Topic: Range of Participation
Tom4Uhere's photo
Fri 02/16/18 10:29 PM
I've been participating in online forum communities since the late 90s.
Dating forum participation is just the most recent rendition of forum activities I am currently using to express myself.

I'm wondering, Just out of curiosity, how many people here have been participating in forum communities other than dating?

Is forums a new thing you recently taken up, or have you been part of forums for a long time?

I remember when chat rooms were the big thing. I never really took to the chatroom atmosphere because it moved at too fast of a speed to make any real sense of it all.

Personally, I liked the slow speed of forums. They allowed you to actually give thought to the topics at hand.

I have a wide range of forum communities that I frequent.
From science and philosophy to science fiction and horror.

There's one forum community that deals with speculative evolution.
Anothr that talks about horror movies and another that is strictly dragons.

Take any subject and there is usually a forum community dedicted to it.


TxsGal3333's photo
Sat 02/17/18 06:06 AM

Hummm been on here way too long...but...beside this I'm on facebook and that is the end of my social media..... I have been on other sites for a short time but left them... staying basically only on the two sites...

Toodygirl5's photo
Sat 02/17/18 09:04 AM
Edited by Toodygirl5 on Sat 02/17/18 09:13 AM
I participate on mingle2 Forums because a few real people hang out here.

Not my thing on previous dating sites. I paid for them, and men there met and dated in person.

Many people on here aren't on the Forum. I get messages most everyday. They say , what's the forum on mingle2.laugh

They have pages of made up games and Many fun, joking Posts on mingle2.

Taking up too much space. Not a good date site. Imo. Upside it is free
You usually get what you pay for.

Tom4Uhere's photo
Sat 02/17/18 09:58 AM
So far, what I'm getting is that people here are limited to dating forum communities?
That participating in forum communities not having to do with dating doesn't interest many?
That the extent of forum participation is restricted to online dating sites?

yellowrose10's photo
Sat 02/17/18 10:24 AM


Hummm been on here way too long...but...beside this I'm on facebook and that is the end of my social media..... I have been on other sites for a short time but left them... staying basically only on the two sites...


This. I have been here as long as fb. Tried others and no thanks

Toodygirl5's photo
Sat 02/17/18 10:42 AM

So far, what I'm getting is that people here are limited to dating forum communities?
That participating in forum communities not having to do with dating doesn't interest many?
That the extent of forum participation is restricted to online dating sites?



Exactly!!! I agree.

yellowrose10's photo
Sat 02/17/18 11:13 AM
Well this is a dating site and a social site. It is what it is

mzrosie's photo
Sat 02/17/18 12:23 PM

So far, what I'm getting is that people here are limited to dating forum communities?
That participating in forum communities not having to do with dating doesn't interest many?
That the extent of forum participation is restricted to online dating sites?


Hi Tom, this is the only forum I participate in and I'm participating less these days.

I've started vlogging again on YouTube this year and I am having so much fun making videos and making new friends and I know they are real people as they show themselves vlogging about their daily lives.

Give vlogging a try, Tom. You might just like it.

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Sat 02/17/18 01:59 PM
I think I joined my first forum around 2003, a spiritual forum.
I started my own spiritual forum in 2006, lost that when I let go of the domain name and space, started a 2nd spiritual forum around 2008.
I had that last forum until 3 weeks ago. I decided it was time for something new. But I won't be starting another forum again anytime soon.

I am a member of an international spiritual forum, have been for some 4 yrs.

Chat groups, I loved those! MSN chat groups in the day, around 2002. I wasn't happy when they disappeared.

no photo
Sat 02/17/18 02:04 PM
I've been on a few non-dating forums like WetCanvas. There is a time and place for them. Sometimes I want to talk about more than art. :-p

Tom4Uhere's photo
Sat 02/17/18 03:16 PM
I have a pretty wide range of interests.
I'm always on the look out for something new to broaden my horizons.

I remember using the AOL chatrooms.

When I was working I was active in automotive and truck repair forums. It kept me up to date with the industry changes.

I think no matter what you're interested in you can find a forum discussing it.
The participation levels have dropped off since phones became popular.
Not many people want to type out discussions like they used to.

