by 18 people |
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Full details...
What do you think about Squidoo closing SquidooGroups?
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dagsmith says:
Tis time to take out the groups trash! Groups have potential and I am happy to see Squidoo start down the path. Groups like "anyone can join" highlight the questionable value of the groups.
Posted April 14, 2009
OhMe says:
I agree that there needs to be some Spring Cleaning to get rid of inactive or spammy groups. I just hope that good groups don't get axed in the process.
Posted April 12, 2009
Dkprincess6 says:
I think that some of the groups did need cleaning up. They are time consuming, but, like with the lenses, they have to be maintained to be any good.
Posted April 11, 2009
spirituality says:
I think the lockdown is good - it makes it clear that they are serious about wanting to improve the groups that exist, before allowing people to create new ones.
Posted April 11, 2009
KimGiancaterino says:
Stazjia hit the nail on the head... groups are very time consuming to manage. It's also very difficult to update a group. Sometimes I have to publish 3 or 4 times. I recently transferred my two largest groups to other lensmasters. I will probably delete another and just keep my very narrowly focused groups. I'm glad groups are finally getting some attention, and hope new tools are devised to make it easier to manage them.
Posted April 11, 2009
tandemonimom says:
I am thrilled that they are cleaning up the junk and abandoned groups. I hope that they closed new groups to allow them to implement the better tools for groupmasters, and that we will be able to create new groups again once they are done with the overhaul. Groups are an important part of Squidoo and the need for new or different groups pops up all the time!
Posted April 10, 2009
CleanerLife says:
If it's to clean up existing Groups, and Groups will be allowed to be started again under stricter guidelines, then I think it's a good idea.
Posted April 10, 2009
poddys says:
Focused groups are all well and good, however only good provided you can find a topic that your lens fits into. Making groups too specific will undoubtedly leave gaps.
Posted April 10, 2009
poddys says:
I agree that the groups need further work, and in a lot of cases groups serve little point. However, it is nice to see some groups where the groupmaster takes time to visit the lenses in the group and to make it a useful group to belong to. There are several enhancements that I would like to see made to groups, especially as regards indexing of contents, but despite the potentially bad news this week, I hope it means an improvement to the concept of groups in the long term.
Posted April 10, 2009
Stazjia says:
There's no doubt groups needed cleaning up.There are so many that it's pointless to join because they don't display links to lenses, they take any lens regardless of quality and some are just totally neglected. I got acceptances from a group a couple of weeks ago for lenses that I had applied to months ago.
Because there are so many poor groups, I guess the only way is a halt to starting groups so they can sort through them.
Having said that, I don't think Squidoo has made it easy to maintain groups or encourage a sense of community in them. You can't expect lensmasters to keep up with the messages on a group's page when they probably belong to numerous groups on a range of different subjects according to their different lenses. The most basic requirement for encouraging participation in a group would be a way of contacting all members to ask them to contribute on a particular topic or to tell them about some planned feature or change.
The tools for managing and updating a group's page are clunky and time consuming. I find it particularly irritating that there is no content module. I think the clunky tools might be one reason groups become neglected or abandoned. To say these will be improved for the groups that have made the grade is a bit of a cop-out for not doing it earlier because many more might be better quality with better tools.
Posted April 10, 2009
paperfacets says:
Focused groups is a good idea. Let's set the rules and then observe them for better quality. I see gather groups on Google. Do Squidoo groups pass Google search?
Posted April 09, 2009
Cinetech says:
Great job, it helps everybody. Focused groups is what we need, if anything.
Posted April 09, 2009
Mortira says:
Can you imagine how hard it would be to sort through existing lenses for activity, content quality and the like, if people were still starting up new groups every day?
I look forward to the new quality assurance changes, and I am sure new groups will be permitted once we've all become used to the new guidelines.
Posted April 09, 2009
Mickie_G says:
I think this is an ok move by the administrators at Squidoo. I have noticed some spammy groups when I was trying to find groups to join.
Posted April 09, 2009
No way!
Princeton says:
I had a great idea about a group and I was so excited to post it, and after much research I have discovered this page- to my great disappointment. What a shame! I never had a chance to start a group myself.
Posted June 09, 2009
seegreen says:
While I think it is a good idea to get rid of junk groups and those that don't fit the new criteria (after being given plenty of time to revamp them), I don't agree that no new groups can be created. That's just unfair to new members who haven't had the chance to start one.
Posted April 11, 2009
0ctavias0fferings says:
How will I ever get organised if groups are taken away from us, please don't do this :(
Posted April 11, 2009
Margaret_Schaut says:
Groups were abandoned in hopeless despair because the team didn't ever develop them in a worthy way. The fact that ANY groups are good is nearly a miracle. We were all encourage to make groups, promote groups and do our best with them, but they are time consuming, difficult to update, and very difficult to go through the various lensmasters' pages. People are impatient and demanding, thinking that we're ignoring them rather than as busy people who want to also make lenses that we simply don't have the time to instantly respond to everyone who applies, just because THEY want it to happen NOW. Do the member reciprocate for the group masters? RARELY. But many of us believe in the potential and power of groups, even if we've taken a wait and see attitude in respects to headquarter's promised development of them. Mine would all be MUCH farther along if they had been updated in a way similar to lenses.
Posted April 11, 2009
tandemonimom says:
PS I hope they don't disallow ALL "anyone can join" groups. Most of them are junk, it's true, but some are well-managed! It should be a case-by-case decision.
Posted April 10, 2009
squidom says:
Perhaps, it won't be permanent? In any case, I think it's great motivation for those who run groups to clean them up and make them stand out from the rest. So get off your tush and get to work, Peeps! :)
Posted April 10, 2009
motorpurrr says:
Sad. What if there is an odd lens subject that there isn't a group for? New people wont be able to start a group! Really sad! Are they doing it because their system can't handle it? Maybe they really were taken over on April fools day.
Posted April 10, 2009
mbrownauthor says:
I think it's sad. Groups are a great way to meet new lensmasters and explore lenses on certain topics. I think they're fun. I belong to many, and I started five.
Posted April 09, 2009
Groundswell says:
In response to "Mickie_G" I guess I would have liked them to increase the social networking capability of Squidoo is all. I see groups as one of the few social networking features of Squidoo, instead of taking tools like that away it would be nice if they fixed, polish, or replaced them with something better.
Posted April 09, 2009
JenniferStephens says:
Maybe Squidoo should let the Squidooers decide about whether or not to close SquidooGroups.
Posted April 09, 2009
Groundswell says:
I've got to say that I was very disappointed in Squidoo's decision to close SquidooGroups and to begin removing groups that don't fit into their new quality assurance programs, although they have not told us what these new quality assurance programs are. I've enjoyed managing my groups, and it is one of the few things that makes Squidoo a social network where others can participate. I'm expecting my group SquidooFarm will be deleted soon as I allow most all lenses into this group, which was the point of the group to begin with, it was a hodgepodge of lenses. Which according to Squidoo is a no-no now.
Posted April 09, 2009
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