Malu's Challenge: Better late than never!!! (Tips / Guides on Helping to Recruit Members to dooyoo)

Member Name: jammaker49

Product:	Tips / Guides on Helping to Recruit Members to dooyoo
Date:	22/01/04 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can write to hearts content

Disadvantages: Hmmmmm

Never one to shirk a Challenge! I wonder how many pages this will cover before I am finished! Ah well, here goes!

q: when did you join Dooyoo?

a: I joined Dooyoo on 3rd November 2001, which means I have been a member for just over 2 years.

q: how did you discover Dooyoo?

a: My daughter, Amanda, writes on the site as Leolover, and she introduced me to the site. I visited the site a number of times before I took the plunge and actually wrote something!

q: Why did you join?

a: I guess at heart I am a frustrated writer. I just love writing. Most of the writing I had done up to that time was poetry, but I have always been able to write at some length, and I saw Dooyoo as a way of writing somewhere to get feedback on my scribblings. At least, that?s how it was at first. After the first 10 or so ops, I think I can safely say it was addiction that drove me to write!

q: what was your very first opinion on?

a: My very first opinion was about St Mary?s the largest island in the Scilly Isles. I posted it in entirely the wrong place, wrote it all in one block, which made reading it difficult, and altogether botched it up completely! I have since revamped it, but looking back on it, I think I can safely say that my writing has improved considerably since those days!

q. did you find it easy to get the hang of Dooyoo?

a: After the initial wrong posting, I found it reasonably easy to negotiate the site. But that was the OLD Dooyoo site. It took a lot more time to negotiate this ?new ? site. In fact, I think I am still finding my way round it! The old Dooyoo site was, in my opinion, much easier to negotiate, but I guess we all have to update from time to time.

q. Did you read other opinions before you posted your first one?

a: I did read a few other opinions first, probably those written by my daughter first. Then I think I went to look at some of the writings of those
who had commented on her writing. To be perfectly honest, I can?t really remember what I read.

q: do you write no/some/many comments?

a: I am guilty of not reading and commenting on as many as I should. I often read ops and leave no comment. I think I probably read and commented more in the beginning than I do now. Time is a factor with me, but I shouldn?t make that an excuse. If I want to get more reads, then I ought to read and comment on more myself.

Q: When you click on the list of Newest Reviews, do you read your friends' opinions no matter what they're on/according to subject no matter who has written on it/preferably the opinions of new writers?

A: I tend to go to the opinions on subjects that interest me. I rarely look at opinions, say, about electronics etc, because I wouldn?t have a clue what they were on about. I?m the sort of person who would lose interest quickly if I had little or no comprehension about the subject being covered. On the other hand, travel ops interest me greatly, as do ops associated with gardening and growing things.Although I have quite an extensive list of ?friends? I don?t necessarily go straight to their work. Sometimes, if I have enjoyed an op by an unfamiliar member, then I will revisit them. The ops I refuse to even read, are those posted ?en bloc?, eg 10 at a time. I don?t care who the writer is, if their name appears more than a couple of times on the ?newest ops? page, I will not read them, whatever the subject. I find this tiresome and selfish, as it pushes other people?s work down the list, which results in them getting less reads.

Q: Do you write your opinions in one sitting?

A: Sometimes I write at one sitting. Mostly though, I think it fair to say that it will take me a day or so to comprehensively complete an opinion. Indeed, I have been known to write the first part of a travel op prior to going away, and finishing it when I return. I find this works
for me.When I am really in full flow, I can write 3 or even 4 ops in one day, but rarely post more than 2. I would rather post the others at a later date than flood the screen with stuff.

Q: How often do you post a new opinion?

A: This is a tricky one. When I had more time, like in the school holidays, I have posted one a day for a couple of weeks at a time. As I said previously, Dooyoo becomes addictive! On the other hand, I have had gaps of three months or more between postings. At the moment I am trying to keep to about one a week. Sometimes it will be more, sometimes less. Life gets in the way of writing at times!

Q. Do you use a spell check?

A: I always write my opinions in Word, and do a spell and grammar check when I have finished. I type quickly, and don?t stop to correct as I am typing. When I learned to type, back when dinosaurs roamed, you had to erase and repair every spelling mistake, which was a nightmare. I also do a visual spelling check, as I hate to see spelling mistakes (I guess that?s the teacher in me!) but the occasional one gets through the net. If I spot it, I will ?change my opinion? in order to eliminate it. Having said that, I know some of my ops contain minor spelling mistakes.

Q: Do you think you can improve your chances to get a crown if you suck up to a guide?

A: No. I think you are more likely to get a crown if your op is generally well written, and nominated by more than one person who reads it. To be honest, with some of my crowned ops, I?ve known before I?ve posted them that they are going to get crowned. I think most people know their own writing, and when a piece is perhaps not quite up to their usual standard. On the other hand, I?ve received crowns totally unexpectedly too. I have to say, several guides have helped me on occasions, mainly if I?ve been unsure where to place an op, or if I?ve been unable to get any response from Dooyoo regarding new items that I?ve wante
d them to add. But honestly, how would one suck up to a guide?

Q: Are you a member of a forum or a chat room?

A: I?m still a member of Tooyoo, but it doesn?t seem to have been used much recently. I did belong to a Teacher of children with Special Needs forum for a time, but really wasn?t getting much from it, so dropped out. I go into PalTalk sometimes, mainly to play and listen to music. I tend to communicate with people online via MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and AOL Messenger. I did have ICQ but ditched it because it kept making me illegal!

Q: Does it get to you when members praise or condemn you?

A: It did at first. I got quite indignant at some of the comments I received, but on reflection, they were made to help me, not to criticise. Now, I would rather see constructive criticism than unwarranted praise, although I do still get annoyed when people make comments that show that they haven?t really read the opinion at all.

Q: What did you do in your spare time before you joined Dooyoo?

A: Oh gosh! Now you really are making me think! I used to read a lot more. However, the old eyesight isn?t what it used to be, so I don?t think I would read as much now any way! I had a dog pre-Dooyoo, so we used to go for long walks. Sadly she is no longer with us, so the reason for walking is no longer there. Neither is the enthusiasm! I?m an avid theatregoer, but that hasn?t changed. I also used to watch a lot more on that other square box that lives downstairs. Now what was it called? Oh yes. A television!

Q: What do you wish for the future?

A: For the future of Dooyoo, I would like them to sort out that mess at the beginning of every op, where it turns upper case letters into lower case ones! I also wish to ban the use of apostrophes that become question marks when I submit, but can be changed back into apostrophes if I go to change opinion. It just takes up so much time to redo what you?ve already
done once!

I hope you enjoyed reading my responses to the questions.

If you want to participate, please add. :-)

Please don't take this challenge to ciao without asking MALU, she'd rather decide herself what to do with a text she's written, when to take it there or if at all. Thank you.

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