As some of you know, I recently had students from a class I'm teaching post
as new user on Everything2. Later, I asked them to write a reaction paper
answering the following questions:
- Did you have anything deleted? If so, what was your reaction to that?
- Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about? What was your reaction to getting contacted by
these users?
- How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to the
voting?
- What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site? How much content
did you read before posting, and what impression did you form of the site?
- What do you think the site is for?
- Why would you participate in this site?
- Why wouldn't you?
As you can see below, the reactions were very mixed, ranging from positive
to apathetic to fist-shakingly angry. I think we need to take some of the
reactions below with a grain of salt, but I do think there are some interesting
findings here. They had a week to learn E2 and have three write ups survive,
which is probably too short a time. However, what is the new user experience?
Right now we're getting about 1 out of 1000 new users to stick around, looking
at the server numbers. Where do you want Everything2 to go?
Some things I took away from the student reactions.
- People interpret downvotes as worst cases. The Fundamental Attribution
Error predicts that people who are downvoted are more likely to attribute
it to some flaw in the voter than in their content.
- Sometimes messages are helpful and sometimes they are overwhelming. If
I had to guess, seven is about the optimal number for new users, and more
than that gets confusing.
- New users are seeing mixed messages when they are told their content is
too short, but they see other short content on the site.
- The FAQ is overwhelming.
Anyway, I hope this starts a discussion.
1. Did you have anything deleted? If so, what was your reaction to that?
I did not have anything deleted.
2. Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about? What was your reaction to getting contacted by these
users?
I received 3 messages from one user regarding my first two posts. The first
was noting that an item I had created a link for was not noded and asked for
me to provide a description of it (a software title) and also for clarification
on if my tech tip was legal and not against the software license. I created
a new node for the one software title and updated my post to reflect that as
far as I am aware, my tech tip is perfectly legal, especially since the process
is facilitated by the software publisher. The second message was noting that
I messed up and instead of replying to the first private message; I posted in
the public chat area. He told me the easiest way on how to send a private message.
The third message was noting that my 2nd node (for the software title) would
probably not be well received (it wasn't) since it was short and low on content.
He noted that the info would be better being added into my first write up. So
I added that info to the first write up. Overall, being contacted so quickly
gave me mixed feelings; initially I felt like I had screwed up and was being
berated for not understanding the site; however it was also nice getting immediate
guidance. However it was also a peculiar experience since the site didn't seem
to facilitate one-on-one communication very well as it was confusing to know
where to post and how to reply. It was not intuitive at all.
3. How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to
the voting?
The breakdown of my articles is as follows: Article 1: Score: +4 (+6/-2) Article
2: Score: -5 (+3/-8) Article 3: Score: +3 (+5/-2) For the second article, I
didn't mind the negative voting, although I thought my other two articles were
decent and not sure why they were voted down. The site doesn't really do a good
job at informing what voting means. Most of the information about the site is
overly verbose. I'd rather have a succinct, well thought out presentation instead
of something as long and drawn out.
4. What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site?
How much content did you read before posting, and what impression did you form
of the site? I created an E2 account late last year, but never posted on it
until this assignment. I had browsed around it a bit before, reading random
articles on occasion. The site seem like it wants to be a companion to sites
like Wikipedia. Some specific places/things/people have nodes and information,
but most posts are either creative writings with little to no connection of
anything useful (other than entertainment) or tangents of material that is too
specific or focused for inclusion in a Wikipedia article. Basically if I wanted
more detailed information about a specific area of a topic, outside of what
would be found on Wikipedia, but not as in-depth as something from a dedicated
website, E2 might be worth visiting. However, I found the layout of the site
very cumbersome and it was kind of confusing to use; which was probably why
I'd had an account for nearly a year without ever contributing.
5. What do you think the site is for?
Initially I thought it was more for heavy computer users, but after reading
and browsing more, it seems more geared for computer savvy amateur writers.
But again, it seems to be a place for creative (fiction or non) writers to share
their information, as well as sort of an auxiliary information source for any
topic person/place/thing.
6. Why would you participate in this site?
If I had some creative writing piece that I wanted feedback on outside of my
circle of friends and family, I might consider posting it.
7. Why wouldn't you?
If I wanted to provide general information about any topic that I was an expert
in, I probably would not use this site and instead go to Wikipedia. While there
are some topics with general overviews, there are a lot of holes of missing
topics. Yet at the same time, there is more specific information outside what
would be found in an overview article. So the there is little flow among articles
and topics are disjointed with spots of general information and random bits
of detailed articles. Filing in some of the larger holes seems futile since
Wikipedia already has much of this information, and a larger audience of authors,
reviewers and users.
1. I had a huge problem even formatting the post in HTML, let alone getting
it deleted. It's not like I don't know basic coding… The instructions to post
were confusing. I understood the scratch pad, but getting user help was a trick.
When I did go to post something on a node, I got a message saying the post was
set for destruction. My links did work though, so that was a plus! Between Wikipedia
and E2, I found Wikipedia the easiest to use, both functionally (usefulness
of information) and also to contribute. I liked how you could track what overs
jumped to from node to node on E2. I tried 7 different times, each time with
multiple attempts to post on E2. In my text editor, my HTML formatting was perfect.
When I posted each time, it came up as one whole string of sentences, no paragraphs.
I asked the other Team America members for help, but they were having the same
issues. I finally gave up asking them because I didn't want to be a bother.
