Should Collaborative Stories be Allowed?
@DreadPirateRoberts (26)
United States
January 5, 2016 6:33pm CST
I started a collaborative story and have gotten as many comments that these may be against the community guidelines as i have gotten participants. I assume that they are referring to the guideline against Mindless Polls such as each new person counting.
If this is the reason if may or may not be allowed I would respond that these responses are not mindless. They call for a creative and thoughtful response from each and every commenter. Therefore it is not mindless. It is merely different. Is myLot only for community "discussion" or is community collaboration to create something unique acceptable?
If i created a haiku and asked each responsder to create on using the same guidlines, that would result in multiple new poems. Or if i wrote one Stanza of a Sonnet and asked for additional stanzas. is that acceptable or can i only ask for responses to my OP? And IF a stanza each is acceptable, why not a sentence each?
I am new here so i would love to here other opinions from veterans and the moderators.
4 people like this
6 responses
@yukimori (10145)
• United States
6 Jan 16
In the past, I believe things of that nature fell under the heading of 'posting games,' which were expressly prohibited by the guidelines. If I remember correctly, it was put into place to keep people from gaming the system by just adding a word or two per post.
@GoAskAlice is actually the one who can tell you whether or not it's allowed currently. He's the official moderator and community liaison.
From a member's standpoint, the issues that I see with it are mostly in the format of the site currently. Comments aren't static on the page, so unless everything is limited to a single response thread under the original discussion topic, it's going to get all jumbled up when comments are posted to each response.
4 people like this
@Mike197602 (15505)
• United Kingdom
6 Jan 16
Yes, apart from the rules thing i doubt the way people would go about responding would benefit anyone really.
If it was allowed it'd have to have very specific instructions from the starter and from a purely earnings perspective i can't really see how it'd work for more than one person.
It would be a big mess but i must admit after giving it a tiny bit of thought I like the idea of debating the theoretical concept and how it could work for everyone...don't think it could work personally but could be wrong.
2 people like this
@DreadPirateRoberts (26)
• United States
6 Jan 16
interesting. Thank you for that. i hadn/t considered the gaming side. I am not sure what a 'posting game' is specifically but i understand the idea, especially in the context of this discussion.
Also, i appreciate you're including the moderator.
2 people like this
@yukimori (10145)
• United States
6 Jan 16
@DreadPirateRoberts The specific examples that were given in the past were things like 'Let's see how high we can count! I'll start with 1 and you post the next number!'
In practice, it's basically any content that's specifically posted to gain attention/views or to build the quantity of a user's interactions without maintaining the value of those interactions. Hence the rule against mindless polls and other things that don't really engage the audience.
2 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
6 Jan 16
@PhredWreck or @Mysdianait are the ones you want to ask about this.
As far as I can recall they have never been allowed. (this is based off of the old site as well)
3 people like this
@DreadPirateRoberts (26)
• United States
6 Jan 16
I am so new i dont even know about the old site. i am curious why it is not allowed.
2 people like this
@GoAskAlice (5826)
•
8 Jan 16
I am still evolving policy on this. At this point what I can say that is if you are going to limit responses to only a few words, then it would be a no.
@DreadPirateRoberts (26)
• United States
8 Jan 16
Thank you. i look forward to hearing your decision. I understand the problem you are having with the minimal word limits. I will wait to hear from you before starting another one and will post a suspension on the current discussion.
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
18 Jan 16
I would suggest that it would be good practice and create a "safe" area if you also added some commentary.
Example:
Roses are red
Violets are blue too.
I thought the variation on the second line was.. what do you think bla bla bla
_____________
That way the post stays a discussion and still functions in the way you want? It may not be your postings but others that will copy but ruin the idea with silly posts?
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15505)
• United Kingdom
6 Jan 16
Admin decide what is and what is not allowed.
As mentioned by a couple of people, this sort of thing wasn't allowed previously.
Personally I've no interest whatsoever in a collaborative story beyond the concept and seeing how it would look.
Purely from an earnings point of view people won't do well from participating as each response won't be interacted with as such unless people leave the first response and make successive comments on it.
If i was you i'd not bother doing another one.
3 people like this
@CharHC (18)
• United States
6 Jan 16
I'm new myself, so my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. However, as a matter of common sense, I don't think a collaborative story is pretty much different than any other discussion. More structured perhaps, directed as it were. I think encouraging cooperation and imagination is always a good thing!
2 people like this
@DreadPirateRoberts (26)
• United States
6 Jan 16
I agree Char. But i am even newer than you. I am interested to see everyones opinions and reasoning.
3 people like this
@Mike197602 (15505)
• United Kingdom
6 Jan 16
it would work as a concept but i don't think it'd pick up interest as i think it may be against the rules.
Discussion starter makes a post.
Then we respond or comment on responses.
To be a collaborative story it'd need to be a series of single responses with no comments on responses as that'd get messy.
Here we are paid for interaction...the most we'd get on a clean collaborative story would be likes...nobody would really interact on responses as that'd mess up the flow.
It may get responses from those interested in the concept but for those interested in earnings it wouldn't be worth it.
The only way it would work would be if you get a bunch of members who are prepared to make a response and leave it at that.
I'd do it and will be watching this space to see if admin say anything.
Even writing this my thoughts are messy and i doubt if anyone will get what i'm trying to say
2 people like this
