NEED HELP: Writing a Paper About KATG

[The Last Whale]

Hey team KATG!! Long time listener, first time poster here! I'm a student at the University of California, Berkeley writing a paper about how virtual communities effect the lives of those who are part of them. I chose to write about the KATG forums since it is such a passionate community and a big part of the show. If you could help me out by answering a few questions, I will happily post the final paper on this thread for you all to see.

• How long have you been part of the forums, and how often do you go on?
  
• How did you first become active in the forums? Was there a specific thread that pulled you in?
  
• How do you use the forums? Is there a particular kind of thread you follow more than others? (i.e. were you part of the Hottest Guy/Girl Competition? Did you ask for advice on the forums?)
  
• Has the KATG show or the forums changed your life in any way?
  
• Do you act differently on the forums than you would in the real world? Is your online personality different than your real-world one?

Thanks a bunch to anyone who helps out! You will have my undying gratitude! Feel free to add any additional info if you like.

L'chaim!

[Lanfear]

Good luck and just in case you haven't seen what level your paper will be measured against ;-)

KATG Ethnography

[ssgtballard]

Originally Posted by Lanfear

Good luck and just in case you haven't seen what level your paper will be measured against ;-)

KATG Ethnography

the work has already been done for you, just put your name on it

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by The Last Whale

I'm a student at the University of California, Berkeley writing a paper about how virtual communities effect the lives of those who are part of them.

B-.

[Ansur]

Be sure to include how the Hottest Girl thread causes tired arms in many listeners, reducing productivity at work, and how that affects the economy during that period.

Also, learn the difference between "effect" and "affect."

[campy]

Originally Posted by The Last Whale

• How long have you been part of the forums, and how often do you go on?
  
• How did you first become active in the forums? Was there a specific thread that pulled you in?
  
• How do you use the forums? Is there a particular kind of thread you follow more than others? (i.e. were you part of the Hottest Guy/Girl Competition? Did you ask for advice on the forums?)
  
• Has the KATG show or the forums changed your life in any way?
  
• Do you act differently on the forums than you would in the real world? Is your online personality different than your real-world one?

Thanks a bunch to anyone who helps out! You will have my undying gratitude! Feel free to add any additional info if you like.

L'chaim!

I've been a member since 2007 , a more active member since 2010. I check in on the forums daily.

I began listening to KATG where they mentioned the forums and the drama on the forums in the podcast regularly (back then). I decided to check it out. I can't recall a specific thread pulling me in.

I have been an active poster and thread creator. I like threads that discuss everyday topics. I like threads that are constantly changing and moving daily.
The DoctorSleep thread was an interesting look at how the KATG community is really willing to help each other BUT if that help is repeatedly ignored they will turn on you en masse.

KATG has introduced me to an engaging group of people from all over the world. We all have the common thread of KATG but have completely different lives. I joined Twitter because of KATG. The biggest event for me was a thread I posted asking people their thoughts on Only Children as I currently have one child and was thinking about not having anymore. The responses I received from people who are only children, come from large familes, have large families and were also considering having more then one was a KEY factor in my decision to have try for another child. It is a life changing decision for me that the KATG community helped me make.

I am exactly the same person online as I am in person, for better or for worse.

[The Last Whale]

Originally Posted by ssgtballard

the work has already been done for you, just put your name on it

Thanks, this was really helpful. Unfortunately, I still need to conduct my research based on my selected interview questions, but this provides good additional background.

[The Last Whale]

Originally Posted by campy

I've been a member since 2007 , a more active member since 2010. I check in on the forums daily.

I began listening to KATG where they mentioned the forums and the drama on the forums in the podcast regularly (back then). I decided to check it out. I can't recall a specific thread pulling me in.

I have been an active poster and thread creator. I like threads that discuss everyday topics. I like threads that are constantly changing and moving daily.
The DoctorSleep thread was an interesting look at how the KATG community is really willing to help each other BUT if that help is repeatedly ignored they will turn on you en masse.

KATG has introduced me to an engaging group of people from all over the world. We all have the common thread of KATG but have completely different lives. I joined Twitter because of KATG. The biggest event for me was a thread I posted asking people their thoughts on Only Children as I currently have one child and was thinking about not having anymore. The responses I received from people who are only children, come from large familes, have large families and were also considering having more then one was a KEY factor in my decision to have try for another child. It is a life changing decision for me that the KATG community helped me make.

