I nearly was a churner! (dooyoo Addiction)

Member Name: dawnfrancis

Product:	dooyoo Addiction
Date:	31/08/01 (59 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: you learn so much, feeling part of a community, so much fun

Disadvantages: I'm gonna get the sack at this rate!

Ok, hands up, how many of us on our first day at Dooyoo excitedly planned to write squillions of ops in a week, getting loads of reads, and thus lots of lovely dosh to spend??!

Yes, I admit it, when I first signed up I was definitely of a 'churner' mentality! I had been referred by MyPoints, who had touted Dooyoo as a great place to make loadsamoney and I was certainly up for it! In those first few days I couldn't be arsed to read anyone else's ops and I really could NOT see the point of doing anything except write, write, write, and earn, earn, earn. to be honest, I reckon most newcomers feel this way. It seems to be such an easy way to make money that you're blinded to anything else.

I remember at this time reading stuff from more experienced members like 'Dooyoo is more than just earning' and thinking 'Errrm..come off it, I wasn't born yesterday! What the hell are you on!' The highlight of my life was writing ops and rushing back every 5 minutes to see how many reads I'd got. Being a psychologist trained to look at behaviour as a conditioned response, I looked at it from a cause-effect point of view, and thought that since writing ops results in money, it stands to reason that everyone on the site will want to write as much as possible. I couldn't see any rewards for doing anything else.

And yet few months later down the line I've developed an entirely different addiction to Dooyoo and have not become a churner. Yes, I saw the light and converted! So what happened and how?

Firstly I found it too exhausting to write good quality ops. I'd lie in bed for hours 'writing' my ops in my head (yes, sad, I know ;-D)and by the time I got to the computer and did one, I was too exhausted to do any more. So I started to read more - it was easier and I'll do anything for an easy life.

And the more I read the more I read. Soon I was spending hours on Do
oyoo just reading, not writing. I was amazed at how quickly this part of the addiction developed. I started searching for books I'd read, music I liked, just to see what other people thought. I was delighted when someone had had a similar experience with a product as mine.

Then I realized I could actually use Dooyoo to help me! This was a real revelation. And I can't begin to list all the ways the site has helped. Some of the ways are relatively lighthearted. I've developed a new hobby - hunting on freebie sites, thanks to an op I read. I NEVER buy ANY product any more, from shampoo to stereos, without checking out what my trusty Dooyoing companions think of it first. And thanks to Dooyoo I finally found a way to go blonde!

Other ways in which it's helped are far more 'serious'. I have gained a lot of emotional support from reading the ops of the brave people who write about depression. When I was prescribed a new antidepressant I turned to Dooyoo before I turned to the pharmacist. Real people writing about real experiences - you can't beat that.

But the most addictive part by far is rating and writing comments, I think. Because then the people you've rated come to read your ops. For some reason I get an _incredible_ kick out of this. it's like 'Oh wow, someone noticed I read and liked their op'. I absolutely love it when my miles go up without me writing an op, because it usually means someone I've read and rated has responded in kind. To me that is just so much more rewarding than simply churning out loads of ops and never reading anyone else's. It's what makes Dooyoo into a true community.

So I have to concede that all those experienced Dooyooers who I doubted at the beginning were absolutely right. There IS so much more to this site than earning money. and in fact I can truly say it's at the bottom of my priority list now. Dooyoo makes me run into
work with glee on Monday mornings...and that's worth more than any amount of miles ;-D

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