i do not understand why people join a group that requires participation only to do nothing until they receive a warning and then do only the minimum until they can get away with doing nothing again. why the heck even bother to join if you are not intending to actually do something? even if it's not a waste of your time, it is a waste of the time of whoever manages the group - someone who probably has far better things to do than to chase after your a$$ every time you slack off for the allowed amount of slack off time. and in groups with a limited membership, you hold a spot that could be better used by someone else.

i've seen this joiner attitude in a lot of different groups across the net: women's groups, collabs, writing groups, etc etc. you name it, there's been some variation out there that has some kind of participation component that some joiner only fulfills when pushed. and i have even more concerns when the joiner is in a writing group. he or she sits there, looking at the work of other members, not adding his own work or his own two cents on a halfway decent crit. when one considers all the lovely net stealing these days, is it any wonder the silent member of a crit forum makes me nervous?

is a new link on your website so important that you have to waste time by being in a group that will get tired of your sorry little slacker butt and toss you out eventually? i mean, seriously, what is the point? you aren't getting anything out of what you're supposedly a part of. you think joining something makes you the real thing? being part of a writer's group makes your a writer as much as standing in a pool makes you a swimmer. unless you do, you aren't anything but a poser.

and these are the people who also often complain about said groups. not always. i participated in a volunteer group once, worked my rear off for them, and got shafted in the end because i was managing things that other ladies with more power wanted. so, yea, i know there are those with legitimate complaints. and i know there are those with legitimate reasons why they can't be involved with things to the extent that they originally thought - family issues, real life, other obligations get in the way. school killed my time, so, yea, i am very aware of all that. the ones i'm talking about are those who don't have these reasons. they have time for everything except what they've committed to (and if you've over committed, get a clue and get out of something to make time). if you're not going to take your membership in a group seriously and actually DO something, then you have no right to complain when they finally get tired of reminding you every few months that your membership is about to get dropped because of it.

if you are one of these losers, as i see it you have 3 options: finally get off your sorry butt and get involved; continue to be an annoyance and just sit until harassed to do otherwise; or finally get real and save yourself, whoever manages the group, and anyone else who may actually get something out of what you are refusing to be a part of some time and get lost. problem is, joiners seem to be too lame to do the first or third option - they like wasting everyone's time for whatever reason: the link on their site, the idea that the resources are there should they ever need them (not that they ever will), or the idea that they can call themselves a member. mind you, they are members in name only and total wastes otherwise, but they can call themselves a member.

wtf is that? really? other than stupid, i mean?

yea, i'm seriously thinking about making some changes in policy at dii. idiots.