Other welcoming groups

If you've found other groups on LT that are particularly welcoming or less rude, tell us about them.

I really like the Bookmooching group. I've been a part of the group since June and the people there are very kind. There is an active Newbie thread and everyone who posts is acknowledged. They talk a lot, and sometimes get off topic, but in my experience this is a wonderfuly accepting group! If you are active in Bookmooch, or just thinking about becoming active, consider joining this LT group.

There are two groups that I have found to be friendly. Reviews Reviewed don't get many posts but it is very welcoming to say nothing of being extremely helpful. I also enjoy the Canadian Fiction/Non-fiction Challenge group, which was quite busy for a while although it has gone quiet in the last week or so. I love the enthusiasm for the genre even though not all posters enjoy the same books.

I'm a member of the Virago Modern Classics group, which is very friendly, also of Bookmooching. I read (and mostly enjoy) the Literary Snobs threads but have never dared to post anything!

Beat Literature has courteous, helpful posters. It's very quiet though -- no new posts since August.

Any opinions here on Welcome to LibraryThing! ? I'm one of the answerers there, and I think it's much nicer there in general (much less snark), but as a frequent poster I'd like to get others' opinions.

I'm a member of Bookmooching, and I'll have to check out Reviews Reviewed.

>6 jjmcgaffey: I've been on LT for several years so haven't been to "welcome to" in a long time. I'll check it out.

This topic had me wondering about 'welcoming' and 'unwelcoming' groups, and although I haven't gone down all the byways of the groups I frequent I find most of them populated by people who interact civilly with each other. It is usually understood that you are welcome.

Of course there are some groups that cater for the more boisterous reader - and why not? I enjoy their humour.

The groups that generate contention and intolerance (e.g. those relating to religion) are easily ignored.

Edited to add >6 jjmcgaffey: jjmcgaffey.... The Welcome to LibraryThing group is an excellent idea and, from what I've seen of it, very helpful.

Thrin, I agree with you that by far the majority of the people I've encountered in LT groups interact civilly, as that has certainly been my experience! I also agree with you that the more contentious groups can be ignored, and that boisterous readers should have a place to be boisterous. I often sit at my computer lurking on various LT groups and cracking up!

I personally haven't found an "unwelcoming" group on LT, though I do feel groups differ in the specific actions that are taken to explicitly welcome people. You feel that a group's welcome of you can be assumed, where I might feel that an explicit action - like an acknowledgement of a post, or a welcome PM - makes me feel more "welcome" and more likely to participate. That's just an example, and others might have other things they latch onto as invitations to be active participants. I don't expect every group I enter to explicitly welcome me, and lack of it doesn't make a group "rude" either.

Most importantly, I don't think we've got a "better" way or that the "talkative" groups are somehow all to be painted with a "rude" brush. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I'm sorry that some have interpreted the formation of this group that way. I think it's simply a matter of what communication styles make a person most comfortable becoming a part of a discussion. Not right/wrong, just different. When you want to be boisterous, go be boisterous! When I want to hear a boisterous discussion I'll go with you (but probably still lurk mostly! Hope that's ok!) When a slower pace is what you need, I'd like this to be the group you come back to, because you are welcome here. :-)

(edited for spelling - twice, because once is never enough.)

Well said, minelson01.

And welcome to all, lurkers or otherwise.

> jjmcgaffey: the group Reviews Reviewed is excellent for different reasons and different people. Lurkers can pick up reviewing tips, reviewers can get help to polish their reviews - in a very diplomatic way - and, if you have any talent at writing reviews then your advice is invaluable.

Yes, >9 mlnelson01: minelson01, you are absolutely right. In fact after posting my message above I realised that there have been times when I've thought 'That's a really good point' or 'I like that' but have not taken the time to actually say so in an acknowledging post whereas in Real Life conversation I would so have done, and my assumption that I am welcome wherever I land might well be incorrect!

There have certainly been times when I've posted, had absolutely no response and wondered if I've said something particularly stupid.... To then ask 'Did I say something particularly stupid?' seems to be asking for trouble.