2. Considering I didn't post anything, I didn't get any messages.
3. No post, no vote.
4. I actually read a lot of content. Its interesting to see peoples reactions
to postings. The whole E2 site is a combination of Wikipedia, SlashDot/Digg
and a creative outlet of sorts. I saw a lot of poetry on E2. In fact, the poetry
node was closed for new posts.
5. As I said before, this site is a combination of different sites, hence thew
'Everything' in E2. It's trying to be all things to all people, but it seems
like a failure in that sense. Obviously with all wiki's, its a way to share
information, whether right or wrong, good or bad.
6. I took a look at some of the topics I knew about (VoIP) and the original
post wasn't clear or concise, or even totally correct. The response to the original
post was much more precise and clear, but still didn't describe HOW the interface
devices connect to each other, or that there were even devices that needed to
be connected to begin with. My post was going to address that issue, as well
as some of the regulatory issues going on today.
7. I wouldn't use this site because its a pain in the ass. Some people with
a lot of knowledge on topics would run away screaming from this site because
of its PIA formating and post to wikipedia instead. Perhaps that's the reason
they decided to keep the site this way, to keep away the rif-raf. That also
may be why when I Google a subject, Wikipedia comes up first and E2 is buried
somewhere on page 287.
1. I did have the first thing I submitted deleted. What I'd written was an
analysis of the versatility of a certain curse word (starts with the letter
s) and it was deleted because the topic had already been thoroughly covered.
2. The first message I got was regarding the article I'd had deleted, it basically
just told me why. The other ones I got were basically regarding typos in some
of my other articles and suggestions for more info. I also got one inviting
me to join a comics-related group.
3. I was not overly concerned about the voting as long as my article remained
up, although some of the people there did seem to nitpick a lot.
4. The site seemed interesting, although I learned that you really do have
to put some effort into what you post if you wanted it not to be deleted. I
read a couple of articles before posting, not many though.
5. Partially encyclopedic, and partially a forum for people to have their writing
skills analyzed.
6. Well if I wanted someone to look at and criticize my writing it would definitely
be the site to go to.
7. The site doesn't seem friendly to new people and there's a bit of a learning
curve as far as learning how to write articles. Also, the voters seem a little
"anal" for lack of a better word.
1. Did you have anything deleted?
If so, what was your reaction to that? I did not have anything deleted.
2. Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about? What was your reaction to getting contacted by these
users?
I did receive several messages from the users of the site. I actually received
27 messages, although several of them were from Cool Man Eddie who appears to
be an apparition. Other messages were generally about the content of my postings.
Most made some sort of suggestions or were welcoming and congratulatory. I was
grateful for some suggestions which other users made, for example suggestions
about node choice for my write ups and pipe linking were very helpful. On the
other hand, I found some suggestions--such as personal opinions about the way
a specific user would have written a passage in a write-up, or comments about
the content of my personal profile were just annoying and over stepped the bounds
of the message sender, in my opinion.
3. How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to
the voting?
In general I feel that I did well with the voting. My first write-up scored
+19/-5, my second was +45/-9, and my third scored +30/-3. I really like AND
really dislike the voting system. I like it because it incentivized writing
things that people would like, and it made a little game out of writing. In
this sense, the voting system makes E2 an incredibly compelling (and addictive)
community. On the other hand, the voting system seems flawed. I do not understand
why my most popular write-up was also my least popular write-up. Further, I
did not receive one explanation via personal message about why I scored so negatively
on that write-up. I find that cowardly. In an environment where people are writing
creatively and offering a bit of themselves to the community, to get voted down
without any explanation feels like a slap in the face.
4. What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site? How much content
did you read before posting, and what impression did you form of the site?
I read the FAQ and a few of the other "How to do E2" sorts of nodes. I read
a bunch of content before posting, mostly the masturbation / body function sorts
of nodes. I found them funny and this probably led to my natural gravitation
to those sorts of write-ups. I formed the impression that E2 was mostly a site
dedicated to sharing humorous or creative stories on specific topics and making
witty observations about a variety of topics. Probably the most informative
thing I learned from, however, was from the helpful comments of other users.
As previously mentioned, although some were frustrating, there were also very
helpful comments from other users.
5. What do you think the site is for?
Frankly, I think E2 is a competitive wikipedia which is wittily written. I think
E2 is competitive because of the voting system and various user levels which
can be attained. Numerous times I saw users making reference to "achieving"
a certain level which further evidences my "competitive" (even if only self-competitive)
claim. I think E2 is a wittily written wikipedia because it seems to have a
similar scope of topics (with the notable exception of lyric nodes) as wikipedia,
but a simple wikipedia "informative" style seems like not quite enough to be
successful at E2.
6. Why would you participate in this site?
I would participate in this site for the same reason I might play a game like
World of Warcraft. In the end, I think E2 is compelling because it allows for
measurable benchmarks of accomplishment. For those who like to attain levels
of achievement and gain notoriety within the community.
7. Why wouldn't you?
I would choose not to participate in E2 because of the immense amount of time
it takes to do a write-up successfully. There are no shortcuts to a good write-up.
Of course, for some community members, herein lies the appeal of E2. However,
I do not feel that it would likely be worth my time to spend countless hours
making sure my pipe links send other users to the most accurate nodes. In short,
the user interface is a tad klunky and this is a drawback, in my opinion.
