Fanmail Survey

[ashleyiu]

Hello,
First off- I am new to this community, so I apologize if this is not posted in the correct area and would be happy to move this discussion if it is in the wrong area.

I am a college student and for one of my classes we are studying online communities and how they address disconnections, tensions, and/or disagreement in their forums.
Being interested in collecting celebrity autographs I figured this would be a good online community to analyze.
In order to see how this community handles situations within the community, I have a small list of questions (below) that I was hoping some of you would be willing to answer. This would greatly help me with my class and with my own desire to understand how online communities handle conflict. (Also, I would appreciate if you would please let me know whether or not I have your permission to use what you say for my class. I can omit usernames if necessary)
Thank you for your time (feel free to answer as many or as few questions as you would like)

1.) Why did you join/do you use fanmail.biz forums?

2.) How long have you used this online community (as a guest/just visiting)? How long have you been a member/registered user of this online community?

3.) How frequently do you visit this online community? How frequently do you post discussions/topics? How frequently do you post responses?

4.) How often do you notice disagreements in this community? (for example: disagreements about autograph authenticity or sharing via venue addresses)

5.) How are disagreements/differences in opinion handled?

6.)How are words/pictures/emoticons used in disagreements in order to either escalate or dissolve tensions within the community?

7.) Would you say that feedback/responses are mostly positive, mostly negative, or neither? Why?

Classification Questions (again, all of this is optional, but helpful):

A.) What is your gender/age range?
B.) How long have you collected autographs?

Thank you,
Ashley

[dgangel]

This sounds like a neat project, i'd be happy to help out. No need to omit my username or name from your results.


1.) Why did you join/do you use fanmail.biz forums?
I joined fanmail.biz because I was a member of star-tiger.com which is a paid autograph site, but could no longer afford the monthly membership. Fanmail.biz offers addresses and a community that has helped me throughout the years.

2.) How long have you used this online community (as a guest/just visiting)? How long have you been a member/registered user of this online community?
I joined in 2006, so i've been a registered member for about 6 years now.


3.) How frequently do you visit this online community? How frequently do you post discussions in the parenting community? How frequently do you post responses?
I visit this community almost everyday, sometimes several times a day. I post responses on average about 2-3 times a day. Usually I respond to those collectors needing a little bit of help. I do not post discussions much anymore, maybe once or twice a month.

4.) How often do you notice disagreements in this community? (for example: disagreements about autograph authenticity or sharing via venue addresses)
I notice disagreements about those 2 topics several times a day. Though this is an autograph forum and I believe authenticity is always up to debate, some members tend to disagree and are happy with just about anything they receive in the mail. I also believe that via venue addresses should not be shared so openly, but of course there are plenty of individuals who would rather them be posted here than take the time to look them up.


5.) How are disagreements/differences in opinion handled?
Disagreements/differences in opinions are often handled in a juvenile manner and end up being blown way out of proportion. Sometimes topics are closed by the administration/moderators. It has been a really, really long time since i've seen the discussions debated in an intelligent and mature manner.

6.)How are words/pictures/emoticons used in disagreements in order to either escalate or dissolve tensions within the community?
Words such as stupid, dumb, and other unintelligent and petulant phrases are thrown about to insult the poster. Emoticons like the smirk face and smiley face are used to show how opinions are reflected upon the person who is being shunned. These behaviors usually end up escalating the disagreement and at some point an admin will close the conversation.

7.) Would you say that feedback/responses are mostly positive, mostly negative, or neither? Why?
I would say that feedback is mostly negative because an intelligent debate cannot be held without someone getting into an altercation. There are on the other hand, conversations where a success is praised and congratulated. It all depends on what users respond to the autograph and poster, some users are just here to cause trouble.

Classification Questions (again, all of this is optional, but helpful):

A.) What is your gender/age range? Female/ 23
B.) How long have you collected autographs? I've collected autographs for about 10 years

[ashleyiu]

Thank you, dgangel! I appreciate your responses and willingness to help!

[dgangel]

You're welcome (: good luck, let me know if I can be of anymore assistance.

[laum]

Sounds like a pretty cool project, PM'd you my responses!

[ashleyiu]

Sounds like a pretty cool project, PM'd you my responses!

I really appreciate it! Thank you

[dancingirl1]

1.) Because this is an interesting hobby and fell in love with it!

2.) About a day! (LOL!) About 5 years!

3.) Daily! Daily! Daily! (Three answers 4 three separate questions.)

4.) There will always be debates and stuff over something being real (ESP with young newbies who think they know what they are talking about....) I handle it by saying the truth from the beginning, then if they don't believe me, I will prove them wrong. I am not delusional and I won't let young adults be either!

5.) By young adults, not very well. Adults know how to handle the truth. So it is mainly these new members that can't handle it and won't accept the truth. So in a bad way most of the time!

6.) Emotion faces are used in positive and negative ways. Some words that are used are "stupid, retarded" and a few more popular "cocky" phrases out there. But a lot of the times they are said because people are being honest with them about their "successes." Sometimes faces and words will escalate the tension and sometimes other members will have your back in a certain situation, BUT they play favorites sometimes. ESP if you are known to be HONEST and not delusional (LIKE MYSELF!)

7.) Ya know, it's ALL about whether or not you are fine with honesty. If you aren't okay with an environment being 100% honest with you, then people shouldn't post on here. I can't say that enough. Because I won't stop being honest with anyone. The truth is amazing to me and I feel that I will set anyone free. I feel that the environment here is about 50/50. There are always good threads and helpful hints every now and again...but there will always be the debate between people.

I am a male!
I have been collecting for 5 years!
(about 700 successes!)

[ff_angel]

1.) Why did you join/do you use fanmail.biz forums? I joined because I love this hobby and wanted to be involved with like-minded people

2.) How long have you used this online community (as a guest/just visiting)? How long have you been a member/registered user of this online community? I was "lurking" for about 1 year or so before I signed up and made my first post. My profile says I joined on May 15 2012, but I thought it was longer than that!!

3.) How frequently do you visit this online community? How frequently do you post discussions/topics? How frequently do you post responses? I visit daily to see if anyone has got a response from someone I have sent to/am interested in or to see fi I can help in any way (bored housewife). I post responses when I feel they are needed or I am interested, so it varies.

4.) How often do you notice disagreements in this community? (for example: disagreements about autograph authenticity or sharing via venue addresses) All the time unfortunately. we are meant to be a community and it's sad that it happens so often

5.) How are disagreements/differences in opinion handled? Often not very well. it normally ends up in name calling and petty arguments escalate quite quickly. The Admin staff are not active enough on this forum to deal with it in my humble opinion.

6.)How are words/pictures/emoticons used in disagreements in order to either escalate or dissolve tensions within the community? The rolling eyes emote gets used quite often in an argument. The smile icon is used to try and difuse tension, but normally it is too late.
But generally it is just words. But that is bad enough.

7.) Would you say that feedback/responses are mostly positive, mostly negative, or neither? Why? Mixed. it depends on the user who responds.
When people ask for help they tend to get it. But when it comes to repsonses on their successes it can really be a mixed bag.
On my posts I have found nothing but positivity though (I hope I haven't jinxed it).


Classification Questions (again, all of this is optional, but helpful):
A.) What is your gender/age range? I am female and I am 26 years old
B.) How long have you collected autographs? I have been collecting autographs since June 2011.

If you need anything else, just send me a PM

[ashleyiu]

Thank you both! I greatly appreciate you taking the time to help me!