Opinons needed

[MKelley226]

I did take a long break from here....nothing to do with the site, but life got busy for me....we moved and things are back to a normal that I like, so I came back. I remember the forums being pretty busy and now they aren't. I'm a shy person, so don't get too personnal with postings of my family and such in those type of threads. I'm not noticing negativity...venting of surveys, but I have done that on occassion....it's human! I also did not know about the "new posts" button....but maybe I should check that out and I can get involved with others posts. Maybe the "newness" has worn off for some people like someone else metioned.

[m 'n c]

I just get tired. I see threads like these so I'll put in the effort to bump new threads and start new ones but they quickly die. I figure that if people want to participate they can try like I do and I'll happily respond to their post. It just gets hard to put in the effort when it doesn't seem to help or work.

[askomsky]

I'll probably take some flak for this but to be perfectly honest, I personally get sick and tired of seeing the same people rant about the same thing (like not being able to get a survey in "x" amount of time, or not being about to get a trifecta on a particular day because they usually do any other day. Sheesh!) That's not to say that all people talking about surveys or lack thereof are complaining, but there are a few members that I feel are chronic complainers. I do try to pick and choose what I read, but sometimes these things are interspersed in various threads. I have scaled way back in my forum interaction partially because of this.

Also, I agree with Janet in the amount of coupons being placed in the forum. I like the savings and totally appreciate all the hard work that goes into getting us these deals, but I wonder if there could be a better place for them other than the forum. Sometimes I just have a few minutes to log in, and when I see there are 3 - 5 pages to get through in order to read the posts I want to see, I get frustrated and log out.

What posts do I like? I like the posts from our fellow members telling us about their lives: problems, children, travel, comments about local, national or world events, pets, etc. I loved our picture threads about "furbabies" and family members, neither of which I have seen updated in a while. I like to learn about special offers that are crediting well plus special deals someone has noticed and would like to pass on to the rest of us. I like to hear from fellow members from areas affected by unusual weather or other events, just so I can find out how they are. I like the contests Tricia and Cindy frequently run even if I don't always join in. I like reading about how some of our more seasoned members are helping newbies who are requesting help. Overall, I love the warm caring members I have grown to know via the forum.

Let's try to keep this forum a place where we can't wait to see what's going on next, like the next chapter in a great book.

Pat hit the nail on the head with her post, felt like I could have written it myself.

I dont' mind people venting about survey's, I can ignore that, but i do agree, I have to roll my eyes when unexpectadly I come across someone whining again. I do try to just ignore those.

I miss the way it was when I first joined, I think a huge part is life changes, economy changed people, more people are doing more at work or getting jobs who didn't have to do more work or work at all in the past.

Coupons, you took care of that issue, but I agree it was REALLY annoying, someone else said it best, if I was shopping for something in particular I would just go look it up.

I like visiting the forum but I have really seen a negative aspect from it too. It seems like everything I say or ask or do is always getting flack in some way shape or another and so I really log in in the am to see whats up and then that is about it. On Tuesday and Wednesday I try to get on a bit more but I haven't been on at night recently because I just don't need the drama. I read enough on FB.

THIS IS probably my BIGGEST issue. I've seen recently SEVERAL times where a member has jumped the gun on another member and gotten somewhat nasty is the only way to put it. Totally turned me off, bc I had read the thread and didn't see it come across the same way, so it really was a matter of interpretation on how it was read. Several times I wanted to jump in, but I stayed out of it. I think everyone needs to realize that we ALL have a different opinion on things, doesn't make it wrong or right, and unless you were being personally attack there's no reason to jump the gun, maybe if people are offended they'll stop and ask that person what they meant. That happeneded to me and another member before, I took it off the board and PM'd them just to make sure I understood correctly. Thankfully for the most part everyone is really nice and most people let things slide, but I was suprised a few times by some threads.


As for me, i started working PT a year ago and well someone finally got me onto FB last summer, so now my SR time is divided three ways. I was doing fine with survey's until the holidays. Got to busy and out of the habit and now it's just hard to get back INTO the habit. I don't check the forums' as much bc honestly there doesnt' seem like anything except posts on coupons, surveys and freebies (which I don't really do anymore).

