Final Reflections on Digital Citizenship in Runner's World

This experience of participating in an online forum taught me a great deal about online communities and digital citizenship. I was fascinated to find the wealth of information available about a hobby I truly love, and I was even more excited to see that this information was formed through the participation of other running enthusiasts. I feel that online communities are a testament to the strength in numbers, and to the beauty of this digital age. Before the internet and other technological developments, this type of community would be impossible. It is highly unlikely to find a group of people with a similar hobby who can truly commit to a community and live meetings; we all are busy with our own schedules and priorities. However, with the ease of communication these days, an online forum can become an encouraging community one can participate in with very little commitment or effort. 

I was very pleased to find that the digital citizenship in my forum was very positive for the most part. I never came across hostile comments, the only veering from positive digital citizenship was toward arrogance. In general, I would say that the forum was full of encouragement for all runners involved. I found that there were definite frequent users of the forum that I saw commenting in almost every thread. These all stars of the forum could be a bit intimidating to newcomers like myself, who faced difficulty receiving responses at first. However, I found that the best way to get participation in the forum was to pose a question to my fellow runners who are full of their own experiences and willing to give advice. This forum had countless advice for runners in all different sections, and I learned more than I ever could from a personal trainer or a book. I was able to feed off the advice of hundreds of successful and passionate runners. 

I feel that participating in an online forum was a crucial experience as a high school teacher. I used to look at online forums with suspicion and some fear. Now I realize that when approached responsibly, they can be excellent resources. However, the maturity of a graduate student and a high school student are very different. I feel that if one were to encourage students to participate in such forums, there would need to be an ongoing conversation about safety on the internet and digital citizenship. However, having successfully participated in an online forum, I feel I am more prepared to educate my students about digital citizenship and online safety. As an English teacher it is my belief that any type of writing can help one become a better writer. One of the beautiful things about forums is it gives participants a chance to express themselves in as concise or expanded ways they choose. Any activity that engages a student in writing is a step toward developing their writing skills. This is why I think class participation in a forum or blog could be a great way to encourage informal writing. The other great thing about a blog or forum is that though it is informal and can be creative, it is published to the internet. This encourages the writer to be careful about their writing and take pride in it, more than a typical free write or journal. I feel that the possibilities presented by online forums and blogs for encouraging both student writing and digital citizenship are endless. 

I am pleased with my successful participation in an online forum this term. I feel I will likely stay in the forum and visit it occasionally to get ideas and tips about running. I also know that my fears about online forums have been quelled. At least in Runner's World, I was pleased to find that the participants did not consist of angry people smack talking one another from the privacy of their computers. Instead it was a community of support and encouragement, which gave me a little more hope for the world in the digital age. Despite being complete strangers from miles apart, we can all act like civil and kind humans trying to build community. 

Finally! Some Responses to My Post!

This past week I posted into my running forum in the beginner section, but this time I started my very own thread. I had recently started back up taking spinning classes and I decided to pose a question to my fellow runners about the helpfulness of spinning in training for races. My post read:

Happy New Year Everyone!

I have recently started going to spinning classes again and I was wondering if anyone had thoughts or suggestions about how well spinning fits into training for races? I am planning to do Ragnar in the spring and want to start my training plan and I'm hopeful that spinning can fit into the plan in some form. Any suggestions?

This post went up on Thursday, Jan 2nd and as of Sunday Jan 5th I received 6 responses! (Although all of these occurred on the 2nd, it seems posts on this forum have a short shelf life)

I was very pleased by the range of responses I received and I am happy to report that each one showed positive digital citizenship. Most of the responses were personal testimonies about other runners' experiences with spinning classes or cycling in general. For instance, one member responded:

Spinning is good because it adds an aerobic element to your workout, without the impact of running.  I spin as a warm up on my weight-training days, and find it helps tremendously with fitness and weight management.

