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Counting up the first page in the writers' room and over half the subs have no rating or comments. Are people on here not funny? Is nobody reading other peoples work? Are people reading but not commenting?
I repeat this is not a flounce,l believe I need another 6 months service before I am allowed one of them, I was just curious for peoples thoughts. For what it's worth I think it's a mix of all three.
Anonymous
offlineUnregistered
I'm 40 now, and I find that the board is moving far too quickly. It makes me feel a bit queasy, and I've run out of Qwells.
Also, there's a lot of new people, and I'm somewhat reluctant to leave constructive criticism. It seemed to go a bit wrong last time.
Anonymous
offlineUnregistered
I've noticed a lot more white-and-orange daffodils in the wild this year, can I read anything into that? Am I just taking a posher way into work?
Mandy Lifeboat
offlineMember
Wayland - at the risk of advanced arse licking don't stop commenting on new posters. As a relative newbie you get a feel for who the old hands are quickly and any comments are gratefully received - get more out of it than the 'take 5 fab' comments (or in my case take two you unfunny c*nt). Peronally I';m getitng submerged under the welter of derivative stuff...
Anonymous
offlineUnregistered
To be fair, I'm a long way from being an old hand. I'm still just a persistent newcomer.
writinginbsl
offlineMember
if i dont think something is funny i dont comment at all.
i only rarely offer constructive criticism because most of the stuff is better than i can do anyway.
re;daffodils
around 'yer there are lots of daffs planted in the verges, it does give me a warm glow thinking of all the lovely, unselfish people who have planted them to make things a bit nicer. awwwww. bless 'em
peace, man
beau-jolly
offlineMember
I tend to only read ones with comments 'cos the comments are the best bits.
It is true though that at the moment you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince.
Snowdrops over, loving daffs, looking forward to blue bells
seymour totti
offlineMember
Hey Perks - any chance you could do a good flounce. We haven't one in a while. I quite enjoy putting toys back in prams!
For what it's worth, there seems to be more on the submission board recently. The increase in volume means there is a lot more tosh about. Not saying i can do much better but it means that good efforts can get lost in a sea of mediocrity. That's why I'm limiting myself to mostly one liners at the moment. If the headline ain't snappy, people move on.
Mixed feelings with daffodils. Lovely to look at but I hate gardening, so can't grow the buggers!
GillsImp has clearly taken the initiative here and created a second ID to comment on all his/her submissions and award 5 stars.
There do seem to be alot of new posters, which I think is a good thing, as long as they don't sub a load of old crap. Also very annoying if someone subs lots of one liners all at once and clogs up the first page. If you have 6 ideas all at once, pick the best one and sub that.
Love the daffs, any colour, just glad its sping. The fact the sun has been shining does mean we have non stop glorious weather until Oct right?
Lemon difficult
offlineMember
Dont talk to me about getting lost on the sea of mediocrity. First nice weekend of the year and you think, I know Ill take the old tub up the coast of hilarity for a spot of lunch at the port of droll mordancy, before you know it youve misread the compass and bollocks! its the sea of mediocrity again. And can you get a decent shipping map, course not they`re mediocre.
And daffodils are cunts.
FlashArry
offlineMember
For some reason Lemon's post was voiced in my head by Peter Cook.
There does seem to be a scattergun approach around the writers room at the moment, and some of the posts, whilst funny, are not really fitting any of the formats, and swamping some real gems in the process - just got to dig a bit deeper.
I guess it'll calm down - if not, a flounce of Krakatoan proportions could be the answer : Perks gets first dibs ?
Immunis
offlineMember
It is a part of the news biscuit culture that we applaud good work, but do not tend to criticise (constructive or otherwise) weaker pieces. I was lucky enough to hit tickers, Nibs and an FP very early in my NB career but it is difficult for somebody who isn't writing in the target style to be informed of their mistakes.
On my part the lack of feedback comes from 2 reasons
1) A lack of time, most of my posts are written during my lunch break and not when I have access to NB. They are then cut, pasted and given a brush up on the site. I therefore don't spend ,as much time looking at other peoples posts as I probably should.
2) Given the amount of final edit my work goes through to get on the main site. I doubt that my feedback beyond the bleeding obvious (i.e. add punctuation, add jokes and get the story to a usable length) will make for a story that is more usable by the editors.
I am willing to spend some time once a week in searching through the nearly stories and new writers pieces, giving constructive feedback, but it will feel horribly like work and that's not why I write for this site.
weematt
offlineMember
As a newcomer I like to receive comments so I share Perks' feelings about the apparent apathy.
