Hey Gather PTB - have you noticed that many of us are still not happy? Do you care?
It seems like that's a big NOT to me, given your lack of responsiveness on this article: Gather's New Look and Features - Post Your Feedback and Suggestions Here.
I should likely just give up and go away - Wordpress seems to be working for me for the most part .... and I'm also becoming more engaged in Zeotrope and also on the Canadian Authors Network, which, although much smaller than Gather, has potential, I think.
It feels as though Gather really has decided to just ignore all of the feedback they've been given - and to continue on their merry way to wherever it is they think they're going....and I probably am beating my head against a brick wall by continuing to look for ways things could be improved... but what the heck...
How about a compromise?
Keep your Twister game - and/or your Beachball - for new and not yet signed in members. But could we please, please, please, have a real home page back? Pretty please?
And how about on your Explore pages - Posts, Photos & Videos - just add a By My Connections option.... we've got Most Viewed, Most Discussed, Highest Rated & Recent - would it kill you to add For Me in there? We know you have the technology.
Come on - what would it hurt? Why are you so intent on forcing us to either go through the feed - which many of us DETEST and which DOES NOT WORK properly - or wade through every post by everybody whether we're connected to them or not?
Connections are the most important thing on Gather - why, why, why have you decided to undermine the single most important thing that makes Gather special? It makes no sense! Seriously. Come on ... please? With sprinkles and a cherry on top?
And how 'bout this - in exchange for giving us what we need to make Gather work for us again - we will:
- quit whining, pouting & showing our butts
- invite people again, and help them get started
- go back to looking for new members and helping them to feel engaged and welcomed so that they'll stick around (although you could make that easier by adding a New option to the People page)
We love Gather - and we want it to be a success, just like you do. And it can be one. If only we could work together to make it so.
Pretty please with sugar and a cherry ....and chocolate curls even....? I'll buy.
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I have been away a while, and today it took me 15 minutes to figure out how to post and had to laugh out loud at the link to "learn how to share"
It is sad Gather has gotten so hard to use, it's hardly worth the hassle to me!
HI Flit!!
How are things in the North LOL I love saying that! Hee hee hee
Not so many farther North than ME!
I know most of us have said the same thing recently, but Flit just did it so much better.......and even with with sugar and a cherry ....and chocolate curls on top!
How can Gather lose by giving in on these little requests.......as Flit says....You have the technology and it would be a great compromise!
Thanks flit
NO, that was Penni...
I know what you mean, but I have rarely seen people go back to something, even when it was working better. I am determined to find a way to make it work. It is just a shame they seem to be determined to chase away those that made Gather special from the beginning, the artists. It is because of their work, and writing that people want to be here. Yes, there are other things too for some people, but that is not everybody...If you have a following, stick with them
I can hardly wait for the big announcement tomorrow! maybe it will be something that will make us all leave gather permanently!
Peter, that is the biggest reason I am still wearing my sulky girl icon - what really upsets me is not the changes themselves - but the deliberate insults Gather has doled out.
Dismantling the old Articles for Me page because some of us had found our way there and were continuing to use it - for no reason other than to prevent us from doing so - was a deliberate decision that I perceive as a big old F-you from Gather. We will do it their way - even though their way DOES NOT WORK - or no way.
There's very little point to the Essentials groups now and I'm not sure why anyone would continue to volunteer to be editors for them now that they are all but invisible.
I am very curious as to how it's working for them. Has anyone noticed an influx of new members?
Those of us, who have been asking for changes, to a more user friendly site, are only doing so, not to be whiners, but to fight to keep on a site where many friends and connections have been made, but when it becomes frustrating to use the site, then even for some that has to be given up. I have noticed that there are fewer of Gathers that use to be on here, when I first started on Gather. It seems that many have left or are not on as often. This should be a cue that the changes, have not been for the better.
I think there is room for change in some respects, but I also believe that Gather is firmly entrenched in the current design/function & philosophy of feeds. Consequently, they will not provide any method whereby the perceived effectiveness of this tool will be minimized.
Also, I think it is important to realize that Gather places a higher value on the next member than they do on you or I (or the other 500 or so active community members).
I don't want to leave. I don't want to find another place. I LOVED it here. I love my friends. I was stimulated to write good articles here and share my best photos with people who showed their sincere appreciation for my work. My connections were key to everything I enjoyed on Gather! Thanks for expressing my feelings and thoughts in a more convincing way than I ever could. Oh, that we could just be effective in turning the tide...
I have several people I would LOVE to invite to Gather. . . Old Gather, not this hideous incarnation. I would be embarrassed to show anyone this place right now.
