Especially to newbies, the chatterbox is vital. Go into your options and move that beast right to the top.
I always ignored the thing, mostly since I'm not a chatty type of person. One day I was adding nodes left and right when I noticed my name in the thing.

Why would someone /msg me?
Oh, because my writeups are crap!

The powers that be at E2 and users will advise your writings if they need work, or tell you that they're going to Node Row and why. Usually this feedback will occur right away (during decent hours).

Of course in my mind the chatterbox and the /msg's are two completely seperate things.

Personal messages, with that tell-tale check-box like an alarm siren screaming in your face, are rather hard to miss. The 'Chatterbox' itself on the other hand, is quite easy to completely ignore.

I myself have the chatterbox placed at the very top of my sidebar, so that I can easily see new /msg's, though I rarely read (or write to) the actual chatterbox. (In a desperate attempt to reduce the already extreme amount of time I waste spend noding.)

In any case, it's a good idea to keep a tab on your personal messages, wherever your chatterbox is located.

Another option is to keep the Chatterbox nodelet turned off altogether. I turned it off once I figured out a few things: I wasn't interested in 95% of the chatter; I had the option of removing it in my user Preferences; and disabling it might help reduce lag time and conserve overall E2 server/bandwidth resources. I have assumed that if it's important, someone will /msg me. (If you have removed the Chatterbox from your nodelets, a little alert appears in your nodelets column every time you have a personal /msg.)

Being as new as I am, maybe this is a mistake. It hadn't occurred to me that people may be commenting on my w/u's in the Chatterbox. I figured I was getting enough conditioning based on votes, chings (or mostly non-chings), and deletions.

I probably won't change my ways, and I'm probably not the only one who won't heed the advice of this node title. So I'd discourage everybody from assuming that all Other Users are paying close attention to the Chatterbox.

Use the chatterbox to make friends. Friends give you XP. XP makes you strong. Strength gives you power, and power lets you break the rules.

Don’t believe me? Well either you're closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge or you are not aware of the Faustian bargain indicated by the presence of a chatterbox in this community!

    Well, it means power my friends,
    right here, I say power right here in Everything
Why, sure, I'm a Everything Noder
Certainly mighty proud to say,
I'm always mighty proud to say it
I consider the hours I spend writing nodes for this place are golden
Help you cultivate horse sense and a cool head and a keen eye
Didja ever take an' try an' node an iron clad leave to yourself from a three-rail billiard shot? Let me tell you 'bout Level 1 and 2 users chatterin' away
I say, your new users will be chatterin'
Chatterin' away their noontime, suppertime, nodetime, too
Getting friendly with the neighbors
With one two, three, four, five, six factual nodes to every one
write ups that mark the difference between a gentleman and a bum
With a capital 'B' and that rhymes with 'C' and that stands for 'cool'
But the next thing you know you see them nodin' their day logs in a pinchback suit
And writin' about some big out-o'-town jasper
hear her tell about working in an auto body shop
Not a wholesome day log, no, but a GTKY node right on the horse!
Like to see some Level 8 cube jockey nodin' their half formed thoughts?
Make your blood boil, well I should say

Now folks let me show you what I mean
You see it's all about making friends and connections building up a goodwill posse
You see it's all about creatin' your own fan club who'll upvote your own vomit and that's POWER
    Oh, ya got lots and lots o' power
    I'm thinkin' of the kids on their first day here,
    newbies peekin' in the chatterbox after school
    Ya got power, folks, right here in the Chatterbox
    with a capital 'P' and that rhymes with 'C!' and that
    stands for 'cool'
Now I know all you folks are the right kind of noders
I'm gonna be perfectly frank
Would you like to know what kind of upvoting goes on
while they're loafin' around that box
They'll be votin' up bullshit, votin' up ignorance,
votin' up highly subjective personal nodes,
And votin' up nodes based on nothing but titles
Never mind about violatin’ E2 University rules six ways from Sunday
Now one fine night they get into their head
that no matter what they write they’ll get XP from
Libertine men and scarlet women and nodeshell rescue!
Shameless nodes that'll grab your son, your daughter
into the arms of a jungle animal instinct- massteria!
Friends, the chatterbox is the devil's playground! Power!


Other Users: Oh, we got Power!

e2reneta: Right here in Chatterbox

Other Users: Right here in Chatterbox

e2reneta: With a capital 'P' and that rhymes with 'C' and that
stands for 'cool'

Other Users: That stands for cool!

e2reneta: We surely got Power

Other Users: We surely got Power

e2reneta: Right here in Chatterbox

Other Users: Right here!

e2reneta: Gotta figure out a way to keep the noders earning all their cools.

Other Users: Power, power, power, power....

e2reneta: Noders of this community,
heed this warning before it's too late
Watch for the tell-tale signs of corruption Well if so, my friends... They've got Power

Other Users: Oh, they got Power- Right here!

e2reneta: Remember the Maine!, Plymouth Rock and the Golden Rule!

So never ignore the chatterbox. Chat now. Cash in later.
Or if, gentle Reader, your steadfast moral center won’t let you play that game-- at least watch: lurking has its value.

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