1. Did you have anything deleted? If so, what was your reaction to that?
Yep. 4/4 got deleted. Quite frankly, I was pissed. Not that they deleted them,
but that they deleted them because they subjectively didn't like them. I don't
like President Bush (who is a component of "everything"), but I can't just delete
him and act as if he never existed.
2. Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about? What was your reaction to getting contacted by these
users?
I received a total of 22 (and possibly more since) from users. Generally, they
were saying "I didn't like your post so I nuked it." However, a couple decided
to make assumptions about me, such as I don't have kids. My reaction was one
of anger. I actually got into a discussion with one via e-mail, which because
of her narrow perspective I found myself wanting to flame her, but ultimately
remained silent and hope and pray still that her allergy finds her quickly and
kills her genetically-weak little parasitic offspring-she irritated me just
that much.
3. How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to
the voting?
Voting didn't go well. 4/4 posts got put into the negative, and all 4 ultimately
fell below the arbitrary threshold and were deleted. Voting seems subjective
and arbitrary. I put something witty and intriguing up, people voted it down.
I posted something happy and shallow, and people voted it down. They didn't
want my ideas, they didn't want the opposite of my ideas, and they didn't want
something between. If voting meant something, I'd be more inclined to care.
Unfortunately, it seems I don't have the personality that fits their site-and
was literally told that by a user.
4. What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site?
How much content did you read before posting, and what impression did you form
of the site? The site has its own special little HTML coding. It was a pain
in the ass to learn in that it has no bearing on any other website-it's completely
intrinsic to E2 and not externally useful at all. Before posting, I read several
nodes (including the FAQ), and read multiple more posts before posting again.
By the time of my fourth post, I'd estimate I'd read over 100 posts from others
of varying sizes and specificity. The impression I got of the site was that
it was a pitiful attempt at re-creating Wikipedia, but also by including emo
poetry and middle-age angst. It seems to be a group of like-minded people just
reinforcing their view.
5. What do you think the site is for?
Friends to provide self-masturbatory material for one another, solidifying and
selectively reinforcing one perspective.
6. Why would you participate in this site?
I wouldn't. I'm done, out, and finished. See below.
7. Why wouldn't you?
My experience with E2 was certainly a negative one. Perhaps my final post explains
why:
Goodbye Everything 2
I am a noob.
Let me me get that out in the open straightaway. I have posted a total
of four times (including this post) over the course of the past week. I
have not taken the time to develop my "Everything 2 writing style," nor
have I taken the time to immerse myself in the E2 culture. And after my
experiences, I don't plan to. But before I bid adieu, let me explain why,
in a likely futile attempt to increase the awareness of the E2 community
of how those not indoctrinated deep into your culture first experience E2.
Everything 2 says it's about "Everything." Everything, by definition, is
all-inclusive, and omits nothing. To that end, the Everything 2 community
seems to have forgotten to embrace that principle, and instead has turned
to the idea of self-selection of that which is "worthy" to be added to the
wealth of knowledge.
Almost two millennia ago, the Great Library of Alexandria was sacked and
burned; a loss of knowledge because those of other perspectives thought
the knowledge contained in the library didn't fit with their paradigm. In
the 2000 years since then, we've managed to piece back some of the knowledge
lost, but the travesty is that the majority of the information is lost to
the sands of time. In the same way, the fact that the E2 community shuns
new and alternate perspectives has the potential to destroy new knowledge
in its infancy, detracting from not only from its own purpose, but also
biasing the information that currently exists.
I stopped watching Fox News a while ago because of its bias. For a news
source the professes its neutrality, its over-emphasis of right-leaning,
Republican values and stance on issues made me feel ill. In the same vein,
I've recently lost faith in CNN. In the television medium, I think most
programs have a lean--it's the nature of the beast which allows them to
publish. However, the Internet affords us an opportunity to break free these
mortal coils of bias and actually make everything available to people.
I leave Everything 2 not because I'm pissed that posts (and not just mine)
are being voted down and sent to Node Heaven. I can get over that rejection--hell
check my dating record, as it speaks for itself. What I can't get over,
however, is Everything 2's bigotry--not against a person or a group, but
against a set of undefined ideas. The fact is, Everything 2-ers like what
they like, and reward that which matches their pre-existing ideas. And while
that's fine if you're one of the chosen in-group who's had time to acclimate,
y'all make it really hard to break that barrier and become one.
So here's your call-to-action Everything 2: either rise above what you've
become and return to your roots of attempting to acquire the whole of the
human experience on this site; or stay on your hypocritical path of seeking
everything provided it fits with your specific world view. But it's up to
you. Either way, I'm done. Best of luck.
In attempting to participate in the E2 community, community members have this
inflated and biased perception of who they are and more specifically what E2
is. In response to that post, I got the following messages as feedback:
(redacted) Klaproth says I ate your writeup Goodbye E2. Angsty write-ups
tend to get voted down. That's just how it is. Node Heaven will become its
new residence.
Followed up with
Listen, I hate to say this (primarily because you and I disagreed over one
of your prior writeups), but you aren't the first person to "quit" E2. Its
right for some people and not right for others. I really feel that you didn't
read around enough and "get to know" the site before you started posting.
This is generally the big stumbling block for people. Anyway, I deleted your
most recent node about "goodbye" because it was already at -5 and would have
surely gone further south. If you have even a small thought about coming back
to E2, I'd suggest signing up for a mentor, someone to help you to acclimate
to the site.
