It seems that the view to comment ratio is a very wide span. We have a lot of lurkers here. Come on out! Contribute a little, offer suggestions, ask questions...post pictures.

 I can't be the only one that has noticed this.

Been there, done that...when it was worth my time. Now it's most definitely not...but I drop in anyway once in a while to help out, though even that is getting to be frustrating.

 

Fashion, stop spamming, I'm reporting you to the administrators of these boards, I can't believe you haven't been banned yet.

Stop spammimng?? Did I miss something?

I wish we had the old "Ideas for Marketing Your Work" forum brought back...so we could learn from and help each other with the business aspect of our passion.

BeaderJojo:

Stop spammimng?? Did I miss something?

 Yep, but it was nothing worth your time to read, Jojo. Right after you posted the thread a *former* member  ( username "Fashion") who'd been happliy spamming other people's threads for well over 2 weeks decided to have some fun on this one too....at which point I decided it was time to take out the trash

"Been there, done that...when it was worth my time. Now it's most definitely not...but I drop in anyway once in a while to help out, though even that is getting to be frustrating."

 My thoughts exactly, Original Sin.  It's hardly been worth my time lately.  All of the beaders except brand new and yes, spammers, seem to have disappeared.   I also got tired of the negativity generated at me when someone didn't agree with a comment.  Don't need it.  I'd rather bead than read.....

It's interesting to read this - I'm fairly new to the forum but I haven't really noticed any spam and the questions I've asked or topics I've brought up for discussion have had several responses. I have had a very good impression so far.

The only thing I will plead guilty to is that I haven't posted any pictures - my camera is broken. :-(

(OO)

*** lurking****

LOL!

mdg

I must admit I am guilty of 'lurking'.  I come here often and I usually find something interesting, but I rarely comment.  Mostly because everyone seems to know each other and once a thread is going, I feel like I am intruding. I will try to put my 2 cents in more often.

I don't get on this forum on a regular basis and sometimes a question seems well answered so don't put in my response, but I do enjoy reading what everyone has written.  Don't know if that counts as lurking but...  I think that when the forum split into three communities it slpit the contributors too.  I know for myself that I have only been on this forum since just after the split because I have only limited time to spend online. 

 

I used to comment here quite a bit and quite often, but there came a point that certain persons decided that those of us who are newer to this world of beading, decided they could treat newer to intermediate beaders like they were somehow stupid and had no clue as to what they were talking about. This pertains to quite a few of us, not just me. It has gotten pretty bad in the past year. When you answer someone's question and get what you "perceive" to be a reply that makes you feel like you know nothing, you tend to back off. I think that the moderators need to look into that and take care of it, so all of us have some sense of self-worth.  If I do answer something wrong, you do not need to look down on me. You can gently correct a person withou making them feel bad. I don't get upset when I am corrected, but I do get hurt when it is done in a wrong way. I, personally, have found a nicer forum and have been visiting there and posting as no matter what you say, you are treated nicely. A lot more fun over there than here. When you are made to feel worthless, you sure do not want to stick around, so that is why a lot of us have left. Maybe, soon, the powers that be here, will figure this out. If not, oh well, they lose.  I used to love coming here and all, but not so myuch anymore.

 

Dorrie,
Thank you so much for your input. Being new to the staff, I do not know the whole history of the forum, but I'd like to share just a little bit about our guiding principles.

We offer the forum as a resource for the beading community to share information, meet other beaders, and generally talk about the hobby we all love. We also have rules and guidelines posted for people to refer to in regards to etiquette. We discourage people from being unkind to one another — especially because it is hurtful and unnecessary, not to mention out of place for such a fun hobby.

That being said, I'm sorry to hear there have been times when your feelings were hurt in the forum. Often, due to the nature of written communication, people sometimes say things they did not intend to come off as rude. Other times, when we are reading, we can misinterpret the intentions of the poster. I have seen this play out in the short time that I've read the boards, and in general, it tends to correct itself as people will voice their hurt feelings and gain an apology.

