Internet Forums: The new television?

[Cron]

Yes, I am aware of the irony in posting about forum ab/use in a forum.

Lets leave that behind, from what I have seen it seems like most people here are aware of how forum use can be a waste of time and still handle using forums productively.

Compulsive, non-productive forum use is a cyclical problem of mine. I get better, then worse, then better again and so on.

I've noticed that while I have kicked the TV habit, non-productive forum use ( lets call it "surfing") has taken up the time saved from kicking TV and then some.

I've noticed that many other people have the same problem. I've also noticed that comments people used to make about television use they now make about surfing

1. The internet(tv) has some rewarding, good content
( usually said by people who watch 1 hour of PBS a month while watching 100 hours of sitcoms and reruns ).

2. I don't have time for _______ ( yet they may spend more than an hour a day on surfing )


Steve, pre-forum, had some interesting thoughts on forum use. I always wanted to discuss those thoughts, but at that point in time he shut comments off on his blog, seeing them as a time waster and this forum did not yet exist:


From:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...e-forum-usage/


“My name is Steve, and I’m a recovering online forum addict.”

“Hi, Steve.”

I posted a new article called “Effective Online Forum Usage”:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles...orum-usage.htm

in the free articles section. This is a straightforward piece with 8 tips on using forums productively, with an emphasis on avoiding (or recovering from) forum addiction.

For years I was a heavy user of online forums, newgroups, and message boards (most of them software-related), figuring it to be a relatively benign habit. I even met my wife on a computer bulletin board system in 1994. But in 2004 when I figured out how much time it was actually costing me to support this habit and what I was giving up in order to maintain the perceived “benefits” of participation, I dropped it like a rock and never looked back.


I've brought this issue up on other forums and I got reactions similar to what an alcoholic might get if he started questioning his drinking while sitting in a pub with his drinking buddies ( hostility, rationalizations, and denials ).

I'm thinking this forum will have some interesting and different comments to make.

So lets talk!

[Andrew Brunelle]

Here's the thing about forums. You can't let them become the focus in your life unless you're the one who's running it. If you spend hours at a time on this forum every day, you will be wasting a lot of time. Secondly, forums can be very useful, but it's too much to base your entire life around them. You should limit your forum use to maybe an hour a day so that you don't keep checking it, then looking at other posts, and eventually losing a whole day over it. I see some people on this forum already have over 100 posts. That's a bit excessive for me, but if they have all this free time and they want to post, let them. As a matter of fact, I was thinking the same thing this morning before I woke up. This could become a problem for some people, but it's all about discipline. Limit your time here. This shouldn't be your life, just a small, integral part of it.

[openmind]

I think it all comes down to how exactly you are using a forum. Let's say you are working on a specific project that requires you to get specific information. Where do you get it from? Your co-workers that have been around you for years? A forum can be a very powerful too if you use it properly. Pretty much like any piece of technology. Take your PC. If you use it in the right way, you can accomplish a lot within a very short time. Or you can 'waste' a lot of time with it. The choice is yours.

[helgi]

I found myself having to step back a little bit yesterday after a sort of forum binge since this forum started, and after reading the Effective Forum Usage article I gained some clarity.

The important advice I came away with was to be very conscious of why you go to the forum, similar to only watching television when you know beforehand what it is that you want to watch. If you have your reasons for visiting the forum clearly defined, you are not as easily dragged out of yourself and into unconscious patterns.

Another aspect I found is that it's important to feel a certain detachment from the forum and from the community. The ego (in my experience) can very easily use an online forum as an outlet for unconscious identification patterns.

[Natz]

lol, I have to admit that I only stumbled apon stevepavlina.com this morning whilst out looking for momentum after a recent Tony Robbin's seminar... The above article was one of the first that I read and I thought it ironic at the time that it is one of the few articles that doesn't actually say...

Discuss this post in the Steve Pavlina forum.

...at the end of it like all the others do.

I agree, they are addictive, I am a forum addict (can't even claim to be a recovering one) and have been for a while now, some more as a lurker than others, but it has taken a few years to learn that they shouldn't be the 'be all and end all' of everything in life.

I own and administrate my own community forum too which doesn't help matters much, but there is nothing more rewarding than as an administrator to have a successful forum (not necessarily in numbers, but in activity) that creates a sense of community fellowship. The friendships and contacts that can be gained through cyber people with things in common with you are second to none.

Sadly, some participants are lonely people that rely on the community for support and to make it from one day to the next.

[Cron]

Originally Posted by openmind

I think it all comes down to how exactly you are using a forum.

Hi Openmid;

For the purpose of this discussion "forum use'( or surfing ) means recreational use. Using forums to not accomplish a specific task in mind.

[Cron]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

This could become a problem for some people, but it's all about discipline. Limit your time here. This shouldn't be your life, just a small, integral part of it.

I think many people are out of touch with how much time they spend using the internet without a specific task in mind. It seems like it is just a minute here and there, but when you make a habit to look at the time it cold easily be hours and hours a week.

[Cron]

Originally Posted by Natz

I own and administrate my own community forum too which doesn't help matters much, but there is nothing more rewarding than as an administrator to have a successful forum (not necessarily in numbers, but in activity) that creates a sense of community fellowship. The friendships and contacts that can be gained through cyber people with things in common with you are second to none.

