Your Honest Opinion --- Does Gather Care?

I don't know Karen, I'm not here that often but sometimes I wonder if the world has become so unfeeling that no one cares about anything.  I hope not though.

Oh..I sure hope not...:)

I think they do. I plan on staying here awhile.

What's the other site?  I was wondering where everyone was going - I am sticking here.

I would be interested to know what the other site is as well. I haven't heard of one...

Redgage.com but I am not impressed.

I'm on Redgage, too, and I like it.  But, I seem to be having problems with it.  It's in Beta, so they are still working out all the bugs.

They have to care about many people - us, advertisers, investors.  Sadly, on every site there are those who learn to cheat the system.  Rather than sites dealing with them, everyone ends up suffering.  At least they're still here.  Many sites end up closing down because of cheaters.  Think...Boomertowne?

I like Gather - but I don't like all of the changes. There are some that I do like - with that being said I do think that Gather wants to keep people happy but they are going to do what they have to continue to make some money. If they feel that they will make more money by cutting back points or changing policies they will do that - even if that means in the short term they will lose membership, hopeful perhaps that they will regain new membership.

I honestly don't know.......I was very disappointed that Tom did not respond to some of the legitimate questions members asked on the third post he did about ways to earn more here on Gather......I honestly think it's about the "bottom line" and the almighty dollar!  I just think they are missing the point......... if they don't keep the members interested they will go elsewhere.  It makes me sad because I really enjoy Gather and I have met some wonderful people that I enjoy interacting with each day!.....I don't know what is going to happen but I am still here and will be until they shut it down.

I am new here and I hope they care. Like Marilyn said people cheat the system. This happened on another social networking site I am on with a Huggies Code Contest. They made a post in the group of all the codes. No wonder it got shut down!

I think they care.

I really love Gather and do not want to leave......I think people are going to that RedGage place....truthfully, I'm not impressed with it at ALL.....it's difficult to learn, and points are slow...you have NO choice in what reward you get...only a Visa debit card, I think.....however, it seems like Gather management does NOT care about this site and its members......I think the membership is really going way down.....it's too bad they don't turn the point thingy around, as it's so difficult making points on here.   I have tried 3 or 4 times to get help from Kevin about no longer being able to view the videos....only to be completely ignored.  Something's got to change.....soon....or there will be no Gather left.

I've had Gather powers that be speak to me when I had specific complaints (namely glitches) so I know they are reading at least some of the posts.

I think there are so many posts of complaints that they can't respond personally to ALL of them.  A lot of the complaints I see are just "I don't like this" type.  I don't too often run across "its not working" complaints, other than occasionally when videos are not uploading.

'No comment'

i hope they care, but i am on both redgage and gather.. Although for the moment i am here more, i can see my self permantly moving over to redgage.  I just am getting sick of no one really commenting or looking at my stuff that much anymore..

To be completely honest, I haven't noticed a drop in points. If anything I seem to be earning even more points lately. And I haven't been posting at all.

Like Lera I havent noticed any difference in how many points I accumulate.

I think the ones that will really see the difference is the people that copy and paste then publish 300 articles a day.

I haven't noticed a difference in points either - seem to be gaining like I normally do.

Well, I don't think I've seen quite as many games on my feed lately. lol Or email forwards! Or freebies. I do seem to see more blog like posts though.

I've noticed a huge drop in points and I never did copy and past or games.  I was one who mostly viewed everyone else's stuff.  Well, I guess I'll have to be more picky now.  I loved the fact that not only I was helping people out by viewing them, I am getting rewarded, too.  It was a win-win situation.

Ooops, I meant paste.

On the other hand, it has cut down on a lot of stuff that did annoy me like the albums with nothing but blurry pictures, pictures not rotated or cropped, or of the exact same thing over and over again.

I have noticeda big diference in points, I don't do the copy and past thing. But than again I lead a boring life. Except for my kids an the animal and bug life that come to visit.

I think they care but I dont know what you expect them to do.  You are never going to please everyone all the time so like anything else they just do the best they can.

I always manage to hook up with sites that end up buying the farm...but nothing is forever.  I've had a good couples years here and now, I'm down to nothing in the way of earnings.  The way I've figured things out, I'll be lucky if I make $10 over the course of a year when I used to make a good $2,000.  Gather is still making money or they'd be gone.  If they disappear one day, we'll know what's up then.  In the meantime, despite my earnings dying, Everyone left is stuck with me until they have to pry the mouse out of my cold hand.

