Is IW Healthy?

[Lioness]

Originally posted by Sazerac: Gaaagh! No kidding, uss? Bah! Well, I don't have much use for chatrooms either. Ironworks is good enough for me. [img]smile.gif[/img] Thanks, BTW, about the post. What I means regarding the chatrooms, BTW, is that if you say "discussion forum", that's immediately what these people think. It just riles me that people make such unjustifiable pronouncements on things they have never experienced. How can you have an opinion on something you know nothing about and have never experienced for yourself, after all? But they'll do it, anyhoo... -Sazerac[/QB]

Ditto, Saz, people get the feeling IW is a *big* chatroom, but it's so different. Here you can meet *real* people with a common interest, who came here for that interest, not to pick people up.

And like Neb said, I've learned a lot more about "real life" from many people I've met here than from the people I can see and touch. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[K T Ong]

Most of what I'd like to say -- online friends etc -- has been said by the nice folks above. I suppose I'll just add this. Provided it's indulged in moderately (meaning that you don't spend hours and hours here), yes, the IW message boards can be a lovely thing.

(Yikes! Just found out that Animal has already said it, too!)

[ 07-10-2002, 08:56 PM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

[AliCat]

Tell your friends that we ARE real people! [img]smile.gif[/img] Really we are!

As for meeting people over the internet, your safety and your level of getting to know anyone depends on where you meet them. Like the others, I would not feel very comfortable with my knowledge of anyone I met solely through a chat room, but these forums, and emails, and phone calls or face-to-face meetings all allow you to get to know other people quite well. I met my husband over the Internet. I have met and made a lot of friends through Ironworks, some of which (Wyvern, Sazerac, Lily the Ranger, Davros, Skywalker, Moni, Adam Warlock, Scronan, and Freudianslip) I've known/corresponded with for a year and a half, and more that I've met since. Sure, I've got friends on the outside, but having moved around a lot and having been in the military, most of my friends are email penpals by necessity, living too far away to visit. What's the difference? You are as discriminatory with your friends here as you are in so-called "real life" -- you wouldn't necessarily be chummy with everyone here, as we are all different people, some of us with likes and dislikes similar to yours, and some not.

So quit worrying! What's that expression.... your friends are the family you chose to have... something like that.

[theifprowess]

just kidding on this post here

you mean you can use the internet to lure unsuspecting young children to you? OMG why didnt i think of that. or wait wait i can can sucker all the poor helpless people in large"ill call them internet scams" no one will ever think of something like that.damn tv keeps ruining my plots to control man and woman from the internet.

do you know what i am thinking pinky?

no braain what are you thinking?

you imbesile im thinking of my next way to take over the internet world.

muahahahahaha

back on a serious note here. i spend maybe an hour maybe an hour and a half after i get outta work on IW just to see whats going on in the world.that and to get wreally helpful tips on the game i am going to currently play for the next couple hours afterwards.

[Ladyzekke]

I am great friends with a lot of IWs members, they are REAL people. I guess there is a risk chatting with anyone on the net, i.e., not knowing if they who are who they say they are, or look like they say they look, or act like a certain person when they may be an entirely different person. But I think that those people mostly you may run into on other chatrooms. IWs is different (to me anyways) except for those few trollers or sickos we get here and there.

I've even met three people (IWs members)in person because of IWs, and all three were true blue to their personalities, etc. as they portray here. No deceptions or lies, and it was such a pleasure meeting them as well, I'll never forget it and I don't regret it one single bit! A blast it was [img]smile.gif[/img]

I think in time, when more people have access to the Net and use the Internet more, most will look upon internet boards as much like going to a bar or a coffee house, etc., we are all real, all different, good and bad, just like in real life. "Weirdos" do not dominate the internet any more than they do in real life. I mean you can meet someone in RL that is really a huge liar, gawd I've been there done that a ton of times! Again, the net is the same, not worse, the SAME just in a different environment. There are plenty of friendly normal people out there to meet on the net, people that you would never ever meet in real life or even know who they were if not for the Net. It is a great way of human communication, and it has enhanced my life, I'm not as ignorant as I used to be. So IWs is worth it IMO, a very special place totally unique from anywhere else on the Net (which says A LOT!). We all come together here in friendship, all living all round the globe, all different ages and genders and interests. Ironworks is truly a Human Hub [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Is IronWorks healthy? Interesting question.

Is it healthy for people from across the GLOBE to....

Offer Aviendha support and advice on how to deal with a bitter betrayal at work.

Offer heartfelt prayers and/or words of encouragemnt to Earthdog when his wife needed life-saving surgery.

Be understanding and sympathetic to SomeGuy's problems with a school bully.

Be pulling for LadyBlue to pass her drivers license test.

Offer congratulations to Downunda for landing a job.

Hmmmm.....sounds like any normal family to me.

That's because IronWorks IS one large family. We may not all agree with each other, but we do all care about each other. And we don't have to worry about anybody "misrepresenting" themselves because Ziroc and the Mods do a fantastic job of allowing EVERYBODY to express their concerns and opinions without having to worry about being flamed for what they say.

As others have said, ALL of my college friends live too far away to see in person. We stay in touch through e-mails. That's no different than the relationship the members have here.

[ 07-10-2002, 09:56 PM: Message edited by: Cerek the Barbaric ]

[Azred]

I found Belle through the Internet, so no one can ever tell me that the people you meet over the Internet are anything other than normal. The "worst case scenarios" you hear about on the news may indeed happen, but the same sorts of things happen all the time in real life.

IW is much, much healthier than the real-life relationships I have had in the past. Besides, how can it be unhealthy to reach out to other people and care about what goes on in thier lives? [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img]

[RudeDawg]

I met my fiancé here at IW. [img]graemlins/awesomework.gif[/img]

I think it's very healthy!

[Charean]

Oddly enough, most of the people I know now I have met either directly or indirectly on the net (either I met them this way, or met their friends). I have met most of the people I call friend because of either this board or some other fashion online. For one thing, you already have something in common!

I think IW is as healthy as the way you treat it. I agree with much of what was said above - as the people here are generally how they are. This IS a community and not just a board of weirdos.... although there are some.... [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

Rudy would have never given me a chance if I had met him in real life. Why? My looks stood in the way. Because we met this way - online - a lot of the physical stuff wasn't an issue. He got to know me - what was in my mind and heart - before he made judgements on my looks. By the time we met - that wasn't important anymore.

There are pros and cons to any new technology... and there are those who are dragged kicking and screaming into it. Be glad you embraced it relatively early, and know more about your choices than others who don't have this experience. Or you could just introduce them to the board!

[dizzy]

Internet friends more often thennot won't hurt you like people in real life do. I am greatly appreciative of Blue and I's growing friendship. Just don't loose reality. I know, it sucks but oh well.