Internet Communities

It HAD to be a new community.  That was the only downside to this week’s assignment.  I found that I much preferred the forum communities that I’m already a member of.  Similar subjects, but I had already spent years becoming a part of them.

 

I ended up joining the Inheritance Forums, devoted to the fan community surrounding the Inheritance Cycle books (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and the yet-unnamed fourth book).  The website is www.inheritanceforums.com.  My first impressions were not so good.  There were some difficulties in sending my email validation, and, judging from the numerous entries on the Help thread for validation emails, the forum has consistent problems with sending validation emails to yahoo accounts. 

 

The Inheritance Forums were also very strict about the site’s netiquette.  Rules are natural for such forums, but this is the first forum I’ve found that requires proper English.  The administrators, to my great surprise, would show up on threads to alert users if their post is too unreadable, or if the punctuation wasn’t good.  It reminded me of what Wood and Smith wrote about using netiquette to make sure that all users treat each other with respect.  However, they could’ve added that rules could go a tad bit too far. 

 

Not that I had any run-ins with the administrators.  (innocent look)

           

I started working my way into the community by using tried and true methods.  I filled in my user profile with an avatar picture and some information about my interests and favorite Eragon characters.  Oddly enough, this alone brought me a new friend—by identifying Murtagh and Thorn (antagonists) as my favorite characters, I identified myself as part of a sub-group that loves these characters.  I then formally introduced myself in the newcomer forum.  This gave the administrators and other users a chance to say hi and exhort me to read and follow the rules. 

           

Next move, posting.  But not just random posting!  I specifically chose threads that I was interested in or had some knowledge in.  This way, I’d actually have something intelligent to add to the conversation.  As I had no interest whatsoever in the unrealistic cleanliness of Sloan’s meatshop, or why Arya is such a great heroine, I avoided those threads.  Rather, I picked threads such as discussions on writing qualities, Murtagh (of course), and predictions for Book Four.

           

And then, I released my secret weapon for acceptance: Humor.  There’s nothing quite like humor to make people notice you or respond to you on forums.  Humor had to be handled carefully though—I knew that if I insulted Paolini (the author) or the books too much in my jokes, other users would dislike me. 

 

Acceptance was marked by replies.  Once I was part of the community, people would reply to my posts, and I to theirs.  I found that humor proved an easy way to acceptance.  The people who read through the threads and participated in the conversations often enjoyed seeing a humorous post after a slew of posts that endlessly debated small topics in spirals. 

 

Oddly enough, disagreements of opinion were very common on this forum.  In fact, each thread was usually based around discussion and disagreement on various issues, such as  “Who will be the next Dragon Rider?”  (My answer: the Dark Lord’s latrine cleaner).  Everyone would state their opinion (occasionally in a poll) and would expound upon their position to their heart’s content.  Resolution happened whenever people grew tired of the subject and let the thread lapse into obscurity.  Having everyone agree on one position wasn’t the goal of the disagreements, and, as a result, most disagreements were very civil because everyone’s opinion was equally valid.

 

Overall, I found that the issues of individuality and opinions to be interesting.  Users’ individual opinions had more weight when they posted here.  However, users were less inclined to reach consensus or to change their opinions concerning subjects.  Also, I felt that the community was rather disjointed.  The users found connection on a shared interest (the Inheritance books), but set-up of forum discussion fragmented people according to their opinion.  I ended up comparing this forum to another one I prefer to visit, where the forum has shared activities/threads/discussions that serve to bring users together for common goals and purposes, thus making the community stronger.   

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~ by skwalker on February 16, 2009.