Seattle 2.0 Blog

March 18, 2008

    The first time I participated in forums or newsgroups dates back to the mid-80s, when you would connect to a BBS to do what we do on the Internet today. Usenet, which is not the oldest, but the most widespread of such systems, dates back to 1979. The technology has changed, the protocols have changed, the tools used to participate on those groups have changed, but one thing has not changed in the last three decades: Human behavior on distribution lists.

    Thinking hard about the last two decades I was able to identify the stereotypes of people that participate on those groups. These “types” are not mutually exclusive, and people can (and tend to) migrate from one to another.

#1- The “I Agree” guy
This is the most typical of all members. He doesn’t add any value to the conversation, most of the time just rephrasing what was already said. A lot of times he (or she) assumes this is a voting system and he wants to make sure the other 400 people on the list know he agrees.
How to identify? He always starts his phrase with “I Agree…”. Variant: He might finish with “Just want to give my two cents”.

#2 – The “I Disagree” guy
Quite common member as well and no matter what you say he’ll disagree and point with painful detail why your arguments are incorrect, even if you sent an invitation to party. Sometimes he just want to be heard, so he’ll start with “I disagree” but after reading his post he is actually agreeing with everything that was said, except the wording didn’t please him.
How to identify? Always starts with “I disagree” (duh!)

#3 – The I’m right guy
No matter what topic, not matter if is a joke or an article, no matter anything, he’s always right. Some people grow out of this behavior by the time they are 18 years-old, but the “I’m right guy” is a teenager for the rest of his life. Everyone views are incorrect and he knows the truth, amen! Usually they won’t last long because people get fed up pretty quickly with him and he’s purged from the group.
How to identify? Excessive usage of words like “never”, “always”, “nobody”, “everybody”.

#4 – The Newbie
Ah, the lovely newbie. He just joins the group and asks a question that was answered 15 minutes ago for the n-th time, or, more likely, he’s a full-newbie, which means that not only he just joined the group, but he is also just getting started on the topic the group is about and didn’t even bother to search for the most basic info before asking for something. In all fairness, there is the “quiet newbie” that stays in silence for a few days or weeks before asking or answering anything.
How to identify? He will either send an un-asked for introduction telling his story since 1st grade or he’ll ask “how do I sort an array?” (Sorry for the CS reference)

#5 – The Instigator
The instigator will be the one that asks a bombastic or hot-topic question and let the fireworks begin. Or, he’ll just add a bit more wood to the fire when things are just about to calm down. The interesting aspect of the instigator is that he usually doesn’t take sides, but he like to see people duke it out.
How to identify? Posts will start with “What you thing about [hot-topic]?”

#6 – The Notifier
The Notifier notifies. He tells everyone about the events happening in town, the promotions, links to relevant articles and papers, etc.
How to identify? Subject line has words like “check it out”, or “great article”. He'll also be the one that will send this link to your group. :-)

#7 – The Plugger
Some people join distribution lists to get answers, some to answer question, but some join to expand their business. The problem is that the Plugger cannot simply say “Use my services” or “buy my product”, that would go against the netiquette of newsgroups. So, he's always asking questions or giving answers that coincidentally require his services or products.
How to identify? They try hard to be incognito, but some can’t live without their 8-line + logo signature.

#8 – The Moderator
There is the standard moderator, which is the person that can truly moderate the list, but there is also the de facto self-appointed moderator, which is the person who thinks he should be the one calming everybody down when things get out of hand. He also tries to explain what the previous person just said to save everyone from themselves.
How to identify? Look for “What [flamer] meant to say is…”

#9 – The Joker
There are two variants of the Joker. There is the person that keeps sending jokes, links to YouTube and links to MSNBC with stories that if it weren’t true they would be funny. Then, there is the sarcastic joker. He’ll always manage to throw some witty line after a heated debate, or even after his own serious remarks.
How to identify? He writes something and you think with yourself “I don’t get it”.

#10 – The Lurker
You don’t know he’s there, but he is. You don’t think he's reading the messages, but he is. Who are they? Where did they come from? The answer might scare you, but they are the press, they are your bosses, they are your investors, they are your peers or your customers. They will never post a question or reply because it would give their presence away, and being able to read the “thoughtless” content is what they want.
How to identify? Offline -- on the real world they’ll tell you something that only people on the list would have known.

#11 – The Interpreter
He thinks people don’t know how to ask question, so, he will make us all a favor and answer your question with another question (thanks for helping!), or, he will re-write your question so others (not as smart as him) will be able to understand.
How to identify? The phrase “what you really want to know is…”

#12 – The Indexer
These are moving-breathing search engines, or people that dream to be a librarian one day. They will have multiple relevant links to any topic in the discussion. They will recall from their history class quotes from people you didn’t know existed, and they have a link to that quote! They will know about all hoaxes, all facts, and all obscure groups about any topic. They don’t write their responses in English, they write it in “http-esk”.
How to identify? Any message with more than 3 links.

    I’m sure this isn’t the full list since I didn’t write about the Outcast, the Pleaser, the “I’m a Mensa”, the Philosopher, etc., but it's a good one.

Comments (2) for "The 12 people you'll meet on...

I suspect that these types Marcello has identified map to personality types and social styles overall. How people participate might provide great clues as to how they will work as a profressional services resource or an employee or as an investor in your company. If they always agree would they add value in serving your needs as a consultant. If they always disagree they might be a "downer" as an investor in your company. Good to pay attention to these clues to someone's style and contribution approach. By Janis Machala - 3/26/2008 12:35 AM

I agree. However, I disagree with your second point. I know what I'm talking about since I have been using the internet since 1982. By the way - that was way before web browsers existed. Have you ever considered how much infrastructure is required by the internet? Most companies cannot afford to pay for all of that equipment out of their available cash so they choose to lease instead. I think what Janis was trying to say in her previous post is that what a person post and how they post it is very telling of the type of person they really are. However, judging by the number of recent visits vs. posts, I would venture to guess most people are asking themselves "is this really relevant to me?" A quick search of google would suggest that it is (this blog came up 3rd) Anyway, just my $0.02. By Brian Hill - 3/26/2008 10:53 PM