It bothers me when I hear people saying how smart they are or we are. This is especially the case when I think about advertising, but it also bothers me when we do it in private. I consider that kind of thing to be boasting, and my feeling about people who boast is that they are never as good as they think they are. It also feels somewhat smarmy and self-congratulatory. So it makes me cringe.
We are who we are, and it is up to each individual to decide whether they want to talk to us or not. This is not everybody’s cup of tea. I think we can advertise ourselves with the facts: we’re moderated; we insist on proper spelling and grammar; we like thought-provoking questions (which is going a little far for me); we like to offer significant advice or answer questions that are not so easy to answer; etc.
If we choose to market in educational venues; I think that’s fine. We could choose some key words and advertise on Google.
I guess what I’m saying is that like us, our advertising strategy should be low-key. We’re not for everyone. People should have to work to find us. Hmmm. Maybe we could have a campaign where people have solve a number of clues or do other things in order to find us.
Anyway, this site is its own best advertising, I think. It speaks for itself. Perhaps it does deserve the term “collective,” although this doesn’t exactly fit the term in my opinion. But it doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what new people see and experience when they get here.
Another thought… I wonder if there could be a new jelly “training course” of some kind to help people ease in more gradually, and to allow them to learn a bit about our culture before they jump into the ocean with all the rest of us jellies.
There’s probably more if anyone is interested. But I’ve rattled on too long, again, as is my wont.