This blog post has been brewing around in my head for a while now, but I’m finally getting around to writing about it.

As you’ll recall from an earlier blog post, I love etsy. Love it, love it, love it. I love the idea of all of these handmade items from amazing artists all over the world being available in one spot where I can purchase them. I adore that there’s such variety there, even to the point of one woman posting her handmade item for sale as “A handwritten letter, in ink.. along with my lemon bar recipe.”. So fantastic.

I recently purchased two items from etsy. One was a handmade bag. It looked great online but when I received it I was even more pleased. The seller was in constant contact with me from the moment I purchased it, even going so far as to ask if I’d like the keyfob sewn on the inside or outside. She was fantastic and that made my first etsy experience so wonderful. Thanks Bizzy Lizzy!

My second etsy item purchased was a ring. I’m a sterling silver lover and the thought of having some handmade silver jewelry was certainly appealing. I started searching and came upon a shop that had some really lovely things. I purchased a ring and was expecting the same sort of experience I’d had with the bag, but it didn’t happen. There was no warm fuzzy contact, no emails, no “Hey Thanks for placing an order, we’ll let you know when it ships!”. Nothing.

Now, I’m a chatty kind of girl but if that’s not how they run their store, that’s ok. I don’t need chatty to get a pretty ring so whatever. I did get a note when the ring shipped so at least I knew it was on the way.

Here’s a photo of the ring from the etsy site:

When I received the ring I was crazy excited. I couldn’t WAIT for my handmade gorgeous silver ring. I ripped it out of the box and was immediately disappointed. It was much lighter weight than I’d imagined. The metal was much thinner than I’d imagined and I felt like I didn’t get what I expected.

Here’s a photo I took of my ring:

Now, in hindsight I probably should have contacted the sellers immediately and told them how I felt, but I didn’t. I’m not sure why I didn’t.. maybe because they didn’t feel the need to contact me at all during the two-three weeks I was waiting for my ring. Or, maybe it was because I hate confrontation. Either way.. I didn’t contact them.

What I did do, however, was give them “neutral” feedback. Not negative… neutral. I gave neutral because I wasn’t thrilled with what I received, but I also didn’t want to be ‘mean’, and realized that perhaps it was just ME and not associated with the seller at all and so neutral to me seemed like a good choice. I was immediately contacted by the seller who said:

“We never leave a customer unhappy. Now you’re stuck with a ring you don’t like and we’re stuck with feedback we don’t deserve.”

Now.. if you never leave a customer unhappy.. .how come I’m “stuck” with the ring? Why not.. right now.. offer to do something for me to change my mind? Why not fix it?

That same seller then contacted me again and specifically asked me to contact etsy and ask to have my feedback removed. I was actually shocked by this. I refused to change my ‘neutral’ feedback or to have it removed. The seller wasn’t pleased, but that’s how I felt.

The seller right now has over 200 comments/feedback. All of those are positive.. except mine. There are no negatives there, just my neutral. The seller then, in response, left me ‘neutral’ feedback with no comments at all.

I think this is a much bigger, deeper issue than etsy.. and I think we’ll have to talk about that some more.

[flickr video=http://flickr.com/photos/micala/2548078541]

My job is all about bringing people together through the use of technology. I absolutely love it and have no qualms about saying that I think I have one of the best jobs ever. I would never have thought in a million years when I was playing L.O.R.D. on my friend’s BBS in 1994/95 that I’d now have the job title of “Social Networks Adviser”.  I’ve said before though (and I’m saying it again) that I truly and strongly believe that there is such power in online communities. It becomes so much more than the sum of its parts and even saying that it’s synergistic seems to be an understatement.

My journey into social networking started on a friend’s BBS. I met the friend because she hired me (in an interview at my local Dairy Queen, no less) to work in the chiropractic clinic that she managed. She started her own BBS and told me about it. After we purchased our first computer (Macintosh PowerPC) and I connected to her local BBS, I was hooked.  Not long after that the internet arrived in our little town (oooooo). A friend I met on the BBS told me about IRC and I started hanging out there.  That friend led to others and over the course of time, I grew to know many people and became an IRCop on dal.net  (It was a big deal at the time, trust me).  During those “IRC” years, I met and made so many connections online that people started hosting offline ‘gathers’ in their area and friends would travel all over the country to meet people in person. I attended several of these events and it was like a family reunion each and every time.  In 1999 while I was hanging out in an IRC channel on dal.net called #ircbar (which is funny because I really don’t drink that much) I met a man who would later become my husband, but I certainly didn’t know that at the time either.

Skip forward a few years and now social networking takes on an entirely different meaning with completely new tools. We’re using twitter, virtual worlds, blogs, video, podcasts, etc.. to connect with people in ways we never could before. We’re chatting and connecting and making new friends that might live halfway across the world from us, without batting an eye.

My job, I think, is really intended to help our students make these connections with each other, and grow a true sense of community from that.  We’re working on that, and getting there with small steps toward that goal and I think we’re doing a good job.  In doing this, though, there have been some connections that were not intentional and have come to be some of the most amazing people I’ve met.

I feel almost as though I’ve spent so many years connecting with people from all over the US and the world, and now that’s almost completely spun around for me and the most powerful connections I’m making are right here in my small town.  At the same time, though, I honestly believe that even though these people work for the same university I work for, and live in the same town that I live in, I would never have been able to connect with them like I have.. without the use of social networking.

There’s something about online conversations and online community that lends itself so beautifully to opening doors. I’m not sure if it’s the lack of traditional barriers or if it’s just the ease of communication, but once again.. online connections are changing my world. I couldn’t be happier.