Thoughts On Interview Community

Vocal recently launched a brand new community, Interview, its fortieth community. Vocal describes the community as "The home for Vocal creators to pick the brains of thought leaders, celebrities, musicians, friends, idols, other Vocal creators, and more."

So let's interview Vocal Creator. Pam Reeder for her thoughts.

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PReeder: So, Pam, what were your thoughts when you heard about the new Interview Community announced by Vocal?

Pam: Did they announce it though? I checked my email and I didn't have anything in my email box. I checked spam too and nothing was there either. So I looked at Top Stories hunting for info there but I didn't see it. I saw a random post in one of the Vocal social media groups. I guess I was surprised truthfully.

PReeder: Do you think it is something you will write pieces for?

Pam: Actually, I'm mostly a fiction writer. I don't really do non-fiction pieces.

PReeder: What makes you choose fiction over non-fiction? Seems like non-fiction would be easier to write.

Pam: I like fiction because I need the escapism. The world is so full of issues and stresses and pressures,, that when I read and write, all that stuff is the last thing I want to deal with.

PReeder: What communities have you published in?

Pam: Fiction primarily, of course. Poets - mostly in sad poetry. That's how I deal with things that hurt me. Once each in Viva and Swamp. On the Swamp one, Vocal put it there. A few in Geeks that were book or movie reviews. I think that's it.

PReeder: Will the Interview community not benefit you?

Pam: I suppose it can if I choose to write something to fit there. It's not something I do. I don't really know anyone to interview that anyone would care to read about.

PReeder: You don't see a benefit to the new Interview Community then?

Pam: I wouldn't say that. There's 1.2 million creators I've seen it said. So, there must be a large segment - large enough anyway - that it was felt there was a need. I'm guessing Vocal felt those stories needed a better fit that existing communities didn't provide.

PReeder: You don't sound convinced.

Pam: I guess because until Interview was made and some stories shifted into it, I had never even seen any Interview stories. And all the ones in it were more than two months old. Some were years old.

PReeder: So in all your time on Vocal, -- how long have you been on Vocal?

Pam: Since the Doomsday Diary Challenge, so about four and a half months.

PReeder: OK, so in your four and a half months on Vocal, you never saw an Interview story?

Pam: No. Not in my writing groups. Maybe they were in Top Stories and I missed them. I don't read Top Stories.

PReeder: You don't read Top Stories?

Pam: No. It's a misnomer. Those are just stories some Vocal Staff liked. That makes them truly a "Creator's We're Loving" selection. And Creators We're Loving as is, is disappointing.

PReeder: How so?

Pam: For one thing, its all the way at the bottom. Prime space for attention is the first screen full. I never scroll so I never see them. Plus....

PReeder: Plus?

Pam: Well, I've heard it's auto generated. Not picked. Just random.

PReeder: Do you believe it's random?

Pam: Yes. Because sometimes it features a Creator even when they show a zero story count.

PReeder: Really?

Pam: Yes. Or just one story. Or a stale writer that hasn't written anything in forever.

PReeder: So you don't see any benefit to that section?

Pam: No, not as it is. To me, that should be where Vocal literally chooses stories they like. Then there's truly loving involved.

PReeder: But what about Top Stories. Wouldn't your suggestion mess that up?

Pam: I don't know. I guess it would. Top Stories seems weird. What criteria makes them "top"? It's just a random blessing by a Vocal employee. Do they have quotas? Some days there is no movement in the list. Then suddenly a top story about a mattress or a water bottle.

PReeder: I'm not following you. Explain the mattress, water bottle thing..

Pam: Is that really the best stories out of 1.2 million Creators? I get that all 1.2 million don't write and publish every day. More like only hundreds or thousands. But out of those that do, mattresses and water bottles are the TOP of all those stories?

PReeder: I see. Was that recently?

Pam: No, about four to six weeks ago. Maybe eight. I stopped paying attention to Top Stories after that when it appeared it became "pay to play". That made Top Stories pointless to me. Unattainable.

PReeder: Have you not ever had a Top Story?

Pam: To be fair, I have had two Top Stories.

PReeder: What were they about?

Pam: Not water bottles or mattresses.

(Laughter)

Pam: The first one featured series written by Creators. Sadly, QuickEdit is very new, so older pieces weren't able to be linked together. You have to really dig hard to find all the episodes. In the social media groups, Creators posted their latest installments but it dropped you in the middle. So I did a story piecing them together. I did more than one of those but just the first one got Top Story.

Series I'm Loving by Vocal Creators - Vol 2

Series I'm Loving by Vocal Creators - Vol 3

PReeder: What did that do for you? Did you get boosted reads?

Pam: Actually, it did get boosted reads. It was my highest read story ever.

PReeder: How many reads did it get? Do you mind telling?

Pam: I don't mind. Right now it's at 340 reads. 59 Hearts. Revenue of $2.04

PReeder: What about your other story?

Pam: It was about my tick bite allergy called Alpha-Gal. It wasn't picked right away. It was a couple of days later before it made top story.

PReeder: So what kind of allergy did your tick bite cause?

Pam: It actually made it so that I can't eat any kind of red meat - no mammal of any kind. I go into anaphylaxis shock. Very scary. And it required a major overhaul of my food intake.

PReeder: Wow. That sounds like quite an ordeal.

Pam: Yeah it is. I have to carry an epi-pen with me all the time.

PReeder: So, how did that story do after being picked as a top story?

Pam: Well, it got 28 views and 14 hearts. And earnings of .17.

PReeder: Oh, wow, so it didn't get a large boost like the other story.

Pam: No, not at all. I guess people were more curious about what Creators I featured than they were about a life threatening, diet altering issue caused by tick bites. Everyone could relate to being a Creator, I guess, but not so much to being bitten by ticks.

PReeder: I guess that could be true. Well, Pam, this was fun. I'm glad to be able to have an interview style story to go in the new Interview Community. We'll have to get together and do another interview real soon.

Pam: Yeah, sure. Sounds like fun. Looking forward to it.

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And there you have it. An interview with Vocal Creator, Pam Reeder on her thoughts about the new Vocal Interview Community.