How important are "friends" to your participation?

[LyLMyssChaos]

Disclaimer:
This is in no way meant to be a dig about the current situation, but rather a question based on behaviors I have observed over the several years I've been on the net.

I have witnessed quite a few message boards thrive and collapse due to things like mass exodus/invasion. So I was wondering how integral is having "friends" to your level of activity on a message board/forum? If you have friends that leave, will you leave with them? Do you "follow them to a new board?" Would you stay and just make new friends? Do you post based on topics discussed and not the people involved?

[Irish Elf]

It would all depend on what caused my friends to leave in the first place.

I post on topics discussed and not because of who is posting. Half the time I don't even notice who actually made a post until I've already responded.

[PG-rated]

I would follow my friends so that I could keep up with their lives, but I wouldn't necessarily leave the original board.

However, if I felt that people who were integral in contributing to thoughtful, interesting discussions were gone, that would definitely affect my participation, regardless of whether I was friends with them.

[RobynScott]

Ditto Irish Elf and PG. Typically, I post based on topic - however, after being here are a few years now, friendships are made and I will follow people to maintain those friendships.

My reasons for staying on a board such as this one? The topics discussed. However, when as here, a big part of the participants to the topics I am interested in are no longer here - well, doesn't make for much discussion of the topics I am interested in.

The bigger reason for staying / going - has to do with why those friends / posters I like to read / internet acquaintances - left (or were forced to leave) in the first place.

I've also go to admit - another reason to stay around (besides the topics) is that I can get on here from work - and I can't get to other sites. I admit - just like watching tv while doing homework, my brain needs an internet break / internet background during the day.

[Niobe]

However, if I felt that people who were integral in contributing to thoughtful, interesting discussions were gone, that would definitely affect my participation, regardless of whether I was friends with them.
Yup. I haven't been on CC long enough to make deep, meaningful friendships for loyalty to be an issue. My old journal buddies from WC aren't around here either. I'm here for the intelligent, thought-provoking discussions that came up on here. Unfortunately, some of the best posters of such discussions have been given the boot, so there you go. I'm not a mom, and there's starting to be little else on this board.

I've also go to admit - another reason to stay around (besides the topics) is that I can get on here from work - and I can't get to other sites. I admit - just like watching tv while doing homework, my brain needs an internet break / internet background during the day.

betcha LJT isn't blocked, if CC isn't.

[BusyBee21]

I agree with all PP. A close friend told me about this site, but we haven't corresponded once via this site; I respond to posts I am interested in. I haven't been around long enough to make any "friends" on the board, but as long as the posts are interesting and thought provoking (and quite honestly, HELPFUL), I'll stay with this board. Plus, I also need an "internet break" while I am at work! :-)

[Natasha]

I have followed my friends elsewhere to keep up with them. However, I check in here daily for my mommy to be group, celebrity gossip, and some chit chat.

I miss my journal here, and I would gladly use it again if I thought any of my friends were sticking around. Sadly, I don't think many are, so...

[Soulmate]

That is a tough one. I don't come here for social reasons but I also followed this group from the WC because I really like the women as a whole. A few posters I really followed but since having DS my ability to keep up with people diminished. Plus many of them are LJ only now (not related to any drama here). But I come here, and will stay here for now, because the information here is completely invaluable. No where else has the quality, depth, and broad perspective as here. I would be totally lost as a mother if it wasn't for this board (sad but true) so I am here to get and share info. The continued quality of the posters is what keeps me so it is not friendships per say but the women this board attracts.

[keska]

I just post according to topic.

[alliannie]

Friends don't make this message board for me. This board has so much information that I will stay even if everyone I talk to leaves completely. I post based on what is interesting to me. I don't have many close friends on this board so if I posted based on what they did I would post even less than I do!:p

I do however journal on LJ as do many of my mommy friends. That by no means is saying I don't want to be here though. I love the privacy there and the layout of the journaling.

[Ericka_Jarett]

I post based on topic. I mostly visit my 2 mommy groups (once in a while my 1st daughter's mommy group), use to journal here, but that is now solely on lj for privacy (had many lurkers on the one here, which was fine and if they friended me would allow them in)

[Jenyfer9]

Well seeing as I didn't even know until TODAY that there had been a lot of people who left, I guess I'm not following anyone anywhere. Oh, and I did go check out the other site, but it's such a hassle to do the whole switcheroo AGAIN. Hey, as long as my Oct 03 Moms don't leave, I'm here and out of the loop, as usual...

[Renrel]

I also post by topic, though I do recognize names as long timers and have posters with whom I feel affinity and others with whom I do not. I really don't know what the drama that occurred was. I do however feel very close and connected to my Oct03 mamas and would migrate if they did. We have a lot in common having followed each others pg and children's growth and major life events for around 5 years. I used to journal on WC but never picked that up here and I could never figure out how to navigate LJ.

[AmyE]

Like others, I came for the info and the quality of the conversation. Only recently have I moved out of the ATF forums, but I enjoy it. I haven't found another site where there are as many truly diverse opinions and really thoughtful postings. I'm not a journaler, so that part never mattered. I was curious enough about the drama to figure out what happened, but since I don't "know" any of the participants, it wasn't an issue for me.

[scorpioanne]

I originally ended up on CC as a group of friends came here following changes to WC. One of the women had a journal that ended up being a group journal and we would all congregate there. The group ended up here and we all participated in the group journal until the changes here. I only stop in here now to see what sh*t is being flung and to check out the gossip thread. I was less interested in participating in the board as a whole so the group thread is the major part of why I was involved in CC. It is not the same. I find it interesting that it seems to me that some of why people were banned is snark related but snark is alive and well on another thread in which anti-female sentiments are being tossed around by a woman herself.

