Relationships Are Important at Persona Paper
Persona Paper members who have posted regularly since joining are in almost daily contact with each other. If one is missing in action without having mentioned the possibility that he might be AWOL for awhile, we are concerned and hoping for news, as we are now about suffolkjason . We have become a rather close network I can only compare (except for the gender factor) to the extinct Squidoo Rocket Moms, who also had almost daily contact with each other online. We care about each other because we have gotten to know each other as we worked together to help build something.
It's an interesting concept. Except for our somewhat meager earnings here at the time I joined, everyone I met who stayed after the earnings had decreased was a promoter of this site, and not just to get referrals. We saw ourselves as builders, right along with the owners, to make this site all it can be and the best site of its kind. We promoted each other, read each other, commented and carried on conversations with each other here and on our profiles all the while knowing we might earn more somewhere else with that time. But we had connected. It would seem strange not to connect at least once a day, even if it were just to leave a couple of comments. It was natural to share any good writing we read by others with the wider networks outside of Persona Paper. We looked for each other on other sites.
The current crisis at the other site that has brought so many new people here shows me an interesting contrast. Earnings went down here, too, and many stopped writing but left their accounts here. I started when the pay was very low. I never heard a word of blame aimed at elitecodex or MaeLou over it. Instead I saw a group pull together in support, determined to help grow the site and to continue to make more content and exhort other members to do the same.
It's almost as if we felt that the site was ours as much as theirs, that its success was also our success, even thought that success wasn't expressed monetarily yet. We hoped the exchange rate would go up, and we wrote in hope, willing our actions to make it so. I saw loyalty that had been earned by past honesty and open communication. We expected better things to come in the future, and we were determined to help make them happen. Now the exchange rate has gone up and we are growing again.
Trust and communication are very important. I would encourage you to find good friends here among both new members and the old guard. The older members are near the bottom half of the members list, and you will want to pick some of those who have logged in within the past two days and have posts in both October and November, as well as in December. Those are the experienced people here who will be able to help you in your journey. I suggest inertia4 Feisty56 Ruby3881 Kasman AngelSharum AliCanary LoudMan Melody23 OldRoadsOnceTraveled and bestwriter as some good people to consider. They all interact frequently if they follow you and will try to be helpful. You may not want to follow all of them, but some will already be familiar names to you. Check their profiles and see if you are interested in what they write. If you are, follow them.
At Persona Paper, you don't need hundreds of friends because It's hard to give enough attention to that many. I am currently following 123 people, only a handful of which are posting almost everyday and more than once. That has the potential of being close to 200 posts to read and comment on a day if I'm to be a good friend. And that's assuming each person makes only one or two posts a day. I just trimmed the inactive people off my follow list. If I'm to really interact with everyone I follow, I will have to limit the number. I always want to reply to comments on my posts, so just this week I've noticed how hard it is to keep up after adding 32 new friends. I can't imagine keeping up with 500 people.
If you mostly interact with the same people, day after day, you really will get to know them and remember what they've written before. They will truly become online friends. You can leave them comments on their profiles when you want to say something that doesn't relate to a post. If you are really interacting with one hundred people, there will be enough interaction to earn here, especially if you also post several times a day. So connect with a few of the old guard, connect with people you know and like from other sites, and then start exploring the posts of those you don't know, the same way you did on that other site. Look for good comments and check profiles. Keep up with your notifications as best you can. They are a great help.
Now go out and explore this world of Persona Paper. Post and interact. Repeat. Then watch your bank grow.
Pictures and content are original and may not be used without permission, B. Radisavljevic, Copyright 2014, All Rights Reserved
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Comments
bestwriter wrote on January 3, 2015, 6:52 PM
I am a veteran here all right and in the real world too (lol). Always ready to lend a helping hand.
maxeen wrote on January 3, 2015, 6:56 PM
Very solid advice and hope to remember those points from you..
wolfgirl569 wrote on January 3, 2015, 6:58 PM
I really like the openness and honesty I have seen here. That is the big difference from that other site that I was on. Just that little bit would have helped me want to stay there. I love it here already.
