Contact with TFP members beyond the boards
 

Do you have contact with other TFP members besides the normal back-and-forth postings on the boards?

I'm not asking about real time meetings. I know those happen occasionally.

I'm asking about your interactions through private messages, emails, and instant messages.

I started wondering about this because I recently had a short conversation with another member through the TFP Private Messaging system. I've been around here for a long time, and I can count on one hand the number of times that has happened.

I don't contact other members very often and I'm not contacted very often. I get a few birthday messages every year, which is nice. Sometimes I'll PM someone when I want to privately follow up on something that was discussed on a board. Other than that, there's not much going on. Is my low level of off-board interaction with other TFP members representative or unusual?

I once sent something that was my grandmother's to Shani-Faye for her wedding, and I got a post card from 3 or 4 people on here in "The postcard game"....

Otherwise, no.

and its still one of my most prized possesions SF :icare:

There are many many people I talk to off the boards more than I interact with them in threads

aw, well youre welcome, but you can call me Adam you know!

I talk to one special member on MSN everyday and some others and I've been known to phone a few from time to time

well hell Adam lol I always like that our usernames had the same initials

I've had quite a few for various reasons.

Some have asked me health questions.
Some have thanked me for advice.
Some have told me what a great post something was when they didn't have the guts to post it outright when the subject is controversial.
A lot have said welcome back after my last hiatus.
And some have told me to play nice or else.

There are times when a public post isn't the best way to reach out to someone..

I'm still hoping for someone who likes to show off on cam (ladies, gentlemen don't get those hopes up), but alas :cry:

Edit: I'll add that when more of my political ilk were on tfp we would PM each other various observations to avoid seeing that yellow text.

There are two tfp members that I exchange emails with on a fairly consistent basis and many whom I have casual interaction with through pm and on myspace.

A few of my closest friends I talk to daily, via phone, IM, and email, are on here, and I met them through TFP.

i get together with a couple TFP people at least once a year and e-mail all the time. there are a few of us who PM each other on a more or less irregular basis...

theres only one or two that i'll PM. but other than that no. though this is an interactive board, i find that its not as interactive as say other social websites like facebook and what not. but then again i guess its not meant to be.

I talk to a few people from TFP on AIM and MSN from time to time, some more regularly than others. I may not be the best conversationalist on AIM (i'm usually distracted by other things irl) but I do like it when TFPers IM me.

I gotta say, Martian has kept me company many a late night on AIM.

The only other place I talk to TFP members (other then in real life) in on MySpace.


And that's not that often.

It's a mutual thing.

I also talk with several members on MSN and/or AIM, as well as doing some PM correspondence with a couple folks. I hang out in chat occasionally, and may become a Saturday night fixture there in the future.

I've had sexual intercourse with 95% of all current and former tfp members.

I've talked to some on the phone, some on chat, and some by e-mail. I've talked to them more often in the past. I spend much less time on the computer now and stay pretty busy most days so I talk very little with others from TFP.

I've contacted a few people outside of the forum, whether to say something, make an off-the-record comment, or to thank someone for a contribution. I've invited a few people to join, and I just had to log my brother off to log myself on.
You missed me.

Besides a couple of meet-ups, I do talk to a handful of TFPers on MSN, AIM or in chat. One special person I chat with every day on MSN, even if just for a brief moment, it's nice to know he's there.

There is a contingency of New York TFPers who meet up frequently

You didn't miss much... :lol:

Dude, that never happens to me, it was just that once, i swear.

A couple people I've dated joined while I was dating them and are still on. One of them is now on the forum staff.

I think the extent of my 'met on tfp, then in real life' experience was that I went bowling with Phred Green.

I forgot about that till you mentioned it :)

Dating someone quite successfully who I met through the board.. and I can also quote Spec verbatim that some of the closest day to day friends that i catch by phone, email, IM, or in person, were a result of TFP.

I met some people, although they were not very influential around here.

I promise I'll hop on the train and join you guys some day, really.

I keep pretty loose contact with several people. Some people I talk to regularly, and some I talk to all the time. The list has fluctuated here and there over time, things change and people's priorities like work and school change. I'm also in chat here and there, though not nearly like I used to be (which was practically all the time lol). Chat may be part of the board, but it's really a totally different level and type of interaction that it almost doesn't count as being "part of" the boards in this context.

