This doesn't really belong in Chat but I'm trying to get a wide range of responses and so I'm gonna abuse my mod powers for a few days...

I'm writing a conference paper on internet communities and I'll be drawing heavily on my own time here at RM, but my experience is unique to me and I'm reluctant to draw anything beyond tentative conclusions based soley on myself.

So my question for you all is 'why are you here?' What do you get out of Red Mosquito--and has the time spent here affected you as a person or is it just limited to a plesent diversion while you're working?

another example of your abuse of mod power

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=82094

the vagueness of the topic title

imo

Truth be told, I don't.

At the beginning I came here for the obvious: find PJ news, talk about the band, etc. After some time, and while I was in the process of not caring about PJ anymore, this place helped me discover other music that I wasn't aware of, while giving me a place to talk about music, which is not something I have the opportunity to do a lot in my non-internet life. It's probably because of the Other Bands that I have started downloading music and trying to discover different stuff.
I was a member of other internet communities before, but they were mostly work-related and when I registered at RM it was the first time I got on a board that was about something else than the internet itself (since my work is internet-related).
Of course in the process I met a few people that I can call friends, and also a lot of assholes that sometimes manage to take away all the enjoyment of being part of the board.

Today... I don't have a lot of reasons to come here. I've signed up on other music boards, because OB is a bit restricted and I'm not getting much out of it now. So I still check out some PJ news out of curiosity/boredom, go to N&D mostly to keep myself informed about what's going on on your side of the ocean (and that was especially true at the time of the last presidential elections), check out A&E once in a while, still mostly go to OB because it's still what I'm the most interested into off what the board has to offer.

Mostly it's boredom at work that drives me here today. The people here that I like I can get in touch with them in other ways.

Something else... less RM-specific. I was born and I've always lived on this small island. Small, isolated places like that will give you narrow-minded views no matter what. Being able to sneak into other people's culture, ways of life, it expands your world. I've been able to confront my prejudiced opinions with other people's experience, people that were coming from a totally different world, I met people I probably wouldn't have been able to met otherwise. And it changed me, it changed my opinions on things, mostly music and art, but more than that too. Obviously, it's not specific to internet communities, it would have happened too by traveling around the world... but if you don't have the money to do that, internet communities are a great little window on the world.

i'm drunk on my own power

that sounds like something zoidberg would say

The setlist relays for the 06 tour are what got me to make an account. But I stick around for most of the "usual" reasons. Discussion on the band, discussion of other shit (GD), fun (GD), exposure to news//arts/sports/music/etc that. What I also dig is the sense of community here. A lot of people here don't get along, don't like each other, constantly fight, whatever, but there's still a sense that most people here belong here and I like that. Plus I met my fiance here and I'll be in debt to this place forever for that.

the titties

First it was so I could get PJ news. But after being here a few years this place has been more than that to me. I have discovered new bands in the OB forum, expanded my bootleg collection.... thanks D! and I have gotten to know some pretty cool people.

is it wrong that the first thing I think of when I read this subject line is "WHEN YOU KNOW IT MAKES THINGS HARD FOR ME, WHEN YOU KNOOOOWWW"?

hey you're the only reason I go to the sports forum
Barça was awesome last night

No beer recommendations?

I consider that part of the social networking.

I'm not your typical RM'er. I mostly post here in periods when I'm on a Pearl Jam high, and I'm also a frequent lurker of the PJ part of RM in slower times. While I also enjoy the pit, RM gives me something more. The pit is fast and easy fun, while RM is more thougth through. If an important PJ article comes up at the pit, it will disappear off the front page in an instant (only to return in a dozen other new threads), while it will get the full treatment here. The album and song threads are remarkable, and warms a Pearl Jam heart. Mainly I go here because RM is best on Pearl Jam.

I've also discovered that RM is made up of what appears to be a tightly knit community. This could both add and detract from the site (fifth wheel syndrome). Mostly it adds a warm feeling to the site, with highly personal threads like someone losing their virginity, pictures of someone's home, or someone showing their bum, and neverending discussion threads about diverse topics like music, religion or you name it.

All the cover contests really sucked me in....so if it wasn't for Stip starting those I probably wouldn't have attached to this place. I would say that if I couldn't get here from work I'd probaly only visit once a week or so...it really helps to pass the time when things are slow. I read the News\Debate section a lot lately mostly for the fights. I owe the Other Bands section for introducing me to DOWN which is the first band in years that got me excited about music(they have been around for a long time but I never heard of them). The Arts thread is good mostly to talk about ongoing tv shows...I often need help with Lost since I can never remember all the side plots. I don't really go to Release or General Discussion. I go to Sports once in a while but it's my experience that most people have no understanding of the sport they are talking about and it just gets stupid. That's it.

The graph sums it up for me. It's like a news outlet for me & i don't like the pit at all. Plus it's funnier here by miles and miles.

Back in the Riot Act days I used to be glued to the RM and the AIM chats we used to do 24/7. I guess I started coming here for PJ news and discussion of course, and over the course of time I developed a lot of friends here and posted in GD (or back then "Off Topic") a lot. At that point in time I came around because I got to know people from all over the country and in some cases, all over the world, and I enjoyed being able to chat with those folks on subjects both PJ and non Pj related.

Alas, after going back to school I had to really cut down on my leisure time in general and RM was a victim of that. These days, I don't recognize that many folks but I still get laughs on a daily basis. Though I would say the major reason I still come around is to get new music ideas from people whose tastes are similar to mine. I'll probably be back in PJ chat in a big way once a new album or tour starts up again.