These messages just reinforce the post I made. E2-ers just want to read what
they want to read. I'm not going to get a "mentor" for a site for my free time.
I get a mentor for something I want to have an investment in-and E2 has given
me no reason to invest in them. And while that's fine with me, don't name your
site "Everything." The pompousness of calling posts "nodes"…the "god" denotation
of master users…everything just seems to be one big circle-jerk in which they
try to substantiate their own little online world. In short, I know I didn't
get 3 posts to stick, and probably did poorly on the assignment. I can't really
say I care. What I learned from this assignment is that CSCW operates within
a social framework developed and nurtured by those in the CSCW. To that end,
it takes time and effort to acclimate to new social frameworks-7 days wasn't
enough to become a clone of an E2-user, and they've not motivated, enticed,
or encouraged me in any way to take the time to become one. For a site looking
for everything, they sure don't want everything.
1. Did you have anything deleted? If so, what was your reaction to that?
No, none of my three posts got deleted.
2. Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about? What was your reaction to getting contacted by these
users?
Yes, I received a few messages from the users. One told me that one of my writeups
was transferred under a different key word. One just simply welcomed me to the
site. Another commented on one of my writeups, saying that he enjoyed it. I
was surprised to find that people actually showed interest in my writeups. At
first I thought that my writeups would just sneak on the site somewhat unnoticed.
The messages gave a sense of community to E2 and I thought it was very unique.
3. How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to the
voting?
I really liked the voting system and it was fun to see what percentage of readers
enjoyed my writeups and thought they deserved to stay on the site, and what
percentage did not. The voting system keeps the site fun and creates the desire
for writers to post.
4. What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site?
How much content did you read before posting, and what impression did you form
of the site? I read the Everything FAQ. The topic that helped me the most was
the E2 HTML tags: quick start. This contained all the basic HTML help I needed
to post. I read around 10 posts prior to actually creating my own, to get a
feel for the kind of material the E2 community wants to read about. I quickly
learned that any topic, if written well, could be respected by the E2 community.
5. What do you think the site is for?
This site is designed for all pieces of creative writing.
It is a community aimed at those that like to write and receive critique on
their writing. It can also be used to find out information about various subjects.
E2 is a lot less formal than most wiki sites, so many topics that you won't
find on sites such as Wikipedia can be found on E2.
6. Why would you participate in this site?
I would participate in this site because I honestly believe that after a while
of posting, receiving feedback, and altering your original writeup based on
feedback, you eventually would become a much better writer. It has a great community
feel to it.
7. Why wouldn't you?
Because the truth is, I'm lazy. This is typically something I wouldn't expend
any energy on, although this is the first time I said to myself, "I actually
could do this and find it interesting." Once I have some more time outside of
college I would reconsider. I still may post from time to time.
1. Did you have anything deleted? If so, what was your reaction to that?
No
2. Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about? What was your reaction to getting contacted by these
users?
No
3. How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to the
voting?
Generally I think I did OK. Two of my three articles seemed to be liked and
the third was kind of 50/50. I am not sure what users didn't like about the
third one as they were all written in the same format. It seems like the voting
system is an effective way to judge different articles.
4. What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site? How much content
did you read before posting, and what impression did you form of the site?
I learned a lot of the site because I never heard of it before this assignment.
I like the tag feature that most of the time relates to other articles that
are similar to the one you are reading. I read a few articles to get the feel
of how things are written and how long some articles were. I got a great first
impression, mostly because they were eager to help in any way and the provided
feedback in one case on my first article on how I could make it better.
5. What do you think the site is for?
Site is for providing information to readers about different topics. Users can
read or write articles as well as socialize over their site.
6. Why would you participate in this site?
This site can give you insight on different topics as well as provide interesting
articles to read. If your thing is more writing articles, it gives you a chance
to write on different topics and get feedback on your articles.
7. Why wouldn't you?
It would be hard to identify facts in articles. Some articles would just be
some person's opinion. Not as popular as other user collaborative sites such
as Wikipedia.
Once upon a time, a group of bullied English majors got together with one goal
in mind. That goal was to enforce their degrees and hatred of people who got
useful degrees upon everyone who strayed, or was forced by school, upon their
internet path. They would spring their trap by creating something that looked
interesting, but was basically an internet mouse trap. The first meeting must
have gone something like this: Lets take an interesting concept, convolute it
so badly, make it difficult to participate in and then on top of that once someone
tries to we can decide we don't like what they had to say or how they said it,
so we will delete it! And so everything2 was born.
This paper will aim to address the questions put forth by the instructor, but
let it be known that the author, having spent much time on the site and giving
it a fair shot…hates it. In fact, in my twenty-four years of living I had never
before encountered a website that I actually hated. I didn't even think it was
possible to hate a website. Who even has such a surplus of hate that they have
to spend it on a silly website? Well, as it turns out, I do, and I am surprised.
But give everything2 all due credit, it earned my scorn. Oh yes, it did.
Without structure this paper could and probably would turn into a (longer)
monologue on why everything2 is so awful. Therefore I will just take some Tylenol
to calm the headache that occurs whenever I think of everything2, and answer
the questions sequentially.
