The way of online communities?

[FatBloke]

This forum is a community and we've proved that the actual web address is irrelevant, it's the people that matter. 

[andygates]

I first fell in love online in 1989, dammit

How is Flossie these days? Are you still together? 

Nah, after the clothespegs graduated to crocodile clips I got weirded out.  And he lived in Hull. 

[Maladict]

(where is the fucking spell check...?)
 

If you use Firefox you can make it spellcheck before you post.  Dictionaries can be downloaded as an extension.

[Rapples]

I first fell in love online in 1989, dammit

How is Flossie these days? Are you still together? 

That's disgusting............


The sheep is under age

[Hummers]

For me, when I ride an audax event, often sharing days together with others I have only met at the start, I don't normally get into discussions that inflame, wound or cause a my wheelmen to thrust a pump into my spokes.

No.

They just find an excuse  politely to drop off your wheel.

 

H

[aglet]

[...] User IDs on Slashdot [...]

I'm slashdot user no. 1321.  Not what you'd call a frequent poster, mind you, three or four posts a year.

[vince]

Occasionally I will look elsewhere and am usually horrified by the standard of posts. I usually have to pop in here (and in fairness the original place) to calm down again.

The fact that people meet up makes a big difference. It is not just the usual suspects either, when you post here there is a good chance that you could meet up with someone who has read your contribution on any number of rides. This has to have an effect upon the way we post.

The nature of the forum is in many ways an extension of the way in which I interact socially now in any case. My case may be extreme, but I know no-one socially where I live and work and my free time is usually spent travelling to meet friends and family who are scattered to the four points as it were. Modern times 

[Julian]

The success of a forum is its members.  You could have the best organised, best laid out, most beautifully run forum - but without members, there is no forum.  Where members 'know' each other, either IRL or by reputation, there will generally be a nicer atmosphere, because the keyboard warriors tone it down a bit.

I've also been part of a meatspace (thanks, Andy) community which imploded - and the recriminations are still going.  I think a blistering attack typed into cyberspace is probably forgiven (and forgotten) more quickly than a personal confrontation.

[Ian H]

Where members 'know' each other, either IRL or by reputation, there will generally be a nicer atmosphere, because the keyboard warriors tone it down a bit.

I don't feel I know anyone unless I've met them in person, or at very least talked to them at some length. I have met, or know, several people on this forum, but otherwise, for me, it's more or less just banter with strangers.

[mattc]

For me, when I ride an audax event, often sharing days together with others I have only met at the start, I don't normally get into discussions that inflame, wound or cause a my wheelmen to thrust a pump into my spokes.
 Yet online, even with the aid of smilies, I have done just that.

I've been assaulted at the start of a ride less than 2 minutes after meeting the guy, so I must be REALLY good at upsetting people.

(To be fair, everything was amicably resolved later - which often is NOT the case online, sadly.)

[rogerzilla]

I've been assaulted at the start of a ride less than 2 minutes after meeting the guy, so I must be REALLY good at upsetting people.

Wow    Did you call his Pinarello a poof?

[Tom B]

I think a blistering attack typed into cyberspace is probably forgiven (and forgotten) more quickly than a personal confrontation

IME all the more so when there's been contact, however brief, IRL.
Most people are ok most of the time.
A RL meeting, even a short one, nearly always confirms this: people suddenly become much more than the sum of their more memorable rants. You've met them, you feel they're ok, you cut them slack when they type something that rubs you the wrong way 

[Julian]

I've been assaulted at the start of a ride less than 2 minutes after meeting the guy, so I must be REALLY good at upsetting people.

Wow    Did you call his Pinarello a poof?

Spill his orange squash?

[hellymedic]

I've been assaulted at the start of a ride less than 2 minutes after meeting the guy, so I must be REALLY good at upsetting people.

Wow    Did you call his Pinarello a poof?

Spill his orange squash?

Jumped the loo queueue?

[rogerzilla]

I've been assaulted at the start of a ride less than 2 minutes after meeting the guy, so I must be REALLY good at upsetting people.

Wow    Did you call his Pinarello a poof?

Spill his orange squash?

Jumped the loo queue?

Made eye contact in the church hall?

[Ian H]

Made eye contact in the church hall?

