User blog:Herzjitu/What Is True Contribution?

So, the users of this Wiki's chat and I were discussing contributions to Wikia via editing, for starters. That whole conversation sparked the reason why I wish to write this blog.

As many of you know, I rarely ever edit- primarily for multiple reasons. One of the reasons is that my mind whirls a lot, as do my interests and fandoms in particular. Plus, I find that editing just doesn't make me happy in the way that doing the things I do in the chat-room can.

That brings the question forward of What is true contribution to Wikia and its communities?. Of course, people can contribute to Wikis of any and all of their interests as they so desire. They can do this in many ways. Much like many moral compass decisions, these contributions can either be good or bad: it is completely up to the user as to how they will impact their communities.

With me, I joined Wikia in May 2012 as Starry Hawk on a Wiki about cats- I was 14. I thought I knew it all, and I always butted heads with most of the members. I made some rather stupid and dramatic mistakes there. Of course, things have smoothed over with time, but I will never forget the drama that could destroyed my home Wiki. In addition to that, I will never forget that I was once part of it.

In all truth, I was never really happy with going through 25+ books and searching for citations to describe the furry cats. Being the prideful person I am, I enjoyed being recognized for it, back then. However, I was indeed most happy when I entered the chat and could offer any means of advice to newcomers. Granted, I was a bit more sympathetic towards potential trolls and a bit biased when my friends were involved in a snag with another member. But I learned.

I'm writing this blog to remind everybody that you don't have to be an editor to make your mark on Wikia. For some, editing is absolutely amazing and great- and to you all who work all day to edit grammar mistakes and whatnot, I salute you. I do not have the patience nor the motivation to do that: not like I used to. And for others like me- I find that chatting and being a guide of sorts resonates with me more- you are still important.

So long as we're making a positive influence on Wikia, surely it does not matter what we do to achieve that. ^^