ATOT, Fenixgoon NEEDS YOUR HELP!

[Fenixgoon]

So for my sociology project, I'm going to talk about what defines the culture of internet forums, how this compares to mainstream (U.S.) culture, and how internet culture has crossed over into the real world.

If you guys don't mind, I'd like to hear what you guys think defines the culture of ATOT. Culture is defined as "acquired, learned, or shared attitudes, beliefs, ideals, and behaviors that are significant to a particular group of people"

example: when we see new posters, "WWYBYWB?" is a guaranteed response. that is an example of ATOT culture. also, spider, whistleblower, demanding pics, demanding cliffs, etc.

For the internet culture influences, I'm mostly going to talk about how 4chan/SA stuff creeps over here and even into real life (oprah and over 9000, rick rolling, moot as time's most important person)

Again, this is for my sociology project, and I wanted to get information firsthand from ATOTers as a pseudo "interview". I am also going to include my own perspectives on what I see as the culture of ATOT, how it has affected me, etc. I am not going to just copy and paste people's responses and claim them as my own.

Cliffs:
fenixgoon wants to define ATOT culture for his sociology project
please answer what *you* think ATOT culture is.
......
profit?

 

[Titan]

TL;DR,

neffing,

oh, and not doing people's homework for them!

 

[SlitheryDee]

This would work better if you formulate some specific questions in the OP for us to respond to.

Right now I'm thinking, "I want to participate, but he left it so open ended that I can't think of anything to say... ah fuck it".

 

[moshquerade]

ATOT culture to me is a group of random people brought together by what is supposed to be a tech site, but has evolved into a forum for offtopic banter. this group shares details of their lives, asks for advice/help, and actually creates real life friendships/meets on occasion. Sometimes the details are so initimate that they wouldn't ask anyone in their real life what they are asking here, and sometimes the advice is very good and very heeded (not all the time though)

there is also a lot of blowing off of steam in some forums (P&N) which allows people to say things they wouldn't dare say in their real life circle of friends. In effect, it has enabled cowardly and sometimes hypocritical behavior with the simple tap of keyboard.

 

[ggnl]

I think most of ATOT's culture is not native to ATOT, but is instead borrowed from internet culture at large. Might be worthwhile to try to isolate the idiosyncracies that are truly unique to ATOT.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
This would work better if you formulate some specific questions in the OP for us to respond to.

Right now I'm thinking, "I want to participate, but he left it so open ended that I can't think of anything to say... ah fuck it".

what are behaviors you find characteristic of ATOT? do we all share common beliefs (ie, is everyone on this board really anti-religion? )
obviously we all have some level of common interest in technology, otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place.

more examples:
serious threads always have jokes in them (news article involving someone dying; someone else tries to make a pun based on the situation)

oldmoboat's law

 

[Crono]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
ATOT culture to me is a group of random people brought together by what is supposed to be a tech site, but has evolved into a forum for offtopic banter. this group shares details of their lives, asks for advice/help, and actually creates real life friendships/meets on occasion. Sometimes the details are so initimate that they wouldn't ask anyone in their real life what they are asking here, and sometimes the advice is very good and very heeded (not all the time though)

there is also a lot of blowing off of steam in some forums (P&N) which allows people to say things they wouldn't dare say in their real life circle of friends. In effect, it has enabled cowardly and sometimes hypocritical behavior with the simple tap of keyboard.

I have nothing to post. Mosh has said it all succinctly.

 

[Crono]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
This would work better if you formulate some specific questions in the OP for us to respond to.

Right now I'm thinking, "I want to participate, but he left it so open ended that I can't think of anything to say... ah fuck it".

what are behaviors you find characteristic of ATOT? do we all share common beliefs (ie, is everyone on this board really anti-religion? )
obviously we all have some level of common interest in technology, otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place.

Technology is the only common factor. Even that varies, because some people here were introduced to the site by other people, and aren't really into tech stuff themselves. But I would say that it is more the common interest than anything else.

 

[mesthead21]

Originally posted by: Crono

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
This would work better if you formulate some specific questions in the OP for us to respond to.

Right now I'm thinking, "I want to participate, but he left it so open ended that I can't think of anything to say... ah fuck it".

what are behaviors you find characteristic of ATOT? do we all share common beliefs (ie, is everyone on this board really anti-religion? )
obviously we all have some level of common interest in technology, otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place.

Technology is the only common factor. Even that varies, because some people here were introduced to the site by other people, and aren't really into tech stuff themselves. But I would say that it is more the common interest than anything else.

that, and waffles.

 

[Crono]

Originally posted by: mesthead21

Originally posted by: Crono

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
This would work better if you formulate some specific questions in the OP for us to respond to.

Right now I'm thinking, "I want to participate, but he left it so open ended that I can't think of anything to say... ah fuck it".

what are behaviors you find characteristic of ATOT? do we all share common beliefs (ie, is everyone on this board really anti-religion? )
obviously we all have some level of common interest in technology, otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place.

Technology is the only common factor. Even that varies, because some people here were introduced to the site by other people, and aren't really into tech stuff themselves. But I would say that it is more the common interest than anything else.

that, and waffles.

Pie > waffles
aaaaaaaand
cheescake is pie

Oh, I just opened up this thread to all out war.

 

[Darkstar757]

Hey bud lmk know what you need from me. Im down to help!

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Crono

Originally posted by: mesthead21

Originally posted by: Crono

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
This would work better if you formulate some specific questions in the OP for us to respond to.

Right now I'm thinking, "I want to participate, but he left it so open ended that I can't think of anything to say... ah fuck it".

what are behaviors you find characteristic of ATOT? do we all share common beliefs (ie, is everyone on this board really anti-religion? )
obviously we all have some level of common interest in technology, otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place.