[lanny76]

THIS IS probably my BIGGEST issue. I've seen recently SEVERAL times where a member has jumped the gun on another member and gotten somewhat nasty is the only way to put it. Totally turned me off, bc I had read the thread and didn't see it come across the same way, so it really was a matter of interpretation on how it was read. Several times I wanted to jump in, but I stayed out of it. I think everyone needs to realize that we ALL have a different opinion on things, doesn't make it wrong or right, and unless you were being personally attack there's no reason to jump the gun, maybe if people are offended they'll stop and ask that person what they meant. That happeneded to me and another member before, I took it off the board and PM'd them just to make sure I understood correctly. Thankfully for the most part everyone is really nice and most people let things slide, but I was suprised a few times by some threads. (sorry, should be quotes there)



---I think that this is something I have had an issue with too - there is sometimes the feeling, at least when some certain people make a comment on something I posted, that there is the sense that it's not just my post that isn't understood/liked/agreed with, it's me. If I have that sense, it's hard for me not to try to correct the perception someone had of what I said/or seems to have of me - but then that doesn't seem to work well sometimes either. Better to post nothing. Now, I realize tone is misunderstood, etc., but I can say I've never intended to offend/bother anyone with anything I've posted and I've tried to avoid that, even if it has happened - which I'm sorry for. Probably I don't post as much on some things because I don't want my words to be taken the wrong way. It's certainly OK to have different opinions and it's nice when we can share them without conflict, but sometimes it doesn't seem to work out, sadly.

[metallicaruler80]

I am in the habit of checking forums almost daily if I can. I do not always sign in, so I am not sure if this seen as not being on the forums.

I have to admit I am kinda of tired about hearing about survey frustrations. They are hit or miss. I do get frustrated when I do a long survey and it does not credit or I do not get the congratulations page. I do see when people who do complain do sometimes get credit and I then wish I had said something. Either way, I do not NOT visit because of this.

I usually post for questions on things I need have to better understand of or either to know what is going on or to participate in contests.

I am so grateful to SR and will continue to monitor forums on a regular basis.

[wilsonfamily4]

My opinion is that the member review threads and the coupon threads take up a lot of space and make it hard to keep up with the forum. I check the forum everyday but sometimes I am too busy too sort through the other stuff to see what is going on in the non-review, non-coupon threads. I do read those threads because they are helpful but I never read them from the new posts section. I go to their section and choose the ones I want to read.

YES!! I want to check the threads but get derailed by all the posts on products and coupons. I like those in the shopping area of the main site, not the forum.

[andrea2289]

On a more personal note, I was MUCH more involved in the forum when I was doing well with Sunshine. One of the things that kept me coming back to the site/forum numerous times a day was new offers and the excitement that went along with doing them. I have noticed a drastic decline in new offers lately so the only way for us 'SR Veterans' to earn is by shopping and doing surveys. I don't have time to try for surveys, so for me, shopping is it. I really miss the offers and know I'd be more active on the site/forum if there were more earnings opportunities I still LOVE SR but there just isn't much for me to do in the way of earning anymore, and for me anyway, being active on the site and the forum go hand in hand.

As for the negativity, I think that communicating through text is hard enough. Add to that a thousand different personalities and you have and interesting situation. One that requires patience and understanding. It doesn’t bother me at all but I do think the mods should remove unnecessarily negative posts and I can just ignore the others.

Coupons…I agree with previous posts. There are way too many and I don’t even look at them. The forum can be a bit overwhelming, especially for a newbie.

[sqromano]

First, I have to say that I agree with a lot of the other posts. Thank you for taking care of the coupons. Sometimes, they were just too much to wade through. I check the forum daily, but I would sometimes have so little time that I would just exit out when I saw all the coupon posts. Second, the negativity doesn't always bother me. I sometimes get annoyed when there is complaining about missing big bonuses or not getting an AMP credit when some of us have regular no creits. I don't see a lot of gratitude for all the nice things SR does for us members. This is a voluntary thing, and I think a little more thankfulness would be nice sometimes! I do like seeing about other people's stories, although I am not so great about posting my own! I would love to have a resurgence of some of the family threads. I also use the forum to get problems solved with surveys, offers, etc., although I don't have as many questions now as I did when I first became active in SR.

[fourfoxesinpa]

I find myself spending more free time on Facebook catching up with friends than on here - with no disrespect to SR. The only posts I really find myself checking here on a regular basis are the announcements (to see if there is a contest) and the "Automatic Credit" thread to see what is working. Every now and then I'll surf through threads to see what's going on but definitely not as often as I used to before FB.

I don't play games here, I don't blog, buy ASOTV, or look at the entertainment news, so those threads aren't relevant to me. I guess, to sum it up, I say I use the forum primarily to find out how to increase my SR earnings and not for social networking, again with absolutely no "dis" to SR.

[m 'n c]

I see a lot of survey related posts - saying there are too many posts that tend to be negative and then others saying they like to have these posts.

Would it be too much of a hassle to keep all survey related posts into that technical issues thread? That way those who want to talk about surveys can in there and it is contained to one thread.

I know I try and move posts into that thread when I can but lately I just have been closing threads hoping people will redirect themselves there.