h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ged, Footbacon...of course there is no *inner circle*! What a silly idea! Where do you live, btw? What time will you be home? Have you told anyone else about this crazy, crazy idea? Do you have relatives that might miss you if you were to (just for instance) disappear?

btw, Redbone you forgot to say what you get out of Hootoo.

<run.

what i get out of h2g2 is that i've met and related to some really cool people here. i like the fact that i can talk(write) to people from the U.K and other great places that i hope to see one day.
i like the fact that everyone seems really nice.
so to all my friends here, i salute you

Oh my god. Have I been here for 3 years (contrary to my stupid journal entry that I think said it was my 2nd anniversary)? An update is needed (especially as my post on here was the thread killer)...

Who am I?

I am Natali. I am nineteen years old, soon to be twenty in July.

What am I?

I've been hootooing for 3 whole years on this site, I am a writer. I am from a 400,000 strong city in the south-west of England called Bristol, but I currently live in Vancouver, BC in Canada; where the mountains are snowy and the rain is plentiful. I like all kinds of mind-engaging things, such as music, art, books, and the internet. I spend too much time talking to people. I am, apparently, the love-to-hate character on this site. I talk too much. I like The Simpsons, CSI, Six Feet Under and trashy American TV.

What do I get out of h2g2?

It's a great place to just hang out and talk; be it craziness or dead serious discussions. I've met at least 4 other researchers and had (and continue to have) great times with them. Most of the time I can find information about anything I want to - and if I can't, I love the fact that I can fill in the gaps for other people when I'm done educating myself. I've also had help with getting online, finding various sites, employment tips, computer downloading information, general news and gossip, a reminder that I am still British wherever I go in the world, and found some great IM buddies to play with online.

me? i'm a 26yr old valleys "sheep shagger" (i.e. Welsh), i'm a musician and all-round hedonist.

h2g2? i like it because it's a series of message boards where the contributors are generally quite sound and reasonably bright. .....and because i like winding up Bristonians like Sat

How these things come back and haunt one...

I am Ben, I started this thread because h2g2 had been part of my daily life since I joined in the summer of 2000.

I am almost 42, female, still travelling, but with a more complex personal life than I had when I joined h2g2 or when I started this conversation.

I get less out of h2g2 than I used to. I have some important RL friends as a result of this place whom I see regularly, (Rainbow, Z, Boots to name three), but this place has given me some important VL friendships too, (the Salonistas, mainly). It has challenged my opinions on a lot of things such as mental health, inclusivity, freedom of speech, censorship and citizenship. It has provided an enormous amount of advice and support, in particular with dealing with my stepson, and with regards to my poetry. It has also given me access to people whose life histories and sexuality I simply would not know in any other way, and I value that greatly.

I no longer write prose here, but then I no longer write prose anywhere much.

The spark has gone out of h2g2 for me to a large extent. It seems snippier, bigger, more fractured, less coherent and less challenging than it used to be, and for that reason among others I spend less time here.

And I would say that there are inner circles here; those of us with the geographical or tempramental ability to meet other people have coalesced into groups who keep in touch either by email or by visiting each other. H2g2 *is* cliquey, but the cliques are by and large unjudgemental and welcoming.

Ben

I'm Z, I'm a 22 year old medical student from Birmingham, and I've been on h2g2 for about two or three years, you know I think it's nearer three.

I got involved in h2g2 initally because I wanted to write for the Edited Guide, after getting a couple of entries in I became a Scout, and a Sub Editor. I love writing for the edited guide and I've got a lot of out that alone. I've got better at explaining medical issues to patients. I've gained lots of random knowledge from Scouting and Sub Editing,both of which I throughly enjoy doing

I'm a far better writer of essays and presentations as a result of writing for h2g2, and I've managed to be paid to write a 900 word article for a magazine. Ok, it was an article based on my own experiences but it was published in a hardly edited state.

When I came to h2g2 I was looking for a website where there was more to it than chat, I was on a few chat sites and rather enjoying them - at the time I was living with three of my best friends, going out drinking every night. I was bored and my brain needed a challenge - and h2g2 provided one.

At first I didn't get involved in the community at all, I thought I had a perfectly adequate social life, and I'd never really looked to meet people on the internet. I also found it quite difficult to get involved in the chatting side of things - for some reason it didn't really work.

Then I got talking to a few people, and people started saying that there shold be a meet in Birmingham, so I got a page together and organised one. I'd never meet any researchers from h2g2 in real life before so this was a bit of a challege for me.

That was just over a year ago and I've not looked back since, I've made some fantastic friends in real life Vip, Da Sliva, Ben. I've been to stay with Terri, who lives in France.

Then I got involved in the Atelier which is a very special group of friends to me, I'm nearly always involved in the thread.

I still love writting for the Edited Guide - but I love the people on h2g2 more. I love the way that when I go to an h2g2 meet I can talk to anyone their like an old friend, even if I've never met them before.

Gosh I'm getting slushy.. I do apoligse.

Aaaaw, Z

daSilva, 31, male, I found this place when it was just 6 months old and at the time it struck a chord (hey, it was set up by DNA, of course it was going to!), not so much now but there are still some great peeps hereabouts.

