How To Handle The Media by _cherryblossom_40 |  |
NEOMAIL - Wow! So, you've gotten a trophy! Maybe it was for getting published
in the Neopian Times, winning the Beauty Contest, or getting a 1st in a game.
You're joyful and merry. Nothing can ruin your day! But, suddenly, out of the
shadows, lurks the 100 Neomails and 200 Neofriend requests… ouch.
Ever had this kind of problem, and want to know how to deal with it quickly
and cleanly so that you can get on with your busy Neopian life? Well, you've
come to the right place! But, first, I want to enlighten you with the little
tale of how this article came to be…
You see, I was getting published, week after week after week, and happy about
it. Never in my 10 months of Neopian existence had I been so widely known, even
famous! I was receiving gifts by the truckful, Neomails were piled to the sky
in my inbox, and users were crowding and pleading to be my Neofriend. I was
downright delighted!
At least, for a little while. Then, I got sort of bored cleaning out my 100
Neomailed inbox every single day, and having to delete row upon row of
Neofriend requests. Finally, sick of spending an hour of the same routine every
single day, I just stopped clearing out everything, blocked off Neomail and
Neofriend requests altogether, and spent that extra hour looking for a helpful
answer in the Neopian Times that would free me of all this frustrating confusion.
And, guess what I found? A delightful, well written guide, on how to survive
being a popular user? No! Believe it or not, I found… Nothing whatsoever!
I left the whole situation for a while. Took a Neo-Holiday, if you like it.
And, then, as my happy-go-lucky vacation of Tombola trips and Snowager visits
drew to a close, I made up my mind to write my own article, to help those other
horror stricken celebrities learn to live with being famous. And, guess what?
Writing this article helped me live with my popularity problems, too! What are
you waiting for, then? Read on!
PART ONE: KNOWING WHAT TO SAY, AND DO WITH NEOMAIL
When you become famous, or popular, or whatever you want to call it, you will
obviously receive piles upon piles of Neomail. This isn't necessarily a bad
thing, but it can get on your nerves. And, especially if you're a chatty type,
getting a mountain load of Neomail can be kind of… fun! But, for most, reading
and replying to 100 Neomails saying things like-:
Liked yer article/story/comic/series. Plz reply?
Or
Your drawing for the BC is kewl.
Or
Congrats on getting that high score on that '(game title)' game!
-Can be pretty bad. So, as a helpful cry to your worries, here are some tips
that can help stop those countless Neomails become pests.
Firstly, if you haven't blocked off your Neomail in the past, then receive
the 100 as a congratulations effort, it's a bit too late to stop everything,
right? With this situation, I'd suggest simply taking an hour or so, replying
to the Neomail, cleaning out your Inbox, then blocking. Blocking may sound a
bit… harsh, but it will save you from the whole 100 Neomail thing again. By
the way, here's a helpful tip. To save you time, just type a simple phrase in
a Word document, such as:
Thank you for your congratulations and support. I really appreciate it.
Then, copy it, and, when you have the 'Send Neomail' page up and ready to
reply to your adoring fans, paste it. Easy! And, on personal previous experience,
it makes others feel pretty nice, too.
Secondly, if you're a lucky old smarty, and blocked off Neomail as soon as
you had submitted your article, won a contest, or gotten a game trophy, then
good on you! It just shows how organised you are.
Lastly, if you really don't like the thought of blocking off all those poor
users who only want to give you a kind congratulations for your achievement,
then let the Neomails with bad grammar and congratulations roll in and Neomails
ringing with thanks roll out. Again, I'd suggest using the 'copy and paste'
idea. It works very well.
PART TWO: NEOFRIEND REQUESTS-WHO NEEDS THEM?
It happens to the best of us. Just because you get published in the NT, win
the Gallery Spotlight or get a super-high score on Escape from Meridell Castle,
users clamour and bounce about just to be your Neofriend. Some even send you
items, to persuade you! But, don't be fooled. The real question that you have
to ask yourself it…
Why do these people want to be my Neofriend?
Is it because you sound like a nice person? No. Is it because they would like
to learn tips off you? Guess again. Is it because, just maybe… they want to
be your Neofriend because you got on a solid Neopian file?
BING, BING, BING. We've got a winner!
Yes, it is true. Unfortunately, some very shallow users only want to be your
Neofriend because you got published, and they want a well-known Neofriend so
that they can brag to their friends. Isn't that awful?
