Disclaimer: I am in no way directly affiliated with MacInsiders nor its staff. Any statements I make here are of my own opinion.
Hopefully you already know about the
big MI Social happening in a few weeks. Having gone to last three, I can attest to the fact that it's a great way to meet people, socialize, and watch your friends embarrass themselves trying to sing Party in the USA.
Unfortunately, the social only comes around once a year, and if you miss it for some reason (you shouldn't, it's worth skipping class for), there really isn't another opportunity to meet people on as grand of a scale. Not that that's a bad thing; I know that a lot of people (myself included) do better meeting people in small groups than large ones. But another opportunity that a lot of users don't know about, or just seem to ignore, is MI's Chat room.
This, as one of the site's banners will mention, is a way to chat with other MI members in real time. You get glimpses of a person's personality through their posts, but Chat's a great way to really see who someone is before you actually meet them. And this way, it's a little less awkward than meeting complete strangers since you might already have talked to them.
Chat is always online (save for times of planned maintenance and stuff), and most of the time there'll always be a handful of people logged in, likely engaged in discussion you're welcome to join.
There are a lot of spontaneous meetups that happen too, so if some people are free and within proximity of each other, you can join a random hangout and meet people in person. This'll happen more often as we get closer to Welcome Week and everyone starts moving in.
Chat's moderated, but this doesn't affect most people. As long as you don't come in and act like a tool, you'll be fine.
But before you click on that button, there are a few things you might like to know about it. First-years especially, take note.
i) We don't like it when first years (or anyone, really) show up only to ask questions, then leave. You'll probably get an answer, but if it's simple ("When do exams start?"), make sure you've demonstrated at least some effort to look up the answer yourself. Protip: Google is your friend.
ii) Stepping into a room full of strangers might be a little intimidating at first. It doesn't help that most of us are upper-years, but generally speaking we're decent people and won't bite. A lot of people log in and don't say anything, and while there's nothing wrong with that if you're scared you shouldn't be afraid to speak up.
iii) You'll leave a much better first impression if you don't type like an preteen girl. Capitals, periods, and punctuation aren't necessary, make an effort to spell things correctly. Side note: don't spam the Chat. It's annoying and if you do it enough you might actually get kicked.
iv) There'll be a lot of things that won't make sense at first. A lot of regular users have developed their own personalities, styles of writing and inside jokes, but stick arond long enough and you'll begin to get a grasp of what everything means.
v) For the sake of being completely honest, I have to add this part: a lot of us are pretty creepy, and I won't deny being one of such people. Especially if you're a girl. It's an unfortunate truth, but depending on who's online at the time, you're likely to get hit on, lurked on Facebook, or privately messaged. Most of it is innocuous (and most of us won't FB friend you without asking), but it might bother some. If you're not prepared for this, I'd either wait until you're more comfortable with us before disclosing your gender or just save yourself the trouble and don't bother. But really, it's generally not as bad as I might make it sound.
vi) On the other hand, don't come in and try to be an attention whore. You probably will get more of the spotlight if you're a girl, and it's generally not a bad thing, just don't overplay it. There are a few of those people and we're not exactly fans.
vii) If you're a guy, you probably won't be hit on at all. Sorry. Funny how those standards work though.
vii) This goes without saying, but just to be sure, don't be a tool. Show people respect and you'll be respected in turn.
Finally, some notes about Chat in general:
- "I'm bored" links you to a game.
- The users with differently-coloured names are mods.
- /roll rolls a virtual 6-sided dice. Rolling in the
deep form of "/roll XdY" will roll X number of Y-sided dice, so "/roll 5d8" will roll five eight-sided dice. Each number is capped at 100.
- You can turn off embedded images and do other things in the Settings (click the wrench/screwdriver icon in the bottom-right).
- You can whisper/private message someone by either typing "/whisper <their username>" or by clicking their name, then clicking "Open Private Channel". There's a bunch of other stuff you can do too that's outlined in the "Show/hide Help" menu.
- You can change your font colour but some people have "claimed" a colour and may be protective of it. You'll know when people start yelling at you.
I covered a lot, but I probably missed something. If I did, just post here and if I can, I'll edit this thread to include it. 'Til then, I'll see you betches in Chat.
edit: woo 900th post
