Boolprop survey and my thoughts about it
It turns out that someone in Boolprop has a research survey regarding how Sims fans interact together online. Sounds interesting, so I filled it out. But then again, I feel like let's not force other people to do it because it's their choice if they want to participate or not.
Yet the survey itself made me think for a while. This survey is basically another proof that the Internet is an important factor in bringing people from anywhere on earth and connect them together. It definitely does show how people use the Internet for so many reasons over so many subjects, not just The Sims itself. I mean, just think of where simmers around the globe live in and how they interact and such. With the Internet, someone from one side of the planet can interact with someone else from another side of the planet. Sounds exciting, isn't it?
But on the other hand, this doesn't mean that all effects are good. After all, bad effects in regards to that would include, but are not limited to, trolling, flaming, cyberbullying, stalking, and even plagiarism. I've heard cases of these things happening before, and hearing about them is one reason why I don't have a lot of confidence presenting myself in the Internet. On another note, it can be really scary to meet someone you've never met before in real life. At first glance, it can be really hard to approach other people because you don't know much about them at first, other than their username, I guess. But it really takes time to get to know them and befriend them, as long as you stay nice and respectful, of course.
Anyway, thinking of this also made me want to reference what orikes13 had said in one of her entries, even if I sound a bit too stalkery now that I've mentioned it. (Sorry, Ori!) After reading that entry, not only did I agree with it, but it made me think that too often have people looked into something on the Internet as the entire world, especially with how people on the Internet, not just Boolprop, have often tried everything they could to grasp into this concept of "fame". They say that they mean it, even though this "fame" has proven to be extremely localized, even when looking into the entire community dedicated to a specific subject. Now that I've summed up what Ori said, I want to say that to me, this "fame" is not only imaginary and localized, but short-lived as well, with the exception of a few. I have to admit that this part can be quite disappointing to me because most of the newcomers to the simming community, not just Boolprop, don't seem to recognize any of the well-known legacies I have read/am reading at the moment. Makes me old-fashioned, but I guess it's a part of people's personal preferences. :P
I think this survey shows how easy people can bond together by starting out with a few interests, like The Sims. In fact, it also shows how people can easily interact with one another, culminating in relationships being established among many other things.