First of all, thank you to those who actually appreciate the time I invest in making this group the best it can be.

Recently I’ve been getting complaints from (primarily) new members about the amount of featured images, and I’d like to address the comments here.

This group has been consistently growing since its inception nearly two years ago. It has seen over 26 000 images and currently has 3300 members. Needless to say, I’m very proud of this group.

There has been a recent upsurge in submissions, which is partially the reason for increased features. The second reason is that I’ve been doing an ongoing group review over the past couple of weeks, often going through a hundred pages at a time, and if I see an image that originally got overlooked that I feel deserves to be featured, I feature it.

In my defense, I don’t realize how many images get featured during these group reviews until I go back and check the overview page and find 4 or 5 new featured pages. It may seem ridiculous to some, but I make it a point to never revoke a feature. Plus, every feature is another contribution to the ever-growing Blue Mosiac.

In the end, only approx. 7% of submissions get featured.

I am generally very good natured and try to make as many people happy as possible, but these comments have been rather off-putting. So please forgive me is the rest of this post makes me comes across a little sharp. I spend a lot of time on this group, time which could be spent doing other things that I need and want to do outside of RedBubble. But instead I have chosen to give back to a community that has given me a chance to share my creativity with others.

Other hosts are (in my view) unfairly criticized for their hosting choices. Members complain that some groups host too many challenges or adhere to an overly strict set of moderating guidelines. On the other hand, some think that if a group isn’t constantly doing something or if it’s more targeted to a specific niche with limited interest, the group is useless and should be shut down. Thankfully, with blue being such a broad topic, this group hasn’t experienced any kind of lasting stagnation. As much as I try to create a friendly and generous environment, I’m quickly learning that it’s often the most effective way to open oneself up for criticism.

For those who want a comment/explanation for each featured image, it is simply not possbie to do for this group. (That’s why the Out of the Blue featured Banner only appears on the very early features.) Suffice it to say that it stood out in some way and is a perfect representation of the group’s theme.

So the long-and-short of this post is this – if you feel your activity page is being “spammed” with features, you have three options – scroll through them and ignore them, reconfigure your mybubble feed, or simply leave this group. No one is forced into being a member, and if you find my methods annoying, you are more than welcome to remove your art and move on. I am not changing how I choose features because in the end, it is the other members who will suffer. There are a lot of members who tell me they feel overlooked and forgotten, and if logging in to RedBubble and finding a feature makes them smile, I’ve done my job.

I am now officially sick of the word “featured”.

Thank you.

You’re doing a great job Stephanie.

Maybe some of those who complain should try hosting their own group, they may be more satisfied or more appreciative of the work that goes into it.

Hi Stephanie. I think you’re doing a great job. There’s been some truly stunning work in this group.

Stephanie,thanks for all the hard work you do of your own accord and on our behalf. Beverley

I think you’re doing a great job Stephanie! Unfortunately, any time you have large groups of people (whether it’s online, or in “real” life), there are going to be people who are unhappy with the way things are being done. There are tons of groups on redbubble that people can join, so I see no reason to change how you are doing things unless there is some sort of issue that comes up repeatedly, by a large portion of the group.

Instead, I would recommend to the people that do take issue with all the features to decide how much it bothers you. If you enjoy the group otherwise, live with it. If it really bothers you that much, find other groups where things are done more to your liking. With so many groups here on redbubble, there is definitely something for everyone!

Much happiness to all!

Just keep up the good work. I appreciate your time and effort!

Well done , it’s much easier to be positive then negative ,great job

I was a bit worried I had created another complaints thread when I saw I had 13 replies, but thank you to each and every one of you who stands behind me. I come to RB in part to escape from the rest of the bull in life, and it really puts a dent in my day when I have to deal with it here too.

@ kalaryder and Erin Anderson, you’re very welcome for the features :)

@ TtRian – I guess I’m having a hard time fully appreciating why cutting the group feature feed is a big deal to newer members. I guess it’s because I was a member before there were any groups at all, and even when the site evolved to include all these newer features, the feature feed was one I never bothered with. Even so, taking it off your main feed doesn’t take it away altogether. All you have to do is open the feed filter and click on any single one feed to see what’s in it. Maybe that helps, maybe it doesn’t. But this is how I do it and it works for me.

Keep up the good work Stephanie.

Stephanie, you are hosting this group, you are doing it well, and to the best of your possibilities… don’t worry about those who complain too much.
You are so right, they can solve the problem they have in their own way ;)
Thank you so much for the marvellous work you are doing, and for the great opportunity you offer members of this group to be featured.
As for me, it’s greatly appreciated!
This is a great group… keep it up!

You can’t please everyone, looks like the majority are happy, including me, seems a shame that such a minute perentage want to upset everything :( Life is too short, this is a lovely group, keep up the good work, if I wasn’t happy I would just say and leave ‘I’M VERY HAPPY :))

I think you’re doing a perfect job Stephanie! People shouldn’t complain because this now means that their chance of been featured has now grown!

I closed of the feature feed and its perfect, i know when my work has been featured and my image feed at the bottom shows me the featured work instead of in messages, that way i can keep track of my own personal work a lot easier but still see good work in the images below, and often they are all brilliant! Thank you for my features too, i trully appreciate it! Keep on with the good work Stephanie and making the unknown known! :)

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to this group.