USVI-On-Line

Pete made a good point and I am interested to hear people's thoughts about this (and other) internet message boards and the role they play in your life)

I am a member of 5 internet message boards that I post on multiple times daily. My best friend in the world is someone that I met on an internet message board. I would say as I have gotten older and long time friends have moved away, I have become closer with some of the people that I have met through these message boards than people I have known for 20 years.
I have been to weddings, funerals, baptisms and even met several women for the first time on a week vacation that we planned from our board.
I have lived through cancer treatments, divorces, losing jobs, and countless other tragedies with people from internet message boards.

I join a board because I have a common interest or goal with the people there. Through participation, we learn about each other. Not just that they like to stay in Coral Bay as opposed to Cruz Bay, but that their children are exceptional athletes and scholars, how long they have been married, how they like their BBQ, and what bag they carry to the beach and what is in that bag and why they need it. I have reconnected with an old friend, mourned the loss of loved ones, worried about people's health and the health of their pets.

Perhaps I am an oddity, in that I find that I am comfortable sharing who I am with all of you. I will continue to do so and I hope that those that feel comfortable doing so will as well.

This is the first message board that I have ever gotten so involved in. In the past, I have posted on short-lived messages boards for a specific cruise and met some nice people on board.

I think internet friendships have a guise of anonymity that makes people a bit freer with their comments than they might otherwise be. For instance, I had no problem sharing with all of you a personal problem I was having right before my trip, but when I got on island I found out that someone there lurked on this board, so obviously they knew about my situation. I admit, I had just never thought of that! Stupid, huh? I thought I was telling Xislandgirl and SuefromMA and Jorge, etc. But the truth of the matter is, there is no expectation of privacy on the internet. Now, I am a very upfront and open person anyway, so it didn't really bother me, but the point is you don't know who is reading what you are posting.

I feel the same way as you X.

I have only been to USVI message boards. I am not sure If I would feel comfortable sharing as much on other boards. I have become friends with people on this forum and have grown very fond of some of them.
I am going on the Six on the Beach tour because I find something in common with these women which I can't find anywhere else. This forum has become part of my real life and I do have plenty to do in my real life.
My teenage daughter belongs to forums and actually was "going out" with a guy in New Zealand. I thought it was weird, but considered it harmless since it was so far away. I now understand how she got close to someone on line.
I may say more when I type than I say in person, but what I say is pretty much me. I hope to meet some forum people in 29 days when I go to STJ!

While I agree that you will probably always have to be very careful with personal information on the Internet, I think people meeting on forums, message boards, clubs, etc. on the Internet has much less a stigma attached to it than it used to.

One reason I felt so comfortable here was because you all reminded me of the one other board I frequent. It's actually for a running club that all started with a message board. We all live across the U.S. and the world, but we come together once per year (and sometimes more at races across the country) to run together and celebrate our friendships. It's a really cool thing- I never thought I'd have so many friends.

Not all boards are like that, though. Being a researcher, I tend to lurk lots of places and not every place can have the "feel" that this forum does. It's a pretty cool thing.

My Internet usage goes back to 1985 when there were less than 50,000 systems on the net. Your email address was your identity (I still have that old email address) and anonymity was a dirty idea. I have one email list that I continue to participate in that I joined in 1989 (Homebrew Digest). I do see these folks in person, but the interactions are fundamentally different - more professional than personal.

Excepting local-based email lists, this is the only place that I feel any real kinship with the participants. I do have 25+ friends in the DC area that are STJ lovers (one booked a Reef Bay villa yesterday for the Fall), but they primarily look to publications for their resources.

By necessity, the STJ and USVI lovers are spread pretty thinly. If you're obsessed, like many of us, the only people to share that obsession with are spread around Wisconsin, Florida, California, and, yes, Fairfax, VA. We call this a "community of interest" in the business. Like Ron_L's BBQ forum, its where you go to speak your special language and share the inside secrets.

Works for me.

Cheers, RickG

This is the only message board I visit. It started as a nice distraction in my day, just reading questions and comments, and over time, I found people here that I have something in common with, people here that I like. Being a true introvert (not shyness, but basically a person who is more inwardly directed), I think I tend to be a better "virtual friend" because in reality, I tend to forget those around me. It's a bad quality, I know, but that's just me! Also, I find myself able to be freer and more open with those who don't know me as well. It has a cathartic quality to it. I tend to be very free with my private information, but being a public official, I'm not really used to having much that is private anyway. I had to let that guard down a long time ago.

I enjoy the way this board has evolved over time into a "group of friends." I've made some great friends here, friends I hope to keep with me for a while.

