personal rant about forums (and canreef)
 

Ok I feel I have to rant about some thoughts that have been on my mind for a while. I'm a bachelor of fine art's student majored in "media arts and digital technologies." It's my final year in college and a large portion of my daily time is spent on my art and it's research, AND on my reef hobby and the canreef forums. I feel the two are a little tied together though...

I was triggered to write about my personal thoughts on forums when the thread about "empty comments" on pictures caught my attention. I myself feel that I post a lot more than other people on the forums and I'm a little self concious about it. I worry whether it appears that I'm posting too much and especially if I'm posting useful information/advice.

I try to keep my writing limited to my own personal experience. I feel more confident in my posts that way and think there's less chance of somone disagreeing with my posts or outright telling me to stop posting like one person did long ago. If I do write about something useful I read but didn't have firsthand experience I try to mention it was something I read. I leave it to the reader to decide then whether it's good information.

The nature of forums is quite unique in that there is so much information available in an adhoc method. It's on a "need to know" basis. You need to know something, you post your question. I also feel that the structure of the forum creates many great ideas that blogs and wiki articles don't produce. It's not better than a wikipedia article, or something read on advancedaquarist.com. It's just suits a different need.

Back to my personal experiences with the forums, I feel I'm addicted to the canreef forums. I don't know why but I feel an urge when I'm at a computer with internet to check the forums. Don't know if it's a problem or not but it's not really interfering with anything or causing any negative aspect to my life. I'm just curious if there's anyone out there who can raise their hand and say "my name's so and so. I'm also a forum-holic."

I do value the canreef forums though, as a forum. There are other aquarium forums out there, and I've frequented forums on completely different subjects and I've found canreef to be the best forum experience I can find. So many forums are "hardcore" and have long lists of rules you have to follow or else your IP will be banned from viewing the forum for life. Stupid rules like you must search through EVERY thread in existence on the forums to make sure you're creating a new topic of discussion or you will fear a lifetime ban.

Or some forums (like RC) are so large that everyone's basically anonymous. New threads don't get burried in the 3rd page in an hour on canreef and I feel after my year or so of time on canreef I now kinda "know of" some people who post on the forums on a regular basis.

Which brings me back to my addiction of canreef. My posts are often long, and often frequent. I don't know if that's a bad thing but like I said it's something I'm definately self concious about. I felt I had to rant a little about it.

Let me know of your thoughts on forums though, and of canreef as a forum. I have a feeling there are other people who are as passionate about canreef as I think I am. Let me know if you think I need to "get a life" too. I do "have a life" btw. But if you feel you have to tell me to get one, go ahead, just make sure you tell me WHY you feel I have to get one ;)

I too am a forum-holic. I work on my computer all day, most days, so it's a natural part of my routine to check out Canreef & BCAquaria (the two fish forums I visit the most). Yes, there are other fish sites out there, but I like to call these two my "virtual homes".

Your posts are fine. I like that you mostly post about reef stuff. Well thought out postings are always appreciated.

Over the years, I & some other friends have noticed that things have slowed down considerable on this site. We seem to have lost a lot of members, but that is understandable since this is a time-consuming, expensive hobby. Life styles change. People want to be able to go on vacation without worrying about their reef tanks. Priorites change. Therefore, it is good to see new blood come on the site & into the hobby.

Good luck with your studies.

Anthony

I'm definitely addicted. I, too, work a lot at the computer...and I'm constantly hitting the "refresh" button! It's a little silly, and I do feel a little self-conscious when I look down and see that I've commented on the last ten threads...lol. Oh well. I don't post just to post. I post if I want to say something. No post-padding here...maybe I just like to hear myself "talk" :)

I've had some extremely unhealthy habits/addictions in the past, so relative to that list, I'm fairly comfortable with this one.

canreef has been my homepage for my computer for the last 7 years:P
i dont post a lot but love to read a lot of the posts. i love seeing people post lots even if its been done 100 times... look at the # of DIY calcium reactor plans and whatnot... I STILL LOOK AT EVERY ONE sometimes many times

:) cheers
keep on posting:P

Hello, my name is Rob and I am a forum-aholic!

Monday to Friday I work on my computer and find myself frequently browsing a number of forums through the day. But during the evening and weekends when not at work I wear a patch and it helps me get by :)

Very well written and said.

Some people can get the point across in a few words, others they need to express them self in larger discussions. That is ok. There is nothnig wrong with that. IMO Im like you i need to see what people are writign on the board. I'm very curious and nosey.................

Sean your post says 12:09AM my time, that's 1:09AM in Calgary! Maybe there's a support group for for this sort of thing :mrgreen:

I think most people feel a little self-conscious about their posts for time to time, especially when the room seems to clear after I post, if you know what I mean. Makes me wonder if I've said something inappropriate (which I often do).