I have one member I'm in extremely close contact with over IM and various online calling services.

They've even offered me a place to crash when I go travelling later this year.

How do I go about making that 95.1%?

I haven't met anyone on TFP yet. I've played World of Warcraft with a few of them though. Kept in touch through PMs and stuff

Met several, IM a bit with a few, including some who don't come around any more.

Have PM'd/been PM'd by more than I can remember... sometimes I just love those brief exchanges. In my most harebrained moods, I get a lot of support from random PM'ers coming out of the woodwork. I have several members on Facebook... and G-chat quite regularly (or used to, when she wasn't insanely busy) with one in particular. :D (This is in addition to attending several meetups on both US coasts, and one in Iceland.)

The internet is not just "the internet," for me. It crosses and re-crosses paths in real life, all the time, pretty much seamlessly. I like it that way... feels less compartmentalized, I guess.

I get an occasional pm, maybe once a month, but it isn't really a social thing. I do email and chat sometimes on YIM with two of TFP'ers.

I'm always on AIM and enjoy conversations with many people. I'd be on the IRC thing more, but I can't stand the "chat room" thing where everyone is talking at once, or no one is talking. I love pming for birthdays.

Back in the day when I was a single gal I met one of the ex male members in person. It became a little more then I wanted it to be as he was a tad to clingy.
I have made quite a few other friendships on here and I tend to think of them as life long.
Halx and I used to talk on the phone every now and then also :) That was nice ;)

Awww... You remembered St. Louis!

I attended a Salt Lake City meetup a couple of years ago, and the majority of the people there no longer post. I do post at another forum run by a member here and have contact with her, but not as frequently as I would like. Other than that, I have a random PM or pop into chat once in awhile, and that's about it.

How could I forget? That's where I learned the chilean fingertrap.

Some I knew before. Others, I didn't. And I rely on them now, they're part of my family of friends. I've sort of adopted several members into real life so that their real names are far more familiar than their TFP names.

I have so much love for this board... you don't even know! If I know your name, and some even that I don't... you are my people. And I really really really give a damn what happens in your lives, no matter how stupid busy I get.

*sniffle*
I heart you guys.

And filterton, I'm getting pissed! What's wrong with NYC, mofo?

Well, it's just so big.

The more PM's you send, the more you'll get. I feel pretty connected with Siege, Cyn, and Art... others, too. But it's not a regular communication - then again, I'm not here often enough for it to be so.

I find facebook to be good for that as well. I've connected with a few scattered tfp'ers that way, and MSN is great for that as well. Just last night I was having a three-way (conversation) with Shani and Gaia. It's that sort of thing that keeps me sane.

IN MY DREAMS!!!! lol

I talk to lots of people off the board either thru pm's emails or on the phone

ive found that a lot has changed since the OP.

i think facebook has given social networking ( and TFP) another dimension and made it much easier for people to connect.

has anyone found that their previous views have changed?

my facebook is full of TFPers now that i keep in regular contact with.

I have a handful of TFP members on my facebook friends list and I like interacting with them there and seeing what's going on in their lives in more of a 'real time' sense. Some of them you hardly ever see around here anymore...myself sometimes included.

I'm still only 'close' with a few people. Close as in 'I will tell them things in private that I wouldn't share with everyone,' even if we only communicate a few times a year. Two of those folks I knew long before I came to TFP, though.

But, yes. I like having the facebook dimension. It keeps me in touch when I don't have the time to write diatribes and follow threads.

If anything... TFP is even more cemented in my personal life now than it was 3 years ago.

It is a great group of globally diverse people and I love that interactions that start in threads lead to friendships. It makes the world go round.

no monkie my dear....you make the world go round.

*smooch*

I agree! Especially in the chat room. I've come to count on people here...:thumbsup:

Hah!

My wedding ceremony was conducted by none other than amonkie. The music at the ceremony was handled by ZombieSquirrel.

I have about 30 or so people on my FB friends list that are TFPers. I like that it allows me to keep up with them in a way that this space does not. I also use it to keep up with some folks who aren't here anymore.

Martian and I are still chatting on IM, 3 years later. We'll probably still be chatting on IM together until they replace it with some other technology. Since the OP, I've also gone to Chicago and done a meetup there, which was so much fun. I also text a handful of TFP people from time to time.