Of course I don't for a moment think that this group thinks it has a "better" way. Probably expressed myself badly (again) but was hoping to be encouraging in my post at #8.

I look forward to seeing how A Quieter LibraryThing evolves.

>#11

There have certainly been times when I've posted, had absolutely no response and wondered if I've said something particularly stupid.... To then ask 'Did I say something particularly stupid?' seems to be asking for trouble.

I'm glad I'm not the only person who felt this way!!

>11 Thrin:

Probably expressed myself badly...

No, Thrin, you were fine! At some level I was answering a question you didn't really ask, but that I felt needed addressing. Thanks for providing the opportunity!

edited to fix html tags - can't spell them, either, it seems!

#11 & 12: Me too! Even in the Challenge groups, on my own thread(!), sometimes I feel like my posts go unnoticed. Probably mostly my fault, because I'm fairly introverted in those groups and stick to my own thread and just a couple of others, so no one really knows I'm out there.

I've already posted more in this group than I have in most others!

>14 scaifea: scaifea:
"I've already posted more in this group than I have in most others!"

I think I've posted more in the last few days than in the entire time I've been on LT (since May 2007). We're not such a quiet bunch after all!

I second the bookmooch group also 75 book Challenge and 1010 Challenge have great people!

I know I've posted more in the last few days than ever before as well!

>16 susiesharp: susiesharp, I've been thinking about joining the 75 Book Challenge for 2011, bur wondering - I have no idea whether I can meet that goal and will there be pressure to do so? (Okay okay, some of that pressure would come from me myself. I absolutely hate setting goals and not meeting them.) What's your expereince - does participating in a challenge group make you enjoy what you are reading more? Any added stress, or just an additional motivator?

#17. mlnelson01 - I have done the 50 book challenge the past few years and have followed some of the 75 challenge threads. I noticed that most of the people put the pressure on themselves to read that many books. I plan to join the 75 book challenge this year since I was able to read 50 books this year. I don't think I will reach 75 next year but I am going to try.

the 75 book challenge is great there is no pressure its a very welcoming group they don't care if you read 25 or 125!

I second what susiesharp says: the 75 challenge group is incredibly welcoming and friendly, and they don't care a fig how many books you end up reading. I'm very fond of the group, although it can get overwhelming, because there are *many* members and you find yourself drowning in all the threads. Nonetheless, I'm doing it again this year.

Crazy4reading & scaifea I have you both your 75 threads starred I'm also doing the 1111 challenge thats a nice bunch over there too alot of crossover to the 75 thread.

Susiesharp I will be starring threads soon. I am also doint the 1111 challenge. I will look for you over there too.

I went and joined the 75 challenge and my talk page is overwhelmed with threads, so I am figuring out how to use stars to organize my life so that I have time to keep up with at least a minimum subset of the group, and so my other groups don't fall off the radar. That group has a full time welcoming committee! :-)

I also joined the 75 challenge tonight. I started one last july to this july so I'll be overlapping a little bit. When I first started I did a 50 challenge and went over that so I'm hoping that I can keep making my 75 goal. I just hope to find someone to talk to about some of the books that I've read. I haven't been able to find that yet.

#24 Well, let's compare notes as we start and see if there's any overlap, and we can talk about the books we read here!

I'm trying to star anybody I find who is a member of both this group and the 75 challenge. Adding you to my starred list now!

Me!

I'm looking forward to it.

Hi - I'm over there in the 75'ers too!

Yep, you're all starred!!

Why, hi.

I stumbled on this group quite by accident (so many good things happen that way) and joined up for those days when all the hubbub gets to be too much.

I'd like to say that the 75ers group is very friendly and kind, although like any large family, we can get noisy and rowdy on occasion! But there's absolutely no pressure to read 75 books; if you do, you get congrats if you put it in your thread; if you don't, no one cares. Most of us joined that thread as an easy way to do a book blog. All that said, it's a huge group and you can easily drown in the threads.

I'll be starring all of you as soon as I post this.

Happy New Year!

No-one has ever been rude to anyone on Kaiser Wilhelm II

How sweet...
though that may be due to no one understanding what you each write there. Clear as mud - so true!