How to get Gather Points

great info. you also get points for invites.

I think you get points for emailing and also for creating groups. I am not sure if a group is monitored we get points each time we accept or decline articles. Anyone know that?

This article interested me and I am commenting. Thanks for the tips and reminders!

Interesting Marty. I've been with Gather since the end of May and those points have piled up! I think you get points for everything you do, of course, some more than others.

Comment,comment,post,post etc. etc.

I think you can also get bonus points by commenting on "front page" or featured articles. I guess it's like most things in life -- the more time and energy you put into it, the more you get out of it. But sometimes the high amount of e-mails you get, can get to be a bit too much. So if you have something really compelling, as you did, be sure to send it along. Now I've just got to work on building that magic automatic nanotech "post-bot," so I can post a lot more articles and get a lot more points!

Where were you when I started... a year ago.
This was a very clear summary of what is here... there are also images, videos, etc.

Great article :) Thanks for sharing...I still am not sure how to collect your points and turn them into things valuable...anybody know?

A good starting explanation, Marty. I think your assumptions make sense though none of us really how what algorithm Gather uses to calculate points. I'm sure it includes something we haven't thought of.

Good article and helpful for the newer ones on gather.

I was wondering, thanks for the info.

Very thoughtful of you to post this. I hope it helps newbies and some others who might be unsure of how to get points.

Blessings,
Mary Mc

Reme, I'm not sure how the processing of international gift cards works. I'd suppose that you might be able to use a gift card for an online store. But I'm not sure.

Good information

I had to leave you a comment and give a 10 for rateing!

I read somewhere else that if you have the cash option 1 dollar equals 63 Gather points and that the amount of traffic you generate is a consideration in how many points you get... but that was not confirmed by anybody official.

I must be doing something wrong. I do not have even a Border's card yet, I haven't the foggiest, but I have had a lot of fun, and learned a lot. So it is ok. I guess my points will go up when I finally do the magic thing and write a great article. Thanks for this article Marty. Ellen B

I've noticed that my points accumulate more quickly when I make lengthy comments as opposed to short ones or one word ones. And I heard you get double points for commenting on the featured articles of the day on the main Gather page.

This is a good article, but I have observed that the points are being given at a lesser rate than formerly, and I have seen others comment to this effect as well. Of course. as usual no one from Gather told us they were going to change (decrease!) the rate of points being given, nor have they bothered to answer my queries on the subject. Par for the course here these days. :(

Good article. I enjoyed it and your humor.

I figure they probably reduced the rate for articles, because they also have videos now, and ratings. I'm here for the conversation and content, anyway, the points are just a nice thing to have which keeps me coming back. For awhile, I was a gather correspondent, but then I was dropped, probably because my writing style wasn't as classicly brilliant. My beat was the newsy items of interest, and I suppose they wanted to bring in different talent.

Interesting Marty...

Another way to generate points is to create an Anthology of your best articles.
Such as "Animal Writes" an anthology I created.
you can click/copy then click/paste this to your browser search box:

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977164657

or use the gather search box to find "Animal Writes" then you will see how easy this works. (If your articles are of good quality.)

Aww, shucks. Thanks to those of you who praise me for my sense of humor.

Judi J, what a wonderful analogy. Thank you.

Thanks for all the ideas folks!

Thanks, Marty!
I'm still a newbie, in my mind, but your article was very good and I think, now, that maybe, I get it.

I mostly comment on articles and read. It seems that before the changes I would get about 1/2 point per article I commented on. Now there is no real rhyme or reason. I also noticed that my articles once earned about a point per comment, but that too has changed. If you come to gather and comment, write etc... the points will add up though

Good article Marty! I agree with Robin also..it's changed..harder to get points now.

