Why Join an Online Forum?

[faithalina]

Hello All - I need your help!

I am doing a Creative Non-Fiction writing class as part of my Masters program and have chosen to write a feature article on online forums. Specifically, as this thread title suggests: why join an online forum as opposed to, say, talking face to face with like-minded people etc.

We all do things for different reasons, often assuming our reasoning is the same as everyone else's. I am curious as to why so many of us choose to be active participants on online forums. Where does the desire and ultimately the satisfaction come from? I have some theories, and reasons of my own, but would like a more 'global' perspective, hence my sending out this request!

I am very interested in reading your thoughts.:)

[jon1jt]

There is no global perspective, no homo sapien sapien, only homo sapien computerus. Make sure you put that in your report. Thank you.

[Zee.]

Because i can't talk to someone who say, lives in Africa, about their opinion on zebras, face to face.

[Riesa]

Hello All - I need your help!

I am doing a Creative Non-Fiction writing class as part of my Masters program and have chosen to write a feature article on online forums. Specifically, as this thread title suggests: why join an online forum as opposed to, say, talking face to face with like-minded people etc.

We all do things for different reasons, often assuming our reasoning is the same as everyone else's. I am curious as to why so many of us choose to be active participants on online forums. Where does the desire and ultimately the satisfaction come from? I have some theories, and reasons of my own, but would like a more 'global' perspective, hence my sending out this request!

I am very interested in reading your thoughts.:)

the thing about forums is you do find like minded people, perhaps not face to face, but who can boast a neighborhood of people that are like minded in real life? We are all drawn here by that one word.."literature."

[Zee.]

Yeah, it's not like you can walk around with a sign hanging around your neck that says
" Do not talk to me if you do not read Steinbeck "

With the exception of me. I do that quite often.

[Riesa]

Yeah, it's not like you can walk around with a sign hanging around your neck that says
" Do not talk to me if you do not read Steinbeck "

With the exception of me. I do that quite often.

lol. I do it too. doesn't make for a nice meet up at the local grocery.:p

[jon1jt]

The forum allows us to wear a mask, to crawl out of our skin knowing that the many won't turn away, but turn toward. It's as close as you can get to being the sun shining on down your golden horns. And on blue days you can forget them and forum members won't notice, because you're the sun shining down your golden horns.

[Zee.]

^ Disagree.
This forum allows people to be themselves.

100 % NERDY.

Nerd by day, gangster by night.

[Riesa]

The forum allows us to wear a mask, to crawl out of our skin knowing that the many won't turn away, but turn toward. It's as close as you can get to being the sun shining on down your golden horns. And on blue days you can forget them and forum members won't notice, because you're the sun shining down your golden horns.


well, apparently forums mean different things to different people. :p

[jon1jt]

well, apparently forums mean different things to different people. :p

Read Carl Jung that book'll have you slapping your own a ss with a pink hand (and as s) and saying, "Why Riesa dear it's time to start hauling these things (thoughts) out this summer and planting---more lavender, more daisies. Only tattoos are permanent. And no more f*****g pretending to be dead!" :p

[Zee.]

You are hilarious

[jon1jt]

You are hilarious


I'm not sick but I'm not well. :p

[Zee.]

I'm not crazy i'm just a little unwell right now

[Riesa]

Read Carl Jung that book'll have you slapping your own a ss with a pink hand (and as s) and saying, "Why Riesa dear it's time to start hauling these things (thoughts) out this summer and planting---more lavender, more daisies. Only tattoos are permanent. And no more f*****g pretending to be dead!" :p

stop drinking so much of the dandelion wine, Jon, try reading some cookbooks.

[PoeticPassions]

I think, along with limajean's reasons, I joined the forum for gaining new insights from people all over the world about a certain literary issue or work, instead of just using research or essays written on the topic. Also, it is a place where one can share his or her work with others... a way of leaving something behind. Of being read. Of being valued. Perhaps there is some vanity in it, or the everlasting human desire for immortality.

