great. I think we're starting to stray from the subject of this article though. Aren't we? No, I guess we aren't.

That was WONDERFUL Wendy! I see you have been subject to the drive by raters of 1s also! They are so aweful!

I reposted my poem over here , Boo- hoo on Gather so now you all can on over and comment !! :-)

I dont know why this is true either but it is.

I know what you mean by this..i've posted stuff that i've thought was really good, and I get immediate 1's, and few or now comments...makes me crazy..if you're going to give me a 1, at least have the guts to sa why!!

I understand

Such is life on gather. No rhyme or reason what so ever. Just post and they will come, even if it's not in droves.

Dan's right: Just have fun and the rest will follow! I love Napoleon Dynamite, Dan! That's a great picture!

Kim P: Hi there. Great points. You know, I think we've ALL been subject to the drive by raters, at one time or another. The thing is, since we're all pretty much connected to the same people, the drive by raters tend to stick within our connections. That's the part that urks me!

There is no rhyme or reason but perhaps for everything there is a season ;-)

Very true, Layla - I guess there IS a reason for everything. Maybe these drive by's and things like that are to just make us grateful that we aren't those kind of people?

I am now stomping my feet and boohooing you have more comments than I do! :0)

I have not put any articles on Gather as of yet! I have only read a few articles here and there. There is so much I have to learn about Gather. Like how do you know someone gave you only a 1 rating. By the sounds of it this happens a lot to people so do the people who leave the 1 rating get anything out of it for themselves.. like points or something on gather. So they dont' read the articles just flyby as you say to earn points or something. Which I notice people are looking forward to points to buy books or something and I don't even know anything about that. How does one get these points and how do you receive the points once you have earned enough to buy a book? I have not had bad comments from my articles as I have not written anything. But I have gone back to places where I have left comments to see if people respond to my comment and I was attacked repeatedly in one article. I didn't mind a bit. I didn't take it personal. But I think that was because I didnt' write the article. The person wrote a religous article and I made a comment in which I was attacked for. So how can I take it personal when it wasn't really about me per say. Anyways you all seem to be having such fun on here, that is great.

Okay - since you said I can post my link - here it is: REPUBLISH. This groups is for articles six months old or more that are being republished. It is suggested that you edit it to improve thr original, but this is not required.

Yeah, now you have a comment factory :) You are right, drive-by ratings can drive you a little nuts if you care about the ratings...I have found that it is best to just ignore them. In one of my earlier articles someone gave me a 9 because I had all 10s and they wanted to do something absurd (they left a comment explaining it) like take me down a notch or something. C'est la vie, that's their right on here. Anyway, good post.

I agree that there seems to be a certain random element here. I'm still trying to figure out why two separate book review groups chose to reject perfectly good book reviews. It really felt as if they were just randomly thrown out and as I never received a reply from either group manager I've no other explanation. lol It's a complete mystery why some pieces here receive attention and others don't. Like you, I'm happy if I get 10 hits and a scattering of comments....I'd Like more but have no idea what to put in the feeder to attract more comments lol. Obviously, you and I aren't alone in feeling this way though, eh? Ah well, we still have the joy of writing!

Wishing You Laughter
..
U