Posted by ShelliR on March 24, 2001, at 22:57:45
In reply to Are some of us invisible?, posted by Chris A. on March 21, 2001, at 11:23:59
Chris, your messages on the geodon thread were really helpful to me, and I also really like the fact that you always acknowledge when someone has written to you. (I've been away all
week, so haven't continued on that thread.)I don't read religious/spiritual threads--I can't connect to them, but don't feel "distain" for your belief system and hope you can respect mine also.
There are some interesting dynamics on the board that I've perceived:
(1) People who help a lot of people on the board, especially medication-wise (e.g., Cam, Scott[SLS], et. al.) always get a lot of responses to their posts. They offer a lot of their time to
help others AND have a lot of expertise so I think people really want to give back to them.(2) As Neil mentioned, sometimes for reasons I also don't understand, a certain thread will attract a lot of responses. One type of such thread is the survey thread. I generally don't get very many reponses to my posts, but when I threw out a question on women therapists I got lots of reponses. The interesting thing to me, is that generally I am the least interested in survey threads! Maybe survey threads are easy for everyone to participate in.
(3) People who write very controversial and/or irritating threads get a lot of responses. I guess because most of us have tried so hard and suffered so much, it is hard to resist just ignoring them.
(4) People who share that they are falling apart on the psychosocial board get lots of reponses. Also in general very emotional posts, I think get more responses on that board. Perhaps most people feel competent offering support when it doesn't involve a med, or something else that they are not greatly informed about. So if you are ever in trouble and need support, I think your best bet is to write something like, "Falling apart, please help." (Actually, I'm being serious, not facetious, and not at all criticizing the people who do that. It is a very direct way of asking for help.)
and finally the most vague to me:
(5) There are some people who become center very quickly and I can't really figure out the dynamic. There is one I can pinpoint:young adults, like college students, get drawn in immediately. Probably because we all want to take care of them and feel maternal/paternal toward them. Now I have also noticed that female college students are
offered e-mail addresses more than male college students!But college students aren't the only ones, just one I've understood the pattern.
Anyway, just an arm chair analysis. When I used to feel bad when I didn't get any responses, I comforted myself by the fact that no one on the board knows me anyway, so I haven't
lost anything. So it's not like I've lost a "real" (as in uncybernet) friend. And I can always take my marbles and play elsewhere if no one is paying any attention to me!Hang in there, and feel better,
Shelli
poster:ShelliR
thread:855
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20010315/msgs/893.html