Being Social

When I was 14 years old, I got a 300 baud modem and logged on to a BBS (Bulletin Board System). I was hooked. Me, a geeky teenager, who was just entering high school, suddenly found a whole new set of people to talk to. As the years go on, some of those people turned to friends as I joined User Groups and continued the discussions offline. Nothing sinister here, just a bunch of geeks talking about the Amiga, Kraftwerk, hanging out at computer shows, and stuff. In college, it’s a whole new ball game. A buddy showed me a terminal in the library, which was connected to a Vax machine, that he could use to write messages to people in Italy. I was impressed. Later I found out this was the internet. I was in the deep end when IRC (Internet Relay Chat) was introduced and discovered Usenet. For me, “talking” and commenting in online discussions became a way of life.

Fast forward to 2006, the habit bit me again when blogs were becoming popular. From my experience, it’s the same old discussion bulletin board system, but it’s media rich. With the addition of Google, it’s also a powerful learning tool. When I start writing blogs and participate in other blogs’ commentaries, I find myself belonging to a community of people who actually like discussing ideas with each other.

So now that I run my own blog, what can I do to promote discussion? I recommend starting with Peter’s article on getting involved in online discussions. Peter is my hero when he showed me (indirectly) that replying to comments, either on mine or his site, is a good way to promote reader’s loyalty. There are also movements out there such as Randa Clay’s “U Comment, I Follow” and Mike/Mark/BB “iReply” that promotes legit comments that encourages discussions.

Being social online is always appealing to me and I will continue to participate as long as we all have some thing(s) in common.

Tags: comment, networking, social