Is this place your main social outlet?

[Tom_Violence]

Hopefully most of you can deduce the nature of this from the title, but anyway...

I am genuinely curious as to the weight this place (or any other similar online forum-y type thing) has for people, in terms of social interaction. Is this where most of your communication with other living, breathing peoples takes place?

And if so, why do you think that is?

[zeratul]

Well aside from the fact that I talk to my family members alot yes.

[ForzaFiori]

no, not really.
i also use myspace, and i hang with my friends a good bit (although not so much over the summer)
however it is a large social outlet, as it is one of the few forums i've found with a large DnD playing population.

[Sean92k]

This and two other forums, yes. Because my friends live far away:smallfrown:

[Ego Slayer]

Yes, most definitely. :smallamused:

[Hushdawg]

About 1/10 of my social interaction is done in these forums.

Another 1/3 is done on Livejournal.

1/4 is done on Yahoo Messenger.

All the rest is via telephone or face-to-face

[Tom_Violence]

Tell me why people!

I want to know if the internet is replacing more traditional forms of social contact for a lot of people.

[Pyro]

Yes, but I expect its only cuz its summer and all my other friends are out doing stuff. Yes that was a good lie Pyro, I think they took it...

[Indon]

I'd say most of my social interaction is with coworkers (I get along astoundingly well with them, considering many coworkers don't). This is my primary internet outlet, bypassing the WoW forums because I can't access them at work.

[adanedhel9]

I'd say this place is somewhere between 30% and 60% of my social activity. Any one week it'll be really low, any other week it could be really high.

[Nomrom]

Right now it is, because it's summer, and most of my friends are away. During college, I didn't even bother making an account, because I knew I would not spend any time here at all.

[StickMan]

Yep I love this site. Its nice being able to ask my geek RPG questions that my friends can't wrap there heads around.

[B-Man]

Yes, I would say that this is where I partake in socialising. I find myself not liking meeting with people face-to-face (most of the time). In general, I'm very anti-social now-a-days IRL, and I think it's subconsciously due to the fact that I'm moving at the end of August. I'm really bad at saying good-bye.

[Logic]

This is my biggest "Online" social outlet.

But I have coworkers, family, and friends that I am normally social around.

[Hell Puppi]

I socialize with co-workers, but since I've moved from most of my friends I do my socializing either through here or myspace to check up on my friends.
I hang out with my S.O. a lot, if that counts =P

[FdL]

*realizes and cries*

Yes, it is.
I also socialize with coworkers and other random people.

[SurlySeraph]

^ There there. You're not alone. At least, not when you're here.

I'm pretty antisocial, and this site is really a boon for me because I don't have to talk to people face-to-face and there are large numbers of people who share my interests here. Yes, I'm pathetic, but I don't care.

Basically, it's because there are no bad people on GITP. No one is particularly annoying, there are no trolls, no idiots, and no flame warriors (like I used to be...). Pretty much everyone here is intelligent, kind-spirited, thoughtful, and generally good-like. If I spent the time I spend here on real-world specialization, I'd occassionally run into people I would want to harm, but everyone here is borderline perfect.

[Hell Puppi]

Yay! I'm special!

Though I have to agree with you. The people on this board are some the nicest I've met, and thusly I've decided to hang around instead of become bored and wander off like I do on occasion.

[FdL]

^ There there. You're not alone. At least, not when you're here.


Heh, I know, I was just joking :p
Thanks man. This is a great community.
Edit: Plus HellPuppi is here.



I'm pretty antisocial, and this site is really a boon for me because I don't have to talk to people face-to-face and there are large numbers of people who share my interests here. Yes, I'm pathetic, but I don't care.


I do like talking to people face to face...But sometimes they don't talk back. Or they don't say very interesting things.

It's just more natural for me to do this than to relate to people in RL. It's sad, and I don't like it but it's the way it is :(

[Lemur]

Now that you mention it, yes, this is currently my main social outlet. Although I'm still not particularly social.

For the record, I have no problems talking with people face to face, so long as they don't expect me to actually say anything.

[Amotis]

RL Friends: Talk rarely, meet rarer, still good friends though, only two though.

Gamers: About...five now. Meet bimonthly.

Band members: Two right now. Meet bimonthly.

Coworkers: Cool ones I hang out with outside of work sometimes. Lame ones I barely even talk to while I'm there. (The lame ones outnumber the cool ones unfortunately.)

Classmates: None that I socialize with.

Here: Yup. I have a bunch of friends, a wonderful girlfriend, and all the lurking and inane posting I can handle. It's my main social outlet and I don't think I've ever looked back. I actually came back to this site (after leaving) because I was getting lonely in all my antisocial behavior and I needed people to hang out with and talk to.

[Nomrom]

Evidently, I forgot that I do socialize with people at work, so this isn't my only source during summer.

[Koga]

It's either this or myspace.