Perhaps the newbies are reluctant to comment until they get a better idea of what goes on here.
There is an impression given by some of the comments that there is a kind of inner circle of oldies (longer standing contributors). This may be a bit off-puting to newbies but just like joining any club you just have to get to know the others and this takes time.
I read a sub when the either the topic, the headline or both combined grab my attention. I have often been lured by the comment count but mostly find the higher counts are more like FaceBiscuit than NewsBiscuit, often a two person conversation largely off topic.
On the technical side the forums (or is it fora) would benefit from the 'hover over the topic and be able to read a bit more' feature I have seen elsewhere.
Sinnick
offlineMember
I like to actively encourage newbies that show some talent because they're often lacking a little confidence. If something nearly works, I might even give them 3* but explain why.
However, there are several characters out there that just don't take the hint that their efforts really don't work, ever. They clog up the site, and attract others like them. I don't really want to tell them this because I can do without the implicit threat of being trolled, so I say nowt.
Having said this, I don't sub that much, but when I do I like to think that someone out there appreciates the joke. Maybe one day I might even manage to string a few sentences together to make a NiB all of my own.
I think yesterday was a particularly extreme example. There were a LOT of subs, most on one of 2 topics - pasties or petrol, and it just got tiring after a while trying to read them all. That's a problem when one item dominates the news, you end up with 30 different takes on the same story, and people get bored. I can't complain given that I wrote one on the petrol strikes myself, but I think that may have contributed to the low amounts of feedback/stars.
I don't give a lot of constructive criticism/feedback because I still consider myself a newcomer despite having actually been around for a while now. I don't really feel qualified to tell somebody where they are going wrong - just because I don't like something doesn't mean it isn't good.
On the subject of daffodils - they're alright with a bit of ketchup.
beau-jolly
offlineMember
There you have it Mandy. If someone can't be arsed to read the guidelines then they shouldn't expect praise. Some of the recent ones have just been old jokes.
I have a daffodil in my buttonhole today. Marie Curie charity thingy.
Wow. Funnily this most be my most commented on sub.
So the general feeling is, there is some good stuff, but sometimes it gets drowned out by alot of crap. We all want to help newbies, but not if they throw so much shit hopeing something will stick. We are reluctant to give critisism because, as wayland is aware, some think we are being personnal and up our own arse and it is not worth the hassle.
Thats what I thought. I think from now I will be honest and if i don't find something funny, I will say, both to new posters and old. But try and say why
I have to say though the editors on here are very good at article choice. They do pick something if it is good but has sunk like the titanic. As for flouncing, i will start writing my flounce piece now for when the time is right
weematt
offlineMember
I believe it is best to treat guidelines like guidelines not unbreakable rules. They would have been called rules if they were not meant to be there to steer input in a general direction. I don't get the impression that items are discarded if they are outside guidelines.
To be found funny and to be published is great but I would settle for being found funny outside the guidelines and who knows, maybe the item can be adapted to fit. I recently submitted a readers letters style item which some liked but I can see that it would be tricky to implement. Maybe gave the editorial team something to think about.
I have had some constructive input from several members and this is much appreciated. I don't feel able to offer this yet as I am still too new (4weeks, 4.2 tickers, 1 well mashed FP)) to this activity. Wish I had found NewsBiscuit sooner, its great fun and sometimes a laugh.
Anonymous
offlineUnregistered
Perks, this is a shit flounce. Could do better.
nickb
offlineMember
I agree with a lot of this except maybe the daffodils comments. In this funny old world of creadividy, it's a Shay Given that people have a right to fail. Some do this spectacularly well, and it is interesting and informative to watch them do so. I admire those who try and help them. However, we can't look away from the constipation problem rightly highlighted here by the excellent Perks. Too much impacted material, causing a blockage to funniness. I have a modest proposal: Zero rated posts get automatically relegated after, say, one week in the WR. No more caustic one-starring. These could appear in a separate page, with a funny name. I love fish posts so we could call it the John West page.
Giving criticism to newbies is something I'll do once, to see the reaction and to encourage. Some people can't take criticism. But there are people who genuinely have good ideas that are let down by execution, and I think it'll do them some good to get feedback.
Because a lot of the submissions are about current events, people submit the same angle on that story, rather than come up with something new and fresh. Then its important to bump the good stuff before it gets lost in the Bin of Forum History (TM)
Sometimes VCG or Wayland come up with something less than brilliant, and then its my job to rub their noses in it. It's a hobby...
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