An Open Letter To MOGGERS everywhere.......(yes, The Lurkers Too....)
-
Artist:
-
Album:
-
Track:
Bo Diddley in a rare mood...Playing his guitar with a bow. Its pretty good.
But that's not what I wanted to say this morning. I wanted to talk about community, something many of us value here on the MOG. We boast of our site to all who will listen. I think its important, therefor to take the time to welcome New Moggers when we see a first post. I know many of you do....I know this has been a busy stretch & many are too involved in other persuits to post & so you lurk, dropping the occasional comment. We all appreciate comments...good ones....bad ones...chiding ones....It doesn't matter, It's a small level of validation & who doesn't appreciate that?
....And that's why its important, IMHO, to go out of our way to welcome New Folks when they announce themselves. It's the only way to keep our community growing, thriving, & worth joining. Its discouraging to we veterans when we post & very few notice...but we understand, we know our "trusteds" have lives beyond the MOG & we've been here long enough to know......But New Folks know none of this.......So please take the time to welcome new MOGgers. & New Moggers....don't be afraid to comment & even welcome other new MOGgers you may notice....Its a great friendship builder.
So okay I can hear you now ...."deadmandeadman, don't preach"....Okay I'm done.
Comments (25)
DM, you speak the truth. It's especially crtitical now, when I - and maybe others - are feeling the need for fresh perspectives here. It somehow becomes a little less of a party when nobody new is walking in the door. The only catch is that it seems hard to know when new people arrive unless they really call attention to themselves. To continue my questionable analogy, it's as if the door into the party comes through the most crowded part of the room, where it's practically impossible to be noticed. And it must be an intimidating experience for anyone joining now. Far easier for those of us who lucked into this place early on, when all you had to do was say, "Hi," and suddenly you had several dozen friends. It's a tough one. I guess one thing we can do, as we have in the past, is to alert each other when we stumble across an especially promising newcomer. You're right - we can't take a single relationship here for granted.
You have both nailed the situation perfectly!! I am one of the guilty lurkers here on MOG. I run 3 websites for major motorcycle manufacturers here in the UK, plus I also freelance. Add that to trying to produce music and other fun stuff as my hobby, then all the promotion that goes with it in terms of social networking etc. This means that I find myself stretched so thin that it becomes very frustrating, as I miss the social fun and interaction specifically here on MOG. With many of my original friends here on MOG having now left or visit very rarely, it can start to feel like a futile thing to try and do so much.
I think that it is good that so many people are tolerant of the time problem, and don't get upset when people fail to comment as much on their posts as they have on theirs. It is something however that I do carry a certain amount of guilty feelings about when I post one of my new tracks here, and people I've not commented on for ages then pay me such kind compliments.
So this year I have decided something has to go, which I why I am dropping the freelance work to get some of my life back and to allow me the pleasure of some decent music production time and fun on MOG.
MOG almost reflects life in that people come and go. Friends are found and lost, but here on the webatron you never now when they might return!
So it's only right that we help MOG continue to be a welcoming musical home for both the new, and the AWOL veterans as you so rightly point out deadmandeadman!
Welcome to you all you new moggers out there, and hurry home those of you who have lost their way!!! ;)
Er.... forgot to say that the Noodly Appendage image made me crack up!!
Very true, I am guilty of lurking sometimes, but I do try to comment as much as possible. My difficulty comes when the dreaded multi-Mogger posts. I won't even finish my comment when they have already posted 5 more times. In any case to keep your post fresh and unique is hard sometimes, one of the reasons mine have become more personal. Ivy is right, it is a bit intimidating when you are new. You have inside jokes and pet names to contend with. I still feel that I am a bit on the outside. One thing I always try to do is no matter who comments I respond even with the simpiist of response so they know that I value time they took to see what I'm doing. Back to the multi-Mogger, although one appreciates the wealth of information they supply, many times they don't respond to your comments which in turn causes you to lose interest in what they have to say. In my opinion the best thing about Mog is the people.
"In my opinion the best thing about Mog is the people."
AMEN! (and thanks for the comments, folks.)
there are times I don't reply to comments because the only one who gets a reply notification is the last person who commented. so in this post, dmdm will get a notification that I commented after his comment, and everyone else will be none the wiser. I suppose if I had an earth shattering response, I could send mogmail but there are only so many hrs in the day.
Right on! I appreciated the warm welcomes I received and it encouraged me to post more.
You know, posts go by so fast and catching up with old ones can take a long time, especially if you are checking out all post or Moggers only- and who has all that time!
Since there is no filter to tell you who's new, it might be good that when the veterans who have the most trusted friends find a new mogger with some nice posts, that they post a welcome to them and throw in a link to their post.
Through email notifications, most of your trusted, like me, will get word and be able to welcome them as well and add them as trusted if they strike a chord with us.
Those of you who have been around a long time could spread the word fast with one post. What do you think? Who's game? I'll do the same, even though my trusted are not as full as yours.
Great post deadman. I try to make it a point to comment on every post I read unless I have absolutely nothing to say. One of the easiest responses is a simple "nice to meet you" when a new mogger a "hi, I'm new" post; that's why it's a little depressing when you see only one or two comments.
Well put RX, I still haven't figured out how to put up a link though. Recently I discovered a young Sheila by the name of Mariyn Roxie. She has her finger on the pulse of post punk and such. Check her out.