1. Did you have anything deleted? If so, what was your reaction to that?
Yes, I did. After my first post, I decided to make another that linked the two
together. Well, after another long day of dealing with everything2's inane structure
and the almost impossible task of posting just one thing, I was not in the mood
to create the next great novel. I was just happy that, after a few days of trying,
I had figured out how to post one thing. Riding the first wave I had, I posted
a small spot on the Indiana University student radio station WIUX. Adding it
for pure reference to anyone who didn't know, I planned on editing it later
and adding more. I didn't plan on not being able how to figure out how to edit
the damn thing later.
Well, the post/node was deleted. My reaction? One part of me was upset, especially
since the person who deleted it told me "in general, if people can find out
more using Google then they tend to downvote." Well thanks, oh giver of great
internet knowledge. I am quite aware that your website is not Google. I am also
aware that if, for some reason, someone wanted to find out about the entire
history of WIUX, or really anything that was hard information, they would not
go to everything2. People who want to be suicidal go to everything2, not those
who are looking for information of that depth.
Another part of me was confused, because when perusing the site, I ran into
multiple posts (nodes?) that were simple, designed to be there for those who
did not know and would like a simple explanation. For example, if one was reading
about Jimmy Buffett, and she ran into the term Parrot Head and did not know
what that was, a quick link would tell you. I checked this out before I posted,
to see if such quick information was accepted. Well, on high and mighty everything2,
the parrot head node just says this: "A fan of Jimmy Buffett, usually plumed
in hawaiian shirts and hats that contain parrots." Alright…that is a quick,
simple explanation for someone who might not know, similar to what I posted
and the same length…and yet it stays? Why? That doesn't make sense to me.
2. Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about? What was your reaction to getting contacted by these
users?
I received seven messages from users. One was a welcome. The other was a user
who liked my user name. Four were of the general opinion that my post mentioned
above was too short. Only one comment, "one-liners like this don't tell us much"
set me off. If such one-liners don't, then why are they allowed in some places
and not others on the website? Why, as a new user, am I seeing one-liner posts,
which make me think they are acceptable, and then putting them up but having
them deleted because they are too short? Make up your minds! My general reaction
to these comments is…who are you people? And how did you even notice? What in
your life has led you to be checking up on what new user Hufflepuff Pride is
posting, and then deciding it's not good enough? Isn't this website for EVERYTHING?
It should be called everythingifwelikeit2. The seventh message is got was from
fellow classmate Erik, and is a bit inappropriate to re-state. He has a very
vivid imagination though, that one.
3. How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to the
voting?
My rating right now says I am a level 1 out of 9. As best as I can tell, that's
the voting. Unless it isn't…in which case I would have to take an hour to comb
over the FAQ's that don't help me anyway. So I guess I'm a 1. Oh well. If I
was a 9, I would have no idea how it even happened or why.
4. What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site? How much content
did you read before posting, and what impression did you form of the site?
There is a huge disjoint between what I wanted to learn, and what I actually
did learn. I wanted to learn, simply, how to post. Just how to post! That is
the main thing I wanted to know. And it took me forever to figure out. The FAQ's
did not help me at all. They just danced around the point entirely. I got the
feeling that everything2 was trying to weed people who did not have 5 hours
to spare in learning how to post. I finally figured it out by calling someone
else from the class, and we walked through it together, after much trail and
error. Then, once I did, and wanted to post again, I couldn't figure it out.
Again. The interface is so counter-intuitive to what I needed, and that bred
the frustration which led to the current hate. What did I learn? Well, I learned
that one is supposed to link as much as possible, and that you have to be grammatically
correct. And I guess one has to write the next War and Peace on whatever topic
one nodes, or else it will be taken off. I read much content before posting.
I was trying to figure out how the link system works, what to link and what
not to. Some posts were big, others small. Some had academic information, some
did not. I could not figure out how to separate some of the categories they
have, such as opinion, person, or essay. Honestly I spent more time reading
about the site (trying to figure out how to work it) than I did reading what
was on it. The FAQs exhausted and frustrated me, and after spending so much
time with them I had little desire to peruse the posts that other people somehow
got up. Once I posted a small addition, and I got railroaded for it, I just
gave up because I don't think there was anything I could of wrote to appease
these people.
The impression I formed of the site is that it is badly designed and executed.
It is too difficult to navigate and getting to what one wants to do is like
jumping invisible hurdles. The idea behind the site is good. Everything else
I cannot stand. It's like, the idea of a waffle maker is awesome, but if the
thing doesn't let you turn it on, add ingredients, or have instructions that
make sense, and then wants to rate you badly for making awful waffles, what's
the point?
5. What do you think the site is for?
Bored, angry English Majors to preside over.
6. Why would you participate in this site?
I would only participate if I had to for a class assignment. That's it. I will
never go back to this site, ever…unless I'm writing about websites that drive
people to emotional imbalance. Then I'll have an example ready.
7. Why wouldn't you?
I would not participate because the website misses its own point, is difficult
to navigate, and just seems like it is an inside joke that constantly teases
you, almost letting you in…but really just wants to keep you on the outside.
If I was going to write about something, I would go to a website that had the
ability to tell a user how to sign up, and how to post, in an easy to understand
manner. The user would not have to spend hours on an FAQ page only to learn
that he or she must be grammatically correct or else, which isn't even what
he or she is looking for. The list goes on. Before I have an ulcer from devoting
anymore of my life to it, I will just say I everything2 is the worst website
I have ever dealt with. Ever, in my whole life…and I lived in a fraternity for
two years. Do you know what kinds of websites 100 college men living together
show each other? Well I would rather spend four hours with one of those than
five more minutes with everything2. I would rather go to the dentist. I would
rather meet a new girlfriend's dad -who is a former Marine holding a shotgun.