It is true that Vorsprung stamped and I signed the card of a forum frequenter, said hello, and got not even eye contact in return.

[mattc]

I've been assaulted at the start of a ride less than 2 minutes after meeting the guy, so I must be REALLY good at upsetting people.

Wow    Did you call his Pinarello a poof?

Spill his orange squash?

Jumped the loo queue?

Made eye contact in the church hall?

I knew this thread would get silly, but I never meant to trigger it.

Feel free to keep guessing, but honour prevents me from ever divulging the details (apart from to say it was amazingly petty). Roger is probably closest!

[vorsprung]

The first online forum, for want of a generic term, that I got involved with was Unaccess, which some may remember. 1989, live chat and a fairly lively bunch of geeks. Found an interesting house share in Harrow through that forum.

A purely electronic forum is not a terribly exciting place. The great thing about this forum is that it has become a virtual meeting ground for people who do know each otehr and meet up in real life. There is a physical community outside the electronic and that makes it something more.

..d

Hey, I used unaxcess circa 1989..based at Bradford it was
I was Countzero on there and on Tardis

[juliet]

It is true that Vorsprung stamped and I signed the card of a forum frequenter, said hello, and got not even eye contact in return.

I always worry that I will wind up doing something like this, because a) I'm rubbish at recognising people from photos or whatever unless they explicitly introduce themselves, & b) quite often on audaxes I am in full-on knackered 100-yard-stare mode (especially later on...) & would have trouble recognising anyone at all, never mind making anything approximating polite conversation

[alecstilleyedye]

online communities are made what they are by the membership. they are only as stable as the people that run them though. i've been on ones that just disappeared (bbc sport cycling), ones that changed overnight and lost a lot of members (c+/bikeradar) and ones that, well you know. cyclechat has done well in the time it had the influx from c+, as has yacf in the few weeks it's been around. it's people like us that make these places what they are, but we are, or course, at the mercy of the admin, be they a corporate body, a public service broadcaster, or just someone that fancies starting a forum.

this place must be unusual in that it has had such a rapid start and grown very quickly, cyclechat was around (and fairly inconsequential) for a while until the c+ influx. i guess we got lucky finding a ready made forum with an admin that shared our vision.

[Treewheeler]

Made eye contact in the church hall?

It is true that Vorsprung stamped and I signed the card of a forum frequenter, said hello, and got not even eye contact in return.

Ian, remember that many cyclists work in the realm of informatics and can only communicate via bluetooth and forums.

[Mr Larrington]

I always worry that I will wind up doing something like this, because a) I'm rubbish at recognising people from photos or whatever unless they explicitly introduce themselves

Likewise, plus:

• I'm rubbish at remembering names, and
• Most of them seem to be called "Matt"

[Ian H]

It is true that Vorsprung stamped and I signed the card of a forum frequenter, said hello, and got not even eye contact in return.

Ian, remember that many cyclists work in the realm of informatics and can only communicate via bluetooth and forums.

I see. Perhaps I should stop flossing.

[scott]

I'd agree with some that meeting up with people makes a big difference. I've met 6 or 7 people from an e-mail list that I'm on, and a few have become friends (of a sort; I rarely see them, since they live 70 - 1,500 miles away).

But I don't feel like yacf is a bunch of strangers, despite the fact that I've only met one other member. Perhaps having a limited social life makes the difference, but I don't think that's it--I've "met" some people on here who I've really clicked with, and who I strongly suspect would be compatible in person. (With a sample size of 1, I have a 100% success rate so far.  )

[scampi]

It is true that Vorsprung stamped and I signed the card of a forum frequenter, said hello, and got not even eye contact in return.

I always worry that I will wind up doing something like this, because a) I'm rubbish at recognising people from photos or whatever unless they explicitly introduce themselves, & b) quite often on audaxes I am in full-on knackered 100-yard-stare mode (especially later on...) & would have trouble recognising anyone at all, never mind making anything approximating polite conversation

Me too.

I met (Ian H and) Vorsprung on the above-mentioned occasion and, although I have ridden with Vorsprung before (albeit a few years back), recognise him I did not.

 

It is true that Vorsprung stamped and I signed the card of a forum frequenter, said hello, and got not even eye contact in return.

I don't think it was me though, I do remember saying hello to them.