Thanks, Kim. (dooyoo Addiction)

Member Name: Aspen

Product:	dooyoo Addiction
Date:	14/04/02 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inappropriate

Disadvantages: Inappropriate

You should have been a straight man.





"I sit here alone and I wonder why?" - Kim Wilde - Kids of America.


We all have our reasons for finding, joining, and becoming addicted to, opinion sites.

Frankly, I?m not interested in the psychology behind those who sign up in the hope of making a fast buck, and disappear once they realise they can?t make one.

Nor am I interested in those who appear to join with the sole intention of stirring sh*t and abusing others.

The former don?t have any psychology worth exploring, and the latter may intrigue real psychologists, but for me, they just want eradicating, unceremoniously, like mice in the larder or moths in the wardrobe.

No, folks, thanks to an off-hand comment by a good friend and respected member of several opinion sites, I was prompted to analyse my own addiction, if that is the word, to several opinion sites for well over a year.

And why am I writing in this category, rather than a general one? Because there is no general category for addiction to opinion sites.

So, Ciao was the first one I found, and more recently was the first I became disenchanted with. Hindsight begs the question, was this disenchantment caused by Ciao?s dramatic changes and apparent dumping of its loyal and long-standing contributors, or did I simply reach a stage where Ciao had served its purpose?

I have watched successes and failures among Ciao members. Thanks to various e-groups, I have come to know many contributors, and have witnessed the trials and tribulations within their personal lives. As they have witnessed mine.

The one common factor is this. When your life takes a turn for the better, you leave opinion sites. Because suddenly there are more important things in your life. And the role of an opinion site, or even the internet generally, becomes relative.

Now I?m not suggesting for one moment that Ciao or Dooy
oo contributors are sad w*nkers who need to get a life. Far from it. Ciao is (perhaps was) a wonderful community, wherein the core of regulars were if anything more active outwith the actual posting of opinions. In other words, the community spirit is (was) fantastic, and the whole set-up was like a support group.

Ermmm . . .exactly.

For many of us, for our many personal and diverse reasons, Ciao, Dooyoo, and all opinion sites, is/was an escape from reality. A world of alter-egos. Somewhere to be anonymous and to be taken at face value. Somewhere you could arrive with no baggage.

And a place to air your (hypothetical) problems, in the guise of helping others. And getting feedback, hypothetical, of course, from others who had similar hypothetical experiences. All very anonymous and therapeutic.

So, when I came to Dooyoo, did I come here for all these reasons? Probably.

Because there is no such thing as Dooyoo addiction. And the sad person who created this category needs help. Or a medal/payrise from the marketing manager.

What does exist, is opinion site addiction.

Which, like some other addictions, may actually be more helpful than harmful.



It has been a long while since I contributed here, and from the outside looking in, I can see many absentees and many new faces. So I appreciate that many of you reading this will not know me, and will therefore not be aware of the difficult times I have shared with members here at DY, and at Ciao.

But I recognise now that I fall into the category of those who use, or have used, opinion sites as escapism, and as a route to communication with others who have problems, but who escape those problems by using words and the internet. And sharing, and helping other.


I do not criticise anyone.

This is not an attack on Dooyoo?s or Ciao?s contributors, nor a generalisation ? though there are more who will recognise a self-des
cription here than will ever be brave enough to admit it.

No, this is neither an attack nor a criticism.

This is simply an observation, that opinion sites attract people who, for their own very personal, individual and diverse reasons, need an escape and an outlet.

Dooyoo, intentionally or by accident, recognised that and created a community (Speakers Corner, etc) which allowed its contributors an outlet, but at the same time retained them, and they contributed to product reviews, the site?s raison d?etre and financial crutch.

Ciao, however, failed to recognise that its contributors had their own needs. Ciao thought greater competition was the answer, created league tables, and coloured dots, and totally failed to understand that its best writers and most valuable contributors were not there for ego-preening, or for money. They were there primarily for the support system, which happened almost entirely outwith the site itself.

Many then defected to Dooyoo, but gave up because the community they sought was very hard to penetrate. Forgive me, for this is a criticism closer to home. The Ciao community outwith Ciao was very accessible. The Dooyoo community outwith Dooyoo is about as hospitably welcoming as an Orange Lodge meeting in an Arctic winter.


Cutting back to the chase, I have chosen to write this on Dooyoo, under the addiction heading. I will write something similar on Ciao, if I can find a similar category. But not identical, obviously, for copyright reasons. If I can remember where it is, I may even do something on Mouthshut. (Remember Mouthshut?)

The point being, these are observations valid for all opinion sites.


Do you still think this is a criticism?

I personally believe opinion sites have saved lives.

They have certainly introduced friendships between like minded people, and have created relationships which will last far longer than the sites themselves. r>
In a way, it is sad that Dooyoo and its friends/rivals have to survive or fail by the commercial dollar/euro/whatever.

These sites are performing a community service.

They should be receiving grants from the NHS.

Speaking personally, I reckon Dooyoo, Ciao, and even Mouthshut, have saved the NHS a fortune on Prozac.



© Mike Clark 2002



PS - For those of you still here who remember me, Aspen is alive and well, and has got a life back.

But still likes to stir the sh*t now and again.



Credits -
Israi Oliver (White, specially selected for Safeway) - 1 bottle.

Les Chateliers Blanc de Blancs (specially selected by me) ½ bottle, but still going.

Bisto, the Geriatric JR, who's determination to go for a walk will sober me up

George, a good friend and neighbour, who gave me this gem -


George turned up on Sunday forenoon, looking rough, and for coffee.

"Out last night"? I enquired, brewing up said coffee.

"Cheese and wine," he croaked, from deep within the dark glasses.

"Good night?" I smirked.

"Didn't have enough cheese." Deadpan.

Wish I could do one-liners like that.