More Time for Riding

And more time for blog entries because last week, I said goodbye to an online community of which I was a member since 2003.

Message boards are strange phenomena to begin with, and my time with this particular community was marked not only by strange phenomena but by cyberstalking, disruption of my life in the real world, and even a Federal lawsuit.  Friends and family IRL ("in real life") asked me repeatedly why I bothered with this online community.  Truth be told, the answer - more often than not - was boredom.

That answer just isn't good enough anymore.  This community held some real value for me at a couple of key milestones during my life over the last five years, and for that I am incredibly grateful.  But the reality is, is that there are far fewer moments of boredom in my life at this point.  And while I cannot prove in a legal sense that the same person (or people) who were behind much of the grief my family, colleagues and I went through is (are) still strangely obsessed with me ... I suspect as much. 

So the purpose of this blog post is to let my many friends, family and colleagues who have been giving me the side eye for years now about this whole message board thing, know that they can rest easy now.  I have finally come to my senses.  It's long time that I took the minutes spent on this message board and applied them to real life relationships, reading a good book, snowboarding (the picture above is from Kirkwood earlier this month) or running, or 476 other activities or interests that could be seen as healthier diversions from boredom.

Note: I will be curious to see how much traffic this post generates.  As an example of how strange online communities can be, I have never shared this blog's address with the online community of which I write (except for a handful of trusted community members via off-board channels) and yet I suspect that somehow this wall of privacy has already been broken.  I am purposely withholding the name of this online community, because I do not want it picked up by the search engines and my comments have less to do with the specific online community than with message boards in general.

Technorati Tags: message board, boredom

Comments

[Skillz]

That picture makes *me* want to go snowboarding. Since it looks as though your new free time will be spent on some great activities, I applaud your progression towards Real Life fulfillment...

[tiffany]

Hey. I hope it's okay that I say hello to you on here. I remember you from another message board (which I won't post here since I suspect that's the one you are leaving). I still visit that board, just not the section you used to frequent (ML)- too many snarky people that bit my head off when I said hello to you.

Anyway, I wish you all the best and I look forward to reading about your many adventures.

[Moe]

I'll say Brava.

:)

(If it means anything at all, I've also been away since. And productivity, both at work, and at home, have increased. I may go snowboarding this weekend :)

Cheers!

[deb]

I have quit and rejoined that same internet community numerous times. It starts off as a resource then it is habit, then boredom and one day you realize that you spend more time on the internet friendship than you do IRL relationships. Even now as I am finally in the process of starting my own business, raising a toddler and volunteering with my church--I still find myself wondering about this community. If only had all those hours back I spend mindlessly surfing.

I know your story and it is tragic so I hope that by saying goodbye you can move on from that and those people will get bored and fine someone else to be jealous and obsessed with.

[k.l.a.]

I was directed to your blog when the link was posted on that same internet community, of which I was a member for a brief period of time. I added your site, and some others I found through you (i.e. Ted, which has been an amazing find!) to the list of blogs I read on a regular basis.

I share this not to confirm the suspicions you wrote about in your post, but to convey that I have found a value in reading your blog that is far greater than the mere curiosity which brought me here. As my law practice grows to include the advisement of companies in the technology and telecommunications field, I appreciate the opportunity to read the perspective of a practicing VC who focuses on these areas.

After having read the note at the end of your post, I am unsure whether you would prefer to keep this blog's readership limited to friends, family and colleagues and I feel slightly guilty for having breeched the "wall of privacy," as you termed it. That slight guilt is tempered, however, by the knowledge that this is a public website, and I hope it remains as such.

[Class V]

k.i.a.: No worries. I suspect that the person who has been obsessed with me for years now, posted that link ... although I have always made a strong effort to never publicize this blog on that community. Why that person did that, I have no idea. But I am glad you find some value in my random ramblings, and don't worry about feeling that you are invading my privacy. What I need to protect from psychos, I will. ;-)

TED is an amazing community. I cannot wait to attend the conference in a few weeks! Glad you enjoyed that link ... reminds me that I need to update that section of this blog. Have a good weekend!

[RW]

Hi,

I just wanted to tell you I found your blog through that board when you were going through that very difficult time two years ago. I was not / am not a prolific poster there, nor was I often on the board you usually posted on so I don't know the details. I'm also sorry if it crossed a line checking here. I've checked your blog out sporadically since then (today happened to be one of those days) becuase I enjoy your writing and what you have to say.

Anyway - just wanted to let you know how I wound up here. Sorry to intrude - as I said, I've just enjoyed your writing - it's nice to read about a professional woman and the steps you've taken with your career - not to mention keeping up with technology!

Sorry about your issues with the other place - it's probably good for me that my work limits my ability to lurk / post there!

Hope you're doing well!