Community? Part Two....

[bluekazoo]

Tek, I guess I'll start a new thread ... I'm really hoping that others will join in, too, and that might be more likely with a new thread, so here goes ...

I've been thinking about this off and on all day today ... and there was a thread at the deli, and that helped me think about it some more, too, because it was about 'what was your first ezboard' ... in that thread I realized how long I've known some of the folks I post with, and it also helped me realize why it all matters to me like it does ...

Six years ago, I was relatively new on ebay and was pointed to the AuctionWatch (now Vendio) message board ... I went looking for ebay tips and info (found lots of it there, too) ... but I found something else .. I found a group of people who really seemed to enjoy each other's company online ... I'd been offline for a few years (relocation, new marriage, etc), and it was good to see the camaraderie that I'd enjoyed years earlier on local bbs and other services was still alive and kicking - it was rather like watching a group of friends gather in a local bar for Happy Hour, after the workday was done ... there'd be discussions, laughs, debates, knock-down drag-out arguments .. but when things would get too weird, somebody would start a 'what are you wearing right now' thread ... or a 'what do you look like' thread ... and those threads would go on for pages and pages and even as an outsider looking in, it was obvious to me that these people enjoyed each other's company online.

I lurked for probably 6-8 months before I ever even posted. By that time I knew so much about so many of them that signing up and joining in felt like going home ... it wasn't long after I started posting there that the first of the AW-migrations took place (one not being related to the other, except in timeline, heh) and 300+ folks moved on to a different messageboard .. though that board didn't last much longer than a few weeks, it led to ezboard ... and of course now there's several ezboards and TRS and a host of other, smaller boards and so on ...

So that's the history, from my POV ... the sense of community is an outgrowth of the whole experience, I suppose ... I remember the first fundraiser I participated in - years ago, now - to help someone relocate ... I remember calling up a new friend when she was in the hospital with pneumonia ... I remember emails of support from many during difficult times of my own - and the time my phone rang within FIVE MINUTES of sending out a call for help with something ... I remember lending money to help someone make a mortgage payment, sitting up late into the night in AIM conversations(before chat was an option) discussing and debating everything from religion to politics and more ... I've shared birthdays and holidays with this group, shared grief and hardtimes, too ... I've gotten teary over the birth of another person's baby - or grandchild, and have had people express concern and joy over events in my own life ... more recently, I had half a dozen folks sit up with me during the night while my old cat was dying ... if all of that doesn't equate to a community, I don't know what does ...

Now TRS is a big and wide open kind of place ... Ross is a most accomodating and generous host and we witnessed another display of 'community' not long ago when TRB got locked down and within HOURS the funds had been raised, the software had been researched and recommended, and everyone knew it was only a matter of time and he'd have something up and running again -- a newer and better Ross Show ... Nobody HAD to do that. Everyone could have just moved on - there are tons of ezboards to choose from and someone could have just started up another at that point .. but it was important that TRB/TRS remain - important enough that people chipped in however they could to help it happen ...

I realize there are lots of folks here that don't share the same sense about messageboards - in truth, I don't either, about many other boards at which I participate (boards unrelated to this group) ... some places are just places ... but some places are more than that ... and this strange loop of boards: TRB/TRS, Deli, Ghost Town, et al -- they're an online 'home' of sorts to me (and to many others, I'd wager) ... I consider myself lucky to have been allowed to come along for the ride ...

Well. That's my story, tek ... I hope you'll tell me why you don't see it as community? And I hope others will join in and talk about it too ... it's entirely possible, you know, that I'm just a sappy old broad with a distorted sense of reality, heh ... I won't mind a bit if anyone wants to point that out, either ... :1rotfl1:

[sibs ling]

Bluey - :1clap:

Very well written.

Most of your comments apply to my circumstances too.

1. Long time lurker (feeling like you know everyone).
2. The laughter and sharing of good times.
3. The tears and pain for the bad times.
4. Everyone moving from place to place.

