Is this a community or not? Anyone?
 

I'm just a "newbie" nobody;) , so I'm not sure if my view would be even considered viable.
I have actually been here for about a year, but just recently decided to register.

There has been some threads about one underdog company ripping off a member company. :confused:
I wouldn't think the "member company" could really be happy or proud of the employees, promoters, or die hard fans who are trying to shed doubt, discredit, or accuse an "underdog" company, no matter whether the underdog deserves it or not, no matter whether it's true or not, or for any reason at all for that matter.

It just doesn't seem very community-ish. Does anyone know what I mean?

If I owned a company and my employees, promoters, or fans were throwing accusations and scrutinizing another company's production line, no matter if the other company was at fault or not, I would fire them and want nothing to do with them at all.
It really doesn't matter if the underdog company is wrong or right. The accusations and attempts to continue to discredit the underdog is childish behavior, and *that* isn't a trait I would think a good business would want to be associated with, even if the association is in the third person.

Just my newbie nobody opinion, please don't throw rubber or sticky strip at me!
Oh wait, GO AHEAD and throw, I LOVE free stamps and adhesive!:D

Ha! Ha! Throw away!!

On a more serious note, I see what you are saying. However, with so many members on here, there are bound to be many opinions flying around...especially with people who are passionate about their craft.

I think these threads are only a drop in the bucket. I've made some great friends on here and been able to see so many amazing products and artwork.

Just walk away from those threads...that's what I do. I expressed my opinion in another thread, it was taken the wrong way, and I got a little lambasted. I wrote three different replies that I promptly deleted...I took my own advice and walked away. I am on a mom's board that is similar to this format, and there is way more drama on there! This is a community, even with all its bumps!

hmmm, thanks
 

Yah, I guess you're right nabush, just read and then ignore, which is what I've done on the other threads. But that still leaves the question of the member company and whether or not they condone their hard core fans actions, no matter how well intended those actions might have been. If I had a company, I would be embarrassed to have such a fan. It's just not right to shed bad light on another company for any reason, in my humble newbie opinion.

I can understand what your saying but everyone has right to their opinion. And I know that some threads definately do get out of hand. I just try and stay away form negative post and have fun! I think SCS is an amazing community with lots of opinions wether I agree or not. Happy stamping :)

If it's the thread I'm thinking about then I don't believe anyone from the *member* company participated in the thread. What is the *member* company supposed to do about it? You can't fire die hard fans or keep them from voicing their opinions.

I was one of the people who supported the underdog. But I still adore the *member* company and have nothing but respect for those hard working ladies.

I don't think people voicing their different opinions disqualifies this forum from being a community. I see kindness and generosity here every time I visit. That's what a community is all about.

I remember a poem from my childhood about harsh words wearing big boots and walking away quickly -- they can be very hard to call back once you release them. I think it's safer and smarter to walk softly and to try to speak positively, or not at all. Do I always follow this advice? No, but I try... I try. :)

:)
 

Good point, Susie, thanks!
And AlternateStamper, I think i remember something about a poem like that from my childhood as well...:)

Susie Q. you hit the nail right on the head w/this comment. :-)

Anne

I also highly doubt that Nichole is going to jump on here and start chastising people for having their opinions. That would not make good business sense. I'd agree with the other posters on just walking away from it!

whooops!
 

It seems I may have already have offended folks just being a curious newbie myself.

I guess what I really wonder is, how can a bashing opinion be a nice thing to do, whether or not it is a correct opinion or not?

I wasn't saying to fire the fans because I know that's not possible, I was saying if I were a company in that situation, I would fire the employees/promoters (ONLY if that's who was doing the bashing), and have "nothing to do with" the fans (ONLY if that's who was doing the bashing).

I guess nobody sees it the way I do.
So sorry!!

I posted my humble opinion in the thread in question and promptly got pounced on by someone with 50K+ posts and another who quickly came out to defend her. What's a poor unconnected member like myself to do? I quickly slunk off to a corner and felt bad about the direction the thread took, thinking I wish I had said this or that.

When I saw the thread resurrected yesterday I went to the RAK thread and sent out a few RAKs instead of participating in an incendiary name-calling contest.


