Board Thread:General Wiki Discussion/@comment-25941663-20150119211557/@comment-25052433-20150122202906

While I do support the idea of the Writer's Showcase, I can also see that it is already becoming a point of contention, and it's not even in the beta stage yet.

With that said, before we move it to a thread for voting, let's really brainstorm other ideas. Perhaps finding a middle ground is a better solution.

Clearly, there is at least an agreed upon idea that we, as site staff, should take some official step in assisting users showcase and promote. If it wasn't an issue, this conversation would have never progressed this far. So, falling back on "it's fine the way it is" is not a viable direction.

Perhaps a softer approach to solving this issue might be to create a "How To" thread, explaining to new users (and some older ones) exactly what is the appropriate way to promote their work without spamming it.

This could be coupled with a staff blog on the matter, to assist in getting the message out there.

Because let's be honest, user blogs tend to get ignored or fall into digital abyss once they get pushed off the front page. So blogging here is probably not the best way to ensure maximum exposure.

Furthermore, as has been discussed, the PoTM concept is a little broken. Every month I see a lot of the same pastas being nominated. I get the impression that a lot of users would like to promote their stories for PoTM, but probably feel that outright posting a blog or a thread saying "Please Nominate Me" might be considered spamming. I would like to see that cleared up so people know the right and wrong way to advertise their work without fear of adverse action.

Also, a revamp of the PoTM concept might not be a bad idea, since last month's turn out of nominations was at a record low. I still stand behind my first idea that perhaps opening a thread a week prior to nominations to allow writers to pitch their stories to the community could possibly work.