Truthfully, I feel that the demise of TRS on ezboard was a good thing. While it may not have seemed like it at the time, look at what has evolved.

This place feels more like a community than TRS did because of the circumstances in the development.

It's a good thing.

'ling

P.S. Bluey - You're one of my favorite sappy ol' broads. Don't change, k? :1hug1:

[rossshow]

The Ross Show is a nightclub in a larger community of several boards. Are boards communitys? Well, they have some things thjat are community-like.

I've been giving alot of thought to the cyberpunk future that was invisioned by many writers in the 80's. Where you actually "jack in" to the web. In that future, The Ross Show would definetly be a nightclub.

It's funny that last year I read EVERYTHING by Jeff Noon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&rank=relevancerank&field-author-exact=Jeff%20Noon/

He takes the genre a step further, in that "cyber world" story line. He speculates that as we in the "real world" become more a part of the "cyber world" that the cyber world will begin to "leak in" (my take on his concept) to the real world.

I also was a little surprized to see a similar theme in the Saturday Morning Cartoon: MEGAMAN

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=dvd&field-keywords=megaman&search-type=ss&bq=1&store-name=dvd/ref=xs_ap_l_xgl74/

Such a high involvement in the cyber world that the cyber world is leaking in (in this case being forced in by evil forces) to the real world.

The internet is becoming more real. I think, anyway.

[rossshow]

He takes the genre a step further, in that "cyber world" story line. He speculates that as we in the "real world" become more a part of the "cyber world" that the cyber world will begin to "leak in" (my take on his concept) to the real world.



Yeah. Come to think of it....

I guess Jeff Noon had some evil forces at work, as well.

Of course certain factions will see the natural leakage, and work to use it to their advantage.

[agentorange]

It's a cyber-community, but not like a brick and mortar community in that when your car battery dies, none of the people in your online community can give you a ride to work. One can't turn off a real life community, as one can an online community--a simple push of a button turns it all off just like that.

:1leopard:

[Bastet]

I definitely see the OAI chatboards as a community. In fact, in my head I think "OAI Community." You all have history and you care about one another. There are the good guys and the black sheep. :) Those who need help are helped. That is what a community is.

[larruone]

As one who is quite invested in another community, I can say that
this OAI community stuff is probably very important to many. Easily
as important as OR MORE than their real life contacts.

For example...moi.

I don't make friends easily; always have been rather challenged with
the entire "get out and meet people" experience, if I am the one
making the "first contact" anyway.

My few friends were all college friends, now scattered to the 4 winds.
The closest is only an hour away; he is the closest Friend I have!

We moved to a new city last summer, and since I work from home,
social contact is pretty much shopping, daily Dog Park visits and the
occasional Grad School thing with my wife. I have no local friends.
Couple of acquaintences, but that's it.

So I get my social interaction here on the web. Sad huh? ;)
It works; I have never been a big socialite anyway...

Now, on to the Ross Show...

I was, frankly, rather scared to post at the OLD Ross Show. I was pretty
sure my head would be ripped off and someone would piss down my neck...
or worse! The place just had the flavor of a hole in the wall biker bar, where
blood flowed as easily as the beer.

But the NEW Ross show is MUCH more like the local pub, where friends gather, and strangers, while eyed suspiciously, are still tolerated, and even welcomed
once they prove they are not related to creatures that live under bridges, or that they don't wear some animated puppets on their feet...
(trolls and sock puppets, ha ha).

I might not be a "friend" over here, but it is nice to know that I might come in, have a virtual beer and leave with my head intact!

thus ends my longest post ever on the Ross Show! :)

[Jay98]

As in everything in my life, i take on-line communication as important as my everyday personal life. Might seem funny or comical to many, but that's just the way it is.

Behind every word, no matter how kind or ugly that/those word/words may be, is a person that i might meet one day, just out of caring or curiosity.

I'm probably more serious than most folks want to be on the Net, and probably take things more seriously than others, but doesn't that make me a little unique for being so.

Ergo, i do take the community/communities that i get myself involved with very seriously, and probably care too damn much, which might be the reason for my demise in many instances.