Maybe this forum makes us feel more important. Like we belong. Like we are not alone. Like our ideas and opinions are going to be validated, and thus our existence is validated.

(hehe, when I reread some of that, it sounds like I am talking about religion) :)

but there are a multitude of reasons... and limajean, I agree that we can be ourselves here, but there is also a sense of anonimity. We reveal only as much as we want. And this shroud of mystery is kind of nice as well... and the ability to retreat whenever one wants, or come back. Or observe. or participate. I don't HAVE to ever answer a post or message. I have choice. More freedom in expression than with someone face to face. It's an escape from reality sometimes...

[jon1jt]

stop drinking so much of the dandelion wine, Jon, try reading some cookbooks.


Um...my house is equipped with a stove. I cook on it. There's dirt outside my door. I plant seeds in it. Hey, forget about cookbooks for a minute, do you know what I just thought of that I want to smell right now? Just a whiff. Gasoline. From a pump. Better than Calvin Klein perfume.

[PoeticPassions]

Um...my house is equipped with a stove. I cook on it. There's dirt outside my door. I plant seeds in it. Hey, forget about cookbooks for a minute, do you know what I just thought of that I want to smell right now? Just a whiff. Gasoline.

I kind of like the smell of gasoline. SOmetimes.

[jon1jt]

I kind of like the smell of gasoline. SOmetimes.


I really think I should keep a pint of gasoline around the house to smell when I'm in this sort of mood. Hey, think about it, it's better than bottled air freshener or that Christmas tree air freshener that you hang over your car mirror that smells like dog. :p

[PoeticPassions]

hahaha. I suppose. Though I wish I could bottle the smell of freshly cut grass. It's the most amazing smell, EVER.

[jon1jt]

hahaha. I suppose. Though I wish I could bottle the smell of freshly cut grass. It's the most amazing smell, EVER.


Yes!!!! Great idea Let's make some grass perfume and call it [I]Green Tongue. Our commercials will have Britney Spears with a bald head saying, "Green Tongue...so fresh, so green you can taste it, buy Green Tongue Perfume today, yah!"

[PoeticPassions]

Yes!!!! Great idea Let's make some grass perfume and call it [I]Green Tongue. Our commercials will have Britney Spears with a bald head saying, "Green Tongue...so fresh, so green you can taste it, buy Green Tongue Perfume today, yah!"

:D


maybe we can have Paris Hilton in the commercial as well. You know it would sell then.

[kilted exile]

because real life scares the bejeezus out of me

[MissScarlett]

I joined because I finally found a forum where people were genuinely well read and genuinely interested in discussing literature. I love the Shakespeare discussion, I know I'll love the forum book club (already enjoying "The Awakening"), the Lawrence short story discussion, etc.

It's difficult to find a group of people in real life to sit down and discuss really good literature with. Here, it's very easy. And as a plus, I make new friends and learn a lot about other cultures as well. No negatives here!

[faithalina]

I joined because I finally found a forum where people were genuinely well read and genuinely interested in discussing literature. I love the Shakespeare discussion, I know I'll love the forum book club (already enjoying "The Awakening"), the Lawrence short story discussion, etc.

It's difficult to find a group of people in real life to sit down and discuss really good literature with. Here, it's very easy. And as a plus, I make new friends and learn a lot about other cultures as well. No negatives here!


So, if you had to choose, assuming a real face-to-face group existed right in your area, would you join them or stick to the online experience?

[MissScarlett]

I'd do both. The diversity would be beneficial. I might be pressed for time, at times, but here, one can always choose not to participate, though when I make a commitment, I try to keep it.

[faithalina]

because real life scares the bejeezus out of me

I have to say, whether your joking or serious, I've certainly gotten that impression at different times with different people on various forums.