There are a few message boards that I am active in, to varying degrees.

They all seem to have their own unique "culture", or feel.

I have never been active in any that seem to have as much of a sense of community (dare I say family?) as this one does.

Some are just too large, and some are too focused, by design, on the topic of the forum.

As Goldilocks once said, "this one is just right"

This is the only board that I'm active on the other vi board I'll answer a ? here and there but thats it there are couple of other boards that i check just because Of the things I'm doing at the time but I just lurk. This board has helpped me get thru some tough times I knew that if I was down i could always come here and get a smile on my face or take my mind off of what was bothering me at the time for a little while.
Tom
PS Thanks for being there

This is the forum that I frequent most. I go to other forums for local news items, dining info, band info (setlists, concert reviews) and my favorite sports teams. I also lurk at another forum for work reasons which is quite interesting. I'm careful what I post and what's in my online profile so as not to give out any personal info. I have PM'd some people here when I thought they were unknowingly giving out too much personal information.

I do say that I've made some nice friends at this forum. Some have given me good information when I've asked them questions.

And for no particular reason, I've never met anyone in person whom I've "met" in the Internet (yet).

This is the main forum that I post on as well. I will sometimes visit others, but as many of you have said, this is like a family. As another poster referenced under a different topic, I find myself talking about some of you like I know you personally - because I feel like I do.

I have had the pleasure to meet some of you in person and am looking forward to our Wisconsin gathering this summer as well as meeting more of you on island in June.

I have two kids with special needs and logging on here each day brings me some much needed stress relief. I agree with Tom (Waterguy)... thanks for being there!

Tracy

Hi. I'm Ron and I'm a forum-a-holic

I like the forum format much better than the mailing list format, so I use several forums as a source of information (fishing, BBQ, Blackberry, Audio, USVI, etc.) BUT, I really only participate actively in this forum, the BBQ Brethren Forum and the CoffeeGeek forum. These three forums (forii?) are similar for me because the people who participate not only share a common interest but all share a true passion for the subject. I have developed friendships on the BBQ Brethren and Coffeegeek with folks who I have never met, and I have also gotten together in person with other members of those forums. Amy and I met Nyestreet and Mrs. Nyestreet in STJ in March and I hope to meet more people from this forum as time goes on (may be Wisconsin gathering). It's nice to be able to talk to people who share my interests and passions, but it is also great to be able to get to know them outside of the forum area of interest.

This is the only board I visit/post on. I am a very outgoing and open person so what you get from me here, is who I really am.

As for the role this board plays in my life...well, some of you know me better than my closest friends. This may sound pathetic to some. However, when you consider that I, like many of you, have all the daily pressures of life (work, husband, kids, dogs, kids sports, etc.) I rarely get time to spend with my friends. I talk to you every day. Even if it's just a single post. My best friend from childhood only lives 10 min. away and I can go a couple months without talking to her. Not because we don't want to talk, but our schedules are constantly conflicting. I think of the people on this board as a family of sort. I talk about you daily to my co-workers, kids, and hubby. You are most definely my friends.

I love the thought of meeting people from the board. I finally got a chance to do just that last month and it was terrific! RickG and I laughed pretty hard at one particular thing we have in common

The question arose about safety. I know that this could be an issue but I am willing to take that chance. Regardless of wether I'm on the internet or in person, I take those chances. I beleive that there are WAY, WAY, WAY more good people in the world than bad (the bad just get more hype). I would never give up the opportunity to know people because I am too safety concience. Besides, I'm not giving out my home address in posts - only in PM's - heheheh.

I love you guys

XOXO
Bug

What??? You mean there are other forums? Shoot, to do more then this one most of us would have to get 26 hours a day.

I'd love to meet some forumites when we finally get to St. John. I started visiting this board just to get some info... and got sucked into the vortex! Don't mean that in a bad way at all.. it's so engaging to read the posts here.

I was using the "other" board more, because I had used it for a previous trip (location not covered on this board.) Someone there directed me here, and I immediately felt a difference in the levity and fun of the posts. Also, there's a camaraderie here that I find very welcoming, if not amazing.

Our trip will include 6 adults and I'm the only one using this board. If we do meet some forumites on island, my friends will be asking, "Wait, HOW do you know this person??"

I agree with X...I have met many people from posting on a few forums and have formed some really good friendships.
I also lived on STJ and I miss it alot...so I live vicariously thru you all by reading your trip reports.
I have not gotten to go back since end of 2005 when we buried Bully.....
I think you all are a hoot and love reading the posts and getting to know people........