Now, you can continue to ignore me as per usual, and i won't get my feathers ruffled at all. I know that Ross will come through if he gets his hands on any auspiscious gossip to share with y'all.

[Powerhouse]

One can't turn off a real life community, as one can an online community--a simple push of a button turns it all off just like that.



I'm not sure I am interpreting your post correctly, base.

I'm try to not be all that deeply involved in online life - in that I mean that for me I usually try to keep it less emotional than an identical situation in the real world - but I still find that the online community stays with me even when I have turned the computer off.
Not in a soap opera addict type of way, but more of a 'occassionally think about' way.
Perhaps a 'sense of community' is more of a mental connection than a physical connection?
MHO.

Mike.

[Powerhouse]

As in everything in my life, i take on-line communication as important as my everyday personal life. Might seem funny or comical to many, but that's just the way it is.

Behind every word, no matter how kind or ugly that/those word/words may be, is a person that i might meet one day, just out of caring or curiosity.

I'm probably more serious than most folks want to be on the Net, and probably take things more seriously than others, but doesn't that make me a little unique for being so.

Ergo, i do take the community/communities that i get myself involved with very seriously, and probably care too damn much, which might be the reason for my demise in many instances.

Now, you can continue to ignore me as per usual, and i won't get my feathers ruffled at all. I know that Ross will come through if he gets his hands on any auspiscious gossip to share with y'all.


Jay, I suspect that those that tend to take online life very seriously often get burned out pretty quick by those of us that don't or at least try not to. Not something that is intended, but it is something that many don't understand and therefore that makes it open season for commentary.

Also, if there is an ignore conspiracy involving you (or anybody else for that matter) I didn't get the memo - but I am subject to doing my own personal ignoring when I choose to do so.

Mike.

[Therp]

I have to agree with most of what's been said. My first experience with the Online Auction message board world was back in August of 2000, when Yahoo first instituted fees for their auctions, at the Seller Zone on Yahoo, and there are still people here that were around in those days. See if anyone recognizes this quote:
I am clean and "snow white" pure. I have had NO problems.

Check my auctions at Ebay or Amazon or Yahoo. I've been around a LONG TIME.

That was your host back in October of 2000. :D

I first heard about AW there, and migrated there, then over to Baypal when that whole group did, and then on to ezboards sometime in the spring of 2001.

All along the way I've met good people and other's who's only point seems to be to stir up shit. I've had relationships online that were every bit as intense as RL ones. I've had online friends and acquaintences pass away, and seen friends give birth. People drift in and drift out again, some returning over and over and some disappearing forever. I've seen the outpouring of help for people in need, and I've seen pigpiles on others. I've seen people declaring their everlasting hate for some, and I've seen many people express their love online.

All in all, I'd say that describes a community, not much different from real life comunities except for the physical distance of people. And even that is often breached when online people meet in RL.

So, yes, I'd say the OAI world is not only a community, but one that's more closely knit than many in the RL world, and most in the online world. Most of the people either know or know of most everybody else, and for the most part everyone has the opportunity to show their colors and be accepted for what they are, whether it be good or not so good. :)

therp

[chococake]

Blue said it all. :) But really, this is a community to me. We laugh together, and many times have been sad together. Help is here for the asking, if you really need it. There have been strong arguments, some are over fast, others last for years.

I don't post a whole lot. When I just want to read, there will be something to make me laugh, a good board war, or something to learn. So many things bring me here, but mostly it's the people I enjoy. If this isn't a community I don't know what is. So there, humph!

[cmhaas]

If this isn't a community I don't know what is.

Exactly! What else would you call a group of people who interact with each other on a daily basis? A group that came to post together because of a common interest - online auctions - and then grew into something much more. The subject (the business of online auctions) that originally brought everyone together is still discussed to a degree, but the relationship between posters has evolved from business discussions to a more personal level. There are many people here that don't even do auctions any more, yet the connection to the community remains and people continue to get together and talk about everything and anything.

