Admin Well-being Are you a people person in the real world?

[joelr]

One thing I've noticed is that successful forum admins or webmasters tend to also be successful in the real world. They are in corporate management, they have strong people skills, they have strong leadership skills, they have strong service background, they have a strong project management background, etc.

You don't have to be successful in the real world to have a successful forum, of course, but it probably helps.

Do you see a correlation? Or do your real world employment and skills are irrelevant?

 

[Ravenfreak]

I'm not too much of a people person in real life. I do get along with my coworkers as much as I can, and I treat my members with respect on my communities. I also try to help others as much as I can, which can definitely help when you have a community.

 

[joelr]

I'm not too much of a people person in real life. I do get along with my coworkers as much as I can, and I treat my members with respect on my communities. I also try to help others as much as I can, which can definitely help when you have a community.

Are you someone who initiatives conversation with your coworkers? At the same time, are you someone who initiates new topics?

Are you someone who commands respect in your workplace? Are you someone who is funny in your workplace? Are you someone that others look up in your workplace?

Do you see those qualities spill over to how you manage your forum?

 

[Nomad]

Currently, I do not have any offline work, so I don't meet people, I do not deal with real people. However, when I was working on offline jobs, I have been positioned on multiple roles such as administrative work, marketing, sales, and management. The jobs I have done in my real life have certainly helped in my online work. However, I am not very good at communicating with real people as much as with virtual people

 

[Henrywrites]

I can consider myself a real person in the world. I work with an oxygen company who are incharge of supplying gas liquids and other gases to hospitals and industries that need them. Aside from working on the internet, I focus on creating value and helping people offline have their needs solved.

 

[Cory]

I'm not much of a people person. I'm probably borderline introverted around most people. I've only worked in the retail and food industry during my lifetime, if I had more people skills maybe I could find other means of income. I think whether or not I'm a people person IRL is irrelevant to the success of my forum because people will be interested as long as I have the forum resources they're searching for, so having the proper coding skills is probably more important than being a people person.

 

[Kyng]

Not at all... being on the autistic spectrum, I've never had good people skills in the real world!

I'm a software developer who's happy being employed in a small, friendly local firm where everyone knows everyone else. That's the kind of environment where I'd thrive: I don't have any desire whatsoever to work in corporate management (and I think there's a world of difference between running a hobby community with a few friends, and working in corporate management as a job!)

 

[MrDawn]

No. Far from it. I tend to run away from people when they show any interest in me or suggest hanging out.

 

[Cory]

being on the autistic spectrum

My doctor thinks I possibly have some type of autism, but I've been diagnosed with a lot of different mental health issues throughout my life so it's not for certain what I do have. Mental health issues of sorts can indeed often have an impact on your social life. That's probably one of many reasons I've been more social online in my lifetime than offline.

 

[Ravenfreak]

Are you someone who initiatives conversation with your coworkers? At the same time, are you someone who initiates new topics?

Are you someone who commands respect in your workplace? Are you someone who is funny in your workplace? Are you someone that others look up in your workplace?

Do you see those qualities spill over to how you manage your forum?

I do have a knack for making my coworkers laugh. I try to carry that over in not only my forums but other people's forums as well to express that I'm a human on the other side of the screen just like everyone else. I'm a guy who typically goes with the flow, I assume my coworkers are willing to give me respect as I give them respect but I don't see eye to eye with everyone.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I definitely am but I wasn't always.

I used to be very shy and anti-social. I forced myself to get over it and it worked. Life is way better than it used to be, too.

Being anti-social is lonely and depressing.

What fixed me was public speaking. The first time I did it, I was super nervous. Now, I can do it without any nervousness at all.

 

[joelr]

No. Far from it. I tend to run away from people when they show any interest in me or suggest hanging out.

Do you feel like it's easier to interact online or to make online friends?

I definitely am but I wasn't always.

I used to be very shy and anti-social. I forced myself to get over it and it worked. Life is way better than it used to be, too.

Being anti-social is lonely and depressing.

What fixed me was public speaking. The first time I did it, I was super nervous. Now, I can do it without any nervousness at all.

Did you see that personal growth of public speaking manifest in any way on your forum? For example you felt more comfortable starting and leading topics of conversations.

 

[Shortie]

I wouldn't say that I am a people person in the real world, I suffer from social anxiety which is one of the reasons why I chose to work from home like I do now.

In the past, I have had success, but due to hosting costs and things changing, I chose things changing and wanting to try something new, I closed the forum, something I regret now 7 years later.

I believe that people who are not successful in the real world can be successful online but it takes a lot of patience and dedication.