I am exactly the same person online as I am in person, for better or for worse.

Thanks so much, Campy! I agree with Bucho and Blitzgal that you are awesome!

Just need a few more like this, and I am good to go!

[marina]

Originally Posted by The Last Whale

[*]How long have you been part of the forums, and how often do you go on?

I've been on the forums since August of 2006, although I think I didn't start posting until April of 2007. I go on every single day, and during the work week, I check them every couple of hours.

Originally Posted by The Last Whale

[*]How did you first become active in the forums? Was there a specific thread that pulled you in?

I created a thread called "Women in Podcasting" asking for submissions for a page by the same name that I was running at the time. (since defunct - now that women are more common in podcasting than in other media)

Until that time, I felt like I didn't have anything to say and I was intimidated by the seeming speed and frankness of the posts.

Originally Posted by The Last Whale

[*]How do you use the forums? Is there a particular kind of thread you follow more than others? (i.e. were you part of the Hottest Guy/Girl Competition? Did you ask for advice on the forums?)

I use the forums to keep up with my KATG pals during the workday. When work is boring, I check the forums. When work is overwhelming, I check the forums.

I follow the Cubicle Crowd very closely at the moment. Although my super favorite, "Ask Marina" seems to rise and fall (sometimes thanks to me).

I have asked for advice. in 2007, I asked what people did after they graduated from college. At the time I was very close to graduation with no leads on a job, no parents to fall back on and worried about the future. It was mostly unhelpful. In general, the other posters either answered my question, but had safety nets and support systems I felt I didn't have, or they argued the merits of even attending college, which was useless as I had already made that decision. Turns out I was fine on my own, although it was difficult for awhile there.

Originally Posted by The Last Whale

[*]Has the KATG show or the forums changed your life in any way?

Yes. KATG has really helped me get more perspective on things and to call out bullshit when I see it. Interacting with the forums regulars, and even the forums trolls made me more confident in my rhetorical abilities, and also has given me a cooler head in other, real life situations that would have probably frightened me had I not had the show and the forums.

Bosses or people in positions of power have tried to intimidate me from time to time, thinking I'm an easy mark because of my youth or because I seem like I need something from them, but thanks to Keith's rants against assholes who use social mores to their advantage, and thanks to me being able to talk a blue streak on the forums against shitheads and bullies, I'm not easily influenced.

Originally Posted by The Last Whale

[*]Do you act differently on the forums than you would in the real world? Is your online personality different than your real-world one?

At work, or with certain friends, people can be hurt by my natural bluntness. Not that I am rude on the forums, but that I am less cagey and less vague in my speech. I feel that I can be honest on the forums in the same way that I can be honest with some of my closest real life friends.

[TeddyPicker]

• How long have you been part of the forums, and how often do you go on?
  
  I've been an active member of the forums since early 2008, although I joined December 2007. I usually go on weekly, when there's an active thread though, it can be more often.
  
• How did you first become active in the forums? Was there a specific thread that pulled you in?
  
  I wanted to get a meet-up started for London listeners. From there I got involved in some other threads (Ask A Cripple, Inane Chatter, etc)
  
• How do you use the forums? Is there a particular kind of thread you follow more than others? (i.e. were you part of the Hottest Guy/Girl Competition? Did you ask for advice on the forums?)
  
  I use the forums like any other sociable internet folk use the forums. I've made a lot of friends here now, it's a way of staying involved with the community that's more discussion based than twitter and more frequent than meet-ups or April 15th.
  I've done just about everything there is to do on the forums: found lovers and amazing friends, asked for advice, bitched and moaned about all my problems under then sun, taken my clothes off and put them back on. All in the name of a good time with good people.
  
• Has the KATG show or the forums changed your life in any way?
  
  I once wrote a list about all of the ways KATG has changed my life. It ended up being about a page long and far too intimate to write here. KATG has changed things forever. I don't really remember much of a time without it and I'm not really sure what will happen when the time comes when it isn't around anymore. It, as an entity, is my friend. I love it to death, I can tell it and the community love me back. Sometimes I get pissed off with it, sometimes we don't hang out for a while and then there's a spurt where we can't get enough of each other.
  
• Do you act differently on the forums than you would in the real world? Is your online personality different than your real-world one?
  
  My online personality is me. It's just the mean that bitches about 'the real world'.