Where Do We Go From Here?
Oct 30 '01
The Bottom Line A long winded ramble
Over the last weekend, a whole lot of things happened here at Epinions. Most of it not very good. Out of the blue the powers that be decided to make some major changes of policy and TOS. They did so without warning and without taking certain things into consideration. In order to prevent mass exodus from the site, they took away the ability to Edit/Delete pieces already published on site, and they took the ability to ever Edit/Delete any piece put up at Epinions in the future. What happened next will go down in the footnotes of Epinions history as the EBD Write-off. Angry and hurt, many writers including myself followed the lead of one and published off-topic and at times offensive reviews taking Epinions to task for their actions. Without the Edit/Delete feature, there was no way to take back our words, no way to change what we put up. What we said would stay-until Epinions-powers-that-be reversed their stance and gave back the ability to Edit and to Delete. We promised to Delete the EBD topics when we were able to do so. Within a few short days, the Edit/Delete came back, along with a letter from N.T. that makes me a bit apprehensive for the future.
Did we Win? Sort of, in a manner of speaking. We got the Edit/Delete function back, we got them to admit that they took it away because they were afraid that people would delete their work and damage the integrity of the site by doing so. But now, those who participated may face sanction and retaliation for our participation.
It was how things were done that bothered me. The loss of the pennies per member hit didn’t bother me much; the fact that we will be paid by Income Share only bothered me a little, since I do not usually write in categories that pay high IS. The loss of the Content Partner site bothers me not one little tiny bit. But when they took away the ability for me to edit my work I got mad. I wouldn’t have deleted and left-that’s simply not my style, but I am one of the worst spellers and the ability to correct mistakes, to update outdated reviews is important to me. And to others as well.
The way the changes were made seemed to show that the powers that be here at Epinions had very little regard for the feelings of it’s members. They seemed to forget that we are not just nameless faceless nobodies but that we are Real, flesh and blood human beings with emotions and reactions. If they had done things a bit differently, perhaps they wouldn’t have had to worry so much about people deleting and leaving, perhaps if they had said,
Hey members, we are making some drastic changes that will affect everyone site wide. We are doing these things to help the site last longer, to make it more viable.----Maybe if they had said-We know some of you won’t be happy, some of you might be angry and we hope you understand and continue to work with us---then they wouldn’t have HAD to remove the edit/delete function in fear of retaliation.
People would have been mad, people would have been hurt-but maybe we wouldn’t have felt like we just got royally screwed over-yet again. There have been so many drastic changes, most without warning, on the site in the last year that when new changes come I cringe wondering-what will be next? There are so many things that Could be done to improve the site-like really trying to get rid of abusive members rather than tell the community to deal with them by blocking them, that when arbitrary changes are made without consideration it pains us all.
I can’t help but wonder why things were done like they were. Did the powers that be decide that since sites like Themestream, WBM or BrightIdeas did these things that they could too? Did they think we would be less angry then the members at those sites? Two wrongs don’t make a right. If anything, the powers that be should take a lesson from the other failed writing sites and know that treating the masses with kindness might make things better for all in the long run.
So far as people deleting and leaving, then coming back and asking Epinions to give back their work and let them come back. Well, couldn’t you all have just said NO? Couldn’t you have said-sorry, if you decided to delete your things-they are gone? We can’t bring the pieces back. JUST SAY NO. And maybe, just maybe the site would have been better off without those people anyway so why try to keep them around?
I wrote and rated in the EBD w/o. and I’ll admit that some of the pieces went too far. Some of the people who “Participated” took advantage of it for their own gain. I used language that I don’t normally employ. But I knew when I put the piece up that there was a very real possibility that I would be “punished” for doing so. But I took the chance because I had to do something; we all had to do something.
The powers that be are now talking about a number of things. Like an Advisory board and delaying editor/top reviewer picks until they have a chance to review recent events. They say that the EBD damaged the integrity of the site-but really, it was the removal of the edit/delete function that did any damage. The EBD w/o was a reaction to an intolerable situation.