Yeah Rob! Don't you leave here!

They are responding to my messages I send them by email.  Such as with my problem posting.  So I think they do care.  As far as the articles I know Stefanie posted a comment on one of my articles the other day.  It was the first comment I can remember seen by any of them.  Would be nice to know they were at least looking around once in awhile.

I think to a point, they care. Without us, they don't have a business. However, you have to keep in mind that their bottom line is that they ARE a business, and they make changes based on what is best for the future of their company. That means trying things that cut the out going money, and help the profits. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

Tom, I believe, said when the point changes were announced, that it was a "try it and see" change- that they would tweak things as they see fit.

In the long run, I don't think all of these changes will stick. Views are down BIG TIME. That means less people are active on the site. The less people there are, the smaller the overall numbers for Gather the company are.

I like Gather - but if there is another similar site, would you email it to me? I don't want to miss out.

I have noticed a change in points.  My points aren't going anywhere.  If I'm lucky I'll gain 1or maybe 2 points for the whole day.  But I do think they care because they answer my e-mails most of the time. 

I don't really think they do to be honest.  I had log on problems for quite awhile and they never seemed to want to help me....it was all "my" fault...supposedly I was the only one with the issue I was having...then I started seeing other articles with members having the same issues.  It was finally fixed with one of the so-called upgrades, but with all the messages I sent asking for help I got maybe two replies back in total...

I agree with Princess about the bottom line with businesses. You have to look at it from their point of view. I have only been here since March of this year which is a short period of time but in defense of Gather I have to say they have been very accommodating to me by answering questions and providing help when needed.  I still have no idea what the point system is or how they do it but I also as a new person am glad that the rules have changed.  I feel that perhaps we are all on even ground and we can all earn points, gather, make friends and keep our opinions and thoughts running.  I also feel that this gives Gather a chance to get it's feet back on the ground and running. I economic times such as these everyone and everything has to been pulled back and if that is how it has to be for now then let's try to keep Gather the great site that everyone says it used to be.  Maybe it could be to everyone's likening again if we are all willing to pull together. Being new I have nothing to compare with but I still like the way this site is and would hate to lose it or the friends I have made.

I've noticed a big drop in points because I mostly did viewing.  I post more, but not much more.  Mostly, I am looking through my older posts and posting the links around the web.  That seems to help.

I don't like that I'm getting nothing for viewing, which also includes viewing the ads here, too.  But, on the other hand, the new rules seem to have the effect of eliminating some of the problems like mass posting of unedited or blurry photos, since most people aren't earning anything by viewing, they're not going to site through and view 200 photos of the same thing over and over again.

As to whether they "care" or not, it doesn't really matter to me as long as I am getting some kind of reward or incentive as they promise.

Sure they care - about their business.

We only matter in so far as we bring income, i.e. advertisers.

I'm sure they care somewhat...but how much? nWho knows. I guess they should care since we drive their revenue & profits....to a point. I'm checking out other sites & spending a bit less time here, but still trying to be active.

Hi Karen,

I can honestly tell you that YES, Gather does care.  We are a small, dedicated team of employees who work very hard everyday to keep the site running smoothly, to bring better tools and options to members, to provide a site where anyone can join, learn something new, share what they want about themselves and meet others.

They all seem to be nice and caring people. I have had personal dealings with a few of them and loved each of them. They cry, get discouraged and hurt just like the rest of us do.

Yes, I think they do care about its members. However some members insist on causing trouble and that must be very difficult for Gather staff to handle.

That's the jist of it. Gather staff can't keep up with everyone on this site. If a question is asked more than once, they shouldn't have to answer more than once.

There are people on this site who get pleasure out of undermining it, degrading Gather inc and it's staff.

i would agree with both of you. i think though that an effective social net work need  social management.

i think they care..sometimes.

I think they care, but  they are also running a business. With a community this size it would be impossible to please everyone and turn a profit. I feel that this site is a learning experience for all that are involved not just us gatherers. There will be many changes in gathers future and some will be pleasing and some not so much. It is a give & take, and often in these situations the most fair compromise is when everyone involved feels like they are not getting everything that they want, but can agree that they are getting a few things they want.