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.

The Rules in the World of Running

One of the fascinating things about forums that I have found from reading other class member's blogs is that the forum seems to take on the characteristics of that particular interest. For instance, one of my class members mentioned that her literature forum had registration questions regarding Shakespeare. Another blog mentioned the rules of the wedding forum were written like vows. The rules in the Runner's World forum were quite simple and straightforward, just like running. Unlike yoga or zumba, running does not have particular positions or moves. You just start running and try to remember to breath. The forum seems to live out this simplicity in what they call their "reasonable rules". 

The first rule is:

 "1. Don't post offensive content.

Material that is deemed obscene or offensive is not permitted. Use common sense; we want to able to show this site to our kids."

This first rule seems to be consistent in most forums; it also goes right to the heart of digital citizenship. For a forum to exist successfully and peacefully, the moderators of the forum must require members to refrain from offensive comments. Staying true to the simplicity of running, the moderators remind the members to use their "common sense", to not post something they wouldn't want a kid to see. 

The second rule of the forum also supports digital citizenship by prohibiting "personal attacks". The moderators go so far as to inform members that the terms "stupid" and "idiot" will be considered personal attacks. This demonstrates to members that it is safe to assume anything worse will also be seen as an attack. Once again, it is clear the moderators are doing their best to ensure good digital citizenship and keep the forums peaceful and helpful, rather than offensive. 

The most entertaining rule included was the sixth and final rule, "Don't be a troll". By this the moderators mean, "Accounts created for the purpose of being intentionally disruptive will be banned".

I personally had never even thought that people might consider doing this. Clearly the moderators have experience handling a forum of this size and are aware of all sorts of interruptions to good digital citizenship. 

The moderators also empower their members with the responsibility to maintain the digital citizenship. They conclude the list of rules stating: "The moderators cannot possibly review every piece of content. If you see something that violates the rules, please report it, and the moderators will take appropriate action." The moderators are essentially telling their members that if they want the forum to remain a positive place, they should be responsible for reporting bad citizenship. 

I found that analyzing the rules was an excellent way to see how the moderators of the forum handled digital citizenship. However, as the term goes on, I will have the chance to see if these rules are followed and if the digital citizenship promoted in these rules is maintained. 

Joining Runner's World

For my investigation into the world of digital citizenship in forums, I chose one of my healthier hobbies: running. Two of my favorite forms of exercise are running and yoga, and while I considered joining a yoga forum, I doubted that there could ever be anything less than zen-like attitudes on the forum. However, runners tend to develop strong opinions about their strategies, eating habits, schedules, you name it. For this reason, I thought that a runner's forum may have some interesting moments of digital citizenship to observe. As the runners share their opinions and personal experiences, it will be interesting to see if interactions remain civil. 

Another reason I felt a running forum would be a great place to join for this occasion is purely selfish: I hope it inspires me to run even more often, and more successfully. While in high school I played softball and I absolutely hated running any further than around the softball diamond. Once in college in beautiful San Diego, I came around and began to love running. One of my best friends and I frequently enter races, ranging from 5ks-10ks (and sometimes involving mud and obstacles). My goal is to run a half marathon in the near future ( who knows what the definition of "near" will be). However, even in my initial viewing of the forum, I am beginning to feel the motivation. 

In my everyday life at school, with family and with friends, the topic of running does not come up often. Even with my running buddy, our conversations about running generally consist of complaining we are too busy to run as much as we should. While I admit at first I did not see the value of an online forum, I already am enjoying receiving free advice from avid runners who have a level of passion for this activity that I hope to develop. The Runner's World forum (found at: http://community.runnersworld.com) has communities specific to beginners, women, masters, and those interested in team-running. It also is divided by topic into sections like "5K to Half Marathon". "Marathon", "Triathlon", "Trail Running" , "Barefoot Running", "Nutrition and Weight Loss", "Health and Injury", and several others. The forum seems to have very active participation, with some community members posting every day to various threads. 

So far I have browsed several threads, but I spent quite a bit of time reading a thread focused on achieving a 10K time under 45min, a far off but possible goal of my own. I observed quite a bit of positive rapport between the community members on this thread. People were very encouraging of others, mildly suggesting ways to improve times. The only comment that may have lacked positivity was a question of whether or not some of those suggesting longer workouts ever sleep, to which another member replied "Sleep is for the weak". However, this minor teasing seemed to be in good fun, and was followed with further encouragement. I was also impressed by a trend among community members: They post their personal records, "PRs", in their signature of each comment. I suppose this serves as an indicator of where each member is in their running ability or commitment. I will admit that I am already truly enjoying reading more about running strategies and workouts and feel I have quite a few new ideas to go try out.