I am addicted to the reef keeping hobby and find reef forums my pharmacy. As of late though I have seen canreef inundated with non-reef threads. This has caused me to periodically feed my addiction elsewhere. SeaHorse_Fanatic this could be the reason for the considerable slow-down on this site. There are about 20 or so people on this site that whatever they post I read for interest, learning, and respect sake and as long as they remain so will I remain. Kwirky continue with your reef contributions, they are valuable and fuel my reef addiction.
Kevin

I missed this thread last night at 2am because the board went unresponsive. So I had to wait until morning to see this. :p

Seriously, don't feel self-conscious about the post count. Every now and again we poke fun at ourselves with the padding threads, but it's just good fun. :) Post and ramble away! ("Hi, Kettle, my name is Pot. My, you are black.")

BTW, thank you for the comments about Canreef. We work hard to keep this an "open" and "friendly" board and it's really nice to hear that this is appreciated. :)

When I saw the title of the thread "Rant about Canreef" I thought, "Uhoh, they've finally figured out what a useless tool I am and they're saying 'Please get rid of Delphinus as he's a worthless post hog'."

My name is Murray and I'm a forum-aholic:redface: I'm a memeber on over 30 (closer to 40 ) message boards and I moderate on 4.....so yeah I cannot get enough forums :mrgreen:

My name is Blaine....and yes....I'm addicted to Canreef...I also work on a computer all day....unfortunately or fortunately its a laptop...so as soon as I get home.....I can be on canreef from any room in my house....(except the bathroom, thats just weird).....I usually dont post very often...but sometimes I do....have you noticed the contradiction to my own post as your reading it....ok...thats it......

oh...and its been 20 hours since my last post.


BS

Just to clarify. Someone was not posting a comment but just rating a photo in the photo gallery. so they would give a 5 out of 5 and just leave the comment section blank. That added a post to their post count.
I wouldn't feel self conscious about posting. The more you post the more people get to know you.

My names Marie and I'm a forum-holic :redface:

:mrgreen:

I share the love. (over multiple forums and multiple hobbies) It's hard to keep up and still have a life, lol.

I tend not to post very often, as I feel that usually their is someone with more experience and knowledge that is better suited to answer the question being asked; however I usually check Canreef and a local fish forum, at least once a day and click on what ever post I find interesting. I do like the fact that canreef is a smaller community, and you can 'Know' people who are regulars on it.

ok I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one who craved posting on canreef :). We talk a lot about forums in my new media seminar class (group class discussions). Some of us in the class are forum addicts, some are blog addicts and some are youtube addicts. Participatory social networking media is very "hot" right now.

I lurk a whole lot, but don't post that often. As a matter of fact, I only log in to post and just remain one of the visitors the rest of the time. I love the forum, but don't have allot of free time anymore.

Kwirky all the good things that you've written about Canreef is true. I love it and I can't get away from it. Some person's response compared this forum to other 30 forums where there are infinite number of restricting rules. I feel that Canreef is so well functioning because of its moderators. All the credit to them for sticking to their guns about editting, warning, restricting, and locking posts when they get out of hand. In essence, they put out the fire before it gets out of control. Despite all the critisms they receive for doing their voluntary work, it is the reason why we are all so fond of being addicted to Canreef.

Chin, you've brought a tear to my eye :) Seriously though, it's comments like this that keep us going year after year. To all the addicts that have stuck with us all this time, thank you.

OK here's my theory about the addictiveness of the reef hobby and the addictiveness of the Canreef forum. Which is quite similar to the addictiveness of watching hockey on TV.

But before that I have to say this forum has been extremely helpful and useful, as well as being friendly and easygoing unlike a large un-named American forum. I have only had one person on this forum try to flame me and he shut up when I invited him to meet me in person.

My theory is that addictive time-wasting pastimes (like reefing, or going on internet forums, or watching hockey on TV) are a form of displacement in order to deal with stress and anxiety.

In university at exam time life was stressful and no one including me could keep their eyes off the hockey on TV. However once exams were done I absolutely couldn't care about the hockey or who won the playoffs, I couldn't sit through a game it was so boring.

With reefing I found I got really into the hobby when I felt a lot of stress in life including work stresses. Lately I have less and less interest in the hobby and this coincides with a time when life is pretty well stress free.

At least for me the addictive type behaviours correlate well with stress so it seems they are a coping mechanism perhaps for displacing attention away from work and other issues and focusing on things that don't really matter like a reef tank.

being addicted to reef-keeping and reef forums, even though it's expensive, is much better than being addicted to cocain like lots of the people at my college are ;)

Yeah, can-reef is my home page too, lol. I log on several times a day here, with AlbertaAquatica in close second. One of my favorite things about it is that on this forum there is a definite chance of running into "forum folks" in real life, which in itself is pretty cool.

Living in a smaller city it is even more helpful as there aren't too many people close by who could offer me reefing advice right when I really need it and on the forum there are many people with differing views and experiences to draw upon for wisdom, which is IMO a big plus. Thanks everyone for making this a great place to virtually hang out for this noobie-reef-nerd! :mrgreen:

It's good to find healthy addictions like reef keeping. Since I have taken the tank down I've been funding my drum set, spending more on wood and metal rather than beer and cigarettes.

PS, Sean, I just noticed you live in Monterey. Me too!

What can I say I'm addicted too!!!! When I when to Ont. for a week to visit with my Dad and I was only able to check canreef 3 times. I felt like I was missing out on great info and funny stories! Canreef to me is like a good friend that I don't want to be away from for long :biggrin: