Hello, gang and welcome to this week's book club!
So last week, I mentioned something I wanted to talk to you all about so let's go but first, we gotta go back 3 years.
WednesdayBookClub started off as a hashtag for on io9's ObservationDeck forums. It was always a come in and out as you wish type of deal. By the time Kinja died, there was maybe 4 people regularly commenting on my posts. I never did it for the numbers or the optics. It was just that after 10 years, it became a habit. Even now, I wake up on Wednesdays, ready to do something.
After Kinja went kaput, I tweeted if I should start it up again as a Twitter account. The people said yes and I warned that if I didn't get regular replies, I'd shelf it again. Listen, just because I didn't do it for the numbers doesn't mean that it didn't get lonely. It's hard to put yourself out there only to get crickets. We talked and we decided that anyone could reply but a few people would be tagged. Twitter was hectic and they didn't want to miss out on anything so to make sure they replied, I'd tag them.
Over the years, this has worked out but it's had its hiccups. For example, people think that it's invite only and only the tagged folks can comment. Nope! It's literally because half of us have ADHD and will forget it's happening. And I've been tagging a lot of people and most ask to be tagged whenever someone subs in for me.
Unfortunately, I'm tagging more people than who are replying. Over the past month or so, I've been tagging about 21 people but only about 7-12 are responding. Now, I get it. The world is on fire and a lot of us aren't reading. Heck, a lot of us are actively taking time away from social media because the echo chamber of screaming is a bit much. I know I've been stepping away a lot and you already know how slow my reading have been. I GET IT. This isn't to put anyone on the spot or to bully anyone because that's not my style. Second rule of WBC is "Don't be a tool".
But tagging people is hard. I know it might seem easy on the outside but I'm constantly forgetting someone. I also asked the regulars who have subbed for me and they told me they struggled with the tag list too. So to spend that time finding the tag list, tagging everyone only for less than half to reply feels a little disheartening.
Don't worry, I'm not shelfing WBC. I don't see that happening for a long time but I will be changing the tag list. If you haven't replied for 4 weeks straight, you will be taken off the list. You can STILL reply though!
Now I've been keeping track of everything for the past 6-ish weeks so I have an idea who are my regulars. That said, I'm starting the count from today. That way, it doesn't seem like I'm just kicking folks out. I always want WBC to be a welcoming place, a place where you can just pull up a chair and talk to us. The goal of this isn't to punish anyone. It's to make my load a little lighter and lessen any guilt you might be feeling for not reading.
Once again, to anyone on my tag list, if you haven't replied to one of my posts for 4 weeks straight, you will be removed from the list. You can still comment and join in our discussions because I want you all to have fun.
I hope this have cleared up anything and my replies/DMs/comments are open if you have any questions. Thanks for reading-GJ
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