Over the years I've had 5 or 6 forums. None were too popular publicly but they were fine for a small group of friends to get together and discuss things. Max 50 members.

I belonged to Bad Astronomy for years. That forum was huge. 100,000+ visitors per week, 80,000 members. Its gone now.

Toodygirl5's photo
Sat 02/17/18 03:33 PM
Edited by Toodygirl5 on Sat 02/17/18 03:34 PM
People under 40 are into chat rooms, chatting on the phone and texting!

I text too to those I know well enough to give my #! Out.

Not just any man online.

IgorFrankensteen's photo
Sat 02/17/18 04:00 PM
I started being involved with virtual communities like this one, after my marriage finally collapsed entirely, and I needed to find some way to meet people other than at work (strict prohibition on socializing there).

So I joined POF, and chanced upon their then vibrant forums. Sadly, the owner of that site decided to stick an ice pick in the neck of the forum community, so that died. I tried out an intriguing forum with nominally high ideals called Rational Skepticism for a while, but they devolved into a narrow in-crowd club of about a half dozen people who believed it was a sign of genius to be rude, so I left there.

I can't stand Facebook, because they seem to go out of the way to make it nearly impossible to do anything without spending HOURS just trying to work out how their obscure systems function. I still can't figure out how to send messages to anyone there, save when the friends I have linked to, post something I can comment on.

For the moment, there are a few very interesting and thoughtful people here who say things worth discussing, and there are some good monitors who see to it that we stay civil, which many forums I've glanced at don't have. There's no point to trying to talk to people who think lashing out with insults and rude names, is a form of personal accomplishment.

My real ultimate goal, is to find a new mate. Hence the "Dating Site" involvement. But I also like that when there is a forum, I have a chance to see lot more about someone before I risk investing in them as much as is needed to try them out as a mate, so I prefer places that still have one.

msharmony's photo
Sat 02/17/18 04:05 PM
Edited by msharmony on Sat 02/17/18 04:08 PM
This is really the online 'community' I am most involved in, though I occasionally participate on Facebook or Yahoo, I find most communities are overseen by very human and involved individuals that tend to become partial regarding certain topics or viewpoints and have favorite contributors that they give more discretion to.

This site is mostly interesting in its direct and easy to understand 'flow' of topic participation so I still come, although less and less for some of the reasons stated above.

I do feel that is an entirely reasonable by product of anything that is
1. Free
2.Highly watched over by a select number of humans.


I participate in the less moderated 'communities' of Facebook and Yahoo because of the variety of topics being presented at any given time and the broader discretion to share thoughts and opinions with others.

I also participate to take breaks in my job throughout the day.

no photo
Sun 02/18/18 05:57 AM

I started being involved with virtual communities like this one, after my marriage finally collapsed entirely, and I needed to find some way to meet people other than at work (strict prohibition on socializing there).

So I joined POF, and chanced upon their then vibrant forums. Sadly, the owner of that site decided to stick an ice pick in the neck of the forum community, so that died. I tried out an intriguing forum with nominally high ideals called Rational Skepticism for a while, but they devolved into a narrow in-crowd club of about a half dozen people who believed it was a sign of genius to be rude, so I left there.

I can't stand Facebook, because they seem to go out of the way to make it nearly impossible to do anything without spending HOURS just trying to work out how their obscure systems function. I still can't figure out how to send messages to anyone there, save when the friends I have linked to, post something I can comment on.

For the moment, there are a few very interesting and thoughtful people here who say things worth discussing, and there are some good monitors who see to it that we stay civil, which many forums I've glanced at don't have. There's no point to trying to talk to people who think lashing out with insults and rude names, is a form of personal accomplishment.

My real ultimate goal, is to find a new mate. Hence the "Dating Site" involvement. But I also like that when there is a forum, I have a chance to see lot more about someone before I risk investing in them as much as is needed to try them out as a mate, so I prefer places that still have one.


A friend urged me to make a POF account too. Knowing your experience has saved me the time and trouble. Thank you.

Stu's photo
Sun 02/18/18 06:14 AM
I started using dial up BBS in the early 90s. I would telnet to a BBS located in Indiana and met a lot of great people, everyone was real and it was in real time "green screen". They had bowling get togethers, parties, meet for drinks and dancing, so I started traveling up there every other weekend or so.