When my grandson was born, I was thrilled to share the news with the people I know online. And people were genuinely interested. I've seen many people share their trials and tribulations and others respond in an encouraging and caring way. Yes, you can turn the computer off and leave the online world behind when RL demands that you do so. But people always come back. The online world does not dominate my life and RL comes first. But it is nice to know that I can log in and chat with people all over the country, or all over the world for that matter, whenever I want and the sense of community is always there.

The soapmaking boards I frequent are the same way - a common interest brought people together - but it's grown to be much more. The posters on those boards get together in RL more than the people here do. There are conferences throughout the country and the posters that live close to one another are always doing lunches and get togethers. The off topic forums on those boards are very lively and people aren't hesitant to share their personal lives. It is very much a community.

There are many online communities out there and they mean a great deal to the people who belong to them. It's a connection that often extends to RL when the people of these communities meet one another in RL at planned get togethers. And even if many people don't get the chance to meet in RL, I think it's kind of cool to be able to connect with people all over the globe in way that would not be possible without the internet and online communities such as this one.

[BWS]

Webbing down from the rafters..lol...

And then ther is the "silent" members like me...I come and lurk quietly, get an education, enjoy the company that you give whether you know it or not

I am a widow raising a 13 1/2 year old boy...I have been widowed for 12 years. When DH died I made the decision/commitment to raise da boy and put my life on "hold" until he was raised...gave up restaurant managing because it wasn't the best job to have and not let others(babysitters) raise my son

I got my first PC in 2000 and found a whole world that I could belong too while keeping the commitment...especially when he's asleep at night...and its just me....being vigilant

[bluekazoo]

What a treat it is to come back and read the replies so far ...

and a special note to BWS, I'm glad you came down from the rafters to participate ... as a mom and a grandmother, your post made me smile ... I understand and respect the commitment you mentioned ... I hope you'll post more often ...

[Heartland]

BWS, see your pm's.

I might have more to say on this later, but for right now, I'm not in much of an analytical mood. I've got the "group of friends vs. community" thing rolling around in my little brain and it hasn't landed yet.

Some of the people here are new to me, some I've known since 2000. I read TRB for years before ever posting there ... mostly because I can't handle too many boards or I'd get nothing else done. I like some people very much, don't know others that well, am ambivalent about some, and just flat-out don't like a few. Very much like real life, I suppose.

[krisinluck]

I think Blue said it beautifully in the OP, and cmhaas had a great followup.

I was the (then) new friend Blue called in the hospital, when my voice was gravel-filled and breathless at the same time. :) And I was part of those fundraisers too.

I do see this as a community. Some of us have been together online for six years or more. Whether we are "true" friends or not, it is a close enough facsimile for me, living in the boonies with people I have little in common with. I check in to see what's new every day, and not just the gossip threads.

This new board has opened up the community even more. Back at the old TRB, I rarely opened any of the threads that weren't from our old timer's circle. It was a comfort zone of sorts, I suppose...and a feeling that us old-timers were getting squished with the newcomers. I was also guilty of not checking the other forums over there unless it was linked. But this place has taken down those walls. I'm meeting new people, and getting to know other's who posted frequently that have more going for them than I gave them credit for in the past, and I check the other forums where people share a bit of who they are more than this main forum.

:)

[Emily]

No offense but...I came here from a place where the word "community" was shoved up every orifice...frankly I wouldn't mind if I didn't hear the word again for a good long time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad many of you feel that way, but I've BTDT and have learned the hard way the "it's just a chatboard" attitude is emotionally safer.

[krisinluck]

Emily - "community" is just a word. For me, for several of us, it fits what we've built here. This particular community came to be not because someone insisted that it is one...it just kind of became one over a long period of time. There's a big difference.

That said, there are many for whom it is still "just a chatboard", and that's okay too. But I have built relationships here that go beyond the board, and even beyond the internet itself. Those are the things that set it apart for me.

[tekobari]

I lean toward what base wrote. I can turn this off, but I can't turn off the world.