Sadly, some participants are lonely people that rely on the community for support and to make it from one day to the next.

This is one of the things that usually brings me hostility when I discuss this issue in other forums. I don't believe an "online community" is truly a community. I think people who tell themselves they are part of a community by participating in a forum rather then going out and doing things with other people are lying to themselves.

I think the "online community" thing is a poor ersatz for real human contact in real time, but that is what is happening for many people ( myself included )

I don't write any of this in a judgmental way, I am in the same hole.

[sjpeer]

I agree that forums can be just as bad as television in terms of avoiding your life. But the main issue is avoiding your life, not the medium through which you do so. This "zoning out" can even take the form of reading books. The question is are you doing things to avoid dealing with your family, work, or other aspects of your life that should be attended to? If so, you should start thinking about why you're trying to avoid your life. What are the root causes.

If these forums help you in some specific way and are consciously used, perfect. If not, you're probably just zoning.

[openmind]

Originally Posted by Cron

I don't believe an "online community" is truly a community. I think people who tell themselves they are part of a community by participating in a forum rather then going out and doing things with other people are lying to themselves.

Why should 'going out and doing things with other people' be an indicator of a true community? Let's say you meet with up with your buddies several times a week to go to a pub, shoot pool and do other 'things'. What that qualify for being 'a community'? I think you can connect with other people through your thoughts and ideas. Look around this forum, isn't this a place where people share their experiences, ask for and give advice, get inspiration? There are pros and cons to an online community as opposed to a physical one. But one thing is for sure: an Internet forum gives the opportunity to meet people who would never be able to get in contact with if were limited to the folks in your local 'community'.

[Natz]

Originally Posted by Cron

This is one of the things that usually brings me hostility when I discuss this issue in other forums. I don't believe an "online community" is truly a community. I think people who tell themselves they are part of a community by participating in a forum rather then going out and doing things with other people are lying to themselves.

I think the "online community" thing is a poor ersatz for real human contact in real time, but that is what is happening for many people ( myself included )

I don't write any of this in a judgmental way, I am in the same hole.

On the contrary Cron, an online community can be just as beneficial in real time. A little while ago a forum member based in Ireland posted a help thread in my forum - his sister based in London was stuck at home unable to move out of her apartment with back pain and he needed help and suggestions about getting groceries to her as soon as possible. Another forum member who works in London, private messaged him and went out of his way to personally deliver groceries to her door.

IMHO when a community that know one another online and interact with one another daily can go out of their way like that to assist someone that they only know in the virtual world, then you realise that what you have created is a powerful tool to help those who need people to turn to.

Obviously there are unhealthy aspects to forums, but I am choosing to focus on the positive bits

PS: learnt a new word today 'ersatz'

[ragtag]

I'm a forum addict. In fact a couple of weeks ago I decided to try Steve's 30 day method, and not read or post on any forums (there are maybe 8-10 I read regularly). Now I'm posting both here and elsewhere, so obivously I failed.

Earlier this year my internet connection broke and I was unable to connect to the net for two weeks. At the time I decided to teach myself object oriented programing and wrote a little game in my free time. I was much more effective than I usually am, and much more focused. I did use forums during this time, but only at an internet cafe, so the usage was much more specific. Usually it was to check my mail, post specific questions concerning OOP or Google OOP tutorials, once done I would go home.

So probably what I should do is cut the cable, hand my wireless router back to my ISP and go offline.

p.s. As a side note....I haven't had a TV for the last 8 or 9 years, and don't miss it. Watch DVD's on my computer though.

[Greed]

Also, why not use forum reading as an activity in TWO ways:
1. Read for the knowledge or information that you want, and don't bother with things that do not apply or interest you.
2. Try to read each post quickly and improve your reading speed. This would be an especially effective usage of forums for those of us who are trying to get the hang of PhotoReading or other "speed-reading" type ideas.

[Yynatago]

I thought I was going to be a forum addict. At one stage, I have read every single post on all of the forums here... but then Steve anounced it to the rest of the world and it grew so fast that I could not keep up!

Now I just browse the headings of the latest posts on the front page and through a couple of forums, only looking at threads that really get my interest. Even in those thread I often only scan for useful advice and good links.

Regards,
From Shannan

[Cron]

Hey RagTag;

I would love to do a Pavlina 30 day forum fast with you and possibly others if interested.

I guess we would have to modify it to allow one post per day, to log in here and say "I did another day".

That and we would have to allow email, forum use for specific tasks, like looking up information we need to do things ( weather, directions, tech help ), but those things weren't the problem.

Maybe in our "one per day" we could list each forum/email use that we thought was necessary. It could work like keeping a diet log in that when people write down what they eat, they tend to eat less

[ragtag]

Cron, I'm ready to give it another shot.

I've started anothere thread here for those who want to take part in the 30 day forum fast.

[Mark Lapierre]

Originally Posted by Greed

Read for the knowledge or information that you want, and don't bother with things that do not apply or interest you.

What if what interests you is almost everything that others have to say on the topic of personal development?