Posts like this ranged from those who do use spin, to those who don't but have in the past. In fact, I also received a response from a fellow runner that is trying spinning out like I am. He wrote:

I'm trying to get into spinning but not sure it'll stick.  Even after having the bike adjusted to fit me, I found it bothered an old back injury.  Riding my bike outside doesn't seem to cause it I might have to keep messing around with the settings.  I also found it to be boring even tho there was plenty of activity going on in the class.  I figure I'll try it a couple of more times before I throw in the towel.  Worst case I'll just ride my bike outside.

His honesty about his own experiences with spin were helpful, and different than my own (I loooove spin!), but he still remained respectful and demonstrated positive digital citizenship. It was nice to see a range of opinions, and also that other runners are trying similar methods to my own. Finally, I received a response that cited an expert resource. One of the members responded:

The first edition of Run Less Run Faster recommended spinning for the non-running cross-train days.  The authors also recommended maintaining at least 90 revolutions a minute.

This member relied on the advice of professionals, rather than just on personal experience. This response was especially helpful in validating my question about spin as a form of training. 

I am glad to see that I have found a way to receive responses in the community. Questions to community members clearly need to be posted separately to receive attention, since it seems that most members only respond to the first post, rather than the posts of other responders. I am also pleased to have experienced very strong digital citizenship from my fellow runners in my first solo post. Maybe this forum thing will be something I keep doing, we shall see!

Another Try at Posting in the Forum

Happy New Year Everyone!

Back before Christmas I posted in my running forum once again, this time from an "expert" perspective. In the Beginners section of the forum their was a question from a fellow beginner that read:

Do any of you guys intentionally take a week off or more from running?  Just for mental and physical recovery reasons?   I'm thinking of doing so but somehow feel really guilty over it and think I'll become a fat slob. 

There had been several responses to this post, most agreeing that taking a week off is a great and necessary thing to do. A few intense runners said instead of taking a week off they just cut back on mileage (crazies!). I have actually had this conversation with personal trainers and physical therapists before so I chose to respond, since I felt I had some authority on the topic. I wrote:

I have had several personal trainers advocate for taking a whole week off intentionally.  One suggested that if you feel the need to work out still you could take walks, swim, or do low impact yoga. These activities can help heal injured muscles and give you the mental release of exercise. While my week off usually coincides with a vacation or a minor injury, I do hope to truly set an intention for a week off. As difficult as the return to running can be, doing these light exercises can support your fitness In the long run. 

I have waited this long to comment on my post in this blog because I was waiting to see if I anyone would reply to me. Instead, I realized that most posts in this thread were only in response to the original writer, with only a few people responding to others suggestions. I also found it interesting that I was the third to last person to post on this thread. Soon after my post, the thread sort of died off, unlike other threads that people frequently write to, like the one I posted in previously about running 10ks. 

I found that once again the forum showed positive digital citizenship. Most people posting in this thread were encouraging to the original writer, telling her that rest is important and her body needs it. With the competitive nature of many of these runners it was nice to see that people were responding with compassion and encouragement to this runner's desire to take a bit of time off. I think for my next post in the running forum I will take a page from this writer's book and post my own question in a separate thread to the beginner's forum to see if I receive support and suggestions from my fellow runners. Stay tuned to see if I receive any responses this time :)

Some Insight Into Activity Levels

This week I made another post on my forum where instead of posing a question I provided a response to another member's question. I am currently monitoring how my own post fits into the thread and activity in this section of the forum. 

However, in the process of doing this, I made a fascinating discovery about my forum: Activity Level Titles. What are these you ask? Well when I looked at my post in the long thread, I saw under my username the title "snail". I was rather confused (and my ego a little bruised) when I saw this. Then, I saw that under each member's name there was an animal name. From recognizing active users on the forum, I deduced that the speed of the animal corresponded with the amount of activity that group member had in the forum. 

