I would like to talk about the beating and badgering going on on ProgressiveU by faculty members. I am sure Im not the only one who has recieved rude comments on my blogs from ProgressiveU faculty stating how you can improve my writing skills. Normally I am very open to suggestions, in fact i even ask for it on my livejoural account. The feedback I get from faculty on this site is ridiculious telling me not to post a blog because it was relevant to someone else's blog. Im pretty sure that the reason I posted my own blog was so that she would read what I had to say because I was so inspired! I sent her (ediblewoman) a private message asking her to tell me her opinion and she did. Shes very nice. But the comment that the staff member * left a comment that said
" And for the general record, it's considered very very poor form to post a blog, especially one this short, in response to another. It would have been far better if you had 1) put this in a comment in ediblewoman's blog, or 2) came up with a creative title and mentioned her blog (as well as linking to it) as your inspiration."
I found that to be very rude and offensive! Im a college freshman Not a professional writer who runs a writing website. I have just about had enough of the staff members rude comments. If you dont like your job get a new one. Like I tell the rude women who work at the D.E.S. office if you hate your job so much quit!. Dont take it out on the poor mothers who are forced to apply for assistance.
< The main point ** If you are not a 100% great writer you will not get the scholarship. >
I just passed english 101 and I am being given criticizing comments by the staff.
Take it from me If you want to win a scholarship be best buds with the staff.
(*Edited by Fallon)
I hope this scholarship gig isn't an inside job like you propagate. I've been frustrated lately by the weak read counts that I've been having. I don't think it's because my topics are uninteresting. I hope it's simply because my writing is lacking. However I have noticed that there are favorites on this site, whether they write a swell blog each day or not. But I suppose this is the way of all things, coined the french restaurant fella in The Matrix.
The Once-ler: Well, what do you want? I should shut down my factory, fire a hundred-thousand workers? Is that good economics, is that sound for the country?
You are so right about the read counts. There is some serious apathy going on. I logged on the other day and found I was the ONLY member on the site. There were 500 guests and only one registered member on! I couldn't believe it. And it wasn't the middle of the night, either. I wasn't around last semester, but this is a huge difference from earlier this semester. Spring fever, maybe?
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Yeah, there's a huge difference in the number of users and posts being made daily. Last semester, a post lasted on the "Recent" list for all of about a minute. Now, there are times when blogs will stay on there for a day or more.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
That's kind of typical of the spring contests. Coming into the home stretch things slow down a lot because of end of school year activities, etc. While it does suck on one level, it makes the competition a little easier for you guys as well. You aren't competing against nearly as many and the quality of posts tends to be a little better. You also get a chance to interact more with those who stick around (and get to know them better) which is always cool.
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~Fallon~
An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't- A. France
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I checked in the FAQ and I am not insulting C I am only defending myself on a comment she posted I am not violating the terms of service. Read the FAQ before you flag!
Like comments so do I
check out mine
http://www.progressiveu.org/182456-vocational-rehabilitation
Once upon a time in my little mind.
By me Kaity Kat
Posts don't get flagged only because of violations of service. I asked one of the faculty members about this when one of my posts got flagged. Since your post is about how to improve your writing and addresses (more or less) how to win the scholarship, it actually belongs in a different place on the ProgressiveU website. I was unaware that blogs about how to write better blogs actually go in the forum, so sometimes the faculty members/mods flag posts so that other faculty members will move them to their proper place.
Also, please don't take the comments about your writing style so seriously. The faculty members and your fellow bloggers are simply trying to help you get acquainted with the procedures for the site. These replies aren't meant to offend you or be overly critical. A lot of people leave comments about ways to improve writing and things just as simple as using the reply button so that the website is more streamlined and easy to follow throughout everyone's blogs.
And for the general record, it's considered very very poor form to post a blog, especially one this short, in response to another. It would have been far better if you had 1) put this in a comment in ediblewoman's blog, or 2) came up with a creative title and mentioned her blog (as well as linking to it) as your inspiration.
I don't think it was rude or offensive at all.
Your entire blog was a direct comment to someone else's blog, and it wasn't very long. It would have made perfect sense to leave it as a comment. The other suggestion made was to mention and link to ediblewoman's blog in your own. Since it was a direct reply to her blog that you, basically, used to gain 50 points with a response in the form of a blog, rather than a comment, it would have been nice to provide a link to the blog you were referencing. That way, it would be getting even more reads and benefiting off of your blog.
I have never seen a rude comment from a staff member on this site. Every suggestion I've seen made by one has been constructive criticism, such as the suggestion made to you.
No one expects professional writers on this website, but, because of what the website is, they do expect a certain level of professionalism and decorum.
There is a forum specific to voicing concerns about a faculty member's conduct right here. I'm sure it exists so that people can voice complaints in a professional way.
read my blogs!
ProU
Not ProU
Some mistakes can't be undone/ it'll never be like it was/ and wishing for it only makes it worse
Rocky Votolato
Honestly why do people keep badgering me? so what if it wasnt a novel, And by the way if someone wanted to read her blog she is on my friends list so yeah. Quit attacking me. This has already been resolved . "It would have made perfect sense to leave it as a comment." not really since there were several pages of comments heaven forbid someone inspires me and I write about it! Ill write about what I want. Are all of you really so mad at me for getting the 50 lame points I got:>? Well then the site can take them back . Im serious stop attacking my blog. If someone has inspired me to do something in my life that matters you should be happy not getting mad because i got some points. Lame! Try to be more considerate
Like comments so do I
check out mine
http://www.progressiveu.org/182456-vocational-rehabilitation
Once upon a time in my little mind.
