Why are you here?

[AFriendlyFace]

Hi all,

 

Just curious about what people most enjoy about the site. This is just for my information and curiosity, not on behalf of the site in any way. I wanted to allow multiple choices, but I didn't want to allow unlimited choices lest people just tick every box. I also thought that if "other" applied to all, or some combination of, the above choices it would negate the point of the poll since people could just pick it and say, "I said other because I enjoy everything." Hopefully many of you do, but I'm curious about what you most enjoy so I want people to commit to an answer

 

My top three choices were easy for me:

 

Top two which were tied:

 

"The 'community' feel and aspect of the forums" - I like the fun and supportive atmosphere. I like feeling like I might be able to help people with an encouraging word or a bit of advice. I like getting people's support and friendship from the various threads and discussions.

 

"The discussion/informational/intellectual aspect of the forums" - I love a good, deep discussion. I love to expound on how I feel about things and gain a better understanding of other people's views.

 

Third choice:

 

The Blogs - for pretty much the same combination of what I get and how I feel about the two aspects of the forum. Although there's more of an emphasis on 'community' and emotion related stuff. The blogs feel more personal to me so I really feel like I get to know people through their blogs, I often feel like I can give the most supportive, helpful advice on blogs, and I often feel like I can get the best advice and most support in my blog.

 

I have often used it as a tool to expound on my thoughts about an issue in a purely intellectual way, but I tend to prefer the forums for that since in that case I have more of a desire for discussion about the issue. Occasionally I've gained knowledge and learning about something from someone's blog and been very appreciative, but usually I find the forums better for that as well.

 

So those are my picks. I love the stories, but I have no doubt that if this were only a story site I'd have simply read a couple stories and then wandered off again. Thus my next choices would have been:

 

The Regular Stories would have come next as a combination of reader and author.

 

Then the anthologies for the same reason.

 

Then the archive.

 

Live Chat is certainly lowest on my list of motivations for being here. I'm really glad it's a part of the site and I think it definitely benefits the site and its members, but I seldom do it (only been in once since it came back) and don't have much desire to. Usually when I'm online I prefer to focus my attention on other things, just my preference.

 

I didn't really have any thoughts about "other" (in all honesty if I had I'd have likely just included them in the poll directly )

 

So what about you folks?

 

-Kevin

Edited June 29, 2008 by AFriendlyFace

[NickolasJames8]

Well, my favorite author has been MIA for a long time, but my original reason for being at GA was to read his stories. The secondary reason was to discuss his work, and my third reason was that I started writing stories myself because I was so inspired by my favorite author.

 

So my choices are as follows:

 

1. The regular stories
   
2. The community aspect/feel of the forums
   
3. The Blogs
   

[Tiger]

The regular stories- While I may read some stories from Anthology, I tend to read more of the Hosted Author stories as well as a select few in e-fiction.

 

Live Chat- I must admit that I probably spend way too much time in chat, but it's a lot of fun.

 

The 'community' feel and aspect of the forums- I am still an active member of the forums and happen to enjoy the discussions we have. I particularly enjoy story discussion and political discussions as they are more interesting to me than the rest.

 

If I could choose a fourth, it would probably be the blogs, because you can find out a lot about people and their lives from their blogs.

Edited June 29, 2008 by Tiger

[Drewbie]

Regular stories, My my main reason why I came here was to read.

 

The community feel

 

The discussion/informational/intellectual like the political, informational discussions

 

Live Chat, I love chatting with some of the members here, it is not the reason I came go ga, it's a nice feature, plus can discuss various things on hat.

 

Anthologies, is neat to read various topics and how each author handles it.

 

Blogs, feel like kevin, I learn more on each member, and view points.

Edited June 29, 2008 by Drewbie

[Michelle jin]

I joined because Joe is a nazi.

 

He told me I should join and I did.

 

I think he regrets it,

[JamesSavik]

I came for the stories and stayed for the remarkable collection of very special people that we've accumulated here- far too many for one short bus.

[Graeme]

I came here for the community I lurked a few times and almost joined and posted when I read a thread about why does someone lurk and not join but I resisted

 

When I eventually did join, it was to talk about writing. I know I still have a lot to learn, and I find the discussions on the topic interesting. But it was the general community feel that was the primary reason.

 

Since then, I've also loved the anthologies. I haven't contributed to all of them, and I doubt I'll contribute to all in the future, either, but they have been a lot of fun to, at first, contribute to, and then, later, help set up and release.

[Krista]

I joined because Joe is a nazi.

 

He told me I should join and I did.

 

I think he regrets it,

 

 

Lol Michelle.. Welcome to GA! And, let Joe regret it all he wants.

 

 

I like writing and being hosted here, that includes doing the anthologies. Live chat is nice and addicting, and I enjoy the sense of community the place has as well. I've made some friends, met some amazing people, and I've enjoyed myself a lot here this year. Hate to see it change in any way.

[steph]

Since then, I've also loved the anthologies. I haven't contributed to all of them, and I doubt I'll contribute to all in the future, either, but they have been a lot of fun to, at first, contribute to, and then, later, help set up and release.