However, I find the forum world a bit hard to take at times too. I was completely turned off by some key participants who appeared to use the forum as a platform for their intellectual snobbery and to trample on the thoughts/opinions of others. Their behaviour certainly made me question their social skills in the 'real world'. Anonymity has its price I guess. Of course, this isn't always the case. And fortunately I was merely observing the arrogance, not suffering under it at the time of my observations.

I joined a couple of forums because I love books, love talking about books and had just moved to a new country where I was having trouble locating book clubs in my area. Personally, I would much prefer the face-to-face setting for group book discussion...but that's just me. I guess that's part of why I'm asking the question.

[MissScarlett]

Intellectual snobbery is the least of it on some forums. I've been on some literature forums where the people don't talk about books - ever! And I've been on some where the people are so nasty, you wish the forum would just disappear. That doesn't seem to be the case here. The people here actually talk about books, and they also seem to be nice, civil people.

[faithalina]

Intellectual snobbery is the least of it on some forums. I've been on some literature forums where the people don't talk about books - ever! And I've been on some where the people are so nasty, you wish the forum would just disappear. That doesn't seem to be the case here. The people here actually talk about books, and they also seem to be nice, civil people.

Interestingly, it was this forum that i got my first taste of discomfort, however, the main offenders don't seem to be online much now, from what I can tell, so this is good. I am glad you are enjoying this forum...particularly in light of your previous experiences. :)

[jon1jt]

Interestingly, it was this forum that i got my first taste of discomfort, however, the main offenders don't seem to be online much now, from what I can tell, so this is good. I am glad you are enjoying this forum...particularly in light of your previous experiences. :)

Well, the way I see it, if you loath those people you are calling intellectual snobs, maybe you ought to do something about it besides judge them. Some folks, understandably, take a deep pride in subjects they've studied, some for many years. You may be mistakening real knowledge for snobbery. It will take some humility on your part to put your personal opinions aside and start up a dialogue with them, assuming you have something to bring to the table. And even if you don't, there's nothing wrong with admitting you don't know anything about so and so topic. They're not so bad once you get to know them. You might be surprised.

[Zee.]

I find that a lot of the people who judge those they find "literary snobs" are the snobs themselves.

To be frank, it's hard not to be intellectually superior to many people simply due to the undeniable number of dumb people in our world.
I pride myself on being more intelligent than a lot of people I personally know.
Some may call that "snobbish" I call it hard earned.

What's that quote about never letting another dull your shine? because your brightness allows others to shine?
Something like that.

Love peace and chicken grease

[jon1jt]

I find that a lot of the people who judge those they find "literary snobs" are the snobs themselves.

To be frank, it's hard not to be intellectually superior to many people simply due to the undeniable number of dumb people in our world.

Here here! Finally somebody with the gaul to sock dopey people in the kisser. Go Limes! :p


I pride myself on being more intelligent than a lot of people I personally know.Some may call that "snobbish" I call it hard earned.

Yeah, people who stand on the sidelines judging others usually have nothing to add to the interesting discussion the people they call snobs are having. What should we call these people, Limes?

[Zee.]

We shall call them...

Mangoes.

[Joreads]

Lim you knock my socks off you are great. Which is another reason to join a forum you get to meet great people from everywhere. And you don't need to talk to people you don't want to should they offend you.

[Don Quixote Jr]

I've joined several "technical" online forums in order to look up answers to PC problems, performance, etc. and to occasionally answer someone else's question, since I take it for granted that what goes around comes around - ie if you help a stranger expecting nothing in return, eventually a stranger will likewise help you out when you need assistance or info.
As for joining "non-technical" forums on literature, for instance, it's one way of interacting with people when other ways are unavailable or you're looking for people with the same exact interest you have in whatever...

[Silas Thorne]

A forum like this is a great place to meet interesting, stimulating and inspiring people, many of whom you may not have had the opportunity to meet in person while in your own country. However, by being able to contact people online it also becomes more possible to meet such people. :)
I feel priviledged to be in the company of such creative people interested in literature.

