New modes of communication

Jim_from_Oz · 08-07-2007, 04:10 PM

I read an article by a visiting internet analyst and was prompted to write to her and draw her attention to some interesting aspects of this forum. Here is part of what I said.

Quote:

Dear Danah,
I picked up your name from an article in our local (Melbourne, Australia) newspaper and was very intrigued by the area in which you work. I thought I would draw your attention to a very interesting communication mechanism (which with your erudition you are probably aware of anyway) which I have encountered. I am a semi-retired IT consultant/contractor and subscribe to various forums (fora?) for technical information. One such (www.techsupportforum.com) deals with PC maintenance, desktop software problems and so forth. What really struck me when I joined this forum is that there are lots of posts from people such as soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan, people in South America, Africa and so forth who ask for information on how to deal with problems on their computers. However, they often digress to discuss conditions and events in their locality. In other words, along with the purely technical material relevant to the site, a lot of social and personal stuff sort of oozes through without being really explicit. In the case of a couple of correspondents from Iraq, one could almost sense the anxiety and pain. The really nice thing about it is that the respondents, while dealing with the technical issues were also interested in offering gestures of support and sympathy. This phenomen might be worth some investigation, if you have not hit upon it before.

I hope nobody minds. The lady's site is danah.org if anyone is interested in exploring the subject.
Regards,
Jim

JohnthePilot · 08-07-2007, 04:34 PM

Jim,
I've moved your post into the Offline forum because I think you will get more response here. The comments and announcements forum is more for Birthdays, Congratulations etc. Well, have a look at the titles in the two fora (I prefer that to forums

) and you'll see what I mean.

This is quite an interesting subject you've broached. I think we are all gossips at heart and it's very easy for a thread to get off-track so much that it has to be pulled back into line.
John.

Jim_from_Oz · 08-07-2007, 04:53 PM

Thank you, John,
I really wanted to run it by "management" first but could not find a formal email address. However, it is an interesting topic. The lady in question was discussing how the internet is becoming a huge machine for information transfer and she points out that a lot of it is, as I noted in the post, outside the more formal routes of emails and blogs. It even rides on the backs of other communications, as we have seen. Another point is that this forum is a very informal, friendly one (I just love it!) and this probably encourages conversation. Some others I belong to are very formal and I suspect, coloured by the wish of correspondents to show off their knowledge !
Regards,
Jim

JohnthePilot · 08-07-2007, 05:39 PM

Hi Jim,
If you want to bring it to management's attention, the best person to talk to would be Horse. You can send him a PM or email by clicking on his name.
Regards,
John.

Jim_from_Oz · 08-07-2007, 06:39 PM

Thanks, John,
I only wanted to be quite sure that management was happy about me deawing attention to the forum to persons with an outside interest. I have just been watching a documentary called Secrets, Sources and Spin (UK) which deals with the degree of surveillance governments are engaging in and have been wondering what sort of consideration we need to give to such matters in order to keep under the radar, so to speak!
I will retain your advice for future reference, however.
Regards,
Jim.

08-07-2007, 04:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
JohnthePilot Manager, TSF Articles Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cheltenham, near Wales. Posts: 30,928 OS: XP Home SP3, PCLinux, Vista Home Premium SP1 My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: New modes of communication Jim, I've moved your post into the Offline forum because I think you will get more response here. The comments and announcements forum is more for Birthdays, Congratulations etc. Well, have a look at the titles in the two fora (I prefer that to forums ) and you'll see what I mean. This is quite an interesting subject you've broached. I think we are all gossips at heart and it's very easy for a thread to get off-track so much that it has to be pulled back into line. John. __________________ Submit New Articles Here If you feel that TSF has helped you please make a donationand help to keep the forum free Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon Folding@Home - Team 85015

08-07-2007, 04:53 PM	#3 (permalink)
Jim_from_Oz Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Born UK, Worked in Libya, Kenya, Uganda, Settled in Australia. Now resident outside Melbourne, Victoria Posts: 19 OS: Windows XP SP2	Re: New modes of communication Thank you, John, I really wanted to run it by "management" first but could not find a formal email address. However, it is an interesting topic. The lady in question was discussing how the internet is becoming a huge machine for information transfer and she points out that a lot of it is, as I noted in the post, outside the more formal routes of emails and blogs. It even rides on the backs of other communications, as we have seen. Another point is that this forum is a very informal, friendly one (I just love it!) and this probably encourages conversation. Some others I belong to are very formal and I suspect, coloured by the wish of correspondents to show off their knowledge ! Regards, Jim

08-07-2007, 05:39 PM	#4 (permalink)
JohnthePilot Manager, TSF Articles Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cheltenham, near Wales. Posts: 30,928 OS: XP Home SP3, PCLinux, Vista Home Premium SP1 My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: New modes of communication Hi Jim, If you want to bring it to management's attention, the best person to talk to would be Horse. You can send him a PM or email by clicking on his name. Regards, John. __________________ Submit New Articles Here If you feel that TSF has helped you please make a donationand help to keep the forum free Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon Folding@Home - Team 85015

08-07-2007, 06:39 PM	#5 (permalink)
Jim_from_Oz Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Born UK, Worked in Libya, Kenya, Uganda, Settled in Australia. Now resident outside Melbourne, Victoria Posts: 19 OS: Windows XP SP2	Re: New modes of communication Thanks, John, I only wanted to be quite sure that management was happy about me deawing attention to the forum to persons with an outside interest. I have just been watching a documentary called Secrets, Sources and Spin (UK) which deals with the degree of surveillance governments are engaging in and have been wondering what sort of consideration we need to give to such matters in order to keep under the radar, so to speak! I will retain your advice for future reference, however. Regards, Jim.