Silly Graeme... you're the Anthology Coordinator! of course you'll be "contributing" to the anthologies, even if it's not to write a story. I resent the implication that doing the the coordination and tech work is not considered "contributing." (j/k - I know what you meant!)

 

I guess now that I'm posting to this thread, I should say why I'm here... I first came for the stories. I only ventured into the forums to find out the progress of ITFB. Since I'm neither gay, nor male, nor even a writer, I tend to lurk around on sites like GA, read some comments, and I'm on my way. Then, I saw a post from JSmith looking for volunteers for the tech team. Lucky for me, I took the plunge and PM'ed Joe.

[Benji]

........I here because;

 

1. Community feel

2. Reading stories

3. Reading anthologies

 

.....and of course the devil made me do it!!

Edited June 30, 2008 by Benji

[Rakuten06]

I come here because:

 

1) Community feel - I'm grateful to have some wonderful people helping and making friends with some of the GayAuthors, including my boyfriend! hehehe...

 

2)Intellectual discussion on the forums - It's nice to see some debates but also some fun discussion...

 

3) The Archives - I loved to read some old stories...

[NaperVic]

I picked the following top 3 items -

• The regular stories
  
• The 'community' feel and aspect of the forums
  
• The discussion/informational/intellectual aspect of the forums
  

GA has a stable full of good stories and authors and the ability to freely discuss them with like minded fans makes GA attractive to be a part of.

 

GA has also branched out into discussions outside of the normal stories and such, and it's great to be able to have an outlet to discuss many of these issues. While we are all either gay, bi, and/or gay friendly (etc) it's interesting to see how many different opinions or points of view we have about particular topics.

 

Take Care

Edited June 30, 2008 by NaperVic

[old bob]

(pick only THREE or less please) this condition was very hard for me :wacko: .

The choice was not easy !

I came first for the stories, but there are a lot of other sites bringing also gay stories.

So I chose the reasons why GA is unique:

the 'community' feel and aspect of the forums,

the discussion/informational/intellectual aspect of the forums,

and the blogs.

I would also mention two other points :

GA is a place where you can meet a lot of different people, different in ages, different in mentalities, different in nationalities, different in social positions, different in origins, and still become a very close friend to them, just by sharing the same interests and talking the same language (I don

[Tiff]

When I first joined here I wasn't very active in the community, because it felt a bit intimidating at first. But once I got started, it was addicting.

 

So my primary reasons for being here:

 

1. The regular stories (reading and writing. I do an equal share of both. I love to write, but there are so many great authors I can't help but spend hours reading their stuff as well.)

 

2. The 'community' feel/aspect of the forums.

 

3. The discussion/informational/intellectual aspect of the forums--I love talking about certain techniques or other writing topics, or even something unrelated. It's a great way to learn a lot.

 

We're only supposed to pick three, but lately I've fallen in love with the anthologies because I like the idea of having a broad theme and then reading all the entries the authors have submitted. It's fun to see how every person and their own unique mind and writing styles have interpreted the theme. I usually stay up very late to read them all and comment, depending on when it's posted.

 

One more thing that I'm growing to like, although I've only been there once: Live Chat. It's a great way to interact with the community in real time. I only tried it last night, but I enjoyed it. Who knew the admins were so funny? And I got to talk with some other members whom I've never spoken with before and I've realized how funny and talented they are. GA as a whole has so much to offer that it blows other websites out of the water. There's a lot to offer here, which is why I have five reasons rather than three.

[dkstories]

Admins are not funny. We're serious people walking around with pain sticks for those that don't toe the line. You Tiff, toe the line so well there are no worries. (Okay, um that was a joke).

 

 

I'm here for three reasons:

 

1) Great Stories

2) Great people

3) I signed the darn papers so I have to be now....

[darkfoxprime]

I came here because of DomLuka and got hooked on the stories of several authors, so my main reason is "The Regular Stories". I also added in "other" to reflect the learning-to-write that I get from here, despite the rarity of the writing thing on my part.

 

- dfp

[Phantom]

I have to say when I first came to GA, I never though I would encounter a community quite like this, filled with lots of vibrant and creative people. From the authors to the members, it's something I'm proud to say that I belong to.

 

I remember when I first came to this site, it was to read Desert Dropping (because Nifty Archives was weird in updating it). Then I stuck to reading DomLuka, and then I ventured into reading other hosted authors like dkstories, CJames, Comsie, Shadowgod and Don Hanratty. They're amazing authors all of them and they inspired me to get back into writing.

 

About 2 months back, I finally became a member and began to post in forums. When i did, I was welcomed into this community open arms and I'm glad to say that I've gotten to know afew of the members, and even spoke to some of the authors, which to me is awsome

 

Now that live chat is up, it's even cooler because I can interact with members and authors, get advice, and even have some good 'ol fun. It's helped me to get to know some of the authors better and helped me get ideas about what I want to write. It also showed me some other authors to check out.

 

But I want to say I think it's time I gave back in some way to a place that's given so much to me. I plan on writing and contributing more, and hopefully can make a difference somehow.

[BeaStKid]

Reading, Writing, Reviewing, Editing, Participating in a wonderful Community, friends....

 

is there anything left?

 

I basically love this place!!

 

BeaStKid