Evolution of Mamapedia and Familiarity- like It or Dislike?

I like it because without familiarity there is no credibility. One of the oddest things I found when I started posting online is I could say the same thing I say in the real world but here it was prove it. Well my friends never say prove it, they know I know what I am talking about......because they are familiar with me.

I know not everyone values credibility and I know it is not necessary on a message board like this, still it is something I value so I like how things are.

I like the familiarity... because it's still anonymous. I know that I can count on certain moms to chime in with certain types of advice, that some of them have more experience in different walks of life... but I still don't KNOW them.

It's like having a whole bunch of pen pals... you can be 'friends' and familiar with each other's situations and lives (to whatever extent you feel comfortable sharing...) yet not have to worry about maintaining appearances, or real-life interference. :)

Don't be creeped out if people go back and look at your profile. They are trying to give you good advice and "see" what you are about. For example, it would be silly to give you advice about breastfeeding if you are a formula feeding mom, or advice about kids sleeping in their own bed if you believe in the family bed. Just getting a bit of back history is not creepy.
I have put my picture with a pic of my son from 10 years ago. I have not told ANY of my friends about this website because I like the fact that none of my friends are on here. It's just my own. I have been on here about 5 years, since it was mamasource, and I love it....for the most part.
L.

I prefer familiarity. It creates a sense of community & trust. & while I know this is just a cyber-world, I believe it enhances the experience.

& most importantly: if your profile, persona, & responses are based on total honesty....then anonymity is not needed. You are standing by your word....walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

& taking it a step further: it intrigues me that you equate your time on Mamapedia as an "evolution" & that you miss the opportunity to create anonymity for yourself. Wow. To me that's sad. :)

I would love to meet some of the regulars!

The familiarity here gives credibility to some answers, and there is a whole pen pal "friendship" that can develop with some. It also helps me move on and not sweat a response OR choose not to answer their question if I know the advice would be wasted time. I like the community feel, the private support I've received, and the different angles to things that I wouldn't have thought about on my own. I think it's a great site, and a great thing to know a little bit about someone.
There's still some basic anonymity in that you don't have to post a picture if you don't want, your name is whatever you type in (and not full names), you don't have to be embarrassed or worried that one lady is going to whisper about you and your "need" to another lady at your kid's little league game or whatever, lol. I don't post pictures of myself or my children, but I use our names. I'm a pretty open book and am true to my personality whether I'm online or face to face. BUT I do feel more comfortable asking some questions on a board that is anonymous (even if they see your other questions, they don't know you personally) than I do to talk to who? Sister so and so at church, or the next door neighbor? Um, I prefer mamapedia for some things, thanks. :)

If I didn't like it I wouldn't be here.
I've left other sites.
Just signed off, deleted my bookmarks and never went back.
Because the chemistry wasn't right.
For right now this site's a good fit.

I like it :)

I used CafeMom before I found MP. I just enjoy the layout. It's nice to be able to disagree without arguing non-stop. Plus, the open forum makes it so much easier to keep up with the questions. Post what you like and skip what you find uninteresting.

That being said, I don't personally know anyone on here. I enjoy that part. Like someone else said, it's like having a bunch of penpals. Sure I post a picture and small details about my life. But at the end of the day I just enjoy the conversation. :)

I'm meh about it. I won't be posting a picture or anything more detailed than I have right now. I don't mind being familiar with someone's postings but I'm also not looking for friends. Just people to converse with.

I changed my name once...but changing your name doesn't "remove all previous post/questions"...so really there is no anonymity in that respect. Many readers/posters go back and look at other questions before answering...most likely that is why she/he knew a detail.

I wouldn't say or put anything on here that I would need to hide from. So I guess I embrace it.

I've enjoyed this site for many years; somewhere around ten if I remember correctly, though not under this name. Oh, and if I'm wrong on the # of years, whoops. I've enjoyed the familiarity of the regular posters and have enjoyed looking at things from a different perspective I may not be presented with in real life. It is also interesting to go back through posts, my own included, to get a better feel and sense for maybe what that person's current state of mind or situation is.

I'm personally not friends with anyone on here but that speaks to my own inability to connect with others. It's not as if I have issues with people on this site, quite the contrary I actually enjoy quite a few individual's viewpoints.

I like Mamapedia. I've been on here for years - since it was Mamasource. I want to say it's been about 6 years now? Anyway, I have actually met several real-life friends on this site. A few years ago, I did change my location (an incident creeped me out, so I changed my location to my work zip code instead of my home zip code). But other than that, what you see is what you get.

Jane, I also use a Mac and can change my profile - have you tried using Firefox instead of Safari? Sometimes websites don't "play well" with Safari. Just a thought!

I know what you're saying about the 'creepy' factor. I've had people bring old posts into their responses to my questions, which isn't necessarily creepy (unless it happens a lot), but it does beg the question of how much time that person has on their hands...

I like the familiarity. I'm used to the regulars, the way they answer, where they are cming from, etc., which helps when I'm forming an answer.

It's like anything else when it grows it changes and tries to fit the needs of all who are on the site.

The site gives me a chance to try to help from an older viewpoint. When I used cloth diapers they were flat and rectangular not the fitted ones of today. Or making baby food was something you just did from what you made for the rest of the family but not as spicey or hot and you put it in the blender or strainer to make it so baby could eat it.

But it is nice to also find out what the younger generations are thinking on how to parent their children. I may learn something from them when it is time to have more grandchildren.

Overall, it is a nice community of people with ideas trying to help their fellow man/woman.

The other S.

I like it. Years ago I was a member of a chat room centered around books, and we all ended up "knowing" each other pretty well. Same thing at a different time with a bulletin board I was a commenter on.

I think it just happens organically.

I don't mind the familiarity, but not so much as photos & personal info. go, I prefer the anonymity, that's what I joined this site for ;-) I *really* don't like that your questions/answers show up in Google easily, or that you can't delete an entire "post" (q&a). I casually mentioned to my sister once that liked this site, would have never told her my "name" etc. By coincidence a couple weeks later she was google searching something random, and a question came up from mamapedia as the first result. She guessed by reading it that it was me who wrote it! Ugh. I don't like the idea that she can then go to my profile and see ALL the questions I posted. I also *hate* their search functionality, it really sucks! ;-) But I do like to see familiar posters, etc. Lends credibility and gives the site sort of an anonymous-family feel ;-)