How’d you come across the project – was it through my post on reddit?
Yep, I am subscribed to r/socialscience.
Do you have an interest in social science?
I would say that I am interested in how people affect other people.
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I want to present myself in a way that reflects who I am, which is someone who wants to make a positive impact on the world, starting with my immediate surroundings.
You mentioned in your message to me that the way people react to your posts sometimes amazes you. Where are you posting?
I am mainly talking about reddit. I am a little less careful when posting there, because I am anonymous, so I feel like I can express myself freely there.
Sometimes my posts are seen by a lot of people, and are voted on accordingly, commented on, etc, and it just amazes me that this platform allows me to have something like an audience.
Since that audience is present, I want to present myself in a way that reflects who I am, which is someone who wants to make a positive impact on the world, starting with my immediate surroundings.
What drew you to reddit to begin with?
A friend introduced me to it, he told me how the reddit user base has participated in successful fundraisers, helped that guy in Africa, etc. I was intrigued with the platform, and have always been drawn to forums. When I found out there was a topic for everything, I was hooked.
What kind of topics do you talk about on reddit?
I’m mainly in other subs, I post to r/mycology, r/trees/entwives/eldertrees, and various others. r/blep is my favorite sub, but I don’t have enough content to post there a lot.
Blep?
Yeah it’s silly, but it makes me feel all fuzzy when I browse it. I post in a bunch of subs, but I’m mainly a commenter.
Are you a botanist?
I am a homesteader. And r/trees is actually a cannabis related sub.
Mycology is to do with fungi though, isn’t it?
Yep, fungi and slime molds are my nerdy hobby.
It started with an interest in psychedelic mushrooms, then went on to an interest in culinary mushrooms as I got older, and now I am just utterly fascinated with the entire world of fungi.
The internet is my tool for identification, so people who know about my interests typically come to me to help them ID their finds. I live in a rainforest, and there are mushrooms everywhere here. Many people in my village are also interested in fungi, mainly because we are all practicing a subsistence lifestyle, and we gather mushrooms for food.
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Without the internet, we would be almost completely cut off from society here.
What is a subsistence lifestyle?
Subsistence is basically, what you need. So we hunt, gather, fish, garden, craft, trade, etc. That’s subsistence. We are really remote, so it is necessary in order to live well here. Everything is so expensive to buy here. Amazon helps a lot…that’s not subsistence.
Without the internet, we would be almost completely cut off from society here.
You mentioned you’re in a village – what kind of population size are we talking?
Fifty-ish. But that number goes down in the summer. A lot of people leave to go fishing.
And also, speaking of media and audiences, and my village, I am on a reality show that is being filmed here – Port Protection.
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Some of my best friends started out as internet friends.
Being part of such a huge community online like reddit must be quite a contrast. Do you connect with others online much? Meet them offline?
I go to a couple of chat rooms where I am close to a few people; we have had meetups and things in the past. Some of my best friends started out as internet friends.
I met my first boyfriend on a BBS, we both played a game called L.o.R.D. He was being transferred to my school. When we were older, we reconnected on Facebook and then dated for 2.5 years. He was my closest friend from the internet. Most everyone else was a just passing through sort of thing, or a common interest meet up.
I am a member of the WWOOF website, and a WWOOF host, and I meet online people there too.
A lot of your current online interactions seem to relate to your subsistence lifestyle…which in a way, seems like quite a contrast – a digital world paired with an organic world.
Yes, I would say so, and it is quite the contrast. It’s great though, because any time I have a question about the natural world, I can always find the answer online…almost always.
Are the subreddits you interact in quite knowledgeable and friendly places generally?
I find that the more knowledgeable subs are usually less friendly.
In what way?
Subs like pointless stories, aww, blep, trees, etc, are the friendliest subs. People with more knowledge on a subject tend to sometimes be snobby about it, or will chastise people for being wrong.
Have you experienced this yourself?