I have used other forums, fishing, ham radio sites, off road, musician; and didn't bother with FB until 2010 (still trying to decide if that was worth it or not) all it did was allow me to find out why my wife didn't want me on it.

I ditched FB for about a year, and became a recluse for about 4 months, missed all of last summers fishing before I finally got the help I'd been denying myself of saying " I didn't need it".

So, now that I've rambled, I have forgotten what the whole point was..

I guess the answer is, ..... yes?

Tom4Uhere's photo
Sun 02/18/18 10:25 AM
I remember the old BBS systems.
I also participated in newsgroups.

At one time, there was a site called "ClipMarks".
You could download the "Clipping Tool" and capture pieces of websites to 'clip and post' to the site. Clicking the 'clip' directed you to the source website.
Other members were then free to discuss the 'clips'.
I had over 5,000 'clips' on a wide range of subjects.
You could 'follow' different 'clippers'.
The site disappeared, then years later up popped "Pinterest"
A site that allows you to "pin" images from webpages.
Clicking a 'pinned image' directs you to the source site.
You can comment, like and 'repin' other's 'pins'.
I have tens of thousands of 'pins' on a wide range of subjects.
You can 'follow' different members.

I remember 'MySpace'. At the time I was already using 'GeoCities' to make webpages so I didn't get interested in 'MySpace'. When 'FaceBook' cane along, I created an account and played the 'FaceBook' game. About a year or so ago, it occurred to me that FaceBook had become a drama-filled study on narcissism and I walked away and haven't looked back.

I returned to the bulletin board type forums for self-expression and exploration. They are not the same as they once were. Sparse is the word that comes to mind. There's a lot of 'text-speak' now.
There are few responses with any substance. I account it to the nature of typing on a keypad vs a keyboard.

aryankauur's photo
Mon 03/05/18 12:38 AM
Hi

Tom4Uhere's photo
Mon 03/05/18 10:31 AM

I started being involved with virtual communities like this one, after my marriage finally collapsed entirely, and I needed to find some way to meet people other than at work (strict prohibition on socializing there).

So I joined POF, and chanced upon their then vibrant forums. Sadly, the owner of that site decided to stick an ice pick in the neck of the forum community, so that died. I tried out an intriguing forum with nominally high ideals called Rational Skepticism for a while, but they devolved into a narrow in-crowd club of about a half dozen people who believed it was a sign of genius to be rude, so I left there.

I can't stand Facebook, because they seem to go out of the way to make it nearly impossible to do anything without spending HOURS just trying to work out how their obscure systems function. I still can't figure out how to send messages to anyone there, save when the friends I have linked to, post something I can comment on.

For the moment, there are a few very interesting and thoughtful people here who say things worth discussing, and there are some good monitors who see to it that we stay civil, which many forums I've glanced at don't have. There's no point to trying to talk to people who think lashing out with insults and rude names, is a form of personal accomplishment.

My real ultimate goal, is to find a new mate. Hence the "Dating Site" involvement. But I also like that when there is a forum, I have a chance to see lot more about someone before I risk investing in them as much as is needed to try them out as a mate, so I prefer places that still have one.

I have met some women on POF & DH. They seem to have proximity matches that do respond. I like the interface used at CS but there isn't many local matches, like here.
Before I killed FB, I tried out FBF and got a couple of responses but nothing local and none that were realistic.
I've had the best luck at DH but I deleted my account when I met one woman and now I can't seem to be able to open a new account due to browser redirects. I contacted the administrator and they were no help. POF has been 'fairly' productive locally but if I could get back into DH I'd be using it instead of POF.
M2 forums is about the same as DH forums.

My main forum participation concerns movies, music and books at science and science fiction sites. I also participate at a few scientist websites like Michio Kaku for example. I love dinosaurs and monsters. I have at least 7 dinosaur (Paleontology) websites I participate at. Then there are the dragon and fantasy sites.
I also frequent culinary and recipe sites and participate in the page comments of the various blogs and reply streams.
I like 'broadening my horizons' so I 'check out' a lot of different sites. I like to read and type so I have that going for me.