My work has single, well doublehandedly now failed to provide much of a social life in terms of people getting together and going out and given I'm on nigts now I can chat here in the mornings with people who have jobs that let them chat online all day . (The work itself and it's shift pattern is a long and much publicised elsewhere in this community story).

Found some good local friends (like Z & Vip), some friends I should meet/speak to more often (Ben, Odo), some good or long term online buddies I've still to meet (one Ma & Daughter team I can think of, Dr. E. Vibenstein, 2Legs) and discovering old ones who've gravitated here from the same places back in Ye Olde Dayes of internet communities (Foothills, Surfers, MBA4, I was there!)

And I still owe Abi the ex-italic a lunch.

Hi Ben!

Well, I hope you don't mind that I resurrected this old thread of yours! It has turned out to be quite interesting, wouldn't you say?

I've only met one hootoo person in the flesh so far - our mutual pal Blues Shark. And I would love to make it to London for a meet but have to deal with stuff like paying my rent so this doesn't seem likely to happen very soon.

I will add to what I get out of hootoo this very *real* sort of frienship with people that I often don't find in RL. Including with yourself, Ben. That we can sometimes chat or send an email outside of this site. But really, on a day-to-day basis, I quite look forward to getting up in the morning and switching on the computer to see who has responded to stuff I said yesterday.

It's a very nice thing to do while I have my first in the morning.

And later in the evenings I have a nice glass of whilst chatting here.

It feels quite like family. You know what I mean?

az

I think that sense of community is what was intended all along.

I've spent greater and lesser amounts of time with Hootoo over the period of my involvement and discovered that the site really is like a village. I can think of one in Hertfordshire in particular where there are several pubs, churches and distinct areas that is very like this site. The people drink in different pubs, attend different churches and hold Views about one another, but are still a strong community.

Hootoo has less bile and vitriol, overall, than 90% of the internet 'community' sites I've ever seen. Hootoo takes itself a deal less seriously and at the same time a great deal more. Where else can you find something like the Edited Guide co-existing with a bunch of folks pretending to be pirates for fun?

The cliques are there, sure, and if you really want them to affect your Hootoo experience you can allow them to. Me? Not bothered. It's nice to be able to post something to a conversation and have someone better educated or more knowledgable tear your arguement to shreds. It's also nice to keep track of such bizarreness as Non Sequiters, or collect Nighthoover sightings. It's deeply, deeply groovy that so many people get different things from the same site!

I've never participated on any other internet 'community' site. I only got involved on this one because of the Douglas Adams connection, whilst reading The Salmon of Doubt.

As for cliques, the only one I know of is my own personal friends list Which seems to grow almost daily! So what kind of clique is that?

Haven't noticed any other cliques, to be honest. If they exist - and I am told they do - they do so without my knowledge or interest.

<>

Oh, you like that too, Gradient? I quite look forward to that happening. I feel I really learn a lot here. I also have learned to educate myself at least somewhat before posting on some of the more challenging threads.

And also, it's WAY better than telly.

az

The pictures are better

"And also, it's WAY better than telly."

I concurr. In fact as of about 2 months ago, i have, to all intents and purposes, 'given up' watching television. I watch the news for a few minutes most days, and there is one science fiction show i catch most weeks, but apart from that, H2G2 and a few other sites, have taken the place of TV for me

It's so much more educational for a start, and you can have a chat without spending money (in a pub) I still like pubs though...

I can't help but think that *anything* that makes someone give up TV can be anything but positive! I live in Spain which has to have the worst TV ever! So, not much to give up there.

But the difference for me is - have a chat or discussion with people or sit on the sofa like a large vegetable and look for something to entertain me.

At least hootoo makes me use my brain. Well, most of the time.

Otherwise I read or hang out with friends. But hootoo does provide a very nice community of friends that are almost always available.

az

Oh dear! I watch tele, listen to radio 4 and read posts on hootoo all at the same time.


Alji

Well according to my personal space:
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I'm Glenn, 18, male, about 6', light build, hamster colour hair, brown eyes, left handed and now with Guide ML.

I speak English, some French, not very much German and negligible amounts of Mandarin. I hope to eventually become fluent at both French and Mandarin. German just makes me laugh.

I'm currently taking further maths, Physics and Modern History at A-level. Selective schools are bad, all-boys schools are worse, further maths is disgraceful.

I intend to take history at an as yet to be decided university next year.
------------
That covers who and what more or less. Well, I've grown a bit since I wrote bits of that. Oh, and I've just realised that I misspelt Physics.

What do I get out of Hootoo, let me see. I guess I get to hone my arguementative skills, and to be reminded that having the best arguement does not necessarily mean you have the best position.

I get to bask in the knowledge of those wiser than me, or at least they sound wiser.

I get to psychoanalyse people behind their backs .

I get to talk to people around my own age or very different background and indeed gender to myself, which is something I have somehow managed to make very difficult for myself out in the real world.

I get to whinge, moan, rant and generally be a Capricorn, and I receive hugs in return, even if they are virtual.

Well, being a man, i can't multitask, so it's one or t'other for me

.. in reply to post 135

Bouncy,

Hey, I get to be a Capricorn here too! Great, innit?

az

'nuff said