by Noleen Wyatt-Jones

Created on: March 24, 2008   Last Updated: December 24, 2009

The great thing about Helium is the fact that it is so easy to find out about those people whose work you have read and admired. It feeds in to our natural human curiosity about who, when, where and why. We do it when we buy books - instinctively looking to the authors brief biography in the hope of learning a little about them and, of course, the added bonus is when there is a photo as somehow they then become a real person that we we know something about.

For me personally, I feel more comfortable when there is a photo included as there is always a slight suspicion about why someone would be happy to publish their work on a public site but not want to share their photo. It is almost as if they have something to hide. Now that is probably unfair to those who simply just want to remain anonymous, but for me I am more likely to be drawn to the writing of those who are up front and honest.

When we participate in the weekly contests, part of the fun comes from sizing up the competition, particularly when the lead changes from hour to hour with more people writing and rating and revising their work in the hope of winning one of the prizes.

Helium is a community and as such we are in it together. We are all writers who want to share our work with others and also to appreciate the work of others so to share a little of ourselves also seems to be an integral part of the process.

Helium is a safe and secure community and even when someone chooses to email us with a comment or question, we still have the choice whether or not to start a dialog with that person as until we return the email they don't know what our address is as the initial communication has come via the site.

We all know about the dangers of the Internet and about not giving out our personal information, but if you look carefully at the questions used to create our personal Helium biographies they really do not expose us to any danger. They are simply the answers to the normal curious questions of why we write, what inspires us and a little about our hopes and dreams. There is nothing there to direct people to our home! I personally find it fascinating to find out how and why other people write and I am more than happy to share my reasons with them.

One of the most awesome things about the concept of Helium is the fact that anyone with a passion for the written word can be part of something amazing. We have all come here for the same reason - to write and to share as well as read and rate the work of others, so come on, there is no need to be shy; be proud of who you are and why you have chosen to join the site and just give us all a flavor of who you are!

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