Coletta

Yes, you can fire employees. Yes, you can cease professional affiliations.

But, you cannot fire your own customers, and you cannot fire "fans".

The other thread has since been locked, since it was spiraling around unproductively.

I get that and everything but that wasnt the case in this situation. No one from the *member* company posted anything on that thread. You're right it wouldn't be good business to bash competitors. It was just regular people voicing their feelings on the situation, pro or con.

Either way, fans of either site (or both) are going to continue to support and buy what they like.

and I don't really think anyone is offended here (yet) :)

ETA this was in response to ADW's last comment

Good for you! Way to go! ;)

ahhh yes, I remember that thread.........I decided not to post on that particular thread. I love BOTH companies stamps and will continue to purchase from each of them :D

Yes, in many ways SCS is a community. A community however is similar to a family. You have the good, the bad, the annoying, etc. The advantage to SCS over family is that you can pick and choose which parts of SCS you want to hang with.

Family? oy vey!

It's a huge community. So huge, that I don't even know what you are talking about. I stick to my little corner of this huge place. I don't visit the member company threads.

Orwellian Big Brother Community
 

I have recently found that the moderators can and will delete whatever they want, without contacting the posting member, or giving reason for the deletion... Is nothing sacred anymore?!?!

*Rides in on dead horse*

Hello hello to a newbie from another new-ish member.

I had a really well worded thought out post written on the above mentioned thread and then it was promptly locked. Booo urrnnnns I'm too slow (not that I disagree with it being locked). I will try to sum up my thoughts on the matter here.

Basically I am thankful for the amazing work, effort, time and creativity that goes into this site and it's member companies' companies (clear as mud?). I do NOT envy them the task. While the thread you're talking about did become uneccessarily heated, you'll notice that the owners of both companies did not make an appearance in that thread. They both handled, whatever needed handled privately. I'm sure, however negative the posts may have been, that the owners of each company would feel appreciative of the love and support of their respective fans- whether or not they agreed with what they were saying. You can't fire fans and why should you? Similar beliefs and behaviours are not prerequisites of being a customer.

Bottom line- my opinion is to support your favorite companies with your wallet instead of your mouth!!

As far as SCS is concerned, it *is* a commuity. A real community, with ups and downs and yep we even have our share of crazies! I like the diversity here. I like the passion and different viewpoints expressed (even if I disagree sometimes!). At the root of everything, is a shared passion of all things crafty! If you don't like a thread, as long as no one is breaking the T.O.S. then leave it alone. If they are breaking the T.O.S. you can report them and the fabulous mods will deal with it as they see fit!

From one newb to another- you will find your niche. You will find the warm, comforting individuals you are looking for. Just let the other stuff slide.

*phewf* That got wordy!

*Rides dead horse into the sunset*

I agree too. It is a community. And in a community you will have many different people, opinions, you might have some spats, some love-ins. (well, maybe not love-ins...but I've seen lots of "hugs" between stampers...everyone is awfully friendly)....and this is a HUGE community. Anyone who has been with SCS for a while will tell you that it is big and addicting. You can go into all these forums and read for hours. And that's not even counting the card galleries! I know there are forums for tv shows, family issues, the technique/resource pages, the company forums....wow....it is really an amazing site, when you think about it. DAVEN, you done good.

Uhhhh! ;) LOL! (Just teasing.:D )

LOL, ADW!!! Thanks for sharing. Your opinion is every bit as valuable as anyone else's, however many posts they have or how long they've been here. And I'm not saying that just because I know exactly what you mean, lol! I read through that thread and more than once had the thought run through my head, "geez, with friends like that...." I would be mortified if a friend of mine came to my "defense" with some of the statements made in that thread.

But, being on t'other side of 50, I generally belong to the "If you can't say something nice, blah, blah, blah" camp. Especially when people are basing their statements on, well, zero knowledge of the facts, lol.

So, don't feel as if you are alone in your feelings, I'm sure there are many who share them.

Oh, one other thought. There might be a bunch of members who actually do have opinions one way or another about that other thread. Chances are though, they are more mindful of protecting SCS as a whole, and they wouldn't dream of making statements that some might consider libelous enough to sue Daven and Tracy and SCS... Come to think of it, maybe everybody could keep that in mind if tempted to come out swinging in a post.