Technology is the only common factor. Even that varies, because some people here were introduced to the site by other people, and aren't really into tech stuff themselves. But I would say that it is more the common interest than anything else.

that, and waffles.

Pie > waffles
aaaaaaaand
cheescake is pie

Oh, I just opened up this thread to all out war.

you derailed my thread :| another part of ATOT/internet culture

 

[acheron]

I read that summary as "I'm doing a scientology project".

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I've had some interesting crossing over of AT to real life... don't know if this would help you at all though.

I met HomeBrewerDude through the ATOT Ogame team and after he saw my performance in that game along with some of my more detailed photoblog type posts, he decided that I had the right mix of organizational skills and obsessive tendencies to dedicate myself to details that I would be good for a job opening. I've been working for HBD for a couple years now and it's been great.

In an unexpected crossing of ATOT into real life, there's my thread where members have sent me physical letters through the mail after my address showed up on the forum.
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...an+anyone+explain+this

My own attempt to bring a little AT into real life has been designing shirts for Crono's t-shirt store.
http://atot.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/

As for our own culture on ATOT, there are some members who seem to want to connect with people closer than the anonymity of avatars and usernames. Safeway for example has his post where he's kept a record of pictures people have posted of themselves in other threads.
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...yword1=created+on+atot

I have to agree that a lot of "ATOT culture" isn't really ATOT specific. Someone made a thread within the last month or so where they listed maybe 50 words / phrases that they came up with as defining ATOT. That was quickly shot down by a lot of members as being an internet wide word / phrase list rather than specific to ATOT. The ones that remained were fairly specific and tended to revolve around a specific user or thread that became "famous" on our forum.

Something that might be interesting to consider is how postcount and join date is often used in the forum. With so little to go on when reading a post by a member you don't recognize, these two indicators are about all you get to determine how credible the source is. (Well, besides the content of the post and details like spelling / grammer... oh and if their sig is terrible ). Again, that's not ATOT specific though. I think the quest for lifer is an interesting phenomena on the forum.

Oh, one more thing I was thinking about earlier... I think for a decent portion of our community, this is the only forum they frequent. This isolation of only going to one site seems to have the effect that they think that a lot of general internet things are ATOT specific or at least created here. Going to another forum might mean that they think something is being "stolen" from ATOT, but in reality neither site may be the origin of whatever the "thing" is.

Uhhh... I'm probably rambling now.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Yeah this is more my speed.

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

what are behaviors you find characteristic of ATOT? do we all share common beliefs (ie, is everyone on this board really anti-religion? )

Inanity, irreverence, opinion, apathy, creativity, comedy, concern. ATOT is where we go to let others know we are here. First and foremost, we seek attention. All the replies to any topic whatsoever are made with the unspoken implication that we think someone else should read and remember our thoughts. We repay this remembrance in kind. Pithy, one word responses and novelette posts alike are all made with this intention. "Know me, remember me, and respect me because I think well, because my indifference is cool, because my opinion is right, or because I am witty". We reward each other by remembering those who have notable online exploits. Thus we have whistleblower, spider, mouse, beef, oldsmoboat's law and the associated users who originated them or made them what they are. There is a sense of community that comes from being able to cite one of these and be sure that everyone will know what you are talking about. We have something in common which makes us ATOT and not just a group of random people throwing opinions around.

We most certainly do not share the same beliefs. That's one of the strong points of being the Off Topic section of a forum related to hardware, as opposed to the off topic section of a political or religious or any other site that would be likely to draw members of only one opinion. People of all types can conceivably be attracted to computer hardware as a hobby or vocation, and bringing those people together in the forums creates an OT environment that is unlikely to be found anywhere else. I like to think that the one thing we all have in common brings with it a likelihood of somewhat higher than normal intelligence, but that may or may not be true. The quality of post seems to sometimes bear that out, IMO.

 

[Fenixgoon]

alright, here's another question for everyone:

when posting on AT, do you act the same way you would in real life, or do you say things that you normally wouldn't?

 

[slackwarelinux]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
alright, here's another question for everyone:

when posting on AT, do you act the same way you would in real life, or do you say things that you normally wouldn't?

tldr

 

[ViviTheMage]

we don't DO others HW

 

[oiprocs]

Drunk posting in a sober state.

Basically, a lot of people say things on here that they would not say in real life. Myself included.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
we don't DO others HW

what happens when my hw involves interviewing ATOTers? will you not answer my questions?

 

[oiprocs]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
we don't DO others HW

what happens when my hw involves interviewing ATOTers? will you not answer my questions?

How about a timewarp?

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
alright, here's another question for everyone:

when posting on AT, do you act the same way you would in real life, or do you say things that you normally wouldn't?

I'd say that for the most part I'm the same in real life, but I do discuss things here that I wouldn't under most circumstances for fear of the social consequences of airing my opinions. I wonder if some things that I now have a very finely developed awareness of as a result of online discussion would ever have occasion to be discussed with differing opinions being voiced fully in any common RL situation.

 

[oiprocs]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
alright, here's another question for everyone:

when posting on AT, do you act the same way you would in real life, or do you say things that you normally wouldn't?

I'd say that for the most part I'm the same in real life, but I do discuss things here that I wouldn't under most circumstances for fear of the social consequences of airing my opinions. I wonder if some things that I now have a very finely developed awareness of as a result of online discussion would ever have occasion to be discussed with differing opinions being voiced fully in any common RL situation.

You want a timewarp too?

 

[imported_Champ]

its a bulk group of people, about the size of an alternator, all discussing beef and how to acquire such beef

 

[oiprocs]

Originally posted by: Champ
its a bulk group of people, about the size of an alternator, all discussing beef and how to acquire such beef

Dude, I'm timewarping you.....NOW