Becoming a Member of the Community

[The Dapper Mog]

Hey, everyone. I've been a member here for a while, and I really enjoy roleplay but I'm finding that my interests change often and my real life ofren gets in the way.

I'm also shy and very introverted, so I have a difficult time talking to people I don't know. Even online. In that regard, I'd very much like to get to know people here, as the title suggests, just kinda become a friendly online neighbor here. I would like to be one of those guys most people know; even if in the peripheral. You know?

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could give me a few tips on immersing myself into the Community. Getting to know people and becoming involved.

I've realized that most people here are pretty nice, so, I'm not exactly concerned that people are going to be rude. I just fear rejection. Lol Oh well, I know I'm a little weird.

 

[fatalrendezvous]

Hi Lykaon! I'm Fatal! Nice to meet you!

See, wasn't that easy?

I think fear of rejection is a pretty typical reaction to have, especially when coming into a new community where nobody knows you. The best advice I have for you is to be yourself. Maybe get involved in General a bit more, or hop into the cbox every once in a while! Don't try to be someone you're not. You do you, and whoever appreciates you for it will become a friend. Whoever doesn't appreciate you for you, well, fuck them.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

1.) Jump into any topic at all that you know something about. Occasionally there might be a jerk or two who may want to rattle your cage a bit, but they're usually easy enough to ignore.

2.) Don't be afraid to voice your opinion. See number one for the warning.

3.) Play along on the Bored Game forums. It kills time. It's fun, and you get to learn a bit more about the people that usually hang around the general chatting area.

4.) Don't be squeamish. Seriously....there are some twisted folks around these parts. -Cough @Unknowledge @Razilin Cough- But they're harmless, and easily distracted by any mention of boobs.

5.) If you have a sense of humor, use it.

It's really not that hard to fit in, and no one is going to jump on you if you give it a try. If they do, it's because they're either weird or an asshole. o.o

 

[The Dapper Mog]

Thank you, and its nice to meet you as well, Fatal. ^_^

Perhaps I'm just bad at starting conversation. Lol Those both sound like good ideas. I'll pop into the chatbox here and there.

 

[Space Cowboy]

Simply put, RP where you want with who you want. Ask for their Skype name if you become good buddies or RP well together. See who they RP with, and RP with them. Explore. Look at the Groups. Participate more in General.

Iwaku isn't that bad of a place to make buddies. We try not to be cliquey, or exclusive. Just say Hi, don't be a doucher, and see what happens. :)

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

What fatal said.

Just be yourself, and don't let those who can't appreciate you bring you down.
Those people who don't appreciate you aren't worth it, so you can safely ignore them while spending time with the awesome people who do like you.

Welcome! :)

 

[BluBlood]

I have the same problem with my real life invading free time. I always remember what my mom taught me about managing and balancing out time. If an idea for a roleplay sounds good but not great, hold out for the special one you have a lot of ideas and enthusiasm to commit to it. That way even if you get a bit busy, at least it is only one roleplay and one worth making a little extra time for. And if it an idea that comes natural for you, even more awesome.

Stay courteous. Just do you. Half the folks on general discussion just post silly shennanigans anyways to reach out to the other lurking critters on here..

And if we ever roleplay together, my name is Blu. ;)

 

[The Dapper Mog]

Thank you everyone. It's always appreciated. :)

 

[Diana]

All it takes is being seen regularly. 8D All those things people up there said.


I post in random topics and hang out in the chat. O_O

 

[Peter Feels]

Come to the Cbox. :D




We're friendly. :D


















WE'LL BE WAITING.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Everyone is lovely in the Cbox. I heartily agree with my colleague who also has a terrifying avatar.

 

[nyther]

Everyone here is unusually friendly for an internet community. If you're an angry old man (like me), it takes some getting used to. Everyone seems like good people though.

 

[GhostJoker]

*Takes out machete*

So...are we doing the Iwaku acceptance ritual?

Srsly tho, Cbox. You'll find lots of great people there and make friends. I look forward to seeing you there.

 

[Hydronine]

The C-box is a good place to start. Note the people who come in who you don't know, introduce yourself. I'm rarely on the C-box these days, but if I'm on and there's people I haven't met yet, I try to make a habit of saying "Hi". You never know when you're gonna meet a new friend.

Posting in the bored (hehe) games and General Chat topics is a good idea as well. I agree with the others, it's a good way to get your tastes known and get yourself out there. No one's gonna bite you (Unless you ask, and then you're probably in the Libertine section, which gets you known in a different way.) or hurt you (Libertine.). I've been on this forum for some damnable amount of time and all I can say is just get yourself out there, get talking. When you find someone you think is the bee's knees, get on their profile. Raise hell with them.

^.^ Just enjoy yourself, you know?

 

[nyther]

bee's knees

I prefer the term cat's tuxedo myself.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Everyone here is unusually friendly for an internet community. If you're an angry old man (like me), it takes some getting used to. Everyone seems like good people though.

I know! XD
It takes a fair amount of getting used to Iwaku if you first came from almost any other site.

 

[unanun]

I much prefer forming cliques within the context of roleplays. That way, various factions can duke it out in gchat.

 

[Asmodeus]

Don't listen to those people telling you to be yourself. Aspire to be better than that.

 

[lostfaith]

I'd like to elaborate on the "be yourself" part since it's so often left so vague.

I'm a socially awkward person. Like, beyond socially awkward. In the presence of any human being, I tense up, I'm high strung, and I turn my face to stone and totally hide my emotions. I communicate with short, stiff body motion and tend to speak only in sentence fragments. This is my own problem and this isn't Counseling, but it leads to my main point. I tend to mirror the people around me when I get used to them, consciously and subconsciously. Everytime I join a new community, I lurk before saying things, and by the time I do, I've carefully developed a personality that will appeal to the tone of the community. I'm really only on smogon (yes I'm a competitive pokemon nerd) and here anymore, and even beyond the different usernames, I act like a totally different person between them. I'm curt, analytical, and have a dry sense of humor on smogon. The site has a very "casually business-like" atmosphere, and I reflect that with my own tendencies. This site is much more relaxed, so on here I instead initially adopted a sort of precise, matter-of-fact face that's much closer to my true personality. I've come out of that shell a little since I joined, but it still shows in some places.

So my point is, be yourself but be careful. Lurk, see how the community reäcts to stuff. Don't try to fit in, but arm yourself with the knowledge to get along with the people there. I'm not very good at putting it into words, but I hope you get my point? I take it a little to the extreme by consciously creating a new personality for every site I'm on, but you can temper yourself to the community while still being yourself.

My second piece of advice is to jump into the chatbox, or, even better, a skype group or two. I know we have a couple around here (although I fail to find one everytime I'm of a mind to look, hint hint). Live chat is much smoother than communicating in a forum's format, and it has a much more easy, familiar tone that's a good environment for making friends. It's far easier to get to know someone over skype then over a forum, in my experience, so don't be afraid to jump in.

In summary:
Don't be afraid to say "hi" and just join discussions spontaneously, and get to know some people over a live chat!

This post turned out so disorganized I'm sorry. I have trouble putting my thoughts to paper @.@

 

[Amy_the_wolf]

if you want to chat pm me ok i dont bite well not that much