Getting back on HoP why is it so hard ?

Hello beautiful people

I should not be online , nor should i be posting on HoP i should be getting ready for my massage exams in two days ...

but i needed a break and so i just caught myself checking out HoP ... like looking from the outside at a home you once lived in but there are new people living in it ...Then i read the post that had been bumped, originally posted by the beautiful katinca - astro grill - ages ago and I remembered so many things and smiled.

I know why i loved HoP and I am happy cause i know others are finding inspiration now... but as much as i could use some hoPing today to escape the revisions ... i just find it so intimidating, hard , and even in a way i feel i cannot completely relate to the general energy and vibe sometimes...

THis is not really a post meant to disrespect what hoP has become or the new inhabitants , I hope noone sees it that way ... rather i am wondering why it is so hard to get back in HoP land ???

I remember a while ago (two years perhaps) when HoP took the great curve and we went from 500 to over a 1000 members in a few weeks i posted something to the newbies out there so they would not feel too uncomfortable facing this big board with people who seem to all know eachother so well...

and here i am a couple of years later in that same position .. but posting to other older members and als to the shy newbies who are not sure they can post : hey guys ... do you feel intimidated as well ???? and/or find it hard to reconnect with HoP ??? are you actually there to answer or are you long gone anyway ?

sorry for the rant
huggles and snuggles
shine on
Cass

Ps : forever in debt to you malcolm and all of the HoPers because i have met some of the most important people in my life through HoP and even though i only interact with them in real life now, I still very well know where i met them and how much i owe to this site

You still very much loved cass... and you've always got a place here...

*Dust off cass's sit* ... see!

Yeah, deffinately a little scary when you first get here. But only because it is such a good site... everyone obviously loves each other very much and have created a little virtual playground where they can play with their happy twirling family. Although everyone here was very welcoming , humans hate to be outsiders.

Cassandra, I have seen your name in alot of threads. You are always mentioned with love.

you're so welcome on HoP it's ridiculous.
my welcomometer is busted thanks to yoo.
you do recieve the vast amount of love that you emit!

i want a new welcomometer.

Ohh cass no your lovely how can you feel that way ?. But the vibe has changed since you have really been online .

You have no idea of what an inspiration you have been to many of us. Many of us chat about you all the time. Ask Flynt.

I agree it is intimidating to come into a group like this, to see all the intros with 100 and 1000s of replies in them. Even in the short time I have been visiting HoP the vibe has changed and also the way I use it has as well.

Please come back lots when you have time. (and make another video)

I'm just going to add my requisite bubbles of enthusiasm and welcome and lurrrviness right here. Because I think it's known that we love our Cass and that she's always welcome here.

Besides, Cass, without you, there would be no Nutella crepes.

I was listening to the radio the other day and I found a new radio station it was called love 92.2 and they had a cass dedication hour on!! some of the songs they played were....

"SUGAR..(dadadadadada)...AH HONEY HONEY.(dadadadadada)..... you are my smiley girl, and you got me giggling heaps!!!"


umm

"she swears, she swears, oh baby its in french, in french, well she spins like an angel and she likes to hug trees, like any pixie in history!!"

hows about that old classic

"cass is my sunshine, my only sunshine, she makes me happy when skys are grey, she'll never know dear how much I love her.. PLEASE dont take my sunshine away"

I took some giggles out of my giggle box and some kisses outta my kiss chest and I send them to you in Flynts next parcel....

I know exactly how you feel Cass.

Even when I had more time to waste on the board than i do now, I quite simply couldn't keep up with all the threads and the members.

I do remember the 'old days' when we seemed ot know everyone fairly well, and the only place that happens now is in some of the selective intro threads, which I don't often have time to go into because I'm trying to be a good moderator.

The best we can do is pop our heads in as as often as possible, and listen as much as we talk so the 6000 plus members can sort themselves out too...

But yeah, I've been feeling along those lines for a bout a year now...

Hey Cass - I know exactly how you feel.
I think we were both around at about the same time (that PiP when we all met up was pretty much slap bang in the middle and was a wonderful day) in possibly HoP's Hay-Day...
Nowadays? Meh... I just don't connect as well as I used to.

It's great that so many people have found HoP and love it as much as I (we?) used to. But for me it's just grown too big, with lots of old friends having left - I don't really use the social bit of the board anymore....

But this is all just IMO of course. HoP's still a great resource, a vibrant community and a lovely place to type - but for me the magics gone

Add me to the list.

I'm not around any much anymore, and I find I dont really mind either. I'll say hi to the folk in HoP chat a fair bit, because I find the prospect of actual conversation more stimulating than 'thread trawling'

I don't know if this is due to my lack of ability to adapt to new and growing HoP? Or if perhaps HoP has outgrown me Either way, I'm grateful and I know that someplace here there is still a home for me... somewhere.

i have this but in reverse, i am fine on teh boards, and can post and talk to anyone on here, but meet them face to face, and i fall apart and become very intimidated!

it was this way while i went to london for teh first time, and met all the amazing hardcore hop londoners, and span i think only twice that night, still since then i have beeen working on my spinning, and am ready again now......

cass you are always welcome in my threads, or in teh chat rrom, and if anyone says otherwise (WHICH WILL NEVER HAPPEN) tell them to come see me and ill THWAP them for their inncolence to an old skool lady hopper!

s + s
laterdays

I'm on here every day of the week (and I still find it impossible to keep track on what's going on unless I'm on here for hours a day.....which does happen....