By me Kaity Kat
No one's badgering or attacking you. "C" (as you called her) was reminding you of proper conduct on the site. While the statement she used to you could have used a little polishing, she certainly wasn't being rude.
And by the way if someone wanted to read her blog she is on my friends list so yeah.
1. Readers don't know that. They also don't know where exactly the blog may be. Most of us who have been around here for a while have a number of pages worth of blogs that we've written. It's entirely possible that the blog you were referring to is in the middle somewhere (if not now, then perhaps a year from now when someone new comes across your posts). Because it's not linked, they'll never be able to find it.
2. It's called citing your sources, even if it's another person's blog. It's also courteous to do so, for both the person your referencing and your readers.
Oh, and no, the mods aren't rigging the contest. There is far more to it than what you can see. People aren't winning because they're not posting. I think everyone has seen the lack of participation in general on this site this semester.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
As a member of the ProgressiveU staff, I have to say that I find the insinuations of this post totally off the mark.
We don't have to give all of you advice and input to help you do your absolute best in this competition, but we do because we have been there and know what it takes. Many of those that are on the staff have either won the competition in the past or have been in the top few during the competition and decided to drop out of the competition in order to work behind the scenes. Winning this competition is not easy and those who follow our advice tend to be the ones who do win, not because we hand pick them (that's ridiculously untrue) but because the advice we give to you comes directly from the feedback we receive from users like you. When members complain that they don't like to read this or that type of blog, we pass that information on, when members complain that this, that or the other in a blog or comment irritates them, we pass that on as well.
Those who do win, contrary to your assertion, are not best buddies with the staff. I've rarely had a discussion with the vast majority of those that have won and that same holds true for most others on the staff as well. Those that I regularly discuss and chat with are often those that are not even in the competition but are here because they want to be here, not because they may gain a scholarship because they are here. Having said that, we do have people we like to read and we are always up front as to why we appreciate those people; that doesn't make them best buds or mean they will win (most of them never do)... they simply have a style that we like and we enjoy debating and discussing with them.
I would encourage you to not be so sensitive to the feedback in the future and to instead put it to good use. No one on staff has anything to gain by holding you or anyone else back and it's incredibly insulting for someone that knows absolutely nothing about C except that she attempted to give you some advice, to accuse her and the rest of us, of making sure that only our friends win. We expect more of ProgressiveU users than that and I think I can speak for a majority of our users when I say they expect more from users as well.
And finally, while I'm not doing anything about this post because I am responding to it (another faculty member, however, may decide to move it as they rightly should), we have a place for such complaints in the forums. These type of posts aren't progressive in nature, don't adhere to the rules of the contest and thus, you shouldn't receive the 50 points for the post when it falls outside the purpose of the contest.
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~Fallon~
“What is insanity, anyway? Is it when you scream and everyone else whispers, or is it when you fight for what's right, even when everyone else thinks your wrong?” Ethergoth
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In all honesty, before the faculty was set up, these types of posts (and others that were much, much worse) ran rampant across the Progressive U blogging list. We've been trying to cut down on these types of blogs by moving them to the Discussion Forums or asking people to post them directly to the Discussion Forums (so we don't have to)...
As far as flagging - the purpose of the flag is just to let us know when something appears to violate the Terms of Service - to bring it to our attention so that the faculty members can review it and make a decision.
The reason for the reviews is because we differ immensely on our opinions regarding certain things. For example, I personally see no issue with posting a response to a blog as an entirely separate blog as long as:
A) the original blog is cited and linked to,
B) the response blog is not a bitchy blog about how bad the original blog was,
C) The new blog adds new information that isn't necessarily appropriate to post as a mere comment,
D) The new blog is of consequential length (if it's only 4 paragraphs or less, it is probably more appropriate as a comment on the original blog itself),
E) It is not a copy of a comment left on the original blog.
However, others disagree - and they have valid reasons. For example - we're trying to promote original thought. And while it's wonderful that another blogger may inspire you we want to see how you take that inspiration and turn it into something that's just "you" - how did it effect you, what changes in your life came of it, etc. Also, by posting a response-blog - should it be worth the same amount of points as its original?
Some people are not worried about the points, either because they haven't enrolled in the contest, or because they feel they have no chance of winning the contest. However, the vast majority of our site are worried about points. So one thing you might want to think about (if you happen to be a member that doesn't care about the points) is how your audience - of whom most will worry about the points - will react to a blog entry. If they don't think it's fair or that it "fits" - they're likely to flag it regardless if you actually care about the points or not.
Don't take too much offense at some of the critiques - most are done with good intentions. And of course, if you have any questions regarding it - you are free to flag any comments you havea question about, or PM any of the faculty members for clarification. You can also post any concerns in the Discussion Forums (There is a place specifically set up for these types of questions to the faculty).
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"when you have nothing else to say, "Fwonk" is always the perfect thing."
"yeah well, fwonk"
--Devon
Fanaile Essence