In the late 90's I was fascinated by the budding potential of the internet. My curiosity lead to me spending much of my free time learning how to build and facilitate online communities. After 15 years of learning and unlearning to keep up with the continuous changes in the care and feeding of websites my hobby has lead to my current position as the owner/administrator of 2 vibrant online communities.

I consider myself very lucky to have been at the right place in the right time to have stumbled into the role of maintaining these self perpetuating communities. The topics that draw people to these communities are very different. The only common thread between them is that people are social beings that use the internet to seek out other people that share their interests.

Part of my responsibilities as the site administrator involves moderating discussions that have lead to ad hominem personal attacks and flame wars. For the most part the members are reasonable people but there are certain topics that seem to trigger hostilities. I am hopeful that learning more about social psychology will help me to gain a better understanding of how to better facilitate fair and open discussions within these diverse communities.

My involvement nurturing these online communities has made me aware of the imminent threat of governments and big businesses controlling the internet. The potential loss of the internet as a level playing field has inspired me to become an advocate for net neutrality. Government entities and big business want to control and manipulate our internet in ways that pose a threat to the open internet. Our internet must not be allowed to come under the control of governments or big business.

My other interests include travel and photography. I was fortunate to have met and married a man over 30 years ago that shares those interests. After 30 years of travel we have visited some very interesting places and experienced many different cultures. Our travels have earned us platinum frequent flyer cards and a collection of thousands of mediocre travel photos. We hope to be able to continue to add to our collection of mediocre travel photos for another 30 years.

Here's more information for anyone interested in my previously mentioned online communities and a few of the resources that have mentioned them:

http://www.conductdisorders.com/community/ - A soft place to land for battle weary parents.

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conduct_disorder

Wired Magazine http://www.wired.com/2012/02/dissing-the-disabled-without-data-a-biologist-mom-punches-back/

Emory University http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/Prosocial%20Links.htm


http://www.browncafe.com/community/ - UPS Info for UPSers.

New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/29/nyregion/by-the-water-cooler-in-cyberspace-the-talk-turns-ugly.html

Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080603863.html

Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/06/amazons-drones-delivery-drivers_n_4393443.html