I would rather baby sit a one year old child. I would rather live through my
high school prom again, the one where I took my girlfriend of two years, the
one where I learned that she in fact didn't love me, because she left with my
best friend, who happened to be a girl. I would actually live through that,
and immediately then go pay them a happy visit to their apartment in Chicago
just to check up on how they're doing. I would rather take German class again.
I would rather run 10 miles and I hate running. I would rather attend Purdue.
If that doesn't answer the question I don't know what will.
I did not have any posts deleted on everything2. It was especially worrying
when I started receiving posts from other users. I received a total of 7 messages,
but about 4 of them were after my first posting. A lot of the messages were
sent by users to offer advice on how to improve my posts. The first 3 messages
were all about my lack of links. It seems like the links and format of the posts
are more important than the actual content of the posts. Since most of the messages
were meant to offer advice and not to criticize, I was not offended by the messages
or hurt in any way.
In general I did very well on the ratings. My first post was the only one that
got a bad rating, and that was because I had not learned yet how to link and
what to link. My next two posts were both positive. It seems from what I have
seen on the site, that the more controversial the subject, the more people like
it and the better the rating. I read all the FAQs about how to write the posts
and how to format them. I also read 3 posts in order to see what people wrote
and how they wrote it.
In general I liked this site much more than Slashdot. People seem to be much
more accepting of posts and of new users. I also like the fact that there are
no restrictions on the types of posts. I did not like the Slashdot assignment,
because we had to pick from existing posts and comment on them. The truth was
that there weren't always posts up that I found interesting or that I would
have liked to comment on.
This seems like a community site which finds members by invitation. Due to
how general the posts are, it seems very unlikely that random people will join
the site and participate. Most community sites bring in members by attracting
people to a certain subject. By making this site so general, it seems that people
join more for the communication between members rather than for the actual theme
of the site. So I think I would participate in this site if I had other friends
in it as well. Otherwise there are no real benefits from being a member to this
site.
1. I didn't have anything deleted.
2. I received a number of messages from users of the site - two before I even
began posting, and then quite a few after I posted to the catbox to ask for
critiques of my work. I received a number of very helpful and encouraging private
messages, and some asking what path I took in getting to the site and what resources
I found most helpful in crafting my first few write-ups.
3. I did pretty well with the voting. Getting positive votes was very encouraging,
a kind of a nice pat on the back after I posted my write-ups. The one negative
vote I received really made me wonder, though, what I was doing wrong.
4. I had encountered the site long ago, and knew some of its structure and
understood the node/linking concept behind it before I had to do this assignment.
I read some of the "everything university" and FAQ documents before I posted.
The posting process/interface is kind of clunky, but not too terrible. I really
got a sense of community through my interactions with people in the catbox -
it seems like there's a core group that's really tightly knit and really cares
about the development of users on the site.
5. The site seems like it's primarily designed as a creative outlet for people,
a way of honing one's writing skills and sharing one's work in a public setting.
There's some factual information that's on the site, but there really doesn't
seem to be any attempt to be authoritative.
6. I'd participate in the site because it gives me an opportunity to write,
something I need to do more of. The general vibe I get from the site is pretty
welcoming and fun, and I like it.
7. The thing that would keep me from participating is time, more than anything.
It took me a fair amount of time to create the nodes that I did, and I don't
regularly have that kind of time available.
1. Yes, my posting on LPP was deleted. I think that if the community doesn't
want my postings on their website, then I am totally fine with that. Although
my psoting may have not been technically complete, I would think that some information
on the topic would be better then none.
2. No.
3. Well I cannot vote, because I am not a level 2 user. This doesn't bother
me much, I see how the community would want it this way.
4. From this site I learned a design way to make a Wikipedia type database
of knowledge and build a stronger user community in the process. I think this
forms a community with the a personality, good or bad. I read a lot of content
before posting to find the style and tone for the article. I came away with
a sarcastic twist to the community.
5. I think this site is an attempt to make a Wikipedia type database of knowledge
and build a user community to monitor it in the process that isn't so anonymous.
6. I would not personally participate in this site. But I could see a knowledge
junky with something to prove and a lot of time on their hands really getting
into this... Down to someone who may want to leave a digital footprint on the
web.
7. I think the website is very bad at explaining the 5 W's about the website.
Period. It takes way to long to find information about posting, linking, general
usage, etc. The banner ads at the top of the site kill a lot of real estate
on the screen and makes me want to leave right way. The text appearance on the
site varies too much and it makes it very hard to read. It needs to be more
uniform.
1. Did you have anything deleted? If so, what was your reaction to that?
I in fact didn't have anything deleted for this assignment. As you suspected
I did indeed use past papers I wrote as I had received good grades for them
so I figured they were a sure shot. But before I did that I was looking through
the faq for ideas of what to post and when they said simply something you may
have learned in class today I figured, oh old papers brilliant!
2. Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about?
What was your reaction to getting contacted by these users? Yes I received 3
messages actually. The first one was a simple general e-mail to a new user welcoming
them to the site. Another was from a user telling me a I had a typo in one of
my papers where the raised numbering for powers didn't carry over from word
so I had to use the carrot symbol. I found this to be a polite and helpful way
of making sure that material for this site is in order and free of most typos.