Missteps can happen, but because most people are generally nice, they tend to apologize or otherwise make a miscommunication understood. In some cases, it is hard to tell from an outside perspective what one person may interpret to be hurtful as others may not give the same comment a second thought. There are cases, however, where we do need to issue a warning to those who abuse the system. It is not our intent, however, to censor or police the forums, as we believe all of our readers have good intentions at heart. Our readers come from diverse backgrounds and have a wide range of opinions, and we not only value them, but we also like to honor and learn from all of them — enabling everyone's voice to be heard. I hope you will continue to add your voice to the conversation.

--Tea

I used to actively contribute all of the time.  But since the change up & split of the forum to three links.  & since the new forum design, I've only check here maybe once a month.  Main reason?  This website loads way tooooooooo sloooooowwwwww....  I'm on T3 lines at work & Verizon Fios at home so I know it's not the internet speed.  I would hate to have to be on dial up & trying to access this site.  Plus the features are very difficult to use. The "read" vs. "unread" links still don't work right, so I can never tell what I've already looked at.  So I have to click on every link in "show your work". On other topics my memory does work a little better.  I have seen the pencil & the star & the colors red or yellow on things I've clearly already looked at.  It could be because I check out this site on different computers, but with the old system, the "read" vs. "unread" always worked regardless of what computer I'm on.  I also don't ever check out the other sites (art jewelry & bead style), so I know I'm missing out on interacting with other forum members. This sucks by the way...  I don't know how many times that I have mentioned this. I like "jewelry".  I'm not a "seed bead" snob.  I'm not going to "ignore" metal workers just because I work with seeds. 

I keep coming back to this site, because there are some great members that still occasionally hop in. And because I'm stubborn that way.  But I just have no reason to be active.  I've got two other great forums that I'm a member off, & their forums are very clean & simple & fun to actually use.

 

This new one (as much as I love the magazine) is a horrible bulky forum, with nothing easy about it.

 Sorry for the long rant, it's not the first time & it probably wont be the last. I guess I will state one positive to all this.  Surprisingly there is more seed bead work posted in the "show your work" then there ever has been before.  I guess seeders are no longer intimidated to post & also this membership has seemed to have grown over the last two years.

 

I usually just visit my self, these days. I have noticed a change in the membership. There seems to be many more new beaders then more experienced ones. Before the split, between the magazine forums, there was so much more to learn, from one medium to another. If I visit once every two weeks, I keep up to date. It would be nice to find something different going on, all the same!

Erin

   I just don't have the time to hang around on the forum anymore!  Sorry! :(

I used to be a daily regular here, giving comments (positive) and offering advice to new beaders as well as sharing pics of my own pieces.  It did get to the point where, especially with advice, it had already been said.  I'd comment on EVERY piece I liked, but decided this go-round I'm sticking to the ones that are strikingly well done and beautiful due to time constraints on my weekdays.

As for the gal who mentioned being made to feel dumb... There were, and I'm sure still are, people in here who are ignorant (dictionary defines this as lacking knowledge) in the ways of communication and people skills.  Then there are those who are just flat out vicious by nature, who by the way lack communication and people skills too (obviously).  Just as in the real world, there will always be bullies in the playground.  Our bullies will continue to post responses in the same thread with the same or even worse tone.  They feed off the negativity they receive because it creates strong emotion.  It gets the blood pumping, endorphins kick in and it's like a high for them.  Even if they can't mentally rap their head around that, their bodies crave it.  These bullies are the people who need to learn to recognize when this is happening and make a conscious decision to take the situation into a more positive direction.

 Endearah

Okay, I have to correct myself on my previous statement...  "endorphis" was the wrong word, it should be adrenaline.  My bad. 

 i agree, most people come in and read to find out the "hows" or simply reading, and its difficult for them to take the time to signup, then having to confirm the signup by checking email, then filling in a profile etc. so its easier for them to just read, sad but true :(

 To go back to the original post, it's down to 'answers' as far as I'm concerned. I re introduced myself a few days ago after a year off (due to nobody talking to me!) and have received three replies.......................the sad thing is - this is good for this forum! Having received replies is a major achievement, let alone three! There is no incentive to stay, there are some very nice people on this forum who will welcome anybody new, the problem is, there are not enough of 'em! The forum becomes stale and boring and no amount of reasonable explanations from the admin will change that - if it was a pet it would have been put out of it's misery.