I see that you are brandishing a rusty sword such as I at the Windmill on Summer Street. You did it with class, girl. Mind sending that sundae my way....
And Kevin, you may be right....Gather is entrenched.
I've been looking at the site BuffaloMe...it's just beginning...I'm #703...sound like a double agent, don't I? I think magi is #666.
Oh and I don't use the new terms either. I'll just stick with articles, images and publishing as those terms worked quite well.
and I posted a post under post...with photos...confusion reigns....
Flit, I suppose it wouldn't have helped to publish (er "share") this to Building a Better Gather. I truly believe you're right - they don't give a s**t about those of us who are not new here.
I agree that it was a major mistake to remove the old home page. That was an interesting place to start a Gather session and check out the 'Gather Essentials' articles.
Now, if they could only restore the former ease of navigation and return the 'publish' or 'share' link to a more prominent and accessible place that would help out. AND, I would like the page layout to be more aesthetically pleasing.
You and I are asking too much... NO, we're not. Without the users, there would be no incentive for the advertisers.
No matter how much of a 'P.I.T.A.' we become they will never listen to any ideas we have!
I mean who do we think we are? We're just the idiots who use gather. It's not as if we give them money or anything like that... It's not as if we mean anything to them! If they cared at all about how the members felt they would have implemented these suggestions with ICE, instead they did just the opposite of what we all asked them to do.
Kathleen may be on to something here. . . maybe Gather operates on the rule of opposites. Maybe if we pretend to like it they'll make it go away :| Doubt it but we can dream its that simple right?
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
I'm having troubles opening Gather pages (only)... they are also slow to refresh once they open. It's mighty frustrating!
Seriously, though...I totally agree. They have tried to turn this site into some kind of Facebook or MySpace. The technology is driving the behavior. My connections used to write insightful articles, serious commentaries, funny satires. Now, they spend a lot of their time pinging each other. Personally, I also find it hard to find good material....I miss that. It may be time to move on.
I looked for an adult group that had self respecting people to associate with, and really made a lot of friends, not even knowing how or what to do. But the old gather last July was easier to learn and see the Articles as they were posted. If your were already thier friend you could go back and read it later.
No, I do not think Gather is going to change back. They don't even talk about writers anymore.
Present opening could be used by my bank but not nearly as well done. Sure doesn't encourage me to look at different things!
Will come on for the next little while till I find out where my favorites are going and will follow them.
I don't have a clue what they think they're going to accomplish
1) It's a business. It's their business. They are going to do what they need to do to maximize their profits and TRY not to alienate their customers (us).
2) It doesn't cost us anything to join.
3) In the end, they will keep trying to upgrade and better the site until they hit a version that works well for us as well as for them.
4) They actually give you things for using the site. That's pretty cool. We join for free, we use the site as we see fit and then they give us stuff.
Yeah, I am not crazy about it's current incarnation but they release new versions quite frequently. Maybe the next one will be easier?
I like Gather and the folks I interact with. But then again, I am not a professional writer, just a guy looking for a few laughs so maybe my expectations are lower than others. If I stop contributing, it will be because I just don't have the time.
Just playing devils advocate here.
I am not suggesting they can't do whatever they want with their site.... my suggestions are intended to contribute to Gather's success ...not to maintaining status quo
but it does irk that they've still done nothing about rewarding outsiders in anyway in spite of repeated claims that they're working on it (well over a years worth)
I have been able to workaround that ... but I don't much care for having to.
Just throwing some ideas out there. No offense.
How about starting a new place for all of us disappointed Gatherers, Flit. Call it 'Flitters', or 'Refugees', or something else. It is so unsatisfactory and downright heartbreaking to be losing contact with other people who have come to mean a lot to us on Gather.
I don't remember exactly how things used to appear on Gather, but I know I have a lot of trouble clicking in to other people's work and I have to spend a lot more time to do it.
the new Gather seems...untethered without a home page and it's not as fun as it once was...and i agree with your other critiques too.
publishing does seem easier in general now but i've not gotten an answer to my email as to why images Disappear when i point to them...anyone know why? once an image ('photo') has a comment under it i can point to the comment and view the image...until then, it mysteriously disappears. That's just crazy!
I surely miss Gather Phyllis... even though I'm still semi-here... not participating nearly as much ...and I know Im missing tons of articles... found 2/3 of Jax's today that I'd missed....
guess I am going to have to start clicking on my friends names each day to keep up ... hell of a waste of time when the Articles for Me worked so well.
So much BULLSHIT
Change isn't always good.
You've made some excellent suggestions. Who knows what will be next.
I kind of thought that was funny, considering what you wrote.