I want to take a moment to thank DM for his thoughtful post this morning....I am a newcomer to the site and DM has hit the nail on the head with his post. I was fortunate; DM reached out to me the first day I began snooping around Mogland and helped me learn how to post songs, though he may wish he did not after the Dan Bern # I posted last night....lol....I am not the type to sit by quietly for long, but many future Moggers may come and go if someone does not invite them to stay and add value to the site. It is good to know that the veterans do not view membership to their beloved music community as one of privelege or exclusivity.
pseudomacabre, to put up a link, just type the web address. Any word can substitute for that address if you put quotation marks on either side of it, a colon RIGHT after the second quotation mark, and then the web address. For instance: "link word or phrase":http:www.cheneybush.com. Then the reader can just click the resulting link word or phrase, and it will take them to http:www.cheneybush.com.
I've noticed that if I construct it in Word (or perhaps some other word processing application) and then paste it into MOG, the quotation marks are somehow the wrong shape or font and it doesn't work, so I do it all in MOG.
Two thoughts about the discussion above. New Moggers will have to be patient and persistent, seek out and Trust the other Moggers that fascinate them most, make fascinating comments on those Moggers' posts, make fascinating posts of their own, and always respond to every comment their own posts receive. If they post too often, they shouldn't expect even their favorited Trusteds to keep up all the time. It is like being at a crowded party of mostly strangers, but how often do you get to go to a party that includes people who love to talk about music?
When I comment on someone's post and then someone else comments after me, I don't delete the email notice of the other person's comment but use it to check back occasionally to see if the poster ever responded to my comment.
I wish I could clone myself and respond to the hundreds of posts that my favorite Trusteds have posted and that I have let slip by somehow.
Great post and picture dmdm, thanks.
inrumford says: there are times I don't reply to comments because the only one who gets a reply notification is the last person who commented.
That is one of the lamest function in MOG. I wish they could make it work like Multiply where you will receive a notification if you commented, not only if you started the thread. With MOG, you have to revisit the initial post to see if someone has something to say about what you wrote.
Yes, it would be interesting if we got notifications when our "trusteds" comment on anyone's post, but then again.......that would quadruple the notifications & each day brings so many as is.
Oh well, I swear I put a comment here, saying how this was a right on point post and some of the reasons folks who have been here awhile have stopped welcoming new folks..I think it is mostly because a lot of people , not me, don't read the Mog O Sphere anymore and use notifs,rss,or filters to browse. RX's point about welcoming folks is a good one. That practice has seemed to die out..I looked and I've trusted about 30 new folks in the last 3 months or so..I'm trying.
I'll just add a hearty "Well said!" If we vets don't interact with the new and old who contribute with enthusiasm, that enthusiasm can be dampened - and we run the risk of getting fewer introductions and less access to great music and insights about said music. So even from a selfish standpoint, it makes sense to read and comment - or the entire MOG-o-Sphere is diminished.
dmdm: I agree that getting notifs when our Trusted comment on anyone's post would bring information overload but it wasn't what I meant. I would like to be included in the post where I left a comment. For example, I got a notification from you because your comment came right after mine, but as the thread is continued, someone else might want to comment on my intervention but I will not be notified unless it's through Mogmail.
Ok. New Year's resolution here. (I was wondering if I'd find anything to resolve)
Every day I'll look for posts to comment on, AND rather than look for introductions that tell me someone is new, I'll check out their page and see how long they've been on MOG. Seems like the best way to know for sure.
DM as usual your posts are pretty much on the money and we should all try harder i guess. I agree that the sense of community has changed in recent times however it just like our outside lives-we should embrace and welcome these newcomers- Who knows what they might bring to the table.
I have been guilty of not welcoming newbies as of late...shucks, it's been hard to keep up with the 31 posts of December that my fellow moggers took up...so yes I have been slacking...
Reminder...there is a mogger only filter on the main post page....this will filter out the pesky MMN's and allow you easier access to new folk...
And yes, when you meet someone new...please spread the word...it's appreciated.
Where is that Greek Mog Embassidor when you need her?
HUZZAH! i try to reach out to n00bs as much as possible and i encourage others to as well. my inbox often has a mog mail from a newcomer thanking me for the warm welcome or some piece of advice i gave them to help them find their way around the site. it's a great feeling.
And besides, the community on MOG is what we make of it. Being friendly, yet honest/genuine, is one of the many things i like about this place. thanks for taking the time to craft a post about it deadman!
You're welcome mollifire. The response has been heart-warming. And I see evidence today that folks are walkin' the walk too. That's even more gratifying.
I hear ya and couldnt agree with you more. I have found it harder to meet new moggers with how the post system has been going as of late. I used to check the home page to see the top posts of the day on a regular basis. I found in the past it was a way of finding a great post by someone who may not have the coverage of an established mogger. Now the front page seems to be used to post the works of only a few, and to find new moggers you really have to dig........I dont know, that is just what I think
DMDM thanks for posting this.. .as I scrolled down I realized I had trusted almost all the folks posting, so I am off in search of new folks!
Too bad there is not a process to identify who is new in the MOS; I tend to rely on seeing commenters posting on current trusted's posts, but why not a New Member of the week or something? And I agree with Levek that Multiply has a neat way of keeping you updated as to when someone posts a comment in the thread you are in.
Regarding writing in here, I use Google docs for longer posts, and it works out well in saving my formatting, including attaching URLs.
Cheers to all!
Nice post DMDM! I try to reach out to noobs - a few times a week, I make a point to look at the latest mogs-only posts in search of the fresh and new. They are there, but I'd say 1 in 10 winds up in meaningful interaction (recipe trading NOT included in this calculation).
about the middle of last year, I turned all email notifications off - I was stressing out trying to keep up with everything. I know I miss stuff now, but the cloning project fell through.
Oh, the noodly appendage amuses and comforts....spaghetti and meatballs in the afterlife...yay!