Four Faces in Four Years...Sep 01 '04 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line What will my next 'face' be... Okay so I have not been with Epinions since the very beginning. However I have been a member for most of it. 4 years plus a few months here and there. *grin* The four faces in the logo made me think that for all intents and purposes they could represent the changes I have seen over the last four years both in myself and in the community at large. For myself though the first face with the plus sign really has significance for me. I first joined thrilled with the thought of writing and seeing all those lovely pennies adding up with numerous plus signs. I was also green with envy in those early days of other writers who seemed so much more adept at writing here. I won't name anyone but you all know who you are. *smile* Somedays too I was a little green from being ill over some of the petty squabbling, revenge rating etc. I would see going on around the site. I just could not understand this behaviour. Things moved along great for a good while. My earnings were good and I wrote something every week at least if not every day. It was great fun both writing, reading others, rating and watching my account balance grow. Then came the changes... This brings me to the grey face with the minus sign mouth. That was my expression during much of that time. The metamorphosis in the community was interesting to watch. I saw drops in reading and rating. More squabbles and bitterness followed much of which shocked me. I began to see a really ugly side to a lot of members that I had not expected. The changes were in several areas: earnings, rules, member status (i.e. hats etc.) I even had my own hat or two for a while and also had my hat(s) removed. I really don't remember why as it is a time long forgotten. I saw members leaving in droves. It reminded me of lemmings running off a cliff into the sea. Some moved to other writing sites that were more creative in nature but didn't pay. Then in the midst of all this was Hard To Please. I didn't often participate in write-offs but that one I felt compelled to for varying reasons. The biggest was how much laughter and smiles reading his writing gave to me. If community support and love was enough to have him still be alive he would be. I was amazed at the response. It really showed me how the community could pull together when one of our own was in need. That one single event was the biggest deciding factor in my staying around to be a member of this community no matter what happened. In time things settled down. Changes stopped happening so frequently, earnings were still decreased by a large margin but that didn't stop the most ... I don't know how to describe the writers that remained. I just know many did remain and kept writing although for many it was not as often as they used to. I was also guilty of that but not because of the drop in earnings. My life just became more busy and things in my real life took priority over things online. They still do to a large extent. So that brought me to the orange face with the equal sign. Suddenly to me everything was evened out. I still was without my hats but that didn't bother me. I had evolved over time to not care about the money I was earning so much. I was more focused on the love of writing my thoughts out and the thought it helped someone at some point. I still cared about the community and the friends I had made. I still do. I had just realized a more equal approach to being a member of this community. It no longer took up most of my day reading, writing, rating etc. It was given equal time along with everything else in my life. Unfortunately though life became so busy that often many things in a day get pushed off to the next day and so on. So now after four years and many changes, both good and bad, I sit in anticipation for what is yet to come. I know I will be around as much as I can for another four years and probably longer. So that brings me to the face with the exclamation point. It really represents well the anticipation I have for the future of this website and this community. I know there will be more changes both large and small. Change is inevitable. The one thing I really know with certainty is that I will be around to see them. I also find myself pondering at this time what my next face will be. There are no more left in the logo but there are still many punctuation marks etc. I could use. *grin* Right On! This opinion is an entry in the EpiLustrous Write-on hosted by mobiprof. For more information visit the profile page.  |
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