Authors note: Well I wrote this mainly because its a shame to see this network die and I wanted to make us think about how this small community has influenced our life. Another reason is that I want to know the reason why the contributing members of this community put effort into making what it is today. Its not like this network was of any real life importance. So why did we contribute to it? Some things that sparked my mind regarding this was an article I read about why we do things. (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/ff_pink_shirky/2/, You really should read it.) When I read it I instantly thought of this community. People putting alot of their time in a social network that is of little value. It really made me think about the importance of ambition. Personally I am not a very ambitious person as you can probaly tell by me never creating a website or contributing much to any website. Later on it seems though that my connection to the people of this network made me feel almost an obligation to contribute. Yet I enjoy contributing now and I enjoy looking back at the people who have given so much of their time to this network. I just want us to see the importance of this tiny moment of our lives and why we made it so.
An interesting question that I have always asked myself is this. Why do I spend my time on a social website such as this? Why do the people who create these websites continue doing so? Whats the point of this large network we have created here? I can never come up with an answer to that. Its weird how I say I hate this website yet I spend alot of my time talking to people on it and contributing to it. Its almost like I have grown attached to this network. Yes, many people have moved on and forgotten about it but some of us still stay. Why do we stay? Why does Sam still update this website? I think the answer lies way back when this network was created. This network is quite old and was at a certain point large. It was started for humble reasons. Just to have a little fun on the internet, devoting a website to something we like such as sonic or mario. Doing this we got to know other people and their websites. Then it all came together. It became something quite large and maybe even important. The owners of these websites strived to have the best site in the network. People came together and relationships were created. Now the original intent of these websites were merely for fun or interest. But it became a lot of good times and memories. Almost something life changing. Now some of us may see the importance in this but others may not. Such as the people who have left this network for other things. Little do they know is that their small interest in creating a mediocre website became something imprtant. Almost a piece of history. A small unimprtant moment in time but a moment that some of us will remember for the rest of our lives. Many events have taken place that we fondly remember but it is near the end of this dying commnity. Now it is easy for us to look back upon the history of this network and see the choices that were made. The question I ask is, why did the people of this network actively take part in it and make what it is today? I would love the remaining members of this community to answer this question.
Sat Jun 12 2010, 07:44