Next up on my list: a road trip to California for beer and TFPers.

This year has changed everything for me. I had kept my TFP life and my day to day to life VERY separate. I didn't do that on purpose, it just seemed to work out that way. I had a couple life changing events and this was the only safe place I felt I could turn. I have made some incredible friends, and a few of them were instrumental in me really getting to know someone who I have grown to love deeply. starkizzer, amonkie, and snowy, thank you. You guys will never know how much your encouragement has meant to me. I borrowed a lot of your courage and would have never got to know her if it weren't for you 3. :)

As most of you know, I met Cinn on here and now I live with her after she moved from OH to here. Being able to meet someone on her and make a real relationship out of it, it is awesome.

I also talk to one or two TFPers via txt messaging and receive a random phone call every once in a while. I have enough TFPers in my phone that I special group for their contacts.

I chat in video chat a lot with people, so a ton of TFPers have become more than just avatars on a forum.

I also went down to Mexico to visit tully for 6 days which was AWESOME. Amonkie and I need to do that again.

Thanks for making me tear up, CJ. I'm so glad we could help you.

I am definitely planning on coming down to your neck of the woods in the future for some rafting fun.

I've been to 2 TFP weddings, both of which I was in the wedding party. I know of several that have happened here besides those and those people invited TFP members as well.

I still keep in touch with many old timers via phone, facebook, and real life meet ups.

Some of my dear friends are on TFP that I didn't meet on TFP but I asked them to join here and participate.

Snowy, ya know if I am still in OR, I am always up for a float. I should know next month. Maybe we can get a TFP raft trip going! That could turn in into a lot of fun. A day on the river followed by drinks and dinner?

Sounds fabulous. Even if you leave, you can always come back for a visit and some rafting. I know amonkie would want to get on that too!

I see. How quickly you've forgotten our brief but memorable encounter.

...

I intend on meeting at least three of you smarmy fucks in the near future.

So, yeah, pencil me in. I'm coming to see Monkie, Jazz and Smeth.

are you going to stop by here at all? you said they booked you into some hotel somewhere for a night or two

Dude, I wish I could tell you what I'm doing an hour from now but my life isn't that easy.

I'll keep you updated, though. I'd like to at least get a stupid "hang loose" picture.

I'm not really looking for getting to know anyone beyond the boards. I like the chance to post in English to keep up with language skills and I've started to enjoy this forum, compared to some others I've frequented.

I'm "friends" with a number of TFPers on facebook and was friends with several more who have chosen not to continue that mode of communication, which I'm fine with. Those I still communicate with outside these boards are people whom I consider interesting, non-threatening, and persons who wouldn't violate the level of trust that goes with getting to know someone's real name and some personal details. One even showed up at my friend's home here to surprise me. :)

I will never forget that time, because I got such great pictures out of it.

Like this one.

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/o...g?t=1292810454

Censored for plan9's paranoid protection.

*****

Planster did bring up a point, I've met a few TFPers when I went to comedy night and got on stage.

I also knew a lot of old school and still posting TFPers in college.

I also know most of the gun guys in TiltedGunnuts.

hehe...chicken fights with pop-guns...

_X_ Pictures I'd wish I'd never had taken.

/life

oh come on planster, it's all fun and games.

until someone loses an eye.

bet you cant give him a piggy back like that anymore 9'er

I'm not that much of a fat hobbit, thank you very much.

I mean... dude, look at your prehensile toes. They're ready to pick up two more pistols. For real.

And Dlish, I take it your comment means you want a drunken "piggyback ride + guns" picture, too.

hell yeah!

i'll bring the toy guns.

/ready and willing :shakehead:

Haters gonna hate. And I'm sorry I'm not more sheep shaped, Dlish.

9er, don't you realize that the American government is fully invested in keeping guns (real or otherwise) out of dlish's hands? I mean, think about the danger of fully armed awesome Muslim dudes. Our women would instantly melt into puddles of quivering goo, and we'd all just want to be him.

I have a few tfp members as facebook friends, but as far as meeting them face to face, no, that hasn't happened. Will it happen in the future? No idea.

I forgot to mention, I was in Chicago the other day to meet up with amonkie, The_Jazz, Secret_Method70, and onodrim.