My suspicion was confirmed when I clicked on an icon next to a random user's name. Along with the animal name, I could learn how many "community points" this user had, and what their "community rank" was. With each post a member makes, they earn points. When I clicked on my own profile, I learned that I only have 10 points for my two posts in the forum, and that my rank is #6,543. Meanwhile, in this same thread there were members who had community ranks as high as #10. I was intrigued by the speed related animal titles so I found a complete listing of the animal titles and the community points required to be assigned one. It is as follows:

Title

Points

Snail

0

Tortoise

20

Mouse

50

Cat

100

Hare

250

Roadrunner

500

Greyhound

1000

Racehorse

2500

Gazelle

5000

Cheetah

10000

Eagle

25000

Falcon                                                                                                                                             50000

I found it very creative to relate the activity level on the website to speed; I would imagine the competitive runners on this forum get very excited when their activity level raises them up to a new animal level. When you click the icon by a member's name you are also able to see their "profile", which along with their ranks and points, provides one with the posts that member has made and the posts that member has "liked". 

This new discovery about the ease of discovering who is "active" on the forum and who is not fit into my theory about possible exclusivity in the site. I previously felt like my post was ignored by some members, and now that I know members could easily see how new I was to the site, my suspicions are somewhat confirmed. While it is probably beneficial to know if the person responding to you is an active member of the forum with "credibility", it also makes new members stick out a little bit. I haven't decided if this is a good aspect of the forum or not. Anyone have any thoughts about this? 

Personal Records and Digital Citizenship

 As I looked through my forum on running, in search of examples of Digital Citizenship, poor or positive, I came across a very interesting post. A forum member posted a question yesterday and has already received 85 replies. The question was: 
"Have you ever looked at another person's PR (Personal Record) and laughed? C'mon...be honest" 

Upon reading this post I was prepared for all sorts of negative Digital Citizenship. My snap judgement was to expect elite runners to describe laughing at all sorts of "pathetic" personal records. I expected justifications for laughing, but definitely expected laughing. However, I was once again shown that assuming does not usually turn out well.

Most of the responses to this post described how rude it would be laugh at another runner's PR. Many of the responses emphasized the fact that PRs are PERSONAL, and that each person deserves to be proud of where they are in the journey of running. The original poster chimed into the conversation to clarify why he asked the original question, explaining:
"I did overhear a coworker do so yesterday and it really bummed me out. It just made me think... is runshaming something that is done now?" The runners in this forum seemed to respond with an overwhelming opposition to the act of runshaming. However, based on other posts I have read on the forum, I do feel that runshaming can occur, but in a much more subtle way. It seems to me that while these forum members would never openly laugh at a fellow runners' PR, they do demonstrate a touch of arrogance at times in their conversations on the forum. 

This thread made me realize something about Digital Citizenship, positive and negative behavior on forums is not always obvious. Forums will not always openly display rude behavior; however, when examined closely this arrogance or disagreement may be visible. Nevertheless, I was pleased to see that the members of this forum, at least in the open, scoffed at the thought of making someone feel bad about their Personal Records for running. 

Another fascinating thing I discovered while observing this thread was a side conversation that related to the topic. Apparently during the 2012 election, Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan claimed to have run a marathon in "something around 2:50". The members of this forum discussed how "dumb", or "funny" this "lie" was. One of the members stated, "He lied. And stupidly lied about something that could be easily verified. No one would have had anything bad to say about him if he'd run an average or even a slow marathon. But claiming sub-3? Lame.

My First Post in the Forum

This week I made my first post in the forum "Runner's World". I spent a bit of time choosing a section and thread to respond to in my first post. I decided that my first step should be responding to a thread, or joining the conversation in a thread, rather than creating my very own thread. I thought this might lead to more responses than my own solo post. In the "5K to Half Marathon" section, I joined a thread titled "Sub-45:00 10K in 2014", which is a thread about peoples goals to achieve a 10K time under 45 minutes. While running under 45 minutes would be a stretch for me in 2014, I am currently training for a 10K, and that race is the area where I am interested in improving. 