[faithalina]

Well, the way I see it, if you loath those people you are calling intellectual snobs, maybe you ought to do something about it besides judge them. Some folks, understandably, take a deep pride in subjects they've studied, some for many years. You may be mistakening real knowledge for snobbery. It will take some humility on your part to put your personal opinions aside and start up a dialogue with them, assuming you have something to bring to the table. And even if you don't, there's nothing wrong with admitting you don't know anything about so and so topic. They're not so bad once you get to know them. You might be surprised.

Perhaps. I'm not doubting (nor am i 'loathing', for that matter) the hard-earned intellect that exists in forum members. It's this knowledge that leads to stimulating discussion...the whole point of the forum. I simply commented on something that I found off-putting, ie, lack of sensitivity and/or respect for other people's views, when disagreeing with them. I don't doubt the value of the superior-minded argument, but the expression of that argument impacts significantly on how it's received. Of course, this is just my opinion. I do appreciate your response though.

[Scheherazade]

We shall call them...

Mangoes.How about the others? What shall we call them?

Kiwis?

:p

[Zee.]

I loled.

[papayahed]

My reasons for joining this online forum have changed over the past 5 years. At first I came on looking for a book club. In real life not many of my friends read much (nothing wrong with that, it's a preference) and I wanted to find a spot where I could get recommendations and to read stuff I normally wouldn't pick up on my own. I still get recommendations and read the book of the month (sometimes) but now I'm also coming on to forget about real life and have a nice little chat or play a few games.

[Shalot]

I joined the forum to complain about how I was wronged by an online company. I joined this forum specifically because there was a thread here about that online company. Eventually, I started coming back to play games and socialize. I used to have an interest in writing, but not so much anymore. It's kind of fun to try to get people that you don't know to interact with you. It's all entertainment and amusement. Occasionally, I will learn something really interesting. And there are some brilliant poets here. Also, it's safer to stay home and drink and interact with your online pals than it is to go to a bar. Although, you still run the risk of showing your arse and even though your memory of it might be hazy, there's an indelible cyber record of it out there.

[papayahed]

I love the drunk posts!!!!

[MissScarlett]

Interestingly, it was this forum that i got my first taste of discomfort, however, the main offenders don't seem to be online much now, from what I can tell, so this is good. I am glad you are enjoying this forum...particularly in light of your previous experiences. :)

Thanks! Me, too. It's good to find people really in love with Shakespeare, D.H. Lawrence, Chekhov, Poe, other wonderful writers, and not people just passing the time of day.

[Scheherazade]

I love the drunk posts!!!!Is this one of 'em?

:D

[Niamh]

I love the drunk posts!!!!

I am guilty of many of them!:blush:

I joined here because i was sick and lonely. (and to point something out! :p ) I'd never joined a forum before so it was all new to me. It was my love of books that made me find here. And its the people that keep me here.
I think one of hte main reasons i keep coming back is bacause i'm amongst like minded people... its very hard now a days to find a collective of people who think read as you do. And i've made some really great friends here.

[grotto]

I join forums out of interest in specific topics or because I want some information. I came to this forum because I was looking for information on obscure out of the loop books. I have found a few ideas, but mostly what I have found is the common read the classics mentality, which is fine, it’s just not me. I love how so many amass together to decipher what a long dead writer really meant as if they knew what went on in their head. But this critic said he meant this so it must be true! Just because you read, doesn’t mean you have an open mind.;)

The problem with forums is that it is the written word, no one can really know what someone means, and hence we have a written word medium talking about the written word and how we are to decipher that written word. I find this part of it very interesting. Watch as some one states their opinion and misplaces a specific word and the bashing begins in earnest. The camaraderie of I agree or disagree and the flock of imaginary friends begins. I have been and am still guilty of it at times. :(

I would much prefer to be talking face to face, but seeing as I don’t have much chance to talk with people who have any interest in reading, (or original thought) around me, I play on forums at times. I have no illusion that the people who post here are who they really are, some yes, they make very honest opinions and thoughts, others are here because they have no social skills what so ever, they amass thousands of posts and imaginary online friends yet seem to think they are all that.

