Okay grab a coffee and a packet of biccies cos this is a long one!!!! Firstly here is a reply I gave about the way i see the site with all its different personalities, and goups of friends (clique is so the wrong word with it's connotations of aloofness which I think I have never had the privilege of experiencing on this site in my whole time here! :hug
I always think the geek site is like a huge party!
You get the real party goers who just get on and have a ball, throw their handbags on the floor and have a good bop around them and don't care how daft or daring they look :green: (okay okay I'm really showing my age at that handbag comment!!).
Then you get those who need a helping hand all the way, they can't even go to the loo on their own. :hug:
Then you get those that sit at the edge like wallflowers, so wanting to join in but don't quite have the bottle to get up. Then suddenly their fave song comes on and awaaaay they go!!! :Grope:
Then you have the party poopers, those who do nothing but moan and pick fault and are never happy unless they are being negative and making sure everyone feels as bitter as them. :irked:
Then you have the gatecrashers ... they get banned!!! :lol:
Hmm I think I fall in the raving handbag boppers brigade, although sometimes I'm happy to be a wallflower, take a breather and let somebody else jump in and have fun!
Now having read through the answers given on this thread which was aimed at newbies, I have counted that 15 newbies have replied. Some are party goers and have just got on the dance floor and bopped to their hearts content. A few are still wallflowers, just a little scared to get on in there. BUT NOT ONE, I repeat NOT ONE has found the site UNfriendly. In fact of those 15, ten have said that the site is VERY friendly, and the other five said the site was friendly but have felt a little awkward with a few of the forthright replies that go on here from time to time - we have some strong characters on here so that ain't ever gonna change I'm afraid. So obviously, from the statistics so far, we are giving our newcomers the warm welcome they deserve and helping them to grow in their professional careers which I think is just fab and their positive vibe is something that needs to rub off on some of us old timers!
So if there is not a problem with the newcomers, who are all welcome, then I feel that the problem is with some of the older members of the site. And that word regimental keeps cropping up. Well now, Sam developed the commandments so that people knew how to behave on the site and give guidance to us all. If that has made the site regimented then i suggest you take it up with him, they are his rules!!! As for there being one rule for one and one for others, well yes that is true. In fact I can clearly state that someone who has posted in this thread would have had a post deleted just the other day if it was anyone else other than her!!! We have to make judgement calls all the time! Heck you know what we get it wrong sometimes, but we try our best. If it isn't good enough, trust me right now we'd gladly hand over the baton to some of the wannabe mods and you'll soon realise how hard some of those judgement calls can be.
As for the clique comments, well now come on! When has anyone joined in a thread and been told they can't come on because they aren't part of the gang? Erm i think the answer to that one is NEVER!
No one is ever excluded unless they exclude themselves. Me, I get out of this site what I put in. I have many close friends (and I mean close) that I contact off site too, but I welcome newbies and oldies alike. I'll chat to anyone. in fact I tried desperately to instill a bit of fun on the site the other night and I felt like a clown at a funeral! And that is what I think is missing, THE FUN!
I have been away for 2 months and I have never known it take so long for threads to be answered. Threads that newbies post and I see "gangs" of the oldies online who just never bother to reply. Just the same old few.
So i don't think the newbies have a real problem at all, I just think a few people find it hard to come to terms with change. As Sam always says, lead by example, so if the few people that have replied on here that do have a big problem with the site and the way it is run, come on you know the moderator team well enough. If you have a problem then you know we are approachable. we can't always wave our magic wand and do what you ask, but we will try our damndest to do so. But I ask you to lead the way with positivity and guidance, and help us all.
I am in such a positive place right now, but last night I was tempted to leave this place due to a very negative thread. i can see why people leave, not because of any rules, but the amount of negativity that oozes from some peeps keyboards.
Now I hope I have kept that constructive, and I apologise for its longevity. Please can we just bring the fun and the zing back, because that is what is missing. jeez I'll even laugh at a crisp thread at the moment! Sod it I'll even reply to it!
geek on!