Pam Johnson VP of Gather Member Experience explained points here

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977150181

Great tips
Thanks for sharing

the other marty

Taken from the point section on how to earn points

How do I earn more points?
We want to give our members incentives to do the very things that make Gather a better place. The more you participate on the site, the more value you add to Gather. Below are some of the best ways to earn more points and more cash -- and to help Gather turn into the best possible community it can be.

Invite People
Think of all the people in your life who aren't Gather members yet. Invite them! You'll earn more for each person who joins, and you'll expand your personal readership. Invite your friends, family, and colleagues now, and help add value to the entire Gather community. ( I invite 5 a week as my goal, but they have to sign up before you get the points)

Get Into Groups
How many Gather GroupsSM do you belong to? How many do you own? Groups are a great way to up your earnings. Find a group to join today, or create your own group. Then start inviting everyone who might be interested to join. ( I have over 57 pages of groups I belong to and 500 connections You need this for a base to earn points that way if I am away from gather for a family event or vacation I am still accruing points from my connections on my posted library of relevant stuff.)

Publish Great Content ( This is imperative the one word comments and fluff like one sentence games or articles do not garnere any points )
Publish early and often!!!!!!!! Publish articles about politics, fiction, sports, current events, travel -- the sky's the limit. The same goes for images. ( This is key if you stick to say recipes or games and are not actively in all different kinds of groups you do not get many points. Please rememberthat variety is the spice of life)

Well, you can teach an old dog new tricks. I didn't realize that you got more points for commenting on front page material. I usually give it a glance, but now I will make more of a point of reading that stuff when it first appears.

The points have gone way down since when I began. I used to get 20-30 points a day; these days I am lucky to get 10 points for the same amount of activity per day. It's a little disheartening.

Yup I do all that and I cashed in over 12,000 points in August and almost have 3000 again. Lately have not been doing as much due to family and other things going on in my life. Good article though.

Marty, Marty, Marty......Of course we all know you get points for posting articles like this!!!!........LOL.......

Thanks for the information marty, Its Great!!!

Cool. Even though I am not a new member, I still learned new things! I never noticed that there is a place where they display new members under the People page. Thanks a lot.

Hey...beware
If you want to use your points for some of the lame gifts plan early. It takes MONTHS for Gather to turn the gift cards around.

Actually, it could be that the turn around time processing for stuff has improved, I'm not sure. I do believe that the turn around time for the processing of cutting a check to those on the cash program seems to have gotten better.

great article .. i was searching for this article for a very very long time .. thanks for writing it.

Marty - thanks for the article. I just try to stay as active as I can on gather, and hopefully the points will come.

Here is a copy of the currently posted Gather FAQs. It includes answers to the questions "How do you determine how many points I earn?" and "How do I earn more Gather Points?"

Gather Points™
What are Gather Points™?
Gather Points are Gather's currency for rewarding its members for site participation, especially for highly rated, popular content. Each Gather Point has a value similar to a frequent flyer mile -- currently about $.02 per point.

What can I redeem them for?
Gather Points™ can be exchanged for gift certificates and goods from participating points partners. Keep track of the latest points partners and offers here.

How much are my points worth?
Sharing what you have is always a good rule of thumb, and that's Gather's approach. A portion of the Gather advertising revenue is returned to its members as Gather Points™. As Gather grows, there will be more members, more advertisers, and therefore more revenue to share. Each point has a value similar to a frequent flyer mile.

How do you determine how many points I earn?
We use different algorithms to determine which individual user activities are creating community value. Certain metrics - for example, invitations that recruit new members, plus article, image or video views and ratings, comments, and group membership growth are just some of the activities that help us understand how much value individual members are creating for the community. The more value you provide, the more points you'll earn.

How do I earn more Gather Points?
We want to give Gather members incentives to do the very things that make Gather a better place. To earn more, publish content of high quality. Invite your friends, family and colleagues to Gather. Build great groups. Maintain a healthy, respectful, playful conversation with other Gatherers.

