Now I’m not really sure where I’m going with this right now, so bear with me.
Web Communities are quite the bitch sometimes. I’ve been a part of a few of them since I became connected to the internet:
NewsRadio
Andy Kaufman
Dragonball
SiN
ViewAskew (Kevin Smith for the uninitiated)
AI (Who killed Evan Chan?)
StraightDope
These communities existed in a seemingly-tangible state on the internet through websites, message boards, and IRC chats. I’m not a very easy person to be friends with in real life for whatever reasons. I’m not that good at initiating relationships, I’m really sarcastic, and I often come off as an asshole when people first meet me. As it turns out, I don’t have many close friends. The people that made up these communities, whether they knew it or not, were some of my only friends. They usually didn’t know it, because I tend to lurk wherever I am (my real life antisocial condition shines through on the 'net.) I’m really grateful that places like these can be found, even though my clinging to them may seem pathetic/sick to an outsider.
I bring this up because a feeling that I’ve been feeling a whole lot lately is nostalgia. In real life, I just changed schools, the group of friends I used to have kinda all hate each other now, and most of my friends are graduating from high school, if they didn’t graduate last year. Nostalgia gets to me sometimes, it really does. Of those web communities I listed, only the Straight Dope and View Askew are really around for me anymore. As for the others, shows were cancelled, games ended, and I/everyone else lost interest. I lost interest in Dragonball sometime early last year. On a whim, I visited www.planetnamek.com just to see what the old gang at the message board was up to. The site doesn’t exist anymore. The webmasters lost interest in Dragonball and no longer have the money to support the site. That was kind of a downer and made me miss all those other groups I left before. Even my interest in things View Askew is starting to wane (at least until more information on the new movie comes out.) I just hope that this message board lasts. I don’t think anyone here really recognizes my name or anything, and I completely missed the last DopeFest, but I want this place to stay. It is good to have something constant. I know that’s something friends are supposed to provide, but I only really have one, and what am I supposed to do when she’s out of down, or we’re having a fight? This is where I turn when I’m bored, or sad, or ecstatic, and I have no place else to go.
How sick is that?