Feisty56 wrote on January 3, 2015, 7:03 PM
I think you've summed up my feelings in this post, too. I have a great core of dear connections here and have made some new ones as new members have joined. I learned the hard way that I can't possibly interact responsibly (as a friend) to a great number of people, but that doesn't keep me from reading interesting posts by any member, whether a connection or not.
Thank you for including me in the above mentioned group. If there is any way I can help someone along or answer questions, I'm happy to do so.
You know my motto: Onward and Upward, Together!
VinceSummers wrote on January 3, 2015, 7:50 PM
Along the line of relationships, of course I'm not seeking a best friend or anything. I like the casual, friendly reading we can do here of works written by familiar persons in familiar style. But I have to admit, my close friends are not online "friends". Just trying to add a little reality to the mix.
AngelSharum wrote on January 3, 2015, 8:27 PM
Thanks for including me in your list. I have been making some new friends lately.
inertia4 wrote on January 3, 2015, 8:28 PM
BarbRad Nice!!! You are so right. I have been here even when the other site was doing good. So I liked it here already. I do believe that following too many people is not good or productive. Thank you for mentioning me on your list of good members to connect with. We do stick together and we never complained about the earnings here. Why? Because they were up front and honest with us form the beginning.
LilyDay wrote on January 3, 2015, 11:12 PM
I really am liking the community atmosphere on this site, and I like seeing that so many people I have known from other sites have found their ways here.
MsTina wrote on January 3, 2015, 11:17 PM
How do I get to the member's list or my followers/following list?
MsTina wrote on January 3, 2015, 11:19 PM
I just found the member list but I still don't know how I can see who is following me except for the new followers that show up on my activity list.
OldRoadsOnceTraveled wrote on January 3, 2015, 11:26 PM
We really have become a close bunch, haven't we? A lot of the new relationships I have made here have grown to other sites, even ones I'm not a member of. And with the advent of Tsu, it's easier to find and keep up with what they write elsewhere.
The attitude is so much different here. It's not about what this or that person can do for you. It's about real interaction and helping the site grow. I've been so impressed with the willingness of a core of writers to be content with so little now in faith that little will become much down the road. That would never happen on the other site.
Now that we are beginning to see the fruits of our labors, let's don't forget where we came from and how we got here.
Wordsmith wrote on January 4, 2015, 1:48 AM
Hey, that is the best advice I have seen on PP so far in my short time here. You have inspired me to stay on writing on this platform with your personal touch.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 2:54 AM
That you are.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 2:55 AM
I'm glad something I said was useful to you.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 2:56 AM
I think it's lack of trust that is breaking the site rather than lower pay.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 2:57 AM
You have always been quick to help newcomers on any site we've been on together. How could I not include you?
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 3:03 AM
Of course our real-world friends are more a part of our lives that online friends. But the truth is that many of us consider some of our online friends as colleagues and coworkers. On some sites they are. When tomfolio.com, our independent booksellers' co-op opened its website fourteen years ago, I was on online committees where we spent hours working together every day, and later had the opportunity to meet some of them in person. As you say, there are many people we read casually just for fun, but there are some people you really start to connect with as friends after working together online toward a common goal.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 3:04 AM
Isn't it wonderful? I no longer sit here at 11 PM having a hard time finding something new to read.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 3:06 AM
I mentioned you because you have been loyal in staying in touch with your friends and interacting with them on every site we've been on together.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 3:08 AM
You really don't have a list of followers. You will only know if they follow you if you visit their profile. The list has green check marks for the people you follow.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 3:12 AM
That's because you are being welcomed into something resembling an online family or home where people are already happy and you can feel it.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 3:13 AM
i really like that some many people who know each other are connecting here again.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 3:16 AM
A very good admonition. From the moment I joined this site I saw that people weren't just out for themselves but wanted to help every new person joining. Any competition has been friendly and designed to grow the site.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 3:17 AM
I am delighted you want to stay with us.
Dawnwriter wrote on January 4, 2015, 3:42 AM
This is a beautifully written post with a wealth of advice in it. And I agree with you. PP was a special place even when the pay rate was low.The 'other place' never elicited this much loyalty.
