All three super-users highlighted the importance of holding themselves and others personally accountable within the forum. This accountability was sustained through self-policing measures such as addressing hostile (e.g., racist, homophobic) posts, reporting abusive behaviour to forum moderators, and signaling to other users if they post in the wrong section of the forum. During her interview, while browsing Brave Boards Jenny stopped to read a post and remarked, “... this doesn’t belong here” and, after scrolling down the page noticed that another user had also pointed this out and indicated where the post should be placed on the forum. The ability to engage with and modify the contents of the forum was critical in developing users' sense of ownership and responsibility towards the forum.
Another device through which these super-users were able to gain a sense of ownership within the forum was through the use of different font colours and emoticons. Jenny stated that “Since I began using the forum I have always written in blue, it’s my colour”, and she went on to point out some users’ unique signatures at the end of their respective posts.
Using various formatting options, Jenny personalised her presence within the forum. In addition, using pictorial representations such as emoticons, Jenny was better able to convey the intended tone of her posts. Additionally, she explained that the use of either full prose or‘text messaging’ language influenced the ways in which posts are perceived within the forum:
“Some people use full sentences, some use text message language [...] it reflects their online personality. If someone uses [full prose], it might seem like too long a post and will be skipped over.”
A factor contributing to the ways in which individuals use online forums is the amount of choice they have about how and when they choose to interact. For example, users of the Brave Boards site are free to set their status to either online (visible) or offline (invisible). Jenny argued that appearing ‘visible’ positively contributes to her forum identity:
“I’m an open person, I don’t care if someone sees I’m online or not. I’m not trying to be anonymous. Others might want to be offline to avoid unwanted contact [and] retain their privacy.”
While appearing ‘visible’ is arguably beneficial, one must consider how giving users a choice about whether or not to appear online affects their agency (Hodkinson, 2007). The option of remaining ‘invisible’ to Brave Boards participants can afford novice users the opportunity to become “legitimate peripheral participants” (Gannon-Leary & Fontainha, 2007; Lave & Wenger, 1991). This enables users to observe their fellow heavy metal fans’ interactions invisibly and derive personal edification from the discussions without the pressure of having to contribute.
Jenny explained that Brave Boards members can choose to sustain public interactions within the forum or they can choose to use the site as a meeting place that leads to more private interactions. Jenny also stated that she knows a lot of the users offline and that the forum is often used as a way of organizing offline activities like going to heavy metal shows. This suggests that providing users with a private email function may serve those who desire more anonymity with a suitable space. It remains important to consider, however, how the provision of a private email function would impact the openness of a given technology. It is conceivable that providing users with a concealed space in which to interact obstructs the transparency of knowledge production in the site.
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