From the Outside Looking in

[ScottyG]

I hear what everyone is saying, and certainly your opinions are valid and very real. But I just wanted to share a few thoughts from a different side of this.

I guess the main point I'd like to make is that the social / sharing aspect of this forum is one of its strengths, in my opinion. If I just needed hard facts about SS, I would go get a book or something. But I learn most from hearing people's stories here. What a day in the life of a self-sufficient farmer is like. What are the troubles that someone living off the grid runs into on a daily basis? And so on.

And, any time I've had a "real" question about something, it's been answered in almost no time at all, with many contributors. So I've never felt like there's a lack of substance here. The second anyone posts something more specifically SS-related, a whole crop of helpful voices show up to contribute answers (or more questions).

And yes, perhaps the social stuff got out of hand for maybe 4 days there while we all got over-excited by the journals and the like. But one little bump like that didn't sour me on the SS parts of the forum, and we quickly (with thanks to Reinbeau) reined things in, and it seems much more balanced to me now.

But I guess I'm a fan of the social part of being here. Aside from the general "let's be friends" feeling, I'm a big fan of hearing personal stories of self-sufficiency, looking into the lives of people much more SS than me and seeing how they make it work, what kinds of issues they bump into, and so on. And seeing people like me, just getting started in this realm, and where they come from... why they want to get into this world... and so on. I find that all very useful, and wouldn't want to lose that.

The facts... well, of course I love all the facts and tidbits and SS advice, but they're only half the story to me. I'm a big fan of the other half, the half where people just share and I get a glimpse into the lives of people who make self sufficiency work for them.

And yes, perhaps the social stuff got out of hand for maybe 4 days there while we all got over-excited by the journals and the like. But one little bump like that didn't sour me on the SS parts of the forum, and we quickly (with thanks to Reinbeau) reined things in, and it seems much more balanced to me now.

Now, I mostly just post if it's about self sufficient stuff I know about. I don't feel like part of the group and I don't expect to be accepted any time soon. I do appreciate all the hints, tips and general knowledge I can gather from the forum.

I think you might be surprised at the acceptance level here if you went ahead and tried it. I have some very strong disagreements with a number of people here, but whenever I've posted about my personal quest for self sufficiency, or any of my problems/issues, those same people I butted heads with on other threads were incredibly helpful and supportive. Just a thought.

 

[patandchickens]

Honestly the sharp dip in noticeable (from post titles) Actual Practical Self Sufficiency topics, since journals were started, has kind of bugged me too...

...but I have not said anything (and would not have if the subject hadn't already been broached here) because I honestly think it is just a phase. Like when you turn the horses out into a brand new pasture, and they run around and around and around and then camp out there and won't go back to any of their other pastures for anything. It's just a novelty and it wears off pretty quick.

I think "journalmania" will reach equilibrium pretty soon -- in fact I think it's already started to, and this discussion will further it on its way -- and things will settle down to a lot more like they were before.

And it IS probably be useful to the forum as a whole to try to herd the pure-social stuff into its own area i.e. the journals, right? That way, people who want a lot of chatting-over-coffee type interaction can coexist happily with people who want to cut to the chase and get Facts.

JMHO,

Pat

 

[enjoy the ride]

I guess the one thing I really would like is that the journals do not appear on the recent post search.
Today is the first sideways, waterfall rain of the season so I will be inside more that usual. But a lot of days I check here when I come in for lunch or a rest and sometimes simply don't want to spend the time trying to figure out which threads are "social" versus "information."
Is it possible for an individual to create a search to do that?

 

[FarmerChick]

ETR

I mentioned in another post the same thing.

You know how the "main" page is listed.....the categories.

Well when I hit recent posts, all things are mish mash.

It would be nice to have ONLY "recipes" lumped together, ONLY journals lumped together, ONLY "everything" else frugal lumped together, ONLY energy posts together.


hope everyone understands what I mean..LOL

that way when you pull up the whole page, then if you want to ignore journals and such you can, just look into the categories that interest you with new posts. Reading all lumped together can be time consuming.

make sense all?

again is it somethign the fourm can do...lump each category together in sections like the main page? I don't know again on how the tech side works! LOL

 

[user251]

yep. i agree 100%. its interesting how so many of us dislike something we were part of.

 

[reinbeau]

I think that recent posts button lists things in time and date order, I don't think it can be grouped - easily.

I read this forum the same way I read BYC. I go right to the bottom, and check that little box full of recent posts. Then I got to the very bottom and Check Your Posts. From there, I browse through the categories that interest me. I don't want to see every single posting to every open thread. But that's just me.

I think the journal thing is dying down. I do see a return to more on topic posts, and I think that's what we need to focus on.

I agree with Pat, it's a phase. We all have gotten to know each other (and please, if you're a lurker, don't feel as though it's a clique you can't penetrate, we're all so different, we welcome the differences!) and now we need to get down to some brass tacks.

Thing is, self sufficiency seems to mean different things to different people, depending upon where they live, what they do right now for a living, where they want to end up in life. So we're going to meander on and off topic. As long as we try to keep the personal rambles in the journals I think we'll be ok. That doesn't mean to ignore Everything Else Self Sufficiency, or Me and My Self Sufficient Family!

 

[farm_mom]

I just want to say thanks you guys, and you surprise me. I fully expected this to be an ugly thread, which is why I have not been back since starting it. I guess I didn't give you as much credit as I should have. I've really enjoyed reading through this thread and the opinions expressed here. I think it's been a good discussion. So, again, thank you for that.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Sometimes a break is always good too. I do this occasionally too.

 

[FarmerChick]

hey Angie
you sure don't need to be worried about me or I should say the whole SS group....being SS I don't think much riles us. At least I hope it never would.....after all we need all that SS energy to complete our projects and feed animals thru the day..HA HA HA

hope you are feeling better!

 

[roosmom]

Glad you are back. Keep posting.