[Standrea]

I agree with PG-rated. I go to another board to follow my friends and keep up with their lives. I would hate to think that some of these "friends" that I've had for 7 years would just "vanish".

When I left WC, I still kept up over there a little, until all of my friends were gone. The ones that weren't, I exchanged emails with, and they eventually moved over here anyway!

[Ali]

Disclaimer:
This is in no way meant to be a dig about the current situation, but rather a question based on behaviors I have observed over the several years I've been on the net.

I have witnessed quite a few message boards thrive and collapse due to things like mass exodus/invasion. So I was wondering how integral is having "friends" to your level of activity on a message board/forum? If you have friends that leave, will you leave with them? Do you "follow them to a new board?" Would you stay and just make new friends? Do you post based on topics discussed and not the people involved?

I don't post enough personal stuff to make close friends with very many people. I think that boards thrive and collapse due to the atmosphere created there. Atmosphere is created by a lot of things: how well boards are moderated, how user friendly the boards are, the personalities of the posters, the population of the boards, etc.

I might follow friends to another board, but it's not one or the other. I could easily follow people to another board, but still stay put at this board.

A while ago, I posted that I felt that this board was a bit stagnant and my interests weren't really being addressed enough to my liking. What I meant by that was that there aren't enough posters posting about things I want to talk about. I have already found other sites to meet the needs of my interests, and have been gradually spending less and less time here.

I think that the recent issues have really changed the atmosphere around here, so much so that many are leaving (and some have been forced out!). From my point of view this will make this board even more stagnant and less interesting. While I prefer to post on topics, you need to have the posters in order to have the topics.

Considering the fact that this place doesn't have a specific purpose (like wedding planning) to draw people in, many of the people who originally signed up have never even bothered to post, and so many people are high-tailing it out of here, I'm not sure there will be many "new friends" to make. KWIM?

[tenofcups]

I don't keep a journal or post in journals and I'm not very good at following group threads so I don't really have "friends" here per se. I stay for interesting conversations, especially on topics that might not come up in my real life, and I read a lot more than I post. I work from home so this is a good way to take frequent breaks.

But whether I stay or go will depend entirely on whether or not the conversations that I'm interested in continue. And whether or not people I whose opinions I respect continue to post. I doubt that I would actively leave even if my needs aren't being met; it would more be that if I'm not interested, I'll stop by less and less.

[camberne]

Fortunately, I met a few really fantastic folks on WC before the big implode and most of us came over here, and most of us created LJs at the same time. The close friends that I made on WC are on my LJ friends list with a few other folks that I've added to that list after the recent debacle here. I've never journaled here, but there are many topics that I felt strongly enough about to pour a LOT of thought and care into writing about... as did some of my friends and friends of friends. I come here MUCH less than I used to, and have migrated to LJT (not for journaling, just for passing the time) and another board (which I don't care to mention here) and keep my journaling to LJ where people who I know and trust are there to support me and offer advice when needed. So, yes, I need my friends' participation in that sense... so for those needs, I've gone elsewhere.

Where I used to think this community was a valuable resource, it has become too unstable. Threads disappear, comments disappear, people disappear... all for no apparent reason other than the whim of an administrator who plays favorites. That has fostered a distrust that I can't overcome. I don't trust the new administrator, mostly due to the fact that she's come here to settle things, but "she's not been given the clearance to do" certain things. Okay, well, then that tells me that nothing has nor will change here because there's still the same admin behind the scenes calling the shots.

So, I come here to see if anything interesting has been brought up (which I may or may not contribute to here), and to read/chat about Days of Our Lives... and even that has lost a lot of interest for me here.

[scorpioanne]

Fortunately, I met a few really fantastic folks on WC before the big implode and most of us came over here, and most of us created LJs at the same time. The close friends that I made on WC are on my LJ friends list with a few other folks that I've added to that list after the recent debacle here. I've never journaled here, but there are many topics that I felt strongly enough about to pour a LOT of thought and care into writing about... as did some of my friends and friends of friends. I come here MUCH less than I used to, and have migrated to LJT (not for journaling, just for passing the time) and another board (which I don't care to mention here) and keep my journaling to LJ where people who I know and trust are there to support me and offer advice when needed. So, yes, I need my friends' participation in that sense... so for those needs, I've gone elsewhere.

Where I used to think this community was a valuable resource, it has become too unstable. Threads disappear, comments disappear, people disappear... all for no apparent reason other than the whim of an administrator who plays favorites. That has fostered a distrust that I can't overcome. I don't trust the new administrator, mostly due to the fact that she's come here to settle things, but "she's not been given the clearance to do" certain things. Okay, well, then that tells me that nothing has nor will change here because there's still the same admin behind the scenes calling the shots.

So, I come here to see if anything interesting has been brought up (which I may or may not contribute to here), and to read/chat about Days of Our Lives... and even that has lost a lot of interest for me here.

I totally agree!

[thelittlebabu]

I come here more for certain conversation rather than keeping up with iFriends. I enjoy the politics and financial talk since my RL friends don't find that stuff interesting. Strangely enough, the popular forums like the wedding and parenting ones are ones I only lurk in on occasion because I can talk to death about those things with my RL friends.

Since my 2nd daughter was born, I haven't been here as much as I've been in the past.

[Heidi9771]

It's not so much the "friends" that increase my participation, but the types of topics/how board is structured in terms of topics, and the volume of active members (more members mean more discussion.) I am not much of a journal person, so if there are interesting threads, and enough people participating in them, I am usually pretty active.

Sure, I'd be bummed if a poster I usually interacted with on the board was no longer active, but honestly, it probably wouldn't affect my ability to continue to enjoy the community.