I'll tell you a little story. In my latest article, one that made the front
page (blush) I made the mistake of mentioning my best Neofriend, a mistake that
I would regret for days afterwards. And do you know why?
It was because, so many brainless little users thought, 'Oh, would you look
at that, that journalist mention her best Neofriend. Maybe, if I got to be Neofriends
with her, she would mention me in a future article, too!'
So, as a result, I got an endless number of users wanting to be my Neofriend.
And, most of them hadn't even sent me a single Neomail to get to know me! Eventually,
I just gave up refusing all those requests and left them sitting there, for
a time that I felt like tiding up.
Have you learnt a lesson now? It pays not to mention anybody in your articles,
or else you'll be faced with the awful task of receiving 200 Neofriend requests
and having to clean them out. Not to mention the Neofriend I mentioned… she
had a heap of Neomail, too! Some blank user even said, and I quote-
_cherryblossom_40 has told me great things about you. Want to be my Neofriend?
I hadn't told them a thing about my Neofriend. I hadn't even heard of their
username! It just goes to show you… beware of the general public. And block
your Neofriend requests.
Then again, if that user has sent you quite a few Neomails of decent length,
and it turns out that you and that user have similar interests, then, go ahead!
Be their Neofriend. But, be careful. It stinks when you have 50 or more Neofriends,
most of which you've had a one-Neomail conversation with. As for me, I keep
my Neofriend list down to three people, ones who I have regular Neomail sessions
with.
PART THREE: LOOK AT THAT… GUILD INVITATIONS
Guild Invitation? Well, would you look at that. I don't know about those really
famous users, who have 100+ trophies (wink wink, nudge nudge) but, I haven't
received that many guild invites, maybe only 20. I know its sounds like a lot,
but, once you think about the amounts of guilds in Neopia… well, you get the
picture.
Most of the invites that you receive are for guilds that support topics that
you aren't really interested in, or are about Neopets. Sure, you get the occasional
'Neopian Chocolate Forever!' or 'Aishas 'R' Us', but most of them won't be what
you're looking for.
Your best bet is to simply block off your Guild requests, along with your
Neomail and Neofriend requests (it sounds like a lot, but it is for the best),
find a guild that you like the sound of by yourself, and then join it. Taadaa!
This way, there is no confusion. You could ask on the Guild Board for a particular
kind of guild, but 99% of the time the guild offers that you will receive won't
be what you want. Better to just check everything out yourself.
PART FOUR: OOOH, GIFTS!
In my opinion, the best part of getting a trophy for the NT, the BC or a game
(just to cut everything down) is receiving many presents! It makes you feel
special, finding that lovely Ona in your inventory, or discovering that precious
100 coin dubloon winking gold at you. But, the best part is knowing that those
fans sent the item to you in admiration. So it's best t know how to properly
say thank you!
No matter what you receive, it's best to be grateful. Remember that time when
you were young, and your Granny gave you that hideous mustard-coloured sweater,
which she had hand-knitted? Yes? Well, remember what you did? You said a happy
thank you, even though you knew that you would never wear the sweater. Well,
this time, you have to do the same with that Grackle Bug, or that Tombola Sand.
It's the thought that counts.
The best way to write a thank you note is easy. Just Neomail the sender, with
a similar message to what I have written below. It doesn't necessarily have
to be long and soulful; short and sweet notes do the trick even better.
Dear (insert gift-givers name),
Thank you for your gift. I really appreciate your kind generosity.
From (your name).
See how easy that is? Plus, you can just use the 'copy and paste' trick of
above. That way you can send all those kind users a message of thanks without
spending hours pondering what to say.
If you are collecting a particular kind of Neopian thing, say, Neopian stamps,
or maybe cute petpets, you could give your gift-givers a good idea of what to
send you by posting what you collect on your user lookup. For example, I collect
avatars, and so on my lookup I have posted 'If you wish to send me a gift, I
would appreciate an avatar item.' That way, instead of receiving piles of useless
junk (which you should be grateful for too!), you might be able to add to your
collection. Avatars, in my case.
Well, that sums up this article. I hope that it will help all those fame-stricken
users become aware on how to live with this situation. So, until next time…
this is reporter _cherryblossom_40, signing off.
Authors Note: I am sorry to all those who wish to contact me, but my Neomail
is blocked, as is my Neofriend requests. I do hang about the boards quite a
bit, showing off my rare avatars, so you might catch me there. A special thanks
to stonemanX3, who inspired me to write this.
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