Squidoo: How to be a good squidizen

There's constructive criticism and then there's blatant disregard for another person's feelings. Make sure your comments are at the nice end of that scale.

New people aren't sure of their work yet - that's why they ask for criticism. It's not so they can be yelled at and told they're writing in the wrong forum. Be gentle!

Rate the work of new Squidoo members. If it's okay - say that! Give them three stars to get them started (or more if it's really good). Everyone who sees their work is their first angel.

Don't forget to favourite the lens and the lensmaster (if you really like their work) and be sure to leave a comment! All of this helps the newcomer to feel accepted, part of the community and more certain that they're doing the right thing.

Plus, you might make new friends!

Down in the bottom left of the Lensmaster Forum are some extremely useful links.

• Show Recent Posts
  
• Show Unanswered Posts
  
• Show Your Subscribed Posts
  
• Show Your Posts
  

The latter two links are great for keeping track of your own conversations on SquidU - good for making sure you stay sociable and don't accidentally leave a conversation halfway.

The former two links are the most important though - this is how you can keep track of all the new people and conversations on SquidU. Look at Show Unanswered Posts - it's almost entirely new Lensmasters asking for critiques. So many unanswered cries for help! If all the people who cared answered one cry every now and then... Squidoo would be a better place.

The Show Recent Posts however will keep you in the loop with all conversations across SquidU and ensure you see the newbies asking for help even when someone has already answered. This is a vital place to be watching, to ensure good advice and criticism has been given to the newcomers. Watch this place!