Once I chose my thread, I posted the following reply: 
"Hey everyone, I love the advice about10K running. I have not ran a 10K in over a year but I have taken the plunge and signed up for one on Dec 22. Any advice for last minute training? I have about 3 weeks left to get ready and I appreciate any suggestions!"

I hoped that my general post would spark any number of responses, and I genuinely hoped I might get some advice from these runners who seem far more advanced than myself. After 6 days I am somewhat disappointed to report that the only response I received was the following:

"Sorry! No advice here. I'm training for my first! I guess my only advice would be to race where your fitness is now."

While I appreciated the honesty and the fact that anyone replied, I was amazed at the limited response. I was especially surprised that the person who started the thread, and who is quite active in the thread, did not respond to me in any way. Since my post on Sunday, several other members have posted unrelated responses, to which the starter of the thread and many other members have responded. What I believe I have found is that within this particular thread, the elite runners seem to be, while not hostile, a bit cliquish. Many of these members post every day, sometimes even several times a day. They are in the "inner circle" of the thread, and the forum in general possibly. I however, am a new member, who many of them do not feel the need to engage in conversation. However, I am hopeful that in another section and thread I may find better luck. There is a whole section of the forum for beginners, which is where I think I will make my next post. It was interesting to observe that what may appear like good digital citizenship, may be more exclusive than you might think. 

A Thread That Started a Bit Heated...

I have been searching the Runner's World forums for any signs of poor digital citizenship and have not had much luck (fortunately I suppose!). Most of the forums include high levels of encouragement for fellow runners. In fact, I have been amazed to see that some of the posts merely consist of a runner posting a new personal record (or PR as they call it on the forum) and several other community members congratulating them on their achievement. Its kind of lovely to see complete strangers offering encouragement for the achievements of others. I'd add this to the list of things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: there are people in this world with genuine kindness who will encourage you on your own personal fitness achievements. 

However, I am not so naive as to believe that a forum full of competitive runners would lack any hints of egotism, and possibly, poor digital citizenship. On Thanksgiving day I found some luck: a post about an awful Turkey Trot 10K experience. The original post was the most frustrated writing I have seen yet on Runner's World. The author even included some foul language, which he attempted to disguise with dollar signs for "S". The issue the author was upset about was one which I, and the 16 people who have already responded in the last 16 hours, can easily relate to. The race he attended did not do a good job of staggering the starts or organizing the waves at the beginning of the race. This meant that people who planned to walk the 10K ended up in front of people like this author, who had hoped to achieve a PR in the race. There is definitely nothing worse than having your high energy and excitement for a race squashed by the wall of joggers/walkers preventing your from hitting your stride. However, the post listed several issues that the author found with this race and his tone was extremely angry, especially towards the people planning to take the race a bit slowly, who lined up in front of him leaving him to weave around them the whole first two miles. 

After reading this frustrated post I was not sure what the response would be from the other community members. Would they scoff at his frustration? Would they join in on his anger at these walkers/slow runners, possibly adding their own name calling? What I was pleased to see was a return to the positive digital citizenship I have found common on this forum. Other runners commiserated with the frustrated author, but most of them did so from a positive outlook. Only one other member, who coincidentally attended this same race, shared the angry tone of the original author. Most other members offered condolences, but also shared advice about avoiding this type of situation. They congratulated the original author on his achievements within such a large race, but suggested looking for smaller races when he was hoping to achieve a PR. They suggested starting closer to the front than you think your pace may be, and running the first mile at a faster pace to avoid being stuck behind walkers/joggers. Their advice was supportive and logical, and most of it did not come across with arrogance. Rather, it appeared that all of these runners had experienced the same situation that the frustrated author described, and could give their wisdom on how to avoid it in the future. I was pleased to see that in the face of frustration and a chance to delve into poor digital citizenship (and to continue the embarrassing practice of hiding foul language with $$) the members of this community continued to run on the high road of positivity and encouragement.