{"id":10895,"date":"2010-08-05T03:18:23","date_gmt":"2010-08-05T10:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beadsandbeading.com\/blog\/?p=10895"},"modified":"2010-08-03T08:34:59","modified_gmt":"2010-08-03T15:34:59","slug":"growing-pains-polymer-clay-tutor-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beadsandbeading.com\/blog\/growing-pains-polymer-clay-tutor-community\/10895\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Pains At the Polymer Clay Tutor Community… A Good Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Polymer <\/span>“We feel like
\nfamily… it is a good
\nthing we are growing so
\nbig to have to deal with this
\ntype of issue.” ~Catalina<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

When communities grow, problems are bound to surface. Currently, there is an issue here at this polymer clay community blog, that needs to be addressed. A fair number of members are feeling that too much of the commenting activity is straying too far away from what the main focus is supposed to be… polymer clay, beads, jewelry and creative stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today I’d like to discuss the concerns and proposed solutions that were recently presented in another comment thread. Here is
\nthe link to where you can read all of the original postings…
\nArgggggggggggggggh. So many threads inside one thread<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

And here is the Cole’s Notes <\/em>version of the comments, summarized in chronological order…<\/span><\/p>\n

Judy-M:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Moral support type comments are making it harder to find the clay bits and tips.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jocelyn-C:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Loves the randomness of the threads. Each blog post is like unwrapping a Christmas gift. Maybe use color coded text to identify non-clay topics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carolyn-F: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>Personal ongoing comments could be done more via email. Not every comment requires a response.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carolyn-K:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Would like to see blog contents stick to polymer clay topics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cindy-R: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>Off topic conversations are the norm in web site communities. Sometimes you have to just let the “river” run where it wants to go. The most important thing is to insist on helpful, caring and supportive comments… no sniping. Having a real forum setting does help with topic management.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeanne-C:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Starting to feel like it takes too long to read through everything to find the clay-related information. Maybe having personal comments posted on another blog would be good.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elizabeth-K:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Appreciates hearing about everyone’s life experiences, but does find that it starting to take ages to read through everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elizabeth-S: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>It’s important to look at this issue from all perspectives… one of which is a new visitor to this site who is only looking for answers to their polymer clay questions. Many of these clayers are probably experiencing frustration because of all the non-pc related, personal information they end up having to sift through.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carolyn-F: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>Perhaps the “Open Mic” Friday posts could be the designated area for “socializing and commiserating.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Tanya-L: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>Better use of the “reply” function could make it easier for everyone to decide which posts they want to spend time reading, vs not. Whatever happens, definitely don’t eliminate the personal conversations. The kindness, helpfulness and caring shown for each other and the humor is an important part of this site.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeanne-C: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>Since many of the personal comments are requesting and offering prayers for health related issues, the blog has become much less cheerful to read over the last few months. Would like to see thing get back to upbeat pc issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Catalina: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>It is a good thing we are growing so big to have to deal with this type of issue :) It’s like a close family that feels comfortable enough to speak freely with each other. The downside to moving personal conversations elsewhere is that everyone is already really busy. Adding another site to follow may not work so well.<\/span><\/p>\n

DJ: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>Worried that if things get too tightly reigned in or changed, that the special feeling of connection which is so strong at this site, could be lost.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sue-F: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>On-topic comments are getting totally swamped by the volume of off-topic comments. It could be causing newcomers to feel reluctant about “breaking in” to discussions, because they don’t feel part of the “in” crowd \/ clique.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carolyn-F:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Solving this problem may just come down to self regulation. “We need to watch ourselves and monitor what we write.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Silverleaf & Judy-M: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>Setting up a separate Facebook group or forum for off-topic, personal commenting may be the way to go. However it would require dedicated and active moderators \/ admins.<\/span><\/p>\n

Phaedrakat: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>Unfortunately, you sometimes have to have thick skin to keep from feeling embarrassed or getting hurt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Linda-K: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>Really dislikes the idea of setting up a completely new venue for personal chatting… especially if it is Facebook where you have to muddle through a whole bunch of nonsense comments from by people you’ve never even heard of. That doesn’t solve anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

Silverleaf: <\/strong><\/span><\/span>The unbalanced nature of the comments recently, is no ones fault, and certainly does not require apologies from anyone. If anything it emphasizes how supportive everyone is. It’s easy for stuff like this to snowball, so it’s good to be having this discussion now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judy-M:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> In addition to the suggestion from Tany-L about using the “reply” feature, I like the idea of adding a short HEADING to our comments that are OFF-TOPIC or NOT CLAY.<\/span><\/p>\n

So Where is All this Leading?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

From experience, I know all too well how much work and dedication is required to set up another site \/ discussion group \/ forum. And although there was some support for the idea of having all personal chat happening somewhere else<\/em>, I didn’t sense a huge wave of excitement, or showing of commitment, to go that route.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a comment from Carolyn-F that came closest to what I was thinking would be a good solution. She suggested that the “Open Mic” Friday posts could become the designated area for “socializing and commiserating.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Now although I like the idea of dedicating a specific place at the blog for “off-topic” commenting, Friday is not the best choice. That is when the weekly newsletter goes out, and therefore, when the blog gets a big spike in visitors traffic, many of whom are newcomers.<\/span><\/p>\n

My suggestion is to go with “Community Corner<\/strong>“<\/span><\/span> Thursdays<\/em>. This would allow the river<\/em> to continue to run right here at the blog… in a more controlled environment. By the way, thanks Cindy-R for the wonderful river<\/em> metaphor. I love it!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, some “self regulation” would be required so that all the personal commenting activity ends up where it is supposed to go, but I don’t see that as a huge challenge to overcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

What do you guys think? <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cindy\"Polymer<\/p>\n

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