How has SP changed you?

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Are you a different person now than you were before you first registered here? If no, can you attribute some of that change to your relations / exchanges here?

Has an exchange you've had here illuminated a viewpoint you'd not previously shared, to the point where you'd say you've come around to a new opinion?

Have you learned something valuable about yourself through SP? Whether by going back and reading your old posts, or maybe something as simple as putting thoughts on paper (er, pixel) for the first time, realizing something that'd never fully occurred to you before?

I've always been curious about this, and can't imagine I'm alone. I've always valued my membership here, and have found it at times cathartic, frustrating, illuminating, embarrassing, exhilarating, etc. (sometimes all at once!). I've made some great friends here, and have even been turned around a time or two by those with whom I've butted heads. It's all been good. It's funny how a community like this can be a mirror sometimes.

Anyway, the floor's open. Not to get all koombayah or anything, but please share.

 

I have definitely changed... the boards (or rather, members on the boards) have made me more open-minded when arguing (I have frequently changed my mind on discussions after being presented with interesting and logical points), have taught me look before I do things (yay Relationship Rant Thread), have taught me quite a few things about BG2 and D&D in general, and have showed me that there are a great many people from all over the world that can have a great time with people they will most likely never see, hear, or touch in their lives. SP has been an amazing place for me (as my 3k+ posts can attest), and I will hopefully never leave.

 

As the first online community I became a part of, it has allowed me to expand my views of the internet.

 

It has sucked up countless hours of my time that I could probably have spent on something that was actually productive or constructive! No offence to anybody here, because you're all mostly very nice and interesting, but surely there must be something better I could have done with my time!

 

ive tried a few mods i probably wouldnt have, had i not been here and here people's comments on them.


but overall, no, i dont think ive changed, learned a few things, but im still pretty much the same person i was when i joined.

 

I second that. I've wasted so much time at these boards... But I must say that it's time well wasted.

But has it *changed* me? Well, I no longer have the sterotypical American view of the world. (Who knew England was *that* big? It looks so small on the map... ) Besides that, I don't really the BoM has changed me.

 

Same as Kitrax and Harbourboy really. Spent far too many valuable hours of my life reading through and occasionally spamming various threads.

On the other hand, I wouldn't have said that I consider that to be too bad.

 

In fact, yes, a lot. It has made me seek information about many subjects, consider different things... points of view too. It has demanded of me, indirectly, more consequence in following my own beliefs and views. I've also acquired some experience in a number of practical things.

 

Haven't changed a bit since sep 2002.

I view the boards as an information tool and sometimes a diversion tool. Nothing more nothing less.

 

I wouldn't be the same person without it. I mean just look at me -- handsome, suave, deboner.... I'm now successful in my career and have very little debt. All because of SP. Mrs.Bruno... T3... the next version of T3... wow, so many things.

 

Can a Message Board Change a Person?

While I am certainly a different person now than I was when I first registered here several years ago, I can't possibly attribute most of that change to SP. Since I've registered here, I've been married, and recently my first child was born. Those are probably the two biggest life-altering events I'll ever experience, and I would like to think that both of them would have happened whether or not I had ever visited these boards. So if SP has changed me as a person, I'd have to say that the change was very small.

Now this is an entirely different question than the first one, and I can answer this with a definitive "yes". As many of you are aware, I frequent the alleys, but I do not consider myself overly argumentative. I do enjoy reading the opinions of other people - especially given that these opinions are from people all across the globe, and many times after reading through a topic, even if I don't completely change my opinion, I frequently have to revise it a bit.

Having said that, there is a huge difference betweeen reading a thread on a message board and altering your opinion on something, and the boards changing you as a person. Seriously, if you feel that SP has changed you as a person, you may really want to work on interpersonal relationships with your friends and family. I've made tons of friends here, but that can't possibly measure up to the changes and experiences I've had with loved ones in my family, and I imagine that's true of just about everyone here.

 

It hasn't changed me too much overall. However, I really enjoy the interaction with people from other parts of the world. It is very interesting to hear their point of view on the many different subjects that arise here. Interacting with all of you Europeans has made me want to visit there even more than I did before.

 

It's improved my writing skills a bit! I'm still waaaank though.

Other than that, it's been a place for me to vent now and again, when it's not something you can get out in the real world.

 

It's helped me come to realize how superior I am to most other people.

 

Well...I can say its definitely changed me quite a bit. As some other members have already said, SP has broadened my horizons (gaming wise and AoDA wise ).

Its been 4 years here on SP and I have matured a LOT...partly due to life in general, and partly due to all you old farts here on the boards...so cheers guys! :cheers:

 

I've changed a lot in the past 3 years, but that has nothing to do with SP. I quit a job I'd been doing for 6 years, moved to another country, and started a PhD. All together these things have changed me in very drastic ways (in other ways I like to think I'm still the same at the core, but that's hard to say for sure). Next to such life-altering events the changes SP has on me are very minor.

I think what Aldeth said is very true. I've been forced to rethink my opinion on several issues (but that doesn't necessarily mean this opinion changed), but that hasn't had much of an effect on who I am.

On the other hand I do enjoy the community here a LOT, and having SP and the boards has allowed me take my mind off things during unpleasant times.

 

Ditto for me Aldeth. But I think that the interactions I've had here (albeit with people I've never actually met) have been quite helpful. Be it from asking for information regarding topics varying from cellphone/laptop advice to what I should do against Kangaxx the lich to venting in threads such as the relationship rant thread.

And it definitely helped dull the monotony of going through tons of material while I was doing research papers and my thesis.

 

SP has changed me fundamentally.

I found my first girlfriend through this place - the following relationship and the interaction the relationship had with the community taught me a lot of significant things about myself and the world around me.

 

I don't know about "change", but it has had its influence of course.

 

I think Utuun's post sums up what has happened to me. The Alleys haven't changed my opinions but they have refined them and broadened them. SP has helped me in improving my spelling. . I've actually tried a couple of stories in Creative Surge. RP in the Corner has had some small improvement on my creative ability.

I've learned new things here and in FAI. Learned a few new words. A radical change in my life? No but small changes yes.