I think it's the OAI boards that I don't feel are community. It was cyclical, but every so often a thread would come up where someone would mention that buyers shouldn't be part of OTWA, or another group. As a buyer, I realized that my input was neither valued nor wanted by too many people. So right there, I had no sense of community with the OAI people. Sure, I read OTWA and posted, but knew I didn't belong there.

Still, at least half my online time is spent with people I met via eBay, and my only online friends--and I consider them to be friends--are from the eBay groups. However, I've talked to them on the phone a lot, not just read their posts, and plan to visit one sometime--I hope soon.

Maybe it's a matter of time, as well. I haven't "known" anyone on line longer than 6 years--whereas I have rl friends going back 30 or more. We've been through thick and thin, doing very personal things for each other, such as bathing when sick, or cooking, cleaning, etc. when someone couldn't do it for themselves. That's a hell of a lot more than chipping in some money or writing support. It's going-out-of-your-way support, taking time and physical action to make a difference. I could throw some money in the pot a hell of a lot more easily than work in person on something/someone.

We have a thread on this board about how people won't volunteer for the OTWA cookbook. I'll bet a lot of people would buy it, though. Doing physical, real life work to make it happen? Not so many, by a long shot. Online interaction is so easy. You can blow off an asshole, but you can't blow him off if you work with him or for him. You must reach a state of compromise and good working conditions. You don't come anywhere near that level of need on line.

Now, I don't mean to put down online communication, no matter how much it may sound like that. Marriages were made through letters for a few hundred years, and friendships kept alive. The same can be said for emails and phone calls, as well as some online posters. But the trouble is that you never know who you're talking to, unlike in real life. Some of the people on line are so inadequate socially that they'd make lousy friends in real life, but are capable of sustaining a low-output relationship like online talking is.

So I'm a little over the map on this. A lot of it is choice--the choice to be honest, open and as real as can be in posting. But that's dangerous, too. At least the danger is minimized because the online "community" isn't real. In real life the danger would be real.

It's the very superficiality of danger and caring that make me think online relationships aren't nearly the "community" we, as social animals, would like to think they are.

I know this post has made little or no sense, but I'm not going to reread it and fix it. It's too long to do that.

[rossshow]

therp

That's an interesting quote. I remember typing it.

[oddish]

My own history is pretty much alot like Blue's. I have been one of those people helped...good heavens 5 1/2 years ago this community saved my butt and they didn't even know me all that well. I had never experienced any sort of outpouring of kindness like that before and I stayed because of it.

Having so many kids a social-life is pretty much impossible. That was cool because I adore my kids and being with them but when I found this community I was able to have both. I too, have laughed and cried with this group. I even got my very first baby shower online with #7 complete with gifts and cards. Words can't describe.

I have also fought with people. One person imparticular, early on I made a very hateful, nasty comment to. It was about a year later, through another friend that she accepted my apology and taught me some wonderful things about letting go of the past and forgiveness. Real lessons learned that stay with me still in my life online and off and more recently this same person was one of the first to grab my hand during a rough time...something I'm sure she doesn't even have any idea how much it meant to me.

When I got married I pretty much lost all my friends. I have no connections with my childhood at all and no one..besides my husband that I've known for a long period of time. Here I have that. Running jokes from 6 years ago.....I'm in the Q section ;) friends in common that I remember too....friends lost :(

Like any community we are a rag-tag bunch and everybody is different. I HATED Ross when I first met him and it took me years to appreciate him for what he is (lawful evil, watch your back ;) ) there are the religious and the atheists, the republicans and the democrats and the libertarians. There are the shy and quiet, the outgoing and even the obnoxious. There's the poets and the photographers, there's the rotten spellers (gosh I miss fuzzybutt) and the english language masters. We are anything but cookie-cutters of each other but we do seem to make up a community.

A community I apprecitate :)

[krisinluck]

Oh! The baby shower! That was so much fun, Oddy. I loved being part of that. :)

[oddish]

It was a blast! Typing about it made me miss BNWILK though.

[Kiheicat]

Kazoo, great thread! And spot on, I might add. While reading your opening post the theme song from Cheers got stuck in my head. :)

I have those that I agree and disagree with, and that's the way it is when you have a community of vibrant personalities. Overall everybody has got somebody's back.

Thanks for the uplift, Kazoo :)

[krisinluck]

Typing about it made me miss BNWILK though.Me too...I couldn't have pulled that off without her help. I miss her a lot, and wonder whatever became of her.

[paleryder]

No offense but...I came here from a place where the word "community" was shoved up every orifice...frankly I wouldn't mind if I didn't hear the word again for a good long time.

That was no community, Emily. Cheap housing thrown up overnight like tents, built not on a solid foundation of growth/truth, but on lies. Notice how fast that house of "ethics" set sail in the wind when the storms rolled in.The fact they had to shove it, should have been the first clue.

[bluekazoo]

Therp, I remember that quote of Ross's, what a flashback ... it's good to see you again ...

Cowboy, your post bordered on the poetic ... :)

It's warm fuzzies here, seeing so many old friends ... I had composed a long-azzed post after reading em's and tek's, but I deleted it (very liberating, that - I should do it more often, heh) ... when I refreshed, there were several additional posts and I was so glad I hadn't given in to the urge to expound and expound and expound ...

I think I've learned a few things in this thread ... and have a few other things to mull over, as well ... I do know one thing -- I picked the right bunch of folks to get to know better, and you are all every bit as real to me as those naked freaks I knew years ago ... every bit as real as my best friend in high school (who is still my best friend, though we now communicate more online than off, due to distance) ... every bit as real as anyone else I know .. whether or not one fills a three-dimensional space in the same room is far less important to me than the space they fill in my mind and in my heart ...

Powerhouse is right ... we never really turn it off ... community is definitely a state of mind in many respects ...

and Kcat (who I am always happy to see) said it well, too ... 'everybody has somebody's back' here ...

So .... if we're all online, why the heck aren't we chatting somewhere, eh? I have stories to tell .. and I bet you do, too ..

:1chirol_r

(and no, this only LOOKS like a long-azzed post, you'll have to trust me - the other one that was deleted was much, much longer)

[rossshow]

I wanna "jack in"!

[bluekazoo]

You run the nightclub, remember?

;)

[oddish]

Well I'm ready to gather but not to hunt...hmmmm I wonder what that says about me?

Josey I loved your post :)

[krisinluck]

PR - you said it better than I did. Thanks.

So...where's the chat, eh? I've got a little time right now...

[KatieP]

http://p218.ezboard.com/bghosttown30502

I can get in there.

[rossshow]

You run the nightclub, remember?

Yeah yeah! I want the socket in my brain! I wanna jack into the web! Yeah!

[Luvcats]

Oddy, your baby shower was one of the most fun things I've ever done on-line, I still remember it and think about it. Such good people, such a fun event, and it was cyber. That's just amazing! I think that showed me some of the things that can happen online.

[mouthymouse]

I'm bumping this thread to show why I decided to start posting "all the sudden", when there is something going on with a different person/similar ID this week. No ulterior motive for showing up at the same time as uglimouse, I don't even know her. I'm also pretty sure I was posting in the game forum pretty regular before her problem came up.

Anyway, it was this thread that brought me out of lurk mode, most especially the quote below.




Now, on to the Ross Show...

I was, frankly, rather scared to post at the OLD Ross Show. I was pretty
sure my head would be ripped off and someone would piss down my neck...
or worse! The place just had the flavor of a hole in the wall biker bar, where
blood flowed as easily as the beer.

But the NEW Ross show is MUCH more like the local pub, where friends gather, and strangers, while eyed suspiciously, are still tolerated, and even welcomed
once they prove they are not related to creatures that live under bridges, or that they don't wear some animated puppets on their feet...
(trolls and sock puppets, ha ha).



