Posted by alexandra_k on April 25, 2005, at 20:54:10
In reply to Re: my vote, posted by Dinah on April 25, 2005, at 19:52:47
I have been thinking... And thinking...
And it is hard.
Because I know that some people don't join in over on social because they feel overwhelmed by the number of posters and posts.
Some people leave Babble because they don't feel like they fit in.
I remember how hard it was for me when I first arrived.
How long it took me before I felt like I did fit in here.
How long it took me before I did feel like a part of this place.
How long it took me before I started registering that different posting names really meant WHO posted that post
And the different posting names were different PEOPLE
And that you can get to know different PEOPLE and different PERSONALITIES over here.
It took me so very long to get that.
Because the number of posts was so very overwhelming.
And I just read each post individually
And didn't even register WHO had written it because the posting names meant nothing to me.
And different posters responded to my posts all the time so it took me a long while to get any notion of continuity and the PEOPLE behind the posting names. But it is the PEOPLE that make Babble so very special. And it is the PEOPLE who are so very theraputic to me.And I do see...
I do see that if there was a board with a smaller number of posters then all that would happen so very much faster and people who leave Babble may well not leave. They may hang around. And get the confidence from feeling accepted in a smaller group to venture out over to social.But then I also see what Dinah is saying... I do.
And so it is a hard one.Some of the boards do have a smaller feel already. Writing. Writing has a smaller number of regular posters. Relationships. Some of the boards are like that already. Social may be daunting - but there are some boards here with a smaller feel already.
I don't think 2000 should be dissolved. Some people post over there - and we would lose them altogether if it wasn't for that board. But it is sad that we can't talk to them. I do feel sad that they don't want to talk to me or get to know me. I was thinking that the other day. And I do feel funny about reading over there. I was reading the thread about whether the 2000 board should go. And I wanted to post to it - to say 'No! Don't feel bad peoples'. But then I realised that I couldn't post to it. I could probably post a reply to it on another board. But the people from 2000 probably wouldn't read my reply even if they knew there was one. And they didn't care what I had to say about it anyway because, well, because that is partly why they post over there I suppose. Because they don't want responses from people they don't know. I don't know. But thats what I was thinking. And I do feel sad about that.
But please don't go Dinah. To leave over this - well, it really is cutting off ones nose to spite ones face. There are restricted boards here already. 2000 and newbies and students used to be. And I know you don't like that - but you are still here. And to leave as a matter of principle is to cut off ones nose. To stay here and to say what you think is the way to be true to yourself IMO. You don't have to leave over it. And it isn't just cutting off your nose - it is cutting off other posters noses too. Because we miss out on you. And your support. And you are a huge part of the psych board Dinah (and other boards too) - but especially the psych board.
But people do feel left out...
Newbies do get ignored a fair bit.
I have noticed that.
I try to welcome them over on the newbies board, but then I suppose that most often I repost their posts over on another board - because I feel like they will get more responses there. But maybe that is to defeat the purpose of the newbies board. Maybe the idea of the newbies board is mroe to strike up a conversation with them. And be a bit of a 'buddy' to them. And try and be their first friend on Babble. I notice quite often that Newbies get welcomed on the newbies board - but then after that they sort of do look like they are being ignored a bit over on the other boards. Or a little bit later, a little bit later after people have stopped welcoming them. I don't think it is intentional - but it does happen. It does. And I feel sad about that - but sometimes I don't have the time and energy to go around being shepard. I just can't do it.Babble could so easily be a full time job. I think of that a lot. I am quite fond of thinking up research projects that one could do that are Babble related. Even experiments or whatever for the empirically inclined. It would be a way to justify spending most of ones time here ;-) But then I feel a bit funny about that because I don't think Dr Bob likes the idea of OTHER people doing research here, and I am aware that most Babblers don't even like the idea of Dr Bob doing research here.
That is a shame... There was actually one thread that I really wanted to use part of in my thesis. Really. I think I could have gotten a good chapter around it. I even checked out the 'fair use' regulations and everything. But then I thought about it and worried about it and realised that the poster would not like it. I mean they really would not like it especially if they knew what my thesis was about. Even though I wouldn't have been mocking them or making fun of them or anything like that - merely using it to illustrate something that I had to say (about difficulties with CBT). Anyway... I decided not to do it... But I don't know... If I really do get stuck on things to say then I may have to ;-)
I don't know...
I am rambelling.
Please don't get paranoid peoples.
I'm sorry :-(
poster:alexandra_k
thread:441543
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20050417/msgs/489467.html