Report 1:
Social Psychology of
Usenet Newsgroups:
My Search In Newsgroups
Horse Talk and Fishing
Rudy Dolfo
Report 1
Psychology 409 @University of Hawaii
Instructor: Dr. Leon James
Dr. James Home Page
Dolfo's Home Page
Stop in and say Hello
Introduction Method of Study Results of the Analysis What it's like to participate Annotated index to Social Forces in Newsgroups
Introduction: Here's what you'll find in
my report.
Hello everyone, this is basically what you'll find in my report. First
of all, I always knew there was a newsgroup section on-line, but I never got
the chance to follow a particular newsgroup. In Dr. James class I'm given
the opportunity to do so. My report will give you a chance to experience
some of my excitement, my sense of anticipation, and my attitude towards my
search in newsgroups.
After I was given instructions as to how to get into newsgroups I felt
as if I was catapulted in to a world of live and continuous conversations of
all types of interests. So in essence, I really had no idea as to what to expect
from newsgroups. My interests are Horses and Boats (fishing) and I had
absolutely no problems in searching these topics. My experience is, you'll
feel the excitement if you're interested in a particular newsgroup, because
you will come across thousands of people who share the same interests. It's
exciting to know how they feel, what they're thinking and especially they're
knowledge on the particular subject.
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Method of Study: Here's what I
did.
Like I said earlier, my interests are horses and fishing so I looked
through netscape newsgroups and also, newsgroups in pine. I can't speak for
anyone else, but netscape had a much wider variety than did pine. I preferred
newsgroups in pine because it was simple and it seemed to me that there were not
as many people as there were those using netscape. Dr. James instructions to
us in class made it easy to follow and I always had the instructions handy
if ever I needed it. I decided to stick with something I was comfortable using.
Once I got a handle on what newsgroup I wanted to follow, it was pretty much
a down hill slide. We were instructed to follow the groups for at least two weeks. I
tried to keep track of it whenever I used the computer in the computer lab which was
at times on a daily basis so I knew exactly where to go.
I'm not an individual who likes to play games by giving bogus names just
for the sake of testing out a flaming tactic. I know that there are many
who do just to stir up some excitement. That isn't my idea of excitement.
I enjoy reading peoples concerns, questions, suggestions and even share
their joys about their interests. I'm what they call, "Lurking" because
people who just follow and read without participating are lurking. For example,
a girl was very excited about knowing all about horses because she had never owned
one and was in the market to purchase. Another example, I shared the excitement of a
fishermen who landed a big one.
I reluctantly responded to both, only because it was required of me to do so.
I said to the girl looking for a horse that I'm sort of bias to quarter horses and felt
they're the best all around horse, but that's just my opinion. I responded to the man
who landed the big one that I know exactly how it feels and also how it feels when
you lose the big one.
I'm not comfortable responding and talking to someone via the computer. I know
that it's part of our assignment, but its just not my "cup of tea." I look at it this way,
when I go to a movie, I enjoy it for the pure sake of entertainment and if I react to it,
its personal. I feel that newsgroups are similar in that it's entertainment.
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Results of the Analysis: Here's my
observation.
It seems to me that one of the most important part of news groups are posting messages and responding to them. It may seem simple and easy, but there are certain underlying rules that should be followed. If you don't follow along a thread, or posting in general, then it will be difficult for you to truly understand the concept of posting. To just jump in without taking the time to familiarize yourself with what's going on, could get you flamed. Like I mentioned earlier, some people enjoy getting flamed and do it just for fun. In my opinion, they're children in a world of adults. Nevertheless, to avoid getting flamed, simply follow along and watch the conversations unfold. Then you'll be ready to participate.
Often times people quote their messages (with ">>" indicating the original message and ">" indicating the response), and this is helpful in that you'll understand what everyone is talking about without taking the time of looking back on previous messages. It's really an individual thing because there are long winded people as well as short winded. If you have a lot of things to say, then say it, if you don't, then don't. Now, if your message doesn't have anything to do with the subject at hand, then you're jeopardizing your position in the posting thread. It is inevitable that people like myself who is new to this game don't know a whole lot. If you're honest about it, people are inclined to help rather than shun you away. I was taught that honesty is the best policy and I believe it.
This is a personal observation, everyone who follows a newsgroup and posts are clickish. They have every right to be that way, because this is what newsgroups are all about. You look for people who share the same interests and talk about what you are basically knowledgeable in. It's like this, if you don't like it buddy, then bug out and go look for another newsgroup. Don't get me wrong because there is etiquette even in newsgroups.
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What It's like to Participate: Here's my
experience with participation.
During the first couple of weeks into newsgroups I spent most my time
browsing but kept an eye on my special interests. It was exciting to
explore and read about all kinds of things that people were interested in.
I was amazed at some of the subjects. One in particular that I came across
was how to make a lot of extra money within a period of a week. To me
though, it's just a scam and I stayed clear from that one.
Like I said earlier I wasn't to excited about posting any messages,
but did only because it was required of me to do so. My enjoyment is simply
reading what other people have to say about different situations and not necessarily responding to them. I like to hear how other people respond to other people's
messages. To be perfectly honest with you, I was very uncomfortable posting
my response to those people, because I'm the type of individual who needs to
have eye contact even with a stranger. Why? because, to me, conversing with
some stranger through means of a computer is simply words. I don't
personally care to talk to strangers without hearing their voices, seeing
their reactions and most of all, being able to detect their sincerity. How would I
know if this person didn't have an underlying motive.
I chose to go with pine newsgroups because I felt comfortable using it. I simply
typed in my interests and without any hesitation, horses and fishing flashed before
my eyes. I've always had an interest in both these categories for personal reasons and
have been keeping an eye on them from the beginning. I decided to settle in
on them because it was getting to close to crunch time, "due dates." Actually it was
simple to read the messages. All you need to do is scan through the messages, stop
on the one that catches your eye, and then press return. You'll need to mark it so
that it's easy for you to come back to it, especially if you're following a string.
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Annotated Index to Social Forces in
Newsgroups: Here's a few articles.
As you already know, I'm one who is very uncomfortable with posting on newsgroups, because I'm an individual who likes personal contact. What I mean by likes personal contact (I explained it earlier and I'll explain it again), I need to see the person I'm talking to. I need to see his/her expressions, body gesture, eyes, movement, because I personally don't care to talk to someone who's not sincere. It's the way I feel and I make no excuses, so I want to back up my feeling the way I do. Here's a few articles:
Lurker not a filty name
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