:irollers4

[Eriu]

Well, I missed this one the first time around. My experience is much like Blue's and some of the other's that have posted. I believe that this is a community. (Although as of late, it seems you have the good and the bad) but, we have come together as a virtual community to help one another out in times of need.

Like was mentioned earlier, an online baby shower, It was a hoot! Who would have thought that this could have been accomplished, but it was and we had a great time and a great person was honored. Side note, I've tried to contack Bnwlk but her email comes back as undelivable. :(

Just look at was accomplished in the Katrina animal thread. Lots of animals were donated to a good cause by a community of people. Many of us in our RL communities did the same thing.

So, if this is not a community, I'd like to know what it is?

[rossshow]

This thread was really derailed. So I "split it", and now, let's keep it on topic, this time. I found a similar discussion, about the time OTWA was changing board ware:

http://www.otwa.com/community/showthread.php?t=14854

Kenlee asks:

Do you "belong" here?

---------------------------

In my mind, I don't.

Nothing against OTWA or the members, I just don't get a sense of "belonging" here. After 5 years of posting here you'd think I'd feel like part of the "community" (whatever community is), but I don't.

I originally came here because of eBay of course. But I've long since stopped eBaying.

I post and read here now because I've come to enjoy many of the conversations that take place here. I certainly enjoy "seeing" almost everyone who posts here, even those with whom I have large political and philosophical differences. I may not agree with everyone about everything, but I really do enjoy most of the conversations.

So how about you? Do you "belong" here? Do you see yourself as part of the "community" that is OTWA?

[bluekazoo]

ross, what does that mean - you 'split' the thread? If it means what I think it does, where is the rest of it?

[bluekazoo]

k, I found the rest of it ... on p2 here in the same forum ...

But now it's all a'jumble - two threads with stuff out of context, etc ...

I know you can do whatever you want here, but if you're going to start editing and dividing threads and stuff, you'll announce it (like you did this time - sort of) right?

Can ya maybe copy out the posts you want to continue on with into Community Part 2, and leave Community, Part 1 intact, too, maybe?

[Powerhouse]

I don't know, blue. It doesn't seem to be much of a 'community' anymore...

More like a barn where any piece of :1caca: can just slime their way in.











Yea, Hep - in case you didn't get it I was referring to YOU! :1finger1:

Here's your sign - :1fuck3:

[bluekazoo]

Stay on topic now, will ya, PH?

MY posts were about the arbitrary splitting of threads, ruining the continuity, etc ... not to mention, disturbing one of the best qualities OF a board -- which is the way conversations ebb and flow ...

YOUR post has now diverted attention from my very important questions for Ross ....

But of course, your post could be considered an ebb ... or a flow ... if it's found to be one (or the other) it's liable to get chopped out and put somewhere else ... Ross has found his :1raygun1: and might get zap-happy ...

:1chirol_r

[rossshow]

Yes yes, of course. Next time. There's a copy mode. Yes.

ON topic, please.

Let's not derail this one again.

[Eriu]

uh...so what's the topic????


:1chirol_r

[rossshow]

More like a barn where any piece of can just slime their way in.

The policy has always been "All Are Welcome, Friend or Foe"

[Eriu]

Besides, isn;t there an ignore button here? Like as in "Plonk"

:1both:

[Luvcats]

I cannot begin to tell you how much I like the ignore button. Its a big lesson, shows that if you put only a few people on ignore, there are so many posters to enjoy.

[Hepburn]

I love that ignore button as well. Please...use it. Its much more cozy here.
Thanks Ross Dear for wanting me so badly youd go over the majorities wishes. I know you love me. I do you, too, darling.

[rossshow]

Trying to keep this thread on topic is like herding cats.

:sm1211: :sm1165: :sm1212: :sm1139: :sm1160: :sm1158: :1kitty1: :sm1154:

Well. At least I learned how to "split" a thread. And now I know to copy, then split.

Please continue whatever.

