Open for discussion

[crsvstang]

Hi and Welcome!

I love to see other members dogs and other pets is one reason why I joined. I also like to share pictures of my dogs from time to time. I don't get so many pictures of my cat because well she isn't to crazy about the camera. I use to get upset when I didn't get much reply to my pictures, but then again I think I did, but thought it was not enough. Now I just learned to relax and have fun and not worry who responds to my pictures or not.

I think longer you are here and more you talk about your pets, the more people get to know you. And more will reply to your post.

[pipersmom]

Hi all,

If you click on the links below, you will see threads that I submitted with pictures of my "kids", which never really got much in the way of comments, replies, etc. (Thanks to those of you who did!) I have to admit, it bothered me. We all love our babies and are proud of them, otherwise we would have never found this board to begin with. My animals are like my children and if I went to a board that was all about children and submitted photos, and got only one or two replies--my feelings would be a little hurt.

I have "sworn off" this website on several occasions, but couldn't help myself but come back because I absolutely love looking at everyone else's pups, including DOTD. I try to stay away from most of the threads, except Memorials, because I get tempted to chime in and honestly, every subject seems to be so "black and white" to a lot of folks here that it's a little scary to express an opinion.

I also do not spend as much time on the boards as many of you do, because I work during the day and help with my husband's business at night and travel every other weekend to visit with my parents, who are elderly. Therefore, I can't join in as many conversations as I might like, so as to become as well known or as familiar as many of you are.

Well, I just wanted to say what I've felt compelled to say for sometime, but didn't want to get into any arguments or have anyone talk down to me.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...ighlight=piper

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...ighlight=piper

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...ighlight=piper

[Queen of Poop]

Welcome to Pet Talk. It is a wonderful place to share about our pets. I apologize for missing your initial post.

[sandragonfly]

hi msmini, welcome please!

your puppies are beautiful and do hope you will share more of them and I'm sure I'll always reply to yours too! it's me that I just can't leave the threads with lowest posts/newcomers alone because I know how they would feel.

well, I see you're new but I still believe it's not because you're a newcomer because you're not posting nicely. me, before as a newcomer, I got more posts than what I expected and that definitely encouraged me! so I would have to say this, I disagree with people who're saying you shouldn't worry how many posts you get...because when you share, they should share too. I just don't know how to keep posting pictures/stories if I don't hear any feedbacks/thoughts. I mean what does blank messages mean to you? unwelcomed? beloved? what? they just don't always realize you could assume/feel from very (very) few posts/or nothing that your pictures didn't mattered and would get you discouraged at the most of time. we meant no harm, just saying...hey, where's the share?

funny, (as a well-known member here) ..I posted pictures of my dog, crayola.. + about over 30 replies less than 48 hours = ..

and I posted pictures of my cats.. + less than 5 more then 48 hours = ..

so for cat side, I normally felt discouraged to share more, I just do and stopping. (now, after this being posted, people can say if I stop then I wouldn't get posts at all... but the truth was I think I've threaded cat pictures more than 20 times (that's a lot!! ) and I always get less than 10 compared to others). you know, I'll just want to keep up with what I get too. so,..unfourantely, I'll never want to share cat pictures as much as I wanted to anymore.

so please share whenever you feel like to. it just really depend on which people sees you, what they judge about you & hope you'll get at least a few, as much as the others so you can stay here too! have fun.

[IRescue452]

Pipersmom and others: I've put pictures of my pets on and have gotten no replys for days. Sometimes there are so many posts that people miss the ones you have or they are pushed back to page two before anybody can comment. You can bump them up if you want. I may have felt put down if I was excited to hear peoples' comments but I can hardly blame the others. Nobody on pt is inentonally trying to hurt feelings by not leaving a comment on every post. I am quite angered that you feel greedy enough to post bad comments. I am sorry I missed your post or didn't say anthing but I've never started fighting because everybody doesn't comment on mine.

[pipersmom]

Originally posted by IRescue452
[ I am quite angered that you feel greedy enough to post bad comments. I am sorry I missed your post or didn't say anthing but I've never started fighting because everybody doesn't comment on mine. [/B]

I truly didn't mean to anger anyone and this is exactly what I mean about being afraid to express an opinion on this board. I was just trying to give a view from a different angle (my view).

