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... at one of the new rants that will be appearing on my website (when I finally finish the new update):
Hello, and welcome to the exciting world of online Pagan discussion forums. We know that you are greatly excited about your newfound interests, but before you jump into the deep end, here are a few tips to keep you from becoming shark food.
1. Before you start posting, read. Many of your important questions may already be answered in recent threads. Also, be sure to check out the forum webpage (nearly all of them have one). Many of the most commonly asked questions will be answered in a FAQ section or in essay format. Above all, though, read the forum rules. Every community has guidelines, and if you want your forum encounter to be pleasant, please make sure that you know what sort of behavior they expect from their posters.
2. There are a few simple things to remember about forums that may not be mentioned in the official rules. First and foremost is no netspeak, please! While it may be cute and cool to your friends on IMs or on your cell phone’s text messages, it is not really appropriate for forum discussion boards. Many forums have members from all over the world for whom English is not their first language (and if they are using a web translator, you can imagine what netspeak does to it), and the rest of us just find it annoying as all hell.
Don’t type all in capital letters (that is considered shouting online), it is best to use dark text (reds and pinks tend to be hard on the eyes), and remember what they taught you in school about grammar and punctuation. Also, most forums appreciate it if you place blank spaces in between your paragraphs to make them easier for everyone to read. A lot of people will just skip over a big block of text, rather than slog through it.
3. Now you are ready to post. Your first post to a new forum should be an introduction (almost every forum I have ever been to has a special folder for introductory posts). Tell us a little about yourself. Your interests, hobbies, how long you have been studying Paganism, what brought you to our forum … all these things will help to build a positive relationship with the regulars (who are the people who are going to be helping you out and answering your questions).
No personal contact information, please. You never know who is lurking the depths of cyberspace. You may even wish to keep your email address private; spambots are notorious for trolling forums for email addresses to add to their lists.
4. When you start to post in the general forum, try to steer clear of generalizations and sweeping statements. If you say something that sounds fishy, people will ask you to site your sources. If you are stating your opinion (or knowledge based on personal experience), be sure to say so, so that others may relate their experience in a similar fashion. Also, when in religious forums, we prefer that you not bash other religions (not everyone in a Pagan forum is going to be Pagan, and it is pretty bad form to rag on Christians when there may be some right there).
5. This should help you get off on the right foot, but should you find yourself in a snafu anyway, it is important to remember that the internet is a text based medium. While most people use emoticons (or smileys) to help express emotions, you still cannot see them or hear the tone of their voice. If a post seems overly blunt or rude for no reason, go back and read it again. Make certain that you aren’t reading animosity that isn’t there.
Because of the lack of body language on the internet, a lot of people have developed a very blunt method of speaking with others. Make sure that you aren’t automatically assuming that they are being rude. If you are unsure of how to take an answer (or if you are having difficulty understanding what they are trying to say), don’t be afraid to ask for clarification. Most people are willing to rephrase their responses a bunch of times in an effort to facilitate meaningful dialogue.
6. It is absolutely critical that you understand the difference between a discussion forum and a fellowship forum. Discussion forums are for discussing and debating ideas. If we don’t agree with you, we will say so. We will pick apart your arguments and attempt to come to new understandings of different concepts. This does not mean that we don’t like you or don’t want you here. If you read and followed point number one, you will likely have seen this sort of debating going on between the regulars (who are often all good friends). We aren’t arguing, we are discussing different points of view.
If this makes you uncomfortable, then perhaps what you are looking for is not a discussion forum, but a fellowship forum. These are often characterized by little to no disagreement on topics, and everyone seems to go out of their way to make you feel warm and fuzzy. These places have value for many people, but the folks you will run into on discussion boards are there for debate, not to have their egos stroked.
7. Threads in discussion forums often wonder off topic. This is really just the nature of the beast, and can be remedied fairly easily by posting a message that is back on topic (this may occasionally result in two conversations happening in one thread – many long time posters will try to keep thread derailment to a minimum, but sometimes, it just happens). Posting snide messages about how people are not helping you, is not going to win you any popularity contests. No one likes an attention whore.
8. On that note, if you are having a bad day and it leaks into your posts, come back and say so, but don’t try to make excuses for bad behavior … you will gain more respect as a member of the community if you come right out and admit that you may have taken things the wrong way and/or overreacted. Everyone has their moody moments, and though it is best to stay off the computer when you are feeling bitchy, not everyone has the best judgement when they are feeling that way, and we understand this. Likewise, understand that others might also be having personal problems that are coloring their responses (you can generally expect venting when people mention that their post is going to be a rant).
9. Now that I have you thoroughly scared and ready for the worst, you must also remember to never be afraid to post a ‘newbie’ question. Even if you feel it is stupid, post it anyway. We were all beginners once, and most people are more than willing to share the benefit of their experience. No one is going to be grudge you your ignorance on any topic.
10. Lastly, keep an open mind. You will likely come across concepts that are completely contrary to everything that you thought you knew (this happens to almost everyone at one point or another), and you may even find that some of your most closely held beliefs start to change and evolve as you start to see things from different points of view.
Keeping these ten simple tips in mind should help you ensure a positive and beneficial forum experience, and while there are groups out there that are a little bit crazy and cliquish, don’t let a bad experience sour you on a great medium for communication and community. To get you started on your journey, I will leave you with a few of my favorite forums:
A Witches Thicket
Teen Witch Online
The Midnight Garden
Wiccan Web
The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum
Intuitively Speaking
Comments?
