What does it require to be a GSB Award winner?

It’s been quite a few months that the GSB Awards have been introduced. In the first few months it was the main subject of GSB. Everyone was talking about it. People loved them, people hated them. Now it’s been more than a year and the GSB Awards have become a fix element of GSB.

People can vote for different categories:
* Best Blogger
* Best Debator
* Best Layout
* Best Moderator
* Best Newbie
* Best Profile
* Most Addicted to GSB
* Most Entertaining Person
* Most Helpful User
* Most Individual Person

I have to say, I personally often have troubles finding votes for each category, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. So I decided to think about what some of the categories actually require.

The following ideas are only my opinion. But maybe they also help some people who, just like me, have trouble finding the right persons to vote for - maybe not in all, but at least in some categories. If you guys have anything to add I’d be happy to learn about your conditions for the awards.


Best Profile
Best Profile is a category that a lot of people want to win I suppose. A lot of GSBians spend hours to create their perfect profile. Here are my conditions for “Best Profile”. It:
-is eye-catching and “something special”
-represents the user’s character well
-isn’t too long and confusing
-doesn’t need forever to load
-took a lot of effort and the user has really thought about what to put in the profile
-catches our attention
-gets us interested in the person
-doesn’t need a lot of great Photoshop or whatever skills
-should be simple, yet outstanding.


Most Addicted to GSB
This actually is a cute category. I think someone is addicted to GSB if they can’t spend a day without getting online. They always check all kinds of sections and are in love with the site. GSB plays a big role in their day’s schedule. When someone writes to them they immediately reply. You can always count on them to be online. They are there no matter what.


Most Entertaining Person
Most entertaining is probably one of the most fun categories. To me the award for the Most Entertaining Person deserves someone who:
- is always open for a funny conversation
- has the most random ideas
- is open for anything new and doesn’t just stick to their normal circle of friends but talk to everyone
- makes other people laugh, is good to be around with and is able to put a smile on people’s face
- lets people forget about everything around them for a moment.


Best Moderator
Moderators are a key element on any website that has to organize a lot of users. Without the Mods there would be total chaos and rules would not be followed. Moderators are like the police of a website. I think a good moderator help the users whenever they can. They don’t view themselves as something “better” and are just as involved in the site as other members. I think a “best” moderator should manage to do their job and at the same time be able to be just a normal member and enjoy all the fun things on this website. Good Mods are strict yet not unfair. They explain why someone gets banned from a section and are willing to give second chances.


Best Layout
There are so many amazing layouts on this site which makes it really difficult to pick “the best”. I think the problem is that we don’t really have a page, like for the blogs, where you can see all the layouts people make. You have to surf through people’s profile and look at their layouts. My vote for best layout gets the person who makes a layout that:
-is special and sticks out
-doesn’t hurt my eyes
-consists of a self-made banner as far as I can tell
-suits to the whole layout of GSB.


Best Newbie
I think the best newbie category is a difficult one. Who gets to win best newbie? What’s meant with it anyways? Is it someone who is extraordinarily interesting? Or maybe someone who made most friends over a short period of time? Maybe it’s someone who simply catches our attention the most? I think best newbie is someone who manages to gets along with the site pretty fast and is able to get involved in the life of GSB quickly. Also, I think the title “Best Newbie” deserves someone who differ from all the other newbies in some interesting and attention-catching way.


Most Helpful User
This is a category that might require a lot of observation on GSB. Look at the Personal Stuff forum, or read Blogs that ask for help. Is there any outstanding person who doesn’t hesitate to give advice? That might be your most helpful user. From another point-of-view your vote might go to someone who has helped you personally, someone on GSB you can always rely on, who listens to your problems and gives you their shoulder to cry on. But it could also be someone who helps a lot of users, or just you personally, with GSB concerning problems, such as problems you find on the Support page. A helpful user doesn’t make fun of the people’s problems, assaults or reproaches them. The person is understanding and cares about other people a lot. It’s the motherly heart of GSB.


Most Individual Person
That’s maybe the most difficult categories for me. Individuality nowadays seems kind of seldom. We all wear similar clothes, we like the same things. Yet there is still some kind of individuality out there. An individual person is one of a kind. I think it’s someone who everyone recognizes because they are outstanding. On GSB the clothing style doesn’t matter. On GSB an individual person is someone who is individual in their character. They have some outstanding character traits that people may either love or hate.


Best Blogger
Best Blogger is my favourite category because the section on GSB that I love the most.
Someone who deserves the title Best Blogger to me is someone who does not just write Blogs, but also is active in the Blogs section as a whole, reads other people’s Blogs and gets involved, discusses and gives opinions.
A good Blogger doesn’t touch the same subject again and again. They cover all kinds of subjects: social life, politics, entertainment, anything to write about. Repetitive ideas may seem oh so great again and again, yet it’s nothing new. A good Blogger touches subjects others have not written about yet. Those subjects may be totally random, or totally serious.
Their Blogs touch the people inside, they may be emotional; they may make them aware of something or just make them smile. Good Blogs ask questions and are starting points for debates and discussions. They don’t always have to be “right” and a good Blogger shouldn’t be scared of being “wrong” on some subjects. People should learn something new from the Blogs. Blogs may also be about a personal experience of the writer, and yet touch the readers emotionally.
Like mentioned, a good Blogger moreover gets involved in other people’s Blogs. They provide ideas, share their opinions and help other users. A good Blogger should be critical and not blindly believe everything people write about.
A good Blogger also doesn’t need to ask people to vote for them. The Blogs should speak for themselves and convince the GSBians to vote for their writer.


Best Debator
A good debator challenges people in their opinions. They stand 100% behind their beliefs and know how to present their arguments. They also don’t form stupid arguments; they have reasonable and strong arguments to underline their opinion. They don’t agree to other people’s opinions just to fit in. At the same time, they respect other people’s opinions. A good debator also doesn’t just get involved in one specific subject; they are interested in all kind of topics. If you only search for fights you aren’t a debator, then you are just quarrelsome. Moreover, a good debator doesn’t hurt people with their words or insults them.


Some last notes at the end: Don’t vote your categories already at the beginning or middle of the month. There may be so many other pieces of work that you won’t notice if you decide on someone that early. Also don’t make your vote on basis of just one good blog, discussion or entertaining situation. Observe your potential votes and compare them to others. Also don’t make votes due to friendships. Don’t ask other people to vote for you. I think it’d be sad if some people who truly deserve an award don’t have a chance just because some people have a lot of votes because they asked for them. If you truly deserve the award then you won’t need to beg for votes.




***Wow this blog actually took me forever to write. I started in the morning and it’s 9:30 pm now O__O Sorry for all the blogs lately, I’m in a blog writing flow XD

I'm open for any kind of additional ideas or anything you disagree with.