What Makes the Board a Community?

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

I've got a friend who's creating (well, reviving) a forum site. It's focused around online Werewolf games and general conversations, typically about slightly geeky things like video games, comicons, role playing, and reading. I've joined the site, first to support him, now because I'm enjoying what I've found.

He was asking me about my thoughts and how it compares to other sites. My forum experience is pretty much all here, so I was telling him what I love about The Board and The Board Board. I'd love to get other thoughts. I feel like the two demographics are actually pretty similar. Both have a higher standard for grammar, actual discussion, and intelligent interaction than is often found online. Sparkbomb is quickly becoming my second home online. The conversation is fun, the werewolf games are addicting, and the people are really nice. The Board has long been my home - Facebook I view as a resource - and I'm really interested in what similar features and attitudes have drawn me into both groups.

What has made us such a community? The Board brought us all here, but why do you think we've formed closer bonds and friendships, stuck with the forum for years after leaving BYU or despite never attending? How have we managed to keep things civil despite the occasional tiffs?

Maybe I'm overstepping by saying "we." I know I'm not one of the most involved posters. How many post at least once a week? How many post once a day? I personally go through phases. I can range from checking in once or twice a week to compulsively posting multiple times a day - even hunting for threads I can contribute to. What drives your involvement?

[Whistler]

I think it helps that I know some of the other participants IRL, so even if they say something stupid I am more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt. If you want to look at some academic work on the subject there's a table here that examines factors that influence how likely a person is to participate in an online group (table 12.2 pg. 351): https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/100 ... 20Work.pdf

It includes things like having a specific group topic (I see this on Facebook groups a lot, "Young Mormon Feminists" comes to mind) and having a feeling that your contribution to the group is unique/valuable.

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

Thanks Whistler!

What are some specific ways you feel that you contribute here? I feel like I don't contribute much and yet I feel very included. I feel like the writers and former writers have all be instrumental in providing what is essentially the "product" of The Board: answers. I suppose the Board Board gives us all a chance to offer answers as well.

What other groups are you a part of that you've felt became more of a community than just a group?

[Whistler]

well, I guess I don't feel like my contributions here are all that unique most of the time, unless I'm commenting about some research I've found or have read. But I feel like I'm good enough friends with a few people that even my random opinions or venting will not be simply ignored.

I've mentioned that I also admin for Facebook group within my neighborhood--it definitely feels like a community, since everyone lives close together, and people post about things that happen to all of us outside the group (like experiencing heavy traffic or a snowstorm or children playing in the road). So, common experiences.

Another forum I was fairly active in was one attached to a Japanese-language-learning flashcard service. However, there was a huge influx of people about 8 months after I joined, some of them really young and immature (not that that's a bad thing, but it took a while to teach them some "internet manners"), and then some of the older members stopped participating in the forum because it was so full of "random chatter"-type participation (mostly references to anime and photoshopping people's avatars onto increasingly silly pictures, and then having lots of inside jokes). Before the forum died though, I made some friends with some of the other users on my 3DS and on my PS3, so we still "see" each other online and stuff. Kind of like how we exchanged steam usernames at one point on this forum--it gives you experiences with forum users outside the forum, which helps you feel closer to them... has anyone else had a similar experience?

[Violet]

I think Whistler's on to something with other shared experiences and a friendship set. I was a part of a forum when I was in high school and we talked outside the forum on AIM, exchanged blog URLS, became facebook friends, etc. Now, even though none of us lived in the same place when we were first involved with the forum, I've met 3 of them in person and went to the graduation dinner of one of them.

There's a facebook group I'm a part of that hosts weekly meetings and has led to multiple sub-groups. Yes, sometimes there's drama but I think the fact that these people have created solid relationships, not just related to the topic at hand helps.

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

Whistler, I really think that idea of forming bonds outside the main forum is a good one. I know the people Sparkbomb that I feel closest to are those I also Skype with. Hmmm... maybe I should join their Steam group. Really the only thing stopping me is my laziness about getting a Steam account. :p

And the point about maturity is a huge deal. That's one thing I'm liking at this forum. How do you keep that from happening? I mean, your awesome forum sort of died when meme-obsessed teens took over. Do you have any ideas on keeping the maturity level of posts up at a more desirable level?

Violet, how far apart did you all live? How did you initially get involved in the forum?

Actually, that's a good question in general. How do you find communities to join online? How do you recruit new members to communities you enjoy? I was invited by a friend and I have another friend who I think would really enjoy Sparkbomb, but since we live far away, I don't know how best to introduce her. Sending a link doesn't really do it. I got to watch my friend play on it and fiddle around on the site before I joined myself.

[Whistler]

I mean, your awesome forum sort of died when meme-obsessed teens took over. Do you have any ideas on keeping the maturity level of posts up at a more desirable level?

It helps if the other members outnumber new ones so that new members can learn the "culture" of the forum. But the other/older members need to be active too.

It seems like getting friends to join a group is a really good way to build up a community. In some of the Facebook groups I've joined, I get notifications when my friends post and I'm more interested and more likely to comment on their posts.

[Violet]

Violet, how far apart did you all live? How did you initially get involved in the forum?

I was living in Utah. The first one I met was living in Arizona, but worked in Utah for a summer so we met then. Another was in Texas. The last was originally in NYC, but moved to DC for school. I was in DC for an internship and that was when I got to do the graduation dinner thing.

Shared interests. It's what makes an online community a community. The forum I referenced was based on music which attracted a certain type of personality. The personalities meshed and we were able to become better friends.

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

That's so cool Violet! What was it like meeting them? Apparently a couple of the people on Sparkbomb live near me, and my friend is going to try to introduce me. Is it silly that I'm sort of nervous? I've created an online persona, and now it's going to mix with my real-life persona.

Has anyone else got to meet online friends? I've only once met someone first online and then met them in person. Our very own Tally M, in fact! Oh, and I guess GA and I met up for lunch too. So twice.

How did you decide to meet up? Just "Hey, we're near each other, let's do this!" or was there more pre-planning? Tally and I intended to meet up when I got back to Provo right from the start. GA just happened to be visiting near my hometown last summer.

[Violet]

It was good. It had been a few years from the first interactions so I felt like I knew them pretty well already. It was pretty straightforward from there. We were already decent friends and I saw how they interacted with people on facebook, instant messaging clients, forums, their blogs, so I pretty much knew what to expect.

Most of them were pretty pre-planned. For me, when I know I'm going to be in the same city as someone I've interacted with but never met in person, I want to meet up with them. So, when I planned my trips I texted them and said something like, "hey, this is when I'll be there and we should have dinner. You know the city better than I do, so pick a place."

[Whistler]

Yes, I've met people online IRL before... in fact, that is how I met my husband (Google Reader recommended my blog to him, he left comments, I Facebook stalked him, which was easy since I knew his brother). Most of the time it's fine. Sometimes people are a lot more shy IRL than online, but most of the time they just need a little warming up.