The Uniqueness of Ish?

[the.fee.fairy]

I was just thinking...

I'm friends with a lot of Ishers on Facebook, and now i'm following them on Twitter, i read their blogs and we all comment on each others' statuses.

Is this a unique Ish thing? I've never had it on any other forum that i go to. I'm beginning to think that Ishers are truly special. Its weird, becasue when i go to FB and look at my home, if an Isher's posted a status, 9 times out of 10 another Isher would have commented on it...

Are we really special? Or have i been hanging around the wrong forums outside of Ish?

[MikeM]

not unique to here at all, I know of several forums where people also chat on facebook and the like . On one forum a bunch of us meet up every month or so in real life as well. Tis quite common in my experience.

[the.fee.fairy]

So it seems that the other forums i frequent are the odd ones out then.

[MikeM]

not knowing what those other forums are I couldn't say. One thing I have noticed is that these self suffciency type forums are much less active than some other types. Guess that's cos everyone is so busy working their plots they don't have time to spend all day on the internet talking.

[StripyPixieSocks]

I am a member of another forum which is like Ish but for me it depends on the forum how close I let people get... I'm very shy and get very anxious even over the internet and I have to be sure the people are a certain kind of people (ie don't turn around and say horrible things behind my back or generally laugh at me for my beliefs / morals etc).

I know, I know but I've met lots of really awful people in the past.

Ish is lovely though, not met a horrible Isher yet and love hearing about what you all get up to :)

I was however a member of a forum once who turned it into some kind of 'we must have a meet every 5 minutes or you're not part of the forum' type place... that was horrible and stressful for the people who didn't want to meet up in real life for one reason or another.

Thank the Gods Ish is such a wonderful place :)

[eccentric_emma]

I think Ish is special i haven't found another forum where I can post and not be worried about getting flamed. My OH frequents another forum, and rarely posts just because everyone is so eager to slag each other off. I guess that is the bad side of the internet - people get bold enough to be rude because there's not a lot the other person can do about it!

Luckily here stuff doesnt seem to get out of hand, and we have a great admin team who keep an eye on everything to make sure it runs smoothly.

And this is probably the first forum where there are people I've been happy to give out my facebook details to!

[JulieSherris]

Yep, I agree with Emma on that one too.
I have been on other forums/chat rooms where I would think twice about giving out my email, let alone any other details. But here is always so friendly & mostly I think we use facebook/twitter as an extension of the Ish.... good job we've not all swopped mobile numbers, it'd cost us a fortune in credit

[eccentric_emma]

Haha I agree about the mobiles Julie..........especially as you, me and Fee have just spent all that time talking on facebook about knitting plans of sorts!!

[Wombat]

I must admit to not a huge amount of expereince with this but have seen a couple of forums blown apart by inappropriate attitudes and posting. There a re only two forums I contribute to these days, obviously this is one!

There are a lot of good people on here, some we had the good fortune to spend time with when we were over there. The Ish space may not be unique but it is pretty damn special!

Nev

[Rosendula]

Other than on Ish, I don't really have much contact with other people on the internet. I've tried other forums in the past but didn't feel at home on them. I do still occasionally pop in on them, but don't hang around long. OH goes on forums which are specific to his interests and gets so angry about those idiots who only post to criticize the bad spelling. He then reads them out to me and I get angry about them too. There's really no need for it. Just because someone isn't a fantastic speler doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed on a computer.

I think the wonderful thing about Ish is that people can ask all the questions they daren't ask anywhere else because they would feel stupid and here we recieve good, friendly answers with no criticism. We all accept that just because we know something, it doesn't mean everyone knows it.

I don't really think of Ish as a forum, more as a meeting place for like-minded friends who may or may not get to meet.

[Graye]

I agree with you all. Over the years I've used a couple of area specific forums (one in Andalucia and one in France). They obviously start out with good intentions and there ARE some really knowledgeable and helpful people. But then they are over-run with know-alls and miserable beings who were obviously the class bullies who want to spend their time sniping at the genuine ones. I only go on now if I have a specific question and never browse around to see what's been going on.

OH belongs to several un-moderated newsgroups which seem to be a whole different kettle of fish. Some are reasonably helpful but others seem to be nothing but ongoing flame wars and insults. He likes them because they are French or Spanish based and he says it helps his language skills. Personally they are skills I could do without...

So for those reasons I enjoy using this forum - long may it last!

[JulieSherris]

.......I don't really think of Ish as a forum, more as a meeting place for like-minded friends who may or may not get to meet.

It's funny, because in normal circumstances, we probably wouldn't even give each other a second glance... and that's what makes 'certain' forums at certain times, VERY special indeed!

[Loobyloo]

I'm on facebook and joined the ish group on there but as I don't know who any of you are in real life I haven't tried to befriend anyone on there!

[invisiblepiper]

This is my only forum - so clearly I have had a good introduction. Certainly there is a kind of gentleness to Ish - in the good sense - not suggesting any weakness. Perhaps it is the apparent willingness to share ideas and 'listen' to other points of view.
I always look forward to logging on!

[mrsflibble]

we're not unique, but then the internet revolution itself is sorta strange i suppose. i am a member of a parenting website forum and have added many other members from there onto my FB as we're good friends outside the site; in fact i met russiandoll through a different parenting site and we've been real life friends every since.

i also belong to an AFE support group online and have joined their sister FB site so i dunno, i dont think we are unique lol!!