And... myspace stupidity can grow most tiresome.

Albeit I can get away with alot more which makesup for it lol!

[TSGames]

I come here when I'm bored. That's about it. My main social outlet? Not even remotely close, I prefer real people to people over the internet any day of the week.

The people on this board are some the nicest I've met, and thusly I've decided to hang around instead of become bored and wander off like I do on occasion.
Thank goodness a certain ninja and a certain bear who were really the same person aren't around anymore. The forums are much nicer.

[Orzel]

No

There is my family
friend from church
a couple of non fam, non church friends
my co workers and regular customers at work
another forum I've been at for many years
then here

[Alarra]

It's difficult for me to separate out 'here' and 'real life' friends, since so many of the people I meet here, I turn into RL friends, and socialize with outside of the boards. And 99% of the time, I'm ecstatic to find that they're people that I would be friends with offline anyway.

I do spend an almost unhealthy amount of time on this site however, and would probably consider it my main social outlet.

That being said, I do have a social life off of here. And a lot of friends that I see and do things with frequently. Although I'm trying my hardest to bring them here. :smalltongue:

[Narmoth]

This is the only forum I care to hang on. So all my internet sosializing is here.
But I also have a "real" life :miko:

[Ikkitosen]

Since I currently work in my own office then I'm here a lot, but I don't tend to banter with people too much here so I'm not sure I'd call it my main social outlet. I see people at tea breaks, evenings and tend to have busy social weekends.

So I guess that's a "no" :smallbiggrin:

[Charity]

As you know Tom I am a hermit living in Antarctica, miles from the nearest trading post. I havn't had real human contact since 1852 when I came out here.

[Castaras]

Yes .

[Death, your friend the Reaper]

Not really, just use it when I am meant to be doing homework, little stress reliever.

Or to try out my new pun.

Then again most of them get told while we are torquing in physic classes...

[Jibar]

Yup pretty much.
As much as I love all my girls, they don't exactly share my interests, and what friends I have do all live too far out.
This place however is filled with people who like what I like, so I hang here. and you're not getting rid of me anytime soon. :smalltongue:

[Artemician]

This is one of the rare places on the internet where idiots seem to be extinct. So, definitely yes.

[Death, your friend the Reaper]

This is one of the rare places on the internet where idiots seem to be extinct.

Well, there are those that support the English cricket team, but we try and keep a cap on their population.

*Looks fondly at his English-cricket-supporter-reaping-scythe*

[Charity]

Unveils his brand new Electrolux death ray
http://tonova.typepad.com/thesuddencurve/death_ray_2-thumb.jpg
eat zappy death ray

[Dhavaer]

Pretty much, although socialisation has gone down recently. My players have not been posting as much as they used to. So alone...

[Ikkitosen]

[Kim Jong Il] Ronery, so ronery... [/Kim Jong Il]

He he.

[Archonic Energy]

Well, there are those that support the English cricket team, but we try and keep a cap on their population.

*Looks fondly at his English-cricket-supporter-reaping-scythe*

*looks fondly at new and improved Death seeking thermonuclear missile*

gotta keep a cap on the austrailian population... :smallwink:

[AslanCross]

My main social outlet is school. My students often hang out at my cube and we talk about stuff, watch anime and even angst together once in a while.

I see GITP more as an information-sharing venue.

[Indon]

Unveils his brand new Electrolux death ray
http://tonova.typepad.com/thesuddencurve/death_ray_2-thumb.jpg
eat zappy death ray

Is it just me, or does it look like that thing is a vacuum cleaner on one end, and a screwdriver with a heat sink on the other?

[Trog]

Yup. I'm a supervisor at work and so cannot befriend my collegues despite their being cool and such. My two best friends live in other cities now and I have sort of drifted away from the other guy I used to hang with. Social time usually is spent here or in a OotS chatroom on AIM.

I have been chastized a couple of times in saying that I am not making my posts kid-friendly or whatever but too bad. I have yet to break a major rule and I refuse to dumb down or self censor myself in my social outlet (I do, of course mind the rules. And enjoy the "boinging" sound they make when they bend). Besides I trust the impressionable youths to NOT do as Trog does. I think that should go without saying.

*Trog stumbles in very drunk with a bag of cheetos and some adult films*

Trog's gonnna go spend some quality time. If Trog looks like a hobgoblin from the waist down later pay no attention.

*Grins and stumbles off*

[jazz1m]

Internet socializing, yes. I have facebook so I play some scrabble on there. As far as forums, this is one of the few places that have caught my interest (I typically sign up and realize that all the forum goers have the intelligence of peas and leave). As far as actual socializing, no this is not my main place. I am on the forums generally during work. After that, I hang out with friends, play video games, go to bars, etc.

Do I think that the internet is taking over the real world? In some instances yes. People have online relationships with other people who they have never met. There's fights that occur only over myspace, losing of myspace friends. The internet has become a major way to interact with people and to find others with the same interest. The main reason is because it's easier to meet people online than in real life and to make friends. There isn't the same sense of rejection you might have in the online world as there is in face-to-face encounters. And besides this you have more time to think responses through, edit your response as many times as you want. Online relationships are, in many ways, easier.

For me, the internet can't replace real interaction. Talking to faceless people, no matter how well I might get to 'know' people through forums or myspace or AIM or see their pictures, I don't know who they really are. It's understandable why some may choose the internet as an outlet to meet people because online you can be whoever you choose to be, you can create a new persona. But ultimately, for myself at least, I would feel lonely because there there is not the personal quality of really getting to know people, hanging out, seeing them through rough times, and all the things that make up a 'real-life' friend. Of course, I'm not saying that online friends can't do the same, I just feel there's a different level of closeness, at least in my experience.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

I'm going to have to say no on this one. While I do spend time on here (sometimes more than I should), I don't really think it's a substitute for going out and having a few at the bar. Right now, I usually go out with my coworkers. Well, let me be more specific. I usually go out with the full time guys that work at the ballpark, and my roommates (which are interns). Other than my roommates, I really don't go out with the other interns very much. I'd have to say that I use the OoTS forum (the only one I post on regularly) as a supplement to going out.

[LotharBot]

My main social outlets:

0) My wife (top of the list; you can tell I'm a programmer.)
1) My D&D group (http://rubblerousers.blogspot.com/)
2) The DBB (http://www.descentbb.net), which I co-admin
3) church (http://www.beverlypark.org/) (website is outdated)
4) The Museum of Flight (http://www.museumofflight.org/), where I volunteer once a week
5) This forum
6) Denver Nuggets Talk (http://nuggets.proboards1.com/) (basketball)

[Morty]

When I think about it, preety much. I don't post here very often, but it seems like flow of words talk when compared to my RL. I post on two other forums, but this one is undoubtely the best.

[Sir_Norbert]

Up until two days ago, my main social outlet was a different internet forum, which I've now walked out on. For a long while it's been going downhill, too much unpleasantness sucking all the joy out of being there. There was an IRC channel connected with the forum, and I've set up my own spin-off channel and invited all the people from there that I wanted to keep in touch with, and I talk to many of them nearly every day there. Which of course makes me have all the less regret about leaving the forum itself.

Real life, not so much -- I came back to my hometown after going elsewhere for my first degree, so nearly everyone I used to know here has moved on, but I do still have a few good RL friends.

The way I live is my own choice -- I want to spend most of my time online because I have a girlfriend who lives over 5000 miles away :elan:

[Argent]

Nope, far from my main social outlet. A good place to get information about gaming and hear other people's ideas, and a place to generally waste time while I'm at work.

[blackout]

:smalltongue: Main social outlet, aside from my gaming group? Yes.

[Khantalas]

OK, I may be the saddest person so far, cause I'll admit that I keep in touch with one person regularly (more than once a week) outside these forums.

This is not my main social outlet, this is my only social outlet. Even including college.

*sniff* I'll just go there and hang myself if anyone needs me. I am so lonely over here. Oh noes! You're still taking me seriously!

[SDF]

I try not to let it be. I have a lot of friends, and different circles of friends. Some I don't get to see a lot, but I like some of the people here a lot. So, I distribute my time as well as I can, but lately I've had to blow off my IRL friends because of school... bleh.

[Cyrano]

No.
This may raise the questions for some of you, of "Where ELSE does he GO?", "How can we get rid of him permanently?" and "who the hell has to put up with him for longer?"
Well, I don't want to tell you, I don't know, and I don't care, in that order. But trust me, you guys got the short end of the stick on my annoying level.

[dungeon_munky]

These forus take third to MSN and real life (I much prefer being in peron with my good friends). But as for socialization with people I don't know, the forums are #1.

[Mr. Moon]

@D'anna: And we're supposed to consider ourselves lucky because of this? :smallwink:

This is my main hang-out. Which can be annoying, considering I'm only allowed to use the computer for two-and-a-half hours on school days. Time that is also shared with my brother. >.<"

Why? Well, because I have nothing better to do, and this place is very freindly. And I have a whole bunch of unfinished plots in AMEN that need to be resolved... one day. :P

[Breaon]

Most of mine is face-to-face, and via IMs with those I do face-to-face with. Some blog sites (Xanga, LJ), and some online games (both web-based, and MMO.)

[FdL]

These forus take third to MSN and real life (I much prefer being in peron with my good friends). But as for socialization with people I don't know, the forums are #1.

I think it's the first time I see someone mention MSN in this forum. What, people don't use it in the US? Or they use a lot of different things, and so call them "IM" in general?

I have a lot of friends in MSN, I'd say another main social outlet.

[0wca]

Yes, but I expect its only cuz its summer and all my other friends are out doing stuff.

Same for me..