[Hepburn]

On topic:

A community is a gathering of those who have hung around each other for quite some time, regardless of whether they are buddies or not. Like it or not....I AM part of this community, much to a fews dismay. :1kiss1:

[chococake]

Pity the weak and lonely

[Powerhouse]

....I AM part of this community,

Sure, why not - every community needs to have a crazy bitch that lives down the road. Couldn't be without it.
:1chirol_r

[Hepburn]

LOL. Right on cue, coocoocake. :1JerryJer

Mike..do you also contact your ex highschool girlfriends that dumped you and call them Bitch? No? I guess Im honored eh? Shows how much you care what with this continual shoving your chest in my face. Like I said...youll eventually get over it.

Yall feel big about yourselves today that you cant use the ignore button and Ill mosey on to work. Im sure lots more will follow during my absence. it usually does. :2gamecock

[Powerhouse]

There she goes again - Crazy Hep creating her own little world where people simply must do things worse than her so that she can feel better about herself.
Forget it toots - you make maggots look classy.

[cmhaas]

This message is hidden because Hepburn is on your ignore list.

I like this ignore feature. :)

[newslady]

From answers.com

com·mu·ni·ty (kə-myū'nĭ-tē)
n., pl. -ties.

1. A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government.
The district or locality in which such a group lives.

2. A group of people having common interests: the scientific community; the international business community.
A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society: the gay community; the community of color.

3. Similarity or identity: a community of interests.
Sharing, participation, and fellowship.
Society as a whole; the public.

4. Ecology.
A group of plants and animals living and interacting with one another in a specific region under relatively similar environmental conditions.
The region occupied by a group of interacting organisms.

[sadie999]

I like Wikipedia's definition:

Community is a set of people (or agents in a more abstract sense) with some shared element. Also a community is a group of people or things that live in the same area. The substance of shared element varies widely, from a situation to interest to lives and values. The term is widely used to evoke sense of collectivity.

It kind of covers everything that I think of when I think community.

I tend to believe in the individual more than I do any community. Which doesn't mean that I don't think groups can get things done or that they aren't fun. I just happen to think that the true white light of stupidity (or enlightenment) can only emanate from the individual.

I think that a person may not fit in to a community and yet still belong. I also believe that a person can fit to a community and not belong to it. Fitting in and belonging are very different. A sock, for eg., especially a sock disguised as a trusted member from another venue might for awhile "fit in." But that person obviously doesn't belong or they wouldn't disrespect the community in that manner.

Neither fitting in nor belonging have ever been a biggy with me as an adult. I find that dealing with most people on any real level is usually more effort than its worth. (Can you spell curmudgeon?) I love mankind, I just think people (including myself) are a pain in the ass. :D

I don't guess I'm answering a question as much as I am just free associating. One thing I know: a community by any definition is about more than one person, and so too should this thread be.

Peace.

[saabsister]

Newslady, I see at least two communities here according to your definitions...the OAI community which has been posting together for a long time and the pond scum community which floats along with the first.

[newslady]

All righty then.

[oddish]

Sure, why not - every community needs to have a crazy bitch that lives down the road. Couldn't be without it. Damn why is that? I had crazy neighbor for years. Finally moved away and now I have crazy bitch that lives down the road. Am I cursed? The only good thing this time is that I'm not the only one who knows she's crazy, the whole neighborhood knows it.

Is there ever any hope of getting rid of the crazy bitch down the road?

[sadie999]

I live close to the top of the hill, so if you had me near you, I'd be up the road instead of down the road. :D

Peace.

[Eriu]

Oddy,

I think you are cursed!

:1both:

[chococake]

We had one they called the cat lady. Not because she liked cat's but because she hated them. She would catch all of our cats and take them to the humane society and tell them they were strays. They finally caught on to her. She would rant and rave up and down the street how cats only used her yard for a cat box. She finally died, that's the only way she stopped.

Pity the weak and the lonely.

[sibs ling]

Is there ever any hope of getting rid of the crazy bitch down the road?

If there ISN'T a crazy bitch down the road, does it make you think that you (general you) might be the one?

I'm already the meanest mom on the block. Perhaps I should strive for crazy bitch too.

It's a goal.