How do I redeem my points?
Click the Earnings link in the dashboard on your My Gather page. This will take you to earnings.gather.com, where you can redeem Gather Points™ for offers by designated Gather Points partners. Each Gather Points partner has different rules governing the redemption of their cards. We suggest you review the merchant's website to learn the specifics for redeeming their gift cards. Have fun shopping!

Who can I redeem my points with?
Gather will continually add Gather Points partners where you can redeem your points for everything from books, bedding, and CDs to vacations. To see the latest partners, click here.

Will my points always be worth the same amount?
Not necessarily. The number of Gather Points™ required to redeem for certain offers will vary over time.

Can I buy Gather Points™?
It's not possible to buy Gather Points at this time. The best ways to acquire more Gather Points is by inviting new members, publishing quality articles, and creating popular groups.

Can I change my name on an order?
No, your name is the only information you are unable to change on an order. It's the name on provided in your W-9 and it can't be changed. You may, however, change the address of the recipient if you want to send an item as a gift.

Will my points expire?
Currently, Gather Points™ have no expiration date. We'll notify you in the future if that policy changes.

Can I view my earnings history?
No, your earnings history isn't available at this time. But you can access your order history at earnings.gather.com.

Is this transaction secure?
Absolutely. Our transactions are secured by GeoTrust technology. GeoTrust is a leading global Certificate Authority for secure e-business transactions. Patented smart seal technology provides fast, reliable, and user-friendly web site identity authentication.

Is my information private?
Yes. We don't share your information with anyone -- not even Gather Points partners. For more information about our privacy policy, click here.

Can I cancel an order? Return an order?
No, once an order has been sent for processing, it can't be cancelled, nor can it be returned. For assistance with your order, contact support@gather.com.

Can I order more than one item?
No, it's not possible to order more than one item in the same transaction at this time. If you'd like to order more than one item, please place a separate order for each item desired.

How long will it take to process my Gather Points order?
You should expect to receive your Gather Points order within 21 days. If you haven't received your order within that time period, please contact support@gather.com.

How do I view my order history?
To view your order history, reference your Earnings Account Info under earnings.gather.com.

Can I send an order to someone as a gift?
Yes. When you're placing your order, simply fill out the address of the person to whom you want the order sent to. You may not, however, change the name on the order.

I haven't received my order from Gather. What do I do?
If you haven't received your gift certificate, gift card, etc., please contact us at support@gather.com with a brief explanation of the problem you're having.

Thanks for the tips.

worthwhile tips and a good thing. so peeps when I post my movie and DVD stuff, please check it out
thanks!

Thank you so much for this , I joined some time ago the forgot all about the site until a friend on here ( Lyla ) reminded me , So I am pleased to read any information that will help me , I am slowly finding my way about , By what I have seen so far it is a really fiendly site xx

My points total up really slow it seems. But I want to hit the cash option. I think I will try for it and it will work better for me.

Your popularity on Gather has a bearing on how many points you earm as well. If you consistently write content that garners a lot of attention and comments, you will earn more points on your articles than others that don't get as much attention or don't submit as much content.

Roger That!
Thanks

I gave up on really caring about it. I'd like to see them go up in the next month because they are going toward gifts this year but other than that I'm here for fun and good writing. :D

thanks Dan

db10

Thanks for info

very nice. Thank you

We LOVE Gather !!

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the tips

thank you, this has been very informative

I did some experiments with another account. Commenting does not give you any points. You get points by getting people to read what you write. When you comment on other people's work, they often will be curious or want to help you out so they read and comment on your work and that's how you get points. So even though commenting is not what gives you points, it indirectly gets other people interested in you enough for them to read what you write.

Also, I think "point-whore" is meant to mean people that will do anything for points...I don't think it necessarily means a person that says inflammatory things to spark reactions (although that is a way to get a lot of comments)! :-)

Now all I need to know is the 'point spread'...

Thanks for the information, Marty!

Seems odd that they aren't "up front" with how you get points.