BTRIPP (btripp) wrote,
BTRIPP
btripp

clubs and groups and stuff ...

So, one of my functions over on the WSI site is to approve groups and sort them into the main group structure (there are currently nearly 800 groups there, so keeping things accessible is an on-going challenge). I just had to deal with two groups which were being set up as "clubs" ... usually when this happens, it's a teenage member starting them, but the gal behind these was 22, so I'm cutting her some slack in terms of not being an idiot.

I've never "gotten" the drive to form clubs like this. A long time ago, when the world was very new and the Web had not come into being, I responded to a BBS posting about setting up a "computer art club" ... at that point in time (using a Tandy Color Computer) I was trying to work up some design things, and had developed a pretty good style for certain types of graphics. MY assumption when responding was that this was going to be something along the lines of Users Group that would share tips, tricks, etc. about art created on a computer. What I found was 14-year-olds who would send out ("pen-pal" style) their hand-drawn doodlings via "snail mail" (although that phrase hadn't come into use yet back then). WHAT in that was "computer" but the avenue of initial connection? When I got the first envelope full of this stuff, it was SUCH a massive non-sequitur that it burned deeply into my brain as a "total disconnect" over the definition of what this "club" was about. Did this kid have nobody in the real world to show his "art" to? What possessed him to go through the effort of forming a "computer art club" that had nothing to do with computers?

Anyway, that experience rolls around in my brain every time I have to deal with some of these groups. Often, even months later, these will only have 1 member, since their "interest range" only applies to their originator. We're trying to be "open" on the site, so allow these to be created (and "make work" for me to sort them into the site structure), but they seem so juvenile and ephemeral ... the sort of things that kids will think up one week, be hot about for several days, and have abandoned (and forgotten) in another week. Of course, while they're "hot about it" you can't (as an adult) come in and say it will cease to be of any use within a month (because it's the most important thing in the world to them at that instant), but I find it irritating.

At least I changed the rules about uploading videos! Anybody used to be able to upload anything into the main video area ... after having had to deal with "The Gummy Bear Song" I put my foot down, so now if folks want to post "off topic" videos, they have to do it on their Profile page or in a group. I just wish "groups" could be set up so the just appeared on the originator's Profile page!

Good thing I don't have a lawn ...


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