RegieEstioco wrote on January 4, 2015, 5:05 AM
I got some few people interacting with me regularly in my posts.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 5:09 AM
I'm glad you see it, too.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 5:11 AM
And that number will probably grow now if you reach out to some of the new people.
ConstantDementia wrote on January 4, 2015, 6:26 AM
I am a newbie here but I am not new to the game. As I transition from Bubble to Persona Paper, I can't help but miss my friends back there. I may have issues with the site but I have nothing against my friends there, and if the admin there was just as trustworthy and open, then I would not have problem with them either. I guess as human beings we are united by friendship and trust.
nbaquero wrote on January 4, 2015, 6:41 AM
BarbRad Yes, absolutely, we have always said we needed to work hard to hep build and grow this community, I think we still have a lot of work to do, but the results are encouraging. Coincidentally many of the members you mentioned are part of the FOPP challenge, so that is a good way of promoting strong connections and relationships here. Thanks for your great post, I am sure it will help a lot of newcomers to understand what we are about and how can this site continue to develop.
WordChazer wrote on January 4, 2015, 7:28 AM
*Stands and applauds.* That's precisely why I started going through the members' list last week. I'm about a quarter of the way there and will have the task complete by the end of the month, meaning that I only need to keep tabs on the new members from then on.
inertia4 wrote on January 4, 2015, 8:23 AM
BarbRad I always try my best to stay in touch with my online friends. Even on Bubblews. MyLot was the place to be once upon a time. I stopped going there all together. I tried sharing my links from here and Bubblews there, but they keep taking them down, so, thats it for them. I feel good about Persona Paper and will be here a lot this year.
melody23 wrote on January 4, 2015, 8:38 AM
I think you have summed things up nicely here, we have really become a little community one that helps each other, and the site grow. As a community we have been through some hard times, but it has made us stronger and I can say that personally as well. I will never forget the love this community showed for my bunny, Bramble, when he was ill (he is doing great now by the way) and the support shown for me when I lost a dear friend a few months back. Persona paper is the place I come when I need support, when I am feeling stressed, when I need a laugh or even when I just want to read about what other people's lives are like in other parts of the world. I feel truly honoured to have been here since pretty much the beginning, I have seen this site grow first hand but more importantly I have made some amazing friends here. After helium announced they were closing down I spend a lot of time looking for a new writing home, I tried other sites and I even took up freelancing, however Persona Paper is definitely home for me!
karen5416 wrote on January 4, 2015, 9:51 AM
I think if a certain site had been more open with there members they wouldn't be going through the troubles now. Communication is the key, keeping your members informed of what's happening means so much. We;; said and written beautifully
wolfgirl569 wrote on January 4, 2015, 9:52 AM
yes I would have understood if they had said we need to lower rates earlier. But to wipe out money owed because they are broke out of nowhere is wrong.
Suzzycue wrote on January 4, 2015, 12:52 PM
Thanks a lot for all the possitive feedback for PP. I can already see the different attitude here. I am glad you made a special stop on my BB bubble to say good bye and I followed you here. I think I will be very happy here Barb . Thank you so much:) You have brightened an otherwise sad New Year of writing online.
suzzy3 wrote on January 4, 2015, 2:00 PM
Some sound advice just keep your circle fairly small on a regular basis then visit others when you get the chance.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 7:20 PM
I think it won't be long before more of our friends show up here.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 7:22 PM
I hope so. i sure wish we had suffolkjason back. I hope he's OK.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 7:23 PM
If any of the people I stopped following come back and start posting again, I will be happy to follow them again.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 7:25 PM
Thank you for sharing your experience here. I think a lot of old timers have similar stories. I'm glad this is where you feel most at home.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 7:27 PM
I'm so convinced of the power of community that I think Squidoo would still be round today if the RocketMoms hadn't been dissolved.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 7:29 PM
I'm glad you are already settling in here. I wonder if I'm still in good standing at the B site or whether they have deleted me yet. I don't know if I finished all my goodbyes.
BarbRad wrote on January 4, 2015, 7:29 PM
Very good advice.
karen5416 wrote on January 5, 2015, 8:03 AM
I do think if a site had a good community it will work. I do like it here