Young Writers Society

With the exception of the colors & badges, I'm implementing everything else now. Everyone should go check out the Submit Your Work page! It's so refreshing to see the rules nicely concise.

Oy! The amazing thing about this thread is probably the number of replies. Nate's probably about to have a heart attack... I'm pretty sure he never thought anybody actually read anything in the Information Desk!

So, basically, I think the original intention of this has kind of gotten lost and there are some harsh feelings about this that probably shouldn't exist. Having come up with the no colors idea, I can say that it wasn't because I wanted to punish the greeters or instructors at all! The main thought behind that was to make YWS a little bit more laid back and zen-like, if that makes any sense, which is what all of these changes hope to accomplish.

Right now, it's very common for instructors and greeters to work very hard initially and then to get so stressed from the sense of responsibility of being an instructor or greeter that they just drop out of YWS... and we really don't want to create that sense of stress, especially when that stress causes some of our best members drop out of YWS for feeling like they've "failed" YWS.

For us moderators, that puts us in a tricky position. On the one hand, we want active instructors and greeters who can help out with YWS and making it the lovely place it is. On the other hand, there is a lot of instructor and greeter burn-outs and fewer active instructors and greeters, which is a problem.

To illustrate this, in the mod forum, we were discussing YWS statistics and how the activity seemed to decrease. Wondering where this decrease came from, I checked out the Welcome Mat (which, to me, is the first place to figure out how the vitality of YWS is). It was pretty much inactive and pretty much free of blue. So, to see where the greeters were, I posted this thread on the secret greeter usergroup asking for greeters to post something in the thread so I could see if they were active. Only two people who weren't mods posted. I think most of the greeters were terrified of me asking them to do more. And I don't know.

We can (and have) weeded out instructors and greeters so that the inactive instructors and greeters are out and the active instructors and greeters remain, but this takes a lot of time and it absolutely freaks out the instructors and greeters who are active, causing a frenzy of activity based on desperation (not dedication) which subsequently stresses them out to the point of wanting to leave or leaving entirely. And that's not the point. While we do want them to be active, we don't want to stress and/or terrify them into action.

Because they are colored, they are an "official" part of YWS. They are looked on as role models and leaders, and this isn't altogether bad. Members can see their color quickly and easily and contact them... and that is good. But what is bad is the level of stress that accompanies both positions and how often people are discourage or leave from that stress.

I've never liked seeing out some of our most active people leave. It doesn't amuse me. And so that's why, I figured one way to contribute to a more peaceful atmosphere is to get rid of the colors. Instead of the mod-sponsored secret groups that they have (in which we frequently have to yell at them to stop doing something or another) they could have informal usergroups dedicated to greeting or reviewing and focus on what they love doing instead of feeling ashamed or embarrassed by not doing enough. And that's the important part, really. By doing what they love, without all the pressure, they'll probably do a much better job and end up helping YWS in an even better way.

In addition, the badges are a nice way to appreciate them... without all the stress.

Hope this explains things a bit better as to what our reasoning was... I swear, we still love you, whoever you are!

Hehe, I haven't got much to say on this. The only I'd like to point out is about the groups being completely vanished. Sorry if this has been mentioned already, I couldn't bring myself to read every entry thoroughly. Anyway, my point was (as someone has mentioned) there are a lot of good things in the Group forums themselves, taking out the members and all, and I don't think deleting them all would be a good idea. For example, the greeters have greeting tips and conversations which brought members together, closer. Those groups could be made open for everyone, as a resource or something.

About the badges... yeah. I'm not sure where I stand on that one xD The badges are cute, shiny *.* But! Still, I think... well, I guess it's just because since I've been here from my beginning, I've been used to see blue and purple coats all around, how they helped me and stuff. People to go to. With badges, there will also be people to go too... Oh, I'm confused about where I stand xD About the status... hum, yeah. I appear to have nothing more to say xD

The review ratio going down is great! And the page for submitting our stuff looks so shiny! Awesome! Oh, and going on Snoink there, when there was the Greeters clean out I got all freaked xD Still, as both purple and blue, I can't see why they'd leave. I guess it's because YWS is really important to me, so that aught to be it. Anyway, whatever the out come is I bet I won't fret about it. I might be a little down at first, because I really have cherished my blue name and now my purple one (mostly because it was like a milestone I had hit), but I'll live with it if it's for the best of YWS.

Okay, so peace and out!
- Kat <3

New Rules
The new rules are all in place now! I've updated the FAQ for new users in the welcome area, and re-stickyed (sp?) the 'Rules & Guides' thread in the Info Desk forum.

I've also now instituted the new only two works per every 48 hours rule. This is hard-coded into the site, so if you try to post more than two works within a 48 hour period, you get an error message. The error message also lets you know when you can post another literary work.

Hey, read all of it, and I think the ideas are pretty good! Cept the Greeter/Instructor thing seems a bit out of the blue to me (haha pun) But you're reasoning is solid. Bravo *claps*

The medal system I'm a little confused about. So you have to get nominated for them?

Correct, Irish. You'd need 5 nominations and approval from a mod to get one.

On an semi-unrelated note:

I shall never (even if begged) become any sort of moderator here at YWS. However, if some sort of "quiz" is ever invented, I would love to take it

A tester of tests if you will.



On a related note:

Do not mourn the loss of your color. I understand that it is a very distinguishable thing... Color does attract the eye and gives a semblance of importance. If you take the color away does it really make you any less important in the eyes of those that matter? Take away the red from the administrators and they will still be administrators. I say make everyone hot pink and deal with it.

Snoink hit a nail bang on the head for me:

Snoink wrote:Right now, it's very common for instructors and greeters to work very hard initially and then to get so stressed from the sense of responsibility of being an instructor or greeter that they just drop out of YWS... and we really don't want to create that sense of stress, especially when that stress causes some of our best members drop out of YWS for feeling like they've "failed" YWS. [...] But what is bad is the level of stress that accompanies both positions and how often people are discourage or leave from that stress.

This is exactly why I haven't applied to be an instructor. I enjoy reviewing and I do a ton of it during the holidays, but during term I'm too busy. It's my fun, not my job - the last thing I want is to feel guilty about letting people down (and afraid of being axed). At the moment I can drop in whenever I like without any stress.

The new rules for 2010 sound fantastic. The whole idea of it being about writing and creating better writers is wonderful. The simple rules are easy for any one to follow and I feel that with the review ratio gone, people will be doing a lot more reviewing just to help out. Great idea!

I don't think we should have the badges, or the instructors/greeters. It makes the members who /don't/ have any feel like they can't review or greet or something like that. I used to think I wasn't good at writing/reviewing because newbies I had met once were instructors. I'm not explaining this very well, but do you see my point? People see this badge on someone else's profile, and think 'I'm not good enough for one. That's why I don't have one.'

I say make everyone hot pink and deal with it.

Yes!

Sare- But, badges wouldn't be something that you have to go out and get. So long as you do good work, then others would take notice and nominate you. The only mod interference is approving the badges to prevent popularity contests.

Kamas wrote:

I say make everyone hot pink and deal with it.

Yes!

I vote in favor of this even though it'll never be done.

-Shina

My eyes are already burning.

Rosie~ I know that. It still could turn into major competitiveness, and then, once someone gets all the badges, they have completely forgotten what the badges were for. They lose interest in YWS because there is nothing else for them to gain so everyone will know they are 'the best.' Let's face it: Man is prideful.