DocAndersen
The death of the writing site Niume taught me two critical. The first is always to be able to generate my views. That can be done very easily, but you have to pay attention to the rules. The first way is to bu8ild, join or participate in a group of writers that are site independent. There are several groups on Facebook that focus on helping writers share their works. I would argue they have varied levels of success. It is a great place to make and maintain non-blogging relationships. The other thing being able to drive your viewers is you can quickly determine which of the influencers on a site can help you. That brings the second lesson from Niume and the one that scares me as I see it again here on Virily.
Virily is a writer at will site; you are not contractually bound to the site. You are not obligated to read, post or share anything from the site. If, and there are some writers this doesn’t apply to, you’ve been paid at Virily you owe a level of loyalty. If you, as an author get 30, 40 or more views the site owes you a level of loyalty as well. Virily has for the past 18 months, paid writers. The number of sites on the internet that pay writers is small. Virily has paid (geez look at all the I got paid posts). As a former leader in the Technology and Travel sections of Niume I can tell you that no matter the site notified people, they didn’t like the way they were notified. Roughly two or three months before the end of paying writers, the nature of posts on Niume and public comments became more about complaining and less about writing.
That happened here on Virily with a couple of writers who left the site (one has returned). Their negative posts are kind of created a hyper-negative atmosphere. When they left the atmosphere got a little more positive. Between them leaving and today the site also improved. Here is the hard-won learning I gathered from Niume and now see playing at Virily.
- 50% of the blame goes to the writers.
- 50% goes to the admin team
It isn’t a question that the negative posts, to quote Kim “You beat a dog enough times, it won’t come back.” There is no high road for any of us to take. I think it is time for all of us to ask ourselves, do we want Virily to be here tomorrow? I stayed on Niume well past the time that payment ended. I will stay with Vrily as well, I like the templates, and I post here. I am, however, no longer going to stand by as people beat the dog.
A writer sent me a private message on Virily and said I should post the negative comments made by Virily writers. The “negative” influencers list. I won’t do that. Everyone has the right to complain. Everyone has the right be frustrated. Nobody is asking anybody to stop complaining, on one condition. If something works, make sure you share that with your complaint. Don’t confuse the issue. Post a positive thing after or before you tear down the admin team. It doesn’t matter their failings or our failings; there are human beings on both sides of this problem. Let’s learn from our mistakes!
-
Question of
Did you write on Niume?
-
Yes
-
No
-
-
Question of
Have you written for “paying sites” that are closed now?
-
Yes
-
No
-
-
Question of
Have you ever heard “There is precious little glory and oh so much blame.”
-
Yes
-
No
-
-
Question of
Do you agree that we, as the writers community are responsible for 1/2 the blame on Virily?
-
Yes
-
No
-
Human nature…My dad always used to say it takes two to tango…You see it everywhere now..not just on writing sites but many FB groups, in fact, I have left a few for such negativity and often just downright nastiness…I loved Nuime and hung on until the bitter end and have come away with some positives and friends…Virily just wasn’t for me…simples…I am sad for the people who have worked hard and love it here though and as my dearest pixie friend said it is like losing a part of you…Where to next I ask? Maybe we should start our own??? As always Scott an honest, thoughtful post which doesn’t apportion blame but accepts that there are two sides to every coin 🙂
It is sadly human nature. I actually don’t think Virily is dying. I think the reality of the negativity right now is more than I can take.
I need to take a breath and just stop interacting with the negative posts!
I was on Nium and on Flibby … but it took me too much time so I’m just on Virily. I totally agree that we must also take part of the blame. We have the saying that two are always necessary for the strife.
that is a wonderful saying, it does. My grandfather used to always say it takes two to tango!
never heard of Niume … but it is sad if something like this happens in a site, not just for admins but also for the members.
I suspect there is human nature involved. It is so much easier to blame others than to even consider you may be part of the problem 🙂
as they always say, it is easier to blame others than to admit the mistakes.
I find that to be terribly true about many online people. Oh well, I know I shouldn’t chase after this windmill but I cannot help it.
good,sometimes it is something we should also consider, just take our own stuff with us.
I have run online forums for more than 30 years. I’ve built forums with many more users than come to Virily every day. What I have learned in doing that, is that communities that allow the rules to slip away, become very nasty places very quickly.
You take the high road when you said no to negative influencers’s list.
Back in Niume, we (I remember the most you and Carol) tried hard to keep it alive eventhough the admins themselves already abandoned the ship. I hope that will not happen here, too. Losing a site is like losing a part of you. Goodluck, Doc!
It really is losing a part of you. Thanks pixie!