I have definitely experienced people who want to argue with you no matter what you have to say, because their opinion is the be all end all of opinions.
How do you deal with that kind of thing?
I usually kill them with kindness and logic. Or become an even bigger troll than they are being. Depends on whether I want a laugh, or if I am truly interested in the subject matter.
Do you think there’s something about online communities that enables certain behaviors, like trolling?
It’s the anonymity, I am sure. I wouldn’t troll someone if I knew my mom was reading it. Or my friends. But I am generally not a troll. I only do it when I realize that all the person wants is an argument.
You mentioned at the start that you’re interested in how people affect other people. How do you think your online interactions with others have affected you?
I would say that as with any encounter, it depends on the meaning, purpose, and context of the interaction. Most interactions are like talking to an acquaintance, you say your hi’s and how are you’s, your quick questions, and what not, and then they are put to the back of your mind.
But others are more meaningful, like the communication that I have between myself and my WWOOFers, because it is a life changing experience for many people, and a learning experience for everyone, in the real world.
WWOOF stands for world wide opportunities on organic farms right?
Yep.
So through WWOOF, people find your village and come visit? I can imagine how that could be pretty life changing for someone.
It definitely can be, I think it depends on the place, but yeah, this place is very life changing.
Have you been there your whole life?
Nope, I just moved here two years ago with my husband. It’s his family’s property, and he grew up here, but I have been in the general area for about 4 years.
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In the Winter everyone sort of hunkers down and becomes hermits, myself included. So the internet really helps to keep me from getting cabin fever.
I imagine that online communities are important when you live in a physically small community.
Yes, I get a lot of my social needs satisfied online. Though there are people here my age, there aren’t many, and I am a pretty social person. In the Winter everyone sort of hunkers down and becomes hermits, myself included. So the internet really helps to keep me from getting cabin fever.
Are those mushrooms?
Yeah, they’re a really rare aquatic mushroom I just found here a couple weeks ago. They’re called mitrula eligans, but the common name is bog beacon.
Do you share images like this in subreddits?
Yep, I haven’t posted the mushroom pic yet, but I did post that sunset pic to r/Alaska… they have a section just for sunset pics. I post photos of things I want to identify mostly.
Do you help others identify things also?
Yep, all the time. I haven’t been incredibly active recently though. Most people just aren’t familiar with a lot of the terminology, and that helps a lot in a Google search. A lot of people post things like, “these mushrooms popped up in my yard overnight, will they kill my dog?” or “what is this mushroom growing in my houseplant?” [posts the 10,000th picture of the same mushroom that’s growing in everyone’s houseplant].
But a lot of people there are just like me. There is a pretty good core group of IDers on the mycology sub, and they’re one of the friendlier ones.
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If I have 1000 people reading something I have to say, I want it to be interesting, informative, or helpful. And especially factual.
I was just thinking again about your original message to me, about how so many people paying attention to what content you post and that you feel sometimes you have to be careful about that. What did you mean by that?
Well… when you have 1000 people reading something you wrote, you don’t want it to be shit.
If I have 1000 people reading something I have to say, I want it to be interesting, informative, or helpful. And especially factual.
I wrote that with a comment that I wrote in mind, about a method I have used, and read about for helping to prevent a violent attack, which got over 1000 upvotes. When you think about it, the number of people who actually vote is smaller than those who actually read the comment. It is possible that some of those people are going to take that advice.
That is both daunting to me, and at the same time, I hope that my comment will help someone out of a possibly sketchy situation.
The comment was in its most simple form, “Walk with confidence.”
Specifically a post about how young girls can help stay safe the first time out on their own. I cited a study and elaborated a bit, but that was the gist of my comment.
I see what you mean now – that could have a huge impact on someone.
Yes. What if they take that advice and it doesn’t work? It’s different if if no one sees the comment, you know? But when thousands of people are potentially taking my advice, I feel slightly responsible now. You know what I mean?
That advice had better be solid.
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