Wrong Category, but I have Used Up the Other Dooyoo Ones (Top Ten Websites)

Member Name: aefra

Product:	Top Ten Websites
Date:	20/09/02 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: **

Disadvantages: **

On Sunday 15th September I left a note on my profile to say that I would be withdrawing from dooyoo, apart from my guide category for a while. I briefly said why and the next day deleted it in case it was seen by newcomers. There is the rub for many of us who have received so much from the site, have been thoroughly disillusioned lately and yet still feel some vestige of responsibility towards it.

My reason for wanting to leave things for a while were the worst of all possible. I wasn't annoyed, resentful, frustrated, despondent, although all these I have felt over the past few weeks. These are all to an extent positive reactions. The sort of feelings you can have during a disagreement with a friend or colleague who you care about. You don't dislike the person, just what they have or have not done and this can be can be dealt with, followed by natural reconciliation.

My feelings during Sunday 15th September were that I just didn't care any more. The joy of participation had gone. An op I had worked on with my usual research and was quite pleased with has been held in the ether somewhere for some time because there is not yet a category for it. The alternative was, if not to actually churn, then to write a couple of "fillers". Once having done so, I felt dissatisfied. I noted all the members (now users) who I wanted to read, but left them until later. The realisation came to me the following day that I still really didn't care whether I logged on or not. That is if I would be able to log on, and anyway it took 60 seconds plus to load a page. Come Tuesday I read a couple of ops and checked on Motors, and Wednesday contacted Katie to report guidey stuff. Meanwhile I found it easy to just leave my computer switched off and get on with my life outside dooyoo. Things were just drifting away and I wasn't missing it. In fact I was enjoying longer rides on Ben, my horse. I did, however read a few ops
on other member's feelings about the situation and found that I was leaving "stick with it" comments.

This morning I logged on and was back out of the doldrums, although still lacking the homey, familiar feelings of before. I am sure I am not the only one who has been held by the thread of our community and the reassurances within redesign ops and comments, among the honest grievances. I recognise now that dooyoo itself is a distant commercial being. The site did not create and sustain this body of dooyers. The community grew separately within the dooyoo site because of the participation of it's members, beyond just consumer writing for a few pence per read. Sometime over the past 2 years the original members created something magic between them which grew steadily into the dooyoo which I joined 9 months ago, more or less by accident. During this time people have reached out and formed their own virtual, and in some cases actual, society. What a waste it would be if we allowed all that has developed to dissipate because we are going through a difficult period. The important thing is that we are grumbling together. That is what counts.

The site is improving as bugs are corrected. Although still annoying at times, there is no doubt that compared with the first week or so negotiating the site is becoming easier. There are still some members whose reads I can't access, but I am sure that this will right itself shortly. Rating is not always possible, but has improved greatly. As the irritations lessen I shall start clicking on advertisements again. I am not going anywhere, although I reserve the right to moan a little for the time being, and I haven't at any time thought of giving up as a guide.

Let's stick it out and let dooyoo think that we, the users, service it. We know better. This is a symbiotic thing. While we help dooyoo live we can use it's framework as the walls for
our community. Then maybe one day we will be so strong that dooyoo will realise that they can't do without us.

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