Hmmm??? I really don't grok this comment at all; are you getting outraged feedback from somewhere other than this thread? If folks are sending you angry PMs then please forward them to a moderator if you feel they are inappropriate. If your comment was inspired by any post to your thread, I just wanna say that people can have different opinions and even voice them to each other without being angry or offended. And, online, the only time we can reasonably state that someone is offended is if someone explicitly posts, "I'm sooo goshidy gosh ***OFFENDED*** by such and such that you typed." :) Anything else is just conjecture.

As to the OP, I think SCS is a great community! The administrators allow us all the respect of the freedom to reasonably express ourselves even if we disagree with each other, and even if we discuss topics other than SU and stamping. I've seen enough of the web to know that the administrators of this site have created a special and rare place for us to enjoy.

I am really not a fan of bashing posts either -- totally sucks to be the bash-ee!! -- but when I come across them I try to remember that (for me) only one person was born Perfect and he died a long time ago. :) We all go through mental and emotional "growing pains" even after we've all grown up, we all have good days and bad days . . . I guess I'm trying to say that they're a good reminder to show humility and empathy, plus they can be kind of comforting because they show us we are all going through this life together, being faced with the same kinds of choices every day, most times each of us making good choices and sometimes making poor ones, and even after the poorer choices the world doesn't end and we all live on to tell the tale. :)

Thanks everyone for giving me your thoughts. I simply was just so curious.
I just didn't see how voicing a negative opinion would be considered a good thing. I personally don't ever want to do that myself.
I suppose without the negative opinions, there would not be enough diversity. I'm glad that SCS is what it is and I hope nobody thinks that I think otherwise.

I am in the dark on the thread you are referring to (thank goodness!) cause i prefer to stay on the upbeat and positive threads but I wanted to jump in here and say that this is one HUGE community. There are many personalities and many different groups of friends but I have met so so many people who are just the sweetest. Most people on here are caring, compassionate and jump at the opportunity to serve others.

Here is just a quick off the bat rundown of sweet stuff going on in this "Community":

1. Ladies volunteer their time each week to run daily challenges. I have subbed for a few and, boy, you never realize how much time it takes to do these until you actually do it. They do this for us...that is it.

2. There is a very cool "Need a Lift" forum on this site and I know tons of gals who send lots of cards to people they dont even know all the time just because it is a nice thing to do.

3. There is an Elf outreach circulating on her where the members randomly surprise another member with a "secret" goodie. The giver remains unknown--it is random and a nice lift for another person.

4. There is the blogging sisterhood which encourages other bloggers and forms friendships.

5. The dirty dozen knock themselves out each month to create jaw-dropping projects for us to drool over.

6. The staff and mods oversee everything on this site and constantly think of new and fun ideas to get us all off these threads and get creating. lol!

So yes, I think this is a community. I think it is a pretty phenominal one.

thanks carolyn
 

Thanks Carolyn, i didn't realize some of those things!
Now I AM really happy that I registered!
Now I just need to do that fan club thing.

Ditto, to everything you so eloquently said!

Yep....the dd gallery is worth it but it is also cool because you get instant uploads (takes awhile for the cards to be viewable!)

Welcome--you will be glad you registered:)
Cannot wait to see your work!

LOL at the OY VEY
 

I totally agree about the family thing

a big CAPITAL OY VEY! LOL

Ohhh, so that's what the Elf thing means! I was really out of the loop on that one, and kept wondering what people meant by "I've been elfed".

Thanks for clarifying, SCS Community Member!:p

This is a point to pay attention to. In this society litigation is like the national hobby. I ought to know, I deal with it for a living and you would not believe the things that people sue over.

I LOVE this site and think it is a fabulous community with awesome wonderful creative and nice people!! I can usually tell when a thread is dedicated to negativity by the title of the thread and I stay away from it. Sometimes I'm curious enough to read but seldom post in them. There's way too much stress and aggravation in my non-stamping world to let myself be consumed with negativity on SCS. I come here to get away from all of that and be creative. So, if negative threads bother you, then try to identify them and stay away and if you accidentally get sucked in to one resist the temptation to join the fracas. :)