Forums are a form of entertainment mixed with a small bit of information. There a place to test your opinions, thoughts and imagination in a world where you can’t seem to openly state them, It’s a modern day hippie commune. They can be very fun and extremely annoying, but a venue for reality? Hardly! In this forum alone, most of the posts are in the games arena, not about literature.

[faithalina]

I join forums out of interest in specific topics or because I want some information. I came to this forum because I was looking for information on obscure out of the loop books. I have found a few ideas, but mostly what I have found is the common read the classics mentality, which is fine, it’s just not me. I love how so many amass together to decipher what a long dead writer really meant as if they knew what went on in their head. But this critic said he meant this so it must be true! Just because you read, doesn’t mean you have an open mind.;)

The problem with forums is that it is the written word, no one can really know what someone means, and hence we have a written word medium talking about the written word and how we are to decipher that written word. I find this part of it very interesting. Watch as some one states their opinion and misplaces a specific word and the bashing begins in earnest. The camaraderie of I agree or disagree and the flock of imaginary friends begins. I have been and am still guilty of it at times. :(

I would much prefer to be talking face to face, but seeing as I don’t have much chance to talk with people who have any interest in reading, (or original thought) around me, I play on forums at times. I have no illusion that the people who post here are who they really are, some yes, they make very honest opinions and thoughts, others are here because they have no social skills what so ever, they amass thousands of posts and imaginary online friends yet seem to think they are all that.

Forums are a form of entertainment mixed with a small bit of information. There a place to test your opinions, thoughts and imagination in a world where you can’t seem to openly state them, It’s a modern day hippie commune. They can be very fun and extremely annoying, but a venue for reality? Hardly! In this forum alone, most of the posts are in the games arena, not about literature.

Thanks grotto, I really appreciate your honest and thoughtful response. This entire thread has been fascinating to me. Certainly, the variety of responses and attitudes expressed on here have opened up numerous angles, which I am keen to explore in my piece.

[faithalina]

Just a quick post to say thank you to everyone who responded to my request. Article is submitted. Happy forum-ing.

[Shalot]

Just a quick post to say thank you to everyone who responded to my request. Article is submitted. Happy forum-ing.

will you/can you post it here sometime?

[Jozanny]

faith: I have been online a very long time, not from the beginning, but in the mid-90's when the web was still a little wild, and I have been in, or kicked out of, more online communities than I can count. If I had been around, I might have been able to offer a few pertinent observations for you, complimenting motive, which for me, like many, is two-fold. Initially I used Poets & Writers to network with other authors in the academic community. I miss it, but there isn't much they could do for me today, so I haven't made any strenuous efforts at reconciliation. Later I think I used it to take out a heavy dose of anger on said academic community for not making it easier for me to belong therein, as a disabled woman, who, indeed, wanted to mask my broken body and receive the accolades for my intelligence that I thought I deserved, and I can say, now, that this was wrong, to inflict the fury of my own bitterness on otherwise reasonable members of institutionalized environments for literary creativity.

Most disability forums understood this rage, and at times I fit right in the zoo at said communities, but lost interest. I suppose because of my disappointed literary ambitions.

As to this forum, I am not really sure why I let myself start using it, the book and poetry clubs, perhaps--though ironically I have trouble keeping up with group readings. I left in January, then came back to try to withstand my landlord's attempt to kill me with their renovations. I still get frustrated using these communities, because they really can't help me fix the failures of my career, and not even ease my social isolation, which has increased substantially since the fall of 08. I fare better with moderation.

All that said, I hope your thesis was successful.