Message boards experience

American Idol Fan Forum

1.) When did you first started going on message boards? 2004.

2.) Which message boards did you sign up for? Yahoo Sports & American Idol.

3.) How long were you on message boards? 3 years. Yahoo sports (2004-2006) & American Idol (2006-2007).

4.) What did you like about being on message boards? You could voice your opinions on different topics in a discussion on the boards or forums.

5.) What didn't you like about being on message boards? Cussing, haters, and the trolls.

6.) What was your experience like being on message boards? It was a rocky experience.

7.) What made you sign up for message boards? Like social networking websites, message boards were a way of communication. I was into sports & I was also a big American Idol fan back then.

8.) Do you regret going on message boards? No. I was on message boards for a season & felt like it was time for me to come off of the message boards when my season was up.

9.) Did you do any writing or blogging when you were on message boards? Only blogging when I was on American Idol message boards. When I was on yahoo sports message boards I could only post comments.

10.) Did you have a lot of friends when you were on message boards? On American Idol message boards I had a lot of friends on my friends list. On sports message boards we just communicated on each other's post and recommended them if we liked the post or posts.

11.) What have you observed the 3 years that you were on message boards? The bickering & people getting personal with their conflicts with one another. I have to put myself in this because I was a hothead on yahoo sports message boards. I've changed when I signed up on American Idol message boards & I was more of a peacemaker.

12.) Were there married people or single people on message boards? Both.

13.) What was it like being on message boards with both single people like yourself and married people? Married people that were on message boards were different from married people that are on social networking. Single people that were on message boards were different than single people that are on social networking. Married people that were on message boards were carefree & peacemakers when there was any bickering going on the message boards. Single people like myself respected married people on the message boards because they looked out for everyone when there were trolls on American Idol message boards. When I've observed all of that, that helped me to be my natural peacemaking self & I encouraged the newbies on American Idol message boards like people encouraged me when I was a newbie.

14.) What made you decide to leave the message boards? On yahoo sports message boards it was easy for me to walk away because I am not a trash talker but I left the American Idol message boards when a young girl who was 15 at the time who I was encouraging because she was having problems with her ex-boyfriend told me about Myspace. I signed up for Myspace (my very first social networking website that I joined) in 2007.

15.) Have you ever been suspended when you were on any of the message boards? Never. Yahoo sports message boards were made for trash talking. American Idol message boards you had people on your friends list & if any of your friends on your list got suspended you were the one that had to send an email to the administration & plead to him or her to reinstate your friend or friends who were suspended. I had to do that for a few of my friends to get them out of what they called "suspension or banned camp" when anyone of them got suspended.

16.) What have you learned when you were on message boards? No matter how much you try to be a peacemaker there will always be someone who come on message boards that will try to start a war.

17.) If you decided to go on message boards again would it be long term or short term? It would be short time because of the online writing that I do.

18.) What advice would you give anyone who wants to sign up for message boards for the first time? Don't go on message boards regular. I would recommend that him or her go on message boards once a week. It's not worth dealing with hotheads on a regular basis on message boards.