Like it or Not.... You Already Read It.
I'm going to get just a little bit Meta, here. Forgive me.
Im like many of you here.
I came here because the other places that I had found on the interwebs had turned into nothing but a shouting match of My sides better, your side sucks.
I came here not because I want to write, or because I like to write, but because I have to write. Like I have to breathe. Like I have to eat. I simply cannot Not Write. Im not saying Im good at it, or have any innate talent at it, or that you like it or should read it. I just have to do it.
I came here because I had scoped the place out for a couple of weeks, and everyone seemed to be well behaved. (And they still do and are)
I came here because the place seems to be much more efficiently and fairly moderated than other places.
I came here because the atmosphere was inviting.
I came here because of Perrie.
But one thing I miss is that we, as writers, dont know how anyone feels about our work. There is a LIKE button at the top of each article, but nobody uses them.
As I write this, I am in a spirited debate with Robert G about rights and Libertarian Views, and am having a ball. I assume he is, also, (I hope so, anyway) as we are both posting responses about every 10 minutes or so. But, though the article has upwards of 50 comments, I am the only one who has hit the LIKE button. (I know that because it only has 1 LIKE)
This is an original article by Neale Osborne, and it has spurred many comments and much conversation, but Im the only one who likes it?
Come on, folks. You applaud after someone gives the treasurers report at a PTA meeting. You applaud after some high school kid tries to make the National Anthem into a vocal exercise at a Local Junior Varsity football game.
People here work on their writing. They put effort into it. They try to entertain, inform, intrigue, or interest you.
Show them that you at least appreciate the effort. If something is worth reading all the way through, or worth your effort to comment on, or sparks you interest enough to debate the other commentors, Give the writer a little Love.
If you read something that hits a nerve, or sparks you interest, or touches you in some way, Hit that LIKE button on the way out of the article. Its not that hard.
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Show a little appreciation.
Greetings CK,
As you implied in the text of your article, the joy, satisfaction and "completing" of yourself as a writer and poster occurs in the WRITING. This is reinforced by people posting on your articles, and responding to you in a courteous and spirited manner in seeds and articles.
I understand that it was possible to "vote up" articles, seeds and individual comments on the other site. But again, in referring to your article, this site is superior, even without the ability to do so. Speaking for myself only, I never even think about clicking the "like" button. As I said earlier, I don't think you have to click a button to "like" something.
I will now click the "like" button on this article. I am not doing so to patronize you. I am doing so because I believe you are an asset to the site, and would not like this seemingly unimportant issue todetract from your goal here on NT.
Cheers.
Although I write for me, it's nice to know whether it is well recieved or not. It's nice to know whether someone likes the work. It's nice to know if I am "touching a nerve" or "touching the heart" or whatever I am trying to do.
No matter what, I will continue to write. As I said, I have no option. As the scorpion said, "It is just what I do."
But it is still nice to know if the work is well recieved, and nice to feel a bit of appreciation for the effort. I speak for myself and for other writers with whom I have discussed this.
But whether or not someone clicks the "LIKE" button will never influence whether I continue to write, or where I post or publish it.
That is influenced only by what the muse chooses tobring and by my feelings for the venue.
I pretty much got that from the article.
Let me try it this way. I am not attempting to change your mind; I'm just trying to explain what I believe is going on.Again, this is my personal POV:
NT is, so far, a small tight group. We have people on opposite sides of the fence on a number of issues. We debate, we badger and also use the flamethrower. But it's not like the other place, in the respect that if we lived in the same town, we'd take a night off to go have a beer. Nothing personal in the writing. It's almost as if we know each other. We like each other without the " ". That's why we're here.
Point #2, and this is the big one. Because it is a small, tight group, we don't sit here and click buttonsas they doon Facebook to make "friends" or say we "like" something. We're all WRITERS here. We're not the semi-literate people that inhabit social network sites who think, speak and write in fragments. We're the purveyors of complete thoughts. We're experienced blogposters who can give far MORE to you than a single click of a button at the top of the page.
Again, please don't take this as the gospel. It's just one guy's opinion. It's good to have you here.
BTW,
I LIKED YOUR ARTICLE.
Cheers.
I made a small change, because upon review it seemed as if I were asking for "LIKE"s on this article, but that was not the point.
The point is that no matter why, how, or for what reason anyone writes, it is nice to know it is appreciated.
I'm not on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or any other "Social Media" except for this one, and the "Other One". I don't judge my work by how many "LIKES" I get or don't get. I judge it by how I feel when I write and read it.
But it is nice to know if you are barking up the wrong tree when you post something, and it is nice to know if other people appreciate it. Nobody likes a vacuum.
I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic by the last line, or not, but that wasn't the point of the article, and I was not talking about my own work specifically (although I admit it feels good when there are lots of comments or votes or whatever type of feedback appears) I was just looking through a lot of articles today, and I do click the "LIKE" button if I like what I read, but was noticing how many of them have 0 or 1 "LIKE" while they are very busy in comments.
I wrote, as I so often do, from the heart about what I was feeling at the moment, and with many other people on this site in mind, not just myself.
My writings are very seldom political nor news oriented. They are much more often times personal observations or essays about my own life and experiences. Not to say that this makes them anymore of an effort or more of a labor of love than those who write about news or politics, or take pictures, or write about photography or whatever. But because of this, and the serial nature of some of my articles, I do like to recieve a bit of feedback.
Also, Thanks for clarifying how the inner circle works. Maybe, someday, I'll be secure and confident enough in myself and my work to be able to write in an environment in which 0 Sum Feedback is sufficient, but for my own style and content, it is nice to have that feedback and relationship with the reader.
I'll keep striving to be less like the semi-literates, and more NT worthy.
And I will also tryto refrain from being condescending toward my fellowwriters.
Wasn't being sarcastic at all.
You're making a strong effort, and deriving satisfaction at the same time.
You've got it made.
Cheers.
Good point, CK.
I shall endeavor to do so from now on. I have never really considered doing it as there is no functionality to the button, but you do make a good point. Maybe it means something to the authors.
I dousuallyhit the like button; but, I don't like it much as I find it a ratherdisappointingas a form of feedback. Mostly I do it for others because I know it may mean something to them. OTOH, I really was intrigued by thesystemNV employed when you could actually vote up specific comments and that pyramid tracker at the top would run the analytics on them. Thatwas great but stupid at the same time. I mean, possibly it could have given some cleardelineationof the opinion of the readers, but it was also used a lot for gang-voting.
Nice article CK and keep 'em coming!
:~)