I'm guilty of pretty much everything you mentioned, Sam. Immediately I'll admit that. And there are reasons for some of the things, while others are inexcusable.

As others have mentioned, I post in LiveJournal instead of Forum because not very many people care too much about my life. Lately I've had things going on I could post about -- my trip to Portland, OR for the National Journalism Convention, for instance -- but still I feel it just isn't of interest to many who read the forum. Part of that is my shyness, yes (I haven't even posted full details of my trip to my journal and I probably won't); I never have been one to share openly with many people everything that goes on within my life.

Even my past posts in the forum should show I'm not one to post much, anyway. I read. But I'll also admit I've not been reading much lately.

Monkeyman probably shares my ideas on that best. At first you move toward the more private LiveJournal because it offers for you an outlet where you needn't bother those who don't want to read, but then it just becomes convenient.

I also have to say, though, that I don't post much of passing interest to my journal anyway. I explained to TOM a bit ago that my journal is there not so much to share things in a community with my friends but as in its most literal form a journal. It's an outlet for me to write things I just need to write; most of the time I don't mind if certain friends can see those things, but at the same time I know others simply won't care. I still don't really write to inform others.

... in that case, I tend to talk to friends one-on-one. Yes, AIM. That, however, has been a habit quite awhile before I began frequenting RinkWorks. And I will also admit that for communicating with my RinkWorks friends I should rely less on that (though I rarely talk to more than a couple close friends at a time on AIM). I do miss RinkChat as it was, and yes, I do still come in (more than my previous lull times, but still not as much as I have before).

However, some of this (for me) is not because of convenience. Not because the community is moving away from its base and into places seemingly more conducive to the types of communication we give. It's because, for *me*, that is simply how I am. I could share more and pay attention more on the forum and in RinkChat. I should (and, actually, I have lately been doing so more). But I've always been one to share more with closer friends and just try to participate in current conversation when in public with good-but-less-close friends and acquaintances.

But is that the problem? The community is, yes, less of a community more, but perhaps there just hasn't been the conversation here lately to bring us together. ... still the same problem, admittedly, but less one of lack of sharing our lives with each other, as some replies indicate, and more that we've grown less talkative in the big group.

Not that I've said anything others haven't already.

Yeah, Sam, I agree. Certainly not to the extent I could I still see value in LiveJournal and AIM. I'm always on AIM and it has always been a part of my internet experience; I have things I want to tell a specific group of close friends but I don't really want acquaintances seeing and commenting on. It is still a problem, though.

As you said, we could (and probably should) make more effort to come back. Maybe not making our base of communication fully here, but at the same time not moving completely away as we seem to be doing.

...

And I also have to add here, Sam, that I am quite happy with RinkWorks as it is. I'm sure you know there will be livelier times. However, I don't really want to see it changed, either.

RinkWorks is still for me a place to go when I need to. It provides both laughter and thought, and it has led me into more than one very valued relationship. You yourself, even in my limited conversation with you (which is also probably my fault for not being around more) have been great.

It's passive, really. It isn't intrusive or interruptive, as you've said. And that has its place in my "life" on the Internet, and I very much appreciate it. Not just for the wonderful relationships provided, either, but also for exactly what it is -- a place of entertainment. Whether that means one of RinkWorks' normal, non-interactive features, or a night in Chat with regulars being completely random, or a political or philosophical thread on the forum, I know I can come here when I need.

And I hope you would, instead of getting rid of it altogether when it hits a lull, instead do what you're doing -- tap us on the shoulder and remind us we are, even in small groups, facing away from each other.

I'd rather feel a bit of guilt than lose what you've provided.

Ri "I'd apologize if anything doesn't make sense, but I'm beginning to think those who even slightly know me have come to expect it" a