The third one was just to inform me that one of my writeups had been cooled,
which was a good feeling knowing that someone else found my work to be rather
interesting enough for all the users to see under the recent cools.
3. How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to the
voting?
Overall I only received 3 negatives on one writeup and the rest all had positive
voting. I only reached as high as a 16 but it was also cooled which was 'cool'.
It felt pretty good having people give a positive point to my writeups, like
they were actually worthwhile overall.
4. What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site? How much content
did you read before posting, and what impression did you form of the site?
I mostly learned that this is a vast site that really anything from general
knowledge to actual doctoral write ups can be found. Its nice to have a laid
back resource where people can post their work for others to see as opposed
to a formal presentation that most research sites are accustomed to these days.
I didn't read a whole lot, just little tid bits that I found as I was thinking
of topics to post up here there. I went through some of the cools and little
stories that people came up with that were amusing. Overall I feel the site
is on a good track for keeping track of information and really everything that
people find interesting to write about.
5. What do you think the site is for?
A good centralized resource for looking up any general knowledge things and
if it isn’t there, it allows the user to put in their two-cents about the
topic.
6. Why would you participate in this site?
To get my ideas and theses out in the world to see if anyone else gives a damn
about it really. If I can help solves someone's problem with one I've already
had, it may make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
7. Why wouldn't you?
Could be a lot of work to keep finding things to post that aren't already posted.
However, if youâ're one for writing about stories that really isn't an issue
with this site. Also there could be the chance of my material getting removed
and all that work wasted, which would be a shame. The HTML of having to post
really isn't a big deal but it is time consuming. Other than that I'll probably
see myself in the future posting papers or anything of the such I feel may be
important to someone else just to see how it gets rated and what not.
1. Did you have anything deleted? If so, what was your reaction to that?
Yes, I had 3 out of 4 successful posts. After I wrote my three posts, one of
them wasn't getting very good scores. The post reached a negative score and
was at risk for deletion. I was afraid of not having 3 successful posts so I
decided to make another one. I was upset and mad that my post was deleted, because
I did spend some time on it. It hurt to see something wasn't good enough for
the website. When my fourth post received lots of positive ratings, I got over
my deleted post.
2. Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about? What was your reaction to getting contacted by these
users?
Yes, I received messages. Currently I have 15 messages. The messages were generally
about the fact that one of my posts was going to be deleted, how to post and
some suggestions/comments to edit my current posts. I liked that the users were
engaged and interested in what people were posting. It was also helpful when
I didn't know how to create an initial post. I also was a bit frustrated because
one user said to read the FAQs; I was reading the FAQs over the course of the
weekend and it really didn't help me. After much perusing and a couple posting
mistakes, I was able to post successfully.
3. How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to the
voting?
In general, I did fairly well in the voting as I had 3 out of 4 survive had
high positive points considering the topic. Currently, my scores are Ugg boots
19 (21-2), Sweetest day 13 (17-4) and Hani 5 (10-5.) I guess I am pretty happy
with the scoring, although it doesn't really matter what I say, because my score
won't be affected either way. Also, I think having posts be scored encourages
some posting competition.
4. What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site?
How much content did you read before posting, and what impression did you form
of the site? I read the FAQs and messaged other members for help regarding the
site. I pretty much spent a couple days reading the quick start pages and sought
help from others. I was under the impression the site was a little confusing
as you had to figure out the websites style. It was also a bit challenging,
in the respect of, needing to know some HTML code language.
5. What do you think the site is for?
This site is used to gain a better understanding of something in which you may
not know much about. The site can help with any confusion and also provided
a definition or example of something.
6. Why would you participate in this site?
I would participate in this site to help people out. If there is something I
have a clear understanding about in which most don't, I would contribute to
the site and try to help benefit others with my knowledge.
7. Why wouldn't you?
I wouldn't participate in this site because it is a bit time consuming. You
have to figure out what to write in the first place, and then once you figure
out what to write you have to hope no one has written about it. Lastly, one
has to also cross their fingers their post doesn't get deleted. The process
has a bit of a timeline and can get frustrating at times, especially with posts
being deleted.
1. Did you have anything deleted? If so, what was your reaction to that?
Yes, I originally wrote 5 write-ups, and 2 of them were deleted. One of the
write-ups that was nuked didn't surprise me - it was really short and just meant
to be funny. It got a mix of both positive and negative responses - one person
even gave it a C! and messaged me telling me not to let anyone nuke it… yet
it still got nuked in the end. I was surprised it was as well-received as it
was, and not surprised when it ultimately got deleted. The other write-up of
mine that was deleted did surprise me - it was a funny story about something
that happened to me, and I wasn't sure why it got nuked, and I was kind of offended
that it did. I messaged the person who nuked it and asked them why they did,
but I didn't get a response. It kind of ticked me off, but I figured there must
have been something I did wrong to warrant it being deleted, so I just let it
slide and wrote something else.
2. Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about? What was your reaction to getting contacted by these
users?
Yes, I think overall I received 15 messages. Most of them were really helpful
and polite. A few people messaged me to make suggestions on what I should add
to my write-ups, which I thought was helpful - and others messaged me to tell
me why they voted my write-ups down, which I also thought was helpful, because
it was constructive criticism. A couple people asked me if I had attended certain
Zombie Walks (since I wrote an article defining them). Overall, I think the
messages were pretty helpful, except for the one guy who nuked one of my posts
and didn't say why, and never replied to me…
3. How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to the
voting?
