I hope you understand: Moderated groups die a slow death.

Exception: the Aquarian group. I need to share about my 3 tanks. I still think it should not be moderated.

Carol - my group, Seriously Short Fiction - is a place for only short stories, 600 words or less. I created it specifically to try to create a place for short stories and encourage the readership of them. I've noticed that my shorter work gets more reading, and hoped that if I created a place where a Gatherer knew that was only what they would get, they may be more inclined to visit.

I left it unmoderated for about a week, maybe two. During that time, I got about a dozen poems, two 2000+ word novel excerpts, and two 1,000+ word short stories.

I've had to reject my OWN short stories, at times, for exceeding word count, but I'd rather keep my group as it is, in hopes of creating more readership for it, than give in and have it become another "post anything."

I have my own pet peeves (like a moderated "post anything" group - that even declines articles!) about the whole process... you're not the only one. :-)

I have to agree. I don't bother with it because most of the time anyone with that much time on their hand to moderate EVERY article really has some issues they should be addressing LONG before they address every article that comes in! LOL

I don't like rejection emails either, but usually I take it to mean that I made a mistake of posting my stuff to their groups. The reason these groups are moderated is because the owners don't want unrelated contents. So, I don't blame them for rejecting my articles at all. But of course, I have always exercised my best judgment when I select the groups to post. Usually my articles are rejected because the group owners and I had different opinions. I never post anything that is irrelevant to a group (whether the group is moderated or not).

However, I have also gotten rejected from a group where I posted something specifically fit their group description. I protested my article but received no response. That is the kind of group I would do away with.

OH

Thanks for the update. I gotta go hit the remove button. I only hope they get the declined message.

What do you want? Flowers? Are you submitting material to a group that doesn't pertain to that group? If you are, and it takes you 1/4 of a second to click on that group to add it when you publish, why would you think they ought to take the time to write you declining message that won't hurt your feelings? If you are doing this, you aren't taking the time to think about whether your posting really belongs in their group, but, you think they owe you some superlative response?

This is the 2nd article I've seen like this. Are your feelings that fragile that you can't handle the truth without some extra special words attached?

Grow some skin.

I'm certain you'll find this to-the-point message an attack on you personally as well.

I enjoy moderated groups. I don't want to have to wade through 10 pages of recipes or jokes when the group's focus is short stories. What's the point of having groups if everyone posts everything everywhere? Just have one big group for that.

Yet since we do already have one big group, and it's difficult to read through every article on Gather, moderated groups are helpful. I certainly don't keep all my files at work in one big folder.

The decline message, however, is not fun to receive. I've suggested to Gather to let group moderators add a message of their own. Then it's not so cold.

I had many groups that I had moderated because they were specific type groups. I was to the point that I was spending more time moderating than writing or commenting..So, guess what, I now have no moderated groups, but it kind of depresses me that people would not take time to remember or understand the different groups theme.

It is a double edged sword in my opinion.

Randy D.
~The Maine Poet~

There are reasons for MODERATED groups. I have two - PLAY ON WORDS and POETRY PLAY ON WORDS. These two groups are word challenge groups, and my members love reading other members' writings. If these two groups were not moderated, then everyone and his brother would be posting a lot of articles that don't belong to the group, and my members would have to sift through the junk to get at what they came to read. I, likewise, would have to sift through a lot of other people's stuff when I go to judge the work of my members. I'll not change the moderated system that I set in place.

Ernie (the logo maker) Johnson

I don't mind any of my articles being deleted, if I'm given a good reason.

I own 8 groups only two are moderated, no three. They all started out UNmoderated until people continually sent me content that had nothing to do with the group. Worse yet it's the same offender time and again.

So, to keep my group from being an anything group I was forced to moderate the three. The others have been okay and I just remove the stray content here and there that is not appropriate. I do not like it, but I would not have to do it if people would send related content only.

As for the message, that's automated from Gather. I know of no way to send a personal one in lieu of it. Only along with it.

I also am very selective when I send material out to moderated groups. I would like to know why it's being rejected. Maybe just a check off box with a couple different options. If I check a box by accident, then I do understand the content doesn't fit. I've had articles rejected by a particular group that DO fit...I just want to know what I did wrong (if anything)

I see someone left a db1

I have a couple of moderated groups. But I don't post to them often I admit!

It depends. The way gather has the checkboxes set up can sometimes be confusing. I have clicked the wrong box before *hides*!

Just be careful what you submit and whom you submit it and be absolutely certain it fits their criteria. I would not submit a photo of flower to the light house site.

I own a moderated group...For a while there due to other time pressure concerns, I was allowing most anything to come in, but then I realized that there was too much that was OT coming into the group, including a couple of my own articles. So I wrote a group notice to alert everyone I would be deleting OT articles.

When I reject anything I always write a g-mail explaining why the article was rejected.

Unfortunately, many people do not take the time to find out what the purpose of the groups they join are all about and will click the little box in all the groups. I have done it out of carelessness....but I DO appreciate a note from the group owner letting me know why it was rejected.

Too many owners never bother to explain...they just hit the REJECT and let it go at that. I consider that bad manners.

LOL!

No offense, but I think your being too sensative.

The message that people get is an automatically generated message to the outside email notification. Group owners can send their own individual messages if they like.

The message used to read: Your article has been rejected...

At least, now the email says: declined. That is in keeping with the group moderator's choice of ACCEPT or DECLINE. Reject was never in the choices and was a very hurtful thing to read...