I was reading one of the threads in the Pit and it occurred to me–not for the first time–that a lot of posters have off-board relationships with other Dopers. Not being cool enough to actually attend one of the DopeFests happening in my area, I can’t say I know any posters on this board. Except for one, of course. But she doesn’t count because she’s my sister.
I am not averse to meeting and “getting to know” other Dopers. In fact, I have a list of folks I would like to meet one day. (Be nice to me and you may just make the list :))
Sometimes when I’m on a thread and a poster makes mention of off-board activities done with another poster, I feel my cheeks burn with envy. I feel like I’m the only one on the board that has no life, no friends. Are there other Dopers–especially Dopers who aren’t “newbies”–who are like me? Do you feel weird because of it?
I have known Aubries for (gasp) 18 years. We went to college together. In fact, we met the very first day of college. And we were housemates too. He is the one who introduced me to this board. I don’t know anybody else IRL, but maybe if I go to the next LA Dopefest that will change.
I have never been to a Dopefest and have never met a Doper in real life. I have had email communication with maybe a dozen of us of those five or six know my real first name. I have spoken on the phone with exactly one Doper and he actually knows my full name. That’s as far as it goes. I hadn’t intended to have any outside the board contact with anyone but these things kind of creep up on you.
Haj, I, too, had originally intended to remain discreetly anonymous. By now about 50 (I’d guess) Dopers know my real name, I’ve spoken on the phone with many, done snail mail with a few and email (which reveals my name) with quite a few and have been to some Doper homes. So, yeah, it can creep up on you.
Still, though, I don’t really feel like I’ve gathered any real close friends. But, as I said before, some I’ve certainly become friendly with.
Some, like New & Improved Scott and Daerlyn are friends of mine from before who I introduced to the boards.
Others, like matt_mcl and andygirl (both of whom I just got back from hanging out with) I met on the boards, but I see them from time to time about non-board related things.
It gets blurry. Freaks me out sometimes that the lines between the boards and real life aren’t as clear as they used to be, but that’s the way life is.
I’ve met a few. And recently I’ve become pretty close to one, for which I’m very thankful. It’s good to make close friends with whom you share a common interest, and the SD is as good a common interest as any.
[hijack]dantheman!! good to see ya! You been lurking, or hiding out?[hijack]
I’ve got IM’s going back and forth with a couple, and e-mails with a couple others. But haven’t been to any dope fests as yet. It seems the Bay Area crowd has a “too cool for school” attitude, which is kind of a bummer. I’ll have to go to the east coast or Londope if I really want to meet anyone. (goes dejectedly to corner and pouts.)
Until he moved last month, Quixotic78, DrainBead and myself hung out a decent bit.
There’s some I email and IM with a lot, and one I talk on the phone with almost nightly, though we’ve never met face to face. Doesn’t bother me that the line between the boards and “real life” are a bit blurred. There are Dopers I wish I lived much closer to, and some I hope to never speak to again. Just like people in real life.
I know 2. Neither one of them really post that often. One is my neighbor who I turned on to the boards (although not quite well enough). The other is my boyfriend. I actually met him online 7 years ago, IRL 5 years ago. We both joined independently.
Nope. Don’t know anyone here in real life, never communicated with anyone here by email or IMs, never talked on the phone with anyone here. Never been to a DopeFest but I plan to eventually. I’d rather like to make some friends here, ya’ll are pretty interesting.
As in, know know? Several Dopers have become important fixtures in my life; they are people I see regularly or write to with some frequency.
I’ve got several examples I could name, but Hello Again is a neat one. She lives in the same town I do, but I met her only because she met a bunch of Michigan Dopers out for dinner when Geobabe was in town to perform in a vocal concert. We shared a ride to the next Michigan Dopefest, and from there have become good friends. We’ve thrown parties together, canned jam together, shopped together, took an exercise class together… She joined my book club. She’s let me take vicious advantage of her discount at her book-retailer employer. I have fed her horse peppermints. She just watched my cat last week when I was out of town.
Knowing her has been a very cool outcome of being on the boards.
Just Mudshark. Love to go to a Dopefest, as he said.
Oh, and a former friend of ours posted here, maybe twice, under the name Hyphen, but originally as Jimi Page or some bizarre mating of guitarists’ names like that before the board problems last winter. We’ve grown apart since then, though.
But I’m not going to say who they are.