Online Groups

| June 17, 2006 | Leave your comment

I have been on and off of online forums for years now. I started probably back in the 90’s in AOL chatrooms and ended up finding forums more satisfying in general.

Forums have brought me a lot of enjoyment and at times even enormous support for a long time now. I’d say there was even a time where the majority of my support came from members of a forum. There are people I wouldn’t even know now if it weren’t for the online groups I joined.

On the other hand forums can get really messy and full of cliques really easily. There are so many different viewpoints and personalities it’s impossible for them not to clash. A fight is bound to breakout by the wrong use of a smilie :willynilly:

My time spent at forums has greatly diminished lately and I’ve found my blog to be a lot more rewarding. I’ve always been somewhat of a loner and what better way to be one online than sticking with your blog. I can get my feelings out when I need to and usually get great responses because of them.

I’ve come to find forums to be a lot like high school was for me. I wasn’t in the loser crowd but I wasn’t popular either. I was just kind of there and every once and a while someone might notice me. It’s not worth it, I’ve never had what it takes to fit into groups like that and it’s ok.

So now I go, I visit and every once and a while I might join in on a discussion but other than that my blog is going to be my online home.

Online Groups was posted on June 17, 2006 at 7:11 am in Listen Up and. It was last modified on June 17, 2006 at 7:11 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your site.

Share on Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Digg, Reddit

  • http://vixen.wordpress.com/ vixen

    Robin, I know exactly how you feel. I was the same way in high school. I wasn’t part of any of the cliques, and I’m actually glad of that. And you’re right, it’s the same way on a lot of these forums. I tend to read them more than post on them, unless it’s a subject I feel something about, whether it’s negative or positive. To me, most forums are just fluff and nonsense, which is the way to keep the forum “safe” from explosions. :twitchy:

  • http://fragilemusings.net Robin

    Vixen – I’m glad about that too. I wasn’t quite a band geek and I certainly wasn’t a nerd :cheesy: After a few fights online I try to avoid getting too personal on forums anymore…it never seems to go well.

  • http://www.spaghettiharvest.com Jennifer

    I know exactly what you mean, I was in an on-line “mommy” board discussion group through my pregnancy and about two years in. I find more satisfaction and “realness” in blogging. People can read, or move on. You nailed it on the head when you talked about the highschool cliques. God these women were shallow.

  • http://fragilemusings.net Robin

    Yeah some places can get really bad.

  • edmcbride

    i’ve never been a part of a “clique”

  • http://fragilemusings.net Robin

    Me neither and I think it’s a good thing. The closest I was was probably being in the marching band.

  • http://http:naivemelody.blogsome.com Maureen

    Weird – I’ve been finding myself laying off forums (and blogging, for that matter), lately, too. I think it’s just a phase – something that I don’t need right now in my life, or that I have put on the backburner, anyway.

    I’m sure that, some day, I’ll come around to wanting the support and friendship that I find there, again.

  • http://fragilemusings.net Robin

    Maureen – same for me too.