I did pretty well, overall. The two posts that were nuked had a pretty even
split between +/-, and the ones that survived had overwhelmingly positive scores.
At the same time, though, I felt like I was being judged, and it's an uneasy
feeling. I felt like, in order to get positive votes, I had to cater to everyone
else's standards - it's kind of an elitist community. (Though not nearly as
bad as Slashdot.) The posts that had the highest ratings were the ones I spent
the least amount of time on, and that was discouraging. But I guess I shouldn't
complain about getting high ratings.
4. What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site? How much content
did you read before posting, and what impression did you form of the site?
I read just enough content to learn how the site was set up. I read the tutorials
on how to create links and stuff, and I picked up on it pretty quickly (as,
like many people, I already have a background in HTML). I looked through some
links to find ideas on what to write on, too - but I didn't spend much time
browsing the site. I really like the linking system throughout the site - I
thought it was cool that you could create links to other articles, and I the
pipe links can be used in pretty funny, creative ways. I think that's the real
key to the site's popularity - because once you start clicking on links, you
just want to keep going. I get the idea that the site could be really fun and
addicting if you really got in to it - but I, myself, wasn't that interested.
I just don't like constantly feeling like I'm being judged, and worrying about
not following the community's norms closely enough, or getting flamed or whatever
for being a "n00b," or what-have-you… So I tend to stay away from these kinds
of sites to avoid stupid drama.
5. What do you think the site is for?
I think mostly for entertainment, but also for information. It's kind of like
a cross between Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary - on the one hand, you're getting
lots of factual information about lots of things, all interconnected - but also,
the information is subject to bias and people can use their own personal experiences
as references, which makes it really unique (and I don't think that makes it
less credible).
6. Why would you participate in this site?
I guess boredom? Like I said, this isn't the thing I'd normally be into. When
it comes to online communities, I'm mostly a lurker. I would only participate
in this if I were really bored, and felt like there was something that I could
offer that no one else had already written.
7. Why wouldn't you?
Mostly it's the fear of being judged or being involved in some dramatic episode
that discourages me. People are too easily ticked off in online communities,
and I don't really want to deal with that. I don't want to do write-ups and
have them be deleted by some condescending, elitist jerks. I know everyone says
"don't give up after your first write-up," - but I don't think I'd care enough
to want to keep trying. Spending tons of time learning how the site works and
learning how to appease everyone just so you can gain some meaningless experience
points on a website seems like more trouble than it's worth.
1. Did you have anything deleted? If so, what was your reaction to that? -
I have 1 writeup that got deleted. It didn't surprise me that it was because
not much time was put into it. However, by that happening, I knew what to expect
for my future writeups and how to go about writing and posting them so they
would not get deleted.
2. Did you receive any messages from the users of the site? How many? What
were they generally about? What was your reaction to getting contacted by these
users? -
I received 8 messages total. Few were negative and some were helpful. Somebody
gave me good advice as to how to write a good writeup (link, link, and link
some more), redirecting me to the writeup FAQ, and making my posts temporarily
unavailable while I had the time to go and edit writeups while other messages
were about my deleted post and notifying my it went to writeup heaven. After
submitting more writeups, I was told by some users that they were by far my
best writeups I had submitted.
3. How did you do with the voting in general? What were your reactions to the
voting? -
I hated the voting. In a way, all writeups are opinionated. Basically I see
negative votes as someone not fully understanding your opinion. A voting system
where only positive feedback is recognized and negative ignored would have been
much more ideal for me. I submitted a poem to E2 and it has some deep symbolic
meaning for me, however it is very hard to understand from a reader's first
impression. It was my favorite post and I ended up getting a -1 rating on it
because I feel I wasn't understood or someone didn't take the time to look deeper
into it. When it comes to poems, I prefer vague descriptions so I can use my
imagination to try and figure out my own unique message within which give me
a more personalized feel and connection to it. I guess in a world with websites
competing for all the worlds information and where opinions are voiced everywhere,
you never expect to put a personalized entry somewhere and have it removed as
if it never existed. Kinda like that guy who speaks out against the government
in some 1984 type society and disappears never to be heard of again.
4. What kinds of things did you do to learn about the site? How much content
did you read before posting, and what impression did you form of the site? -
I learned that the site is a very small and somewhat closed society. Through
reading the site chats window, a few of the regular users didn't seem too happy
with the sudden increase in writeups, though others welcomed them with open
arms. I skimmed a few writeups before posting to get a better ideal to write
about (because as ironic as it sounds thinking of something to write about when
the category is 'anything' can be a little hard at times). I got a big feeling
of diverseness of ideas and what people think is relevant for the 'anything'
category at a certain point in time.
5. What do you think the site is for? -
I see the site as a way for users to post whatever is currently on their mind
and want others to read and think about.
6. Why would you participate in this site? -
I would participate in this site if I knew more people in the real world who
used it as a way of seeing what people I know are currently thinking about and
as a way to stay in touch. It is great for a community of small people to share
stories and whatever else they care to write, but honestly, most of it I really
do not care about because I don't know who it's coming from and coming from
an average internet readers stand point, I dont always want to take the time
to figure it out.
7. Why wouldn't you? -
The appearance of the site