I wasn't trying to be "greedy" and why am I accused of fighting. My post wasn't confrontational at all. If it seemed that way, I apologize to whomever I offended.

P.S. Thank you Gina's Ark, Inc.

[Jadapit]

Originally posted by pipersmom
I truly didn't mean to anger anyone and this is exactly what I mean about being afraid to express an opinion on this board. I was just trying to give a view from a different angle (my view).

I wasn't trying to be "greedy" and why am I accused of fighting. My post wasn't confrontational at all. If it seemed that way, I apologize to whomever I offended.

I dont think pipersmom is "greedy" at all. She loves her fur kids just like we all do she was proud to show them off as she should be. You have to admit she didn't get many replies. Her post wasn't mean or filled with anger at all!! She was just stating how she feels and she has every right to do that. I dont see her trying to start a fight with anyone period........

[crsvstang]

I don't think pipersmom was trying to start a fight either. I noticed in one of her links she had no replies at all. Now she does because her post was bumped back up but I can not see the pictures. I would love to see them.

[ParNone]

This turned out to be a really good discussion. I think a person's individual perspective can play a part too, because I keep wondering what's the magic number of responses you have to get to feel liked. Seems to be different for each of us. I think I average less then 10 replies a post and seriously I think I'm quite popular (okay delusion can have its benefits ). Yet I see others that get 10 or so and feel slighted.

Granted if you're getting Zero that can be quite discouraging, but maybe you need to look at what you can do differently. I had a post a couple of days ago for a Murph video, it slipped off the 1st page with Zero replies. I was gonna just let it go off into the posting graveyard, but I felt a lil' bad for Murph, so I popped some pics of Gully and Murph onto the post and got it back up to the top of the 1st page. He got some posts then, and I went away happy, thinking, "Aw Murph aren't you the popular one".

I guess it's human nature, but I think we get a lil' too caught up in the numbers game. If that's important to you though, look at how you can improve your postings. Are your pictures as good as they could be? Are they capturing your dog's personality? Are you taking the time to tell lil' stories or antedotes about your dog? What's your title like? Is it catchy enough to get people to click on your thread? Look objectively at the posts of people who are getting huge numbers, what are they doing differently that's bringing people in?

I personally come here for fun though and I don't want to feel obligated to post on every thread. It's not even a realistic expectation. I reply when something grabs me and I have something to say. I can't do it any other way or I know I'll start feeling like it's a chore and won't post at all.

Par...

[K9soul]

Those are some good points Par, and I had another thing that came to mind after reading your post too. Sometimes when I post something, it'll just happen to be at a time when 10 other people post something too and sometimes my post gets knocked almost to page 2 right away. Now obviously not everyone visiting at the time will have time to read and reply to 15 new posts, so for whatever reason, whether some post title stood out to them more, whether they looked forward to seeing that particular dog, whether they just randomly picked one out of the bunch, they may reply to another post or two but not to yours and yours ends up getting knocked down.

I know that some people, and I am just as guilty as the next, sometimes only look at the most recent posts, so when one gets bumped to page 2 it has a much lesser chance of getting replied to. I personally see nothing wrong if someone wants to bump their post up and I frankly wish more people would do it more often because I hate missing things and because whenever I realize someone's posts have gotten very few replies, I feel so badly and even personally responsible if I didn't catch it until they were hurt about it. When I have limited time, I do sometimes focus on posts that have very few replies rather than ones with 3 pages of replies already. I can't always get everyone but I do my best with the time I have!

A lot of good points have been made here. Pipersmom, I have always so enjoyed your positive and touching posts in Memorial and Dog of the Day. I feel so very badly that I missed the times when you posted about your furkid. I tried to go to the links but it looks like they were deleted . I hope you'll reconsider sharing again at some point as I'd truly like to see and learn more about your boy. I also hope you won't be discouraged from posting by one sharp reply. With so very many people a part of the board, miscommunication and misunderstandings are bound to happen here and there. Please don't let it get you down.

[pipersmom]

Thanks, K9soul and ParNone. I was hoping for some positive feedback.

I did delete the threads because I didn't want people to feel as if they had to go look at them now. I didn't want to complain without having those as a reference for what I was saying.

I enjoy your kind posts too and I know that there is no way on earth that folks can reply to every thread. I just wanted to be honest and open up a little here and I did. Again, I certainly didn't mean to offend any of the folks who have been members here for so long.