--Phae
Hello, and welcome to the exciting world of online Pagan discussion forums. We know that you are greatly excited about your newfound interests, but before you jump into the deep end, here are a few tips to keep you from becoming shark food.
1. Before you start posting, read. Many of your important questions may already be answered in recent threads. Also, be sure to check out the forum webpage (nearly all of them have one). Many of the most commonly asked questions will be answered in a FAQ section or in essay format. Above all, though, read the forum rules. Every community has guidelines, and if you want your forum encounter to be pleasant, please make sure that you know what sort of behavior they expect from their posters.
2. There are a few simple things to remember about forums that may not be mentioned in the official rules. First and foremost is no netspeak, please! While it may be cute and cool to your friends on IMs or on your cell phone’s text messages, it is not really appropriate for forum discussion boards. Many forums have members from all over the world for whom English is not their first language (and if they are using a web translator, you can imagine what netspeak does to it), and the rest of us just find it annoying as all hell.
Don’t type all in capital letters (that is considered shouting online), it is best to use dark text (reds and pinks tend to be hard on the eyes), and remember what they taught you in school about grammar and punctuation. Also, most forums appreciate it if you place blank spaces in between your paragraphs to make them easier for everyone to read. A lot of people will just skip over a big block of text, rather than slog through it.
3. Now you are ready to post. Your first post to a new forum should be an introduction (almost every forum I have ever been to has a special folder for introductory posts). Tell us a little about yourself. Your interests, hobbies, how long you have been studying Paganism, what brought you to our forum … all these things will help to build a positive relationship with the regulars (who are the people who are going to be helping you out and answering your questions).
No personal contact information, please. You never know who is lurking the depths of cyberspace. You may even wish to keep your email address private; spambots are notorious for trolling forums for email addresses to add to their lists.
4. When you start to post in the general forum, try to steer clear of generalizations and sweeping statements. If you say something that sounds fishy, people will ask you to site your sources. If you are stating your opinion (or knowledge based on personal experience), be sure to say so, so that others may relate their experience in a similar fashion. Also, when in religious forums, we prefer that you not bash other religions (not everyone in a Pagan forum is going to be Pagan, and it is pretty bad form to rag on Christians when there may be some right there).
5. This should help you get off on the right foot, but should you find yourself in a snafu anyway, it is important to remember that the internet is a text based medium. While most people use emoticons (or smileys) to help express emotions, you still cannot see them or hear the tone of their voice. If a post seems overly blunt or rude for no reason, go back and read it again. Make certain that you aren’t reading animosity that isn’t there.
Because of the lack of body language on the internet, a lot of people have developed a very blunt method of speaking with others. Make sure that you aren’t automatically assuming that they are being rude. If you are unsure of how to take an answer (or if you are having difficulty understanding what they are trying to say), don’t be afraid to ask for clarification. Most people are willing to rephrase their responses a bunch of times in an effort to facilitate meaningful dialogue.
6. It is absolutely critical that you understand the difference between a discussion forum and a fellowship forum. Discussion forums are for discussing and debating ideas. If we don’t agree with you, we will say so. We will pick apart your arguments and attempt to come to new understandings of different concepts. This does not mean that we don’t like you or don’t want you here. If you read and followed point number one, you will likely have seen this sort of debating going on between the regulars (who are often all good friends). We aren’t arguing, we are discussing different points of view.
If this makes you uncomfortable, then perhaps what you are looking for is not a discussion forum, but a fellowship forum. These are often characterized by little to no disagreement on topics, and everyone seems to go out of their way to make you feel warm and fuzzy. These places have value for many people, but the folks you will run into on discussion boards are there for debate, not to have their egos stroked.
7. Threads in discussion forums often wonder off topic. This is really just the nature of the beast, and can be remedied fairly easily by posting a message that is back on topic (this may occasionally result in two conversations happening in one thread – many long time posters will try to keep thread derailment to a minimum, but sometimes, it just happens). Posting snide messages about how people are not helping you, is not going to win you any popularity contests. No one likes an attention whore.
8. On that note, if you are having a bad day and it leaks into your posts, come back and say so, but don’t try to make excuses for bad behavior … you will gain more respect as a member of the community if you come right out and admit that you may have taken things the wrong way and/or overreacted. Everyone has their moody moments, and though it is best to stay off the computer when you are feeling bitchy, not everyone has the best judgement when they are feeling that way, and we understand this. Likewise, understand that others might also be having personal problems that are coloring their responses (you can generally expect venting when people mention that their post is going to be a rant).
9. Now that I have you thoroughly scared and ready for the worst, you must also remember to never be afraid to post a ‘newbie’ question. Even if you feel it is stupid, post it anyway. We were all beginners once, and most people are more than willing to share the benefit of their experience. No one is going to be grudge you your ignorance on any topic.
10. Lastly, keep an open mind. You will likely come across concepts that are completely contrary to everything that you thought you knew (this happens to almost everyone at one point or another), and you may even find that some of your most closely held beliefs start to change and evolve as you start to see things from different points of view.
Keeping these ten simple tips in mind should help you ensure a positive and beneficial forum experience, and while there are groups out there that are a little bit crazy and cliquish, don’t let a bad experience sour you on a great medium for communication and community. To get you started on your journey, I will leave you with a few of my favorite forums:
A Witches Thicket
Teen Witch Online
The Midnight Garden
Wiccan Web
The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum
Intuitively Speaking
Comments?
--Phae
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-10 02:28 am (UTC)I think it's great :) Though it needs to be proof read as I noticed some missing words and the like. No I'm NOT volunteering, I'm a disaster when it comes to such things :P
(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-10 05:27 am (UTC)--Phae