So, Mr. Toli and others-before you send out the Epinions Secret Police, to round up us naughty writers and whack off a few hands and a few hats-keep in mind WHO participated in the write off and Why they participated. Many normally mellow and mild writers jumped in using language they normally wouldn’t use. Many of the most respected and well-loved members participated and that should tell you that as a community, we were so hurt and so angry we had to do something. Be very careful about “Punishing” those who participated (honestly, I am less worried for myself-I haven’t written much lately, my chances of ever again capturing a hat are pretty low I think) but don’t take away hats or refuse hats-just because someone did participate in the EBD. When you are reviewing things-remember or try to understand why the EBD happened. And learn from it, next time-remember that we are flesh and blood with real feelings, real emotions and that most of us do love this site and want to see it flourish- paid or not. Be careful about breeding more mistrust by punishing those who participated. Since you long ago nullified the general comments section here-pieces written there/here are accessible only through the just-in or a members profile page-how did you expect people to react? If the members who participated in the EBD w/o wrote only in the general comments section, you wouldn’t have cared and no one would have really noticed.
And when you go about creating this Advisory Panel-keep the same things in mind. If you create a panel of those who only “followed” the community guidelines (and they are just that guidelines) then you will create more mistrust and anger. My best advice is that you choose a wide cross-section of the members, don’t discount those who participated in the EBD-there are some wonderful writers who both did and didn’t participate who would be good to have on that sort of panel. There are advisors and editors who belong on a panel like that and there are those who do not. Be very careful whom you choose, try to include some of those advisors/editors who get mouthy sometimes.
Who am I anyway? I am a nobody here. Just one of the many unwashed masses. I try to play by the rules, I try to rate and read and write according to your TOS and according to the ever-changing guidelines. I have found many friends and comminute through my participation at Epinions-places like Amykhar’s Epinionaddicts.com and Bluehawq ‘s Bluehawq’s nest. Epinions has spawned many yahoo groups, public bulletin boards and more. Epinions is a great deal more than a writing site; it’s a community of people-real live flesh and blood people with real emotions, stands and stances. Keep that in mind the next time you make sweeping changes.
I do think some good will come of all this. I hope that now that you have publicly decreed that sexual innuendo etc is not acceptable, that you will actually be moved to put a stop to those that write the kinds of reviews that are offensive to many-the off-topic filled with horrible comments about sex and race things. I hope that you will take care of the plagiarists, the abusers who are truly damaging to the site rather than tell us members to utilize the block feature and deal with it ourselves. And I do like the fact that these abusers will no longer get paid-that is a good thing overall.
But the next time you decide to make massive changes-remember that the people who write here are human beings with real feelings and try to remember that old saying You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar . Treat us like adults, be nice but firm and let us make the choice to leave or stay-don’t take that choice from us. Don’t treat us like a bunch of bad children who made a boo-boo. I’m still a bit concerened about retaliation, but hopeful that the powers that be will be reasonable and realize why the EBD happened.
I am not going to apologize for my participation in t the EBD-I’m glad that I did. And I was amazed and pleased by those who also participated. Yes, some of the pieces went too far, but would anyone have noticed if they hadn’t? Yes some people took it a bit further than maybe they should, but maybe that is what it took in the long run to get noticed. In the long run, EBD worked, and I am hopeful that a stronger community comes out of it.
Where do we go from here? I don’t know, I guess we muddle along and hope for the best. Life will go on, Epinions or no Epinions. As for the few pennies I earned from my w/o entry-Epinions can keep them, or if they pay me, I’ll donate them-I didn’t think I was getting paid-I missed the Nov. 1st part-but I didn’t do it for money.
Oh yes, and if you find any mistakes in this editorial-let me know, now that I am able to change it I will if I should.
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Epinions.com ID:
mtbat
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: USA
Reviews written: 229
Trusted by: 127 members
About Me:
Life is busy
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