That being said, I will still look at DOTD (I just can't help myself!) and the Memorials (because I know how good it feels to know there are others who understand the grief of losing a pet). However, I do not plan to subscribe to any other threads. I started thinking yesterday about how I really and truly have so many other things going on in my life (my parents and their health issues first and foremost) that I can't devote the time to truly get involved here like I would want to.

Thanks again for your kindness. There are many who post here whose warmth and caring shine through in every post.

Best wishes to everyone and their beautiful fur-babies! Take good care of them!

Thanks again for providing impartial, non-patronizing feedback Par and K9Soul. I truly appreciate it!

[anna_66]

pipersmom, I really wish you wouldn't stop posting in other parts of the board (maybe just take a break) but that is entirely up to you.

I felt compelled to say a couple of things since this seems to be a pretty good open discussion.

First...
After my Angus died, I really felt that no one liked Bon (ok not everyone is going to like a BIG drooly monster ) and he would never be accepted like Angus was.
But then there were a few people who told me it was through my pictures and stories that everyone learned to love my boy so much. So if I didn't post anything about him how could you all learn to love him

Guess my point is if you don't post much, we can't get to know you and your furkids! So post away!!!

Second...
I have to admit some of the first posts I look at is some from people I know, ones that have been on this board for quite a while or people that I have things in common with (the same type of dog...examples:
wolf_q & glacier own huskys or people with larger dogs like Bon)

So again, don't get discouraged over the amout of replies. If it falls short in a few days, by all means it up!

[pipersmom]

Thanks Anna. Oh my goodness, I would love to wallow around with Bon! He's adorable. All of your dogs look so happy and loved.

I wrote a poem for Angus on your memorial thread. It wasn't great, but I was so touched by your love for him I just had to write something for you.

Honestly, I'm not quitting the boards because of the lack of replies. I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me initially so I'm sure I backed off for a long while on posting; so it's my fault people haven't gotten to know my babies better.

Thanks again sweet ladies.

[sandragonfly]

mmm ok guys, maybe I sounded like I expected too much but if I was, I wouldn't be surprised with responses I got in "Fun Colorful Crayola" but I was and you can go in there and see how happy(ier) I was. don't everybody can have a good feeling?

par...magic number? mmmm, good question..I don't think I have one. isn't a good correspondence is all I (and most of us) want/need? some people can stand just being one-sided and post everything and gets nothing back. see, just like you, par, you wouldn't have a great obsession/butt contest if you get less than five and wouldn't be as great/fun as 10..20..30 voters. these 10s I get, probably has a half of my posts, thanking them.[/color]

posted by parnone

I reply when something grabs me and I have something to say. I can't do it any other way or I know I'll start feeling like it's a chore and won't post at all.
Par...

perfectly commented. this is the reason why I am trying my best (when I have time) and want to support, reinforce everyone here, especially newcomers as much as I could. because what it seems, here, for the most people who threaded just words with no pictures (which can be so boring for some) after some people didn't respect their pictures, used them without asking, or some very blurried photos, or most with red-eyees, not speaking english very well, or is not wise as the others or doesn't like/judge her/him for some reason tend to get very low replies. so I felt bad for them, most of the time, these threads wouldn't interest much of people. a lot people needed to be motivated by others, ya know. make a confess!!

honestly, "..threads being pushed back in few pages.." is full of...(zips). yes, it's true some of you have missed, that's okay but look at this site, over thousands of members...pleeenty. have you seen or thought of that a few threads that has the same numbers of viewers but has more posts than the one that gets zero post? that really bothers me. I don't think that's always the reason, also why would they want to bump twice in a row?

being in their shoes is all I'm saying...(if you'd like!)

[anna_66]

Originally posted by Gina's Ark Inc.


honestly, "..threads being pushed back in few pages.." is full of...(zips). yes, it's true some of you have missed, that's okay but look at this site, over thousands of members...pleeenty. have you seen or thought of that a few threads that has the same numbers of viewers but has more posts than the one that gets zero post? that really bothers me. I don't think that's always the reason, also why would they want to bump twice in a row?

Sorry Gina but I can't seem to make heads or tails of your post. Are you saying some of us are lying and that we don't want to post to some peoples threads?