It is harder than it used to be and I do find a little like an outsider if I'm not posting continually.

It's still a specialy place though...
Things I love about HOP

Yep, it's a very different place from when you were here.
I was thinking of writing a similar thread, but from a different angle. But then I realised that I don't think I've got the energy, nature or desire to try and 'reclaim' HoP. This is not to slate what the new kids are doing here, but I'm growing old and look for something different - which is what HoP used to be. And the friendships I formed on HoP long ago have led to many great and wonderful encounters and now I think my address book is full and global enough for now, to the extent I haven't been able to keep up with those I know for so long.

So, I don't know what to say. This is just another old timer moaning about "When I were young..." and being morose because I haven't eaten yet and us old fogies yet grotty when we've missed a meal.

Stats of interest: There are 6601 users. 3269 of those have never posted. The figure jumps to 5251 if you count those who have posted under 10 posts. 309 registered users have surfed HoP in the last week. 202 of them posted, the majority of them only once or a couple of times.

I agree with Dom! We're getting old Cass and can't keep up with these energetic youngsters!!


Best of luck in your exams Princess !

Well speaking as a relative newbie (I still feel like this sometimes) I must say I agree on some points you made Cass. But i think that its because it's such a close knit family you feel you are intruding or perhaps not welcome when you first arrive, or return after a long absence. But once you post your intro/ive returned thread and everyone says hello it feels nice to be welcomed here. Look at the responses you got on your return...I had no idea who your were but it was pretty obvious you're well liked and loved by the members here...that's a little intimidating for us non-oldie-HOPpers I can tell ya!!

Like Dom posted, lots of users but relatively hardly any regular ones, so the core membership is still thriving it's just they've changed a little. I look in the old boards and wonder where these poeple have gone to with member numbers like 123 or 327 and I look at mine and think wow! Well over 5500 but I feel I have friends here and am loved (most of the time! )

So from a newbie Cass, I hope you enjoy your return to HOP and feel as much a part of the family as you used to. I look forward to seeing your name in lots of new and old threads

I agree I have posted a lot less this year and do not enjoy trawling over all those posts as much as I used to. I also put it to getting old. However there is still a lot of life still in the chat rooms for me plus I still speak to a lot of older users. There are still some really good threads but I think the silliness has got a little old for me and I do not have time to play the games!

Cest la vie! I hope I do not get flamed for saying I no longer enjoy the random silliness anymore.

Only stating my opinion and how I feel.

Well there's only silliness in one area, the social Discussion section. And social interaction does involove a lot of games. There are still a lot of serious threads in here but I do see your point about some of it...but maybe that's the fun of it all anyway, different personalities espressing themselves in their own way

i agree with you jez it seems less of a real world, and more of a one full of games...

OMG maybe im getting old to, maybe i have male pMT?

agrees with all the beautiful oldskool above. Hugs Ya'll
I've had the same sentiments expressed offline recently.

Have you ever gone back to your old school?
and seen how small the chairs and tables look?

Move on? maybe
Shine on. definately
Drew

Quote:

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i am fine on teh boards, and can post and talk to anyone on here, but meet them face to face, and i fall apart and become very intimidated!

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Um aren't you the guy who span in just shorts in freezing weather at Princess's party! I never met someone who intimidated by others removed practically all their clothes before

Miss you Cass!

As for the current discussion... I think there are quite a bit of positives in the current incarnation of HoP that some of the old school kids might be missing out on. I do find that you have to look for threads where you know your buddies are going to be. It's a different vibe but I wouldn't suggest it's worse or more cold.

I think you've just been out of the loop for so long you don't know how to maximize on your HoP surfing. If you jumped back in for a while I think you'd get it.

Then again, what Dom said is very true... your address book has got to be even more full than his! Don't forget, you're a very different person than you were so many years ago when you jumped on too...

I'm probably the odd person out here in what I have to say, but I'll say how I feel anyway.

Cass, I actually kinda like the new boards and feel more than the old ones you are referring to. Why? I was around for the old boards (heck, I've got a member number of 606), but I never posted very much. I was just a lurker. I felt that there was a definite family at that time, but I was never a part of it, and didn't really feel like intruding by posting in many of the long drawn out threads. And, yes, I did feel like I would have been intruding to have posted then.

Now, however, I think the intro threads have done wonders to help new people become acquainted with the rest of the board members. It gives us a chance to get to know them better, and them a chance to get to know us. It is also a place to find out how people are doing/feeling on a daily basis which I find nice. It adds a touch of reality to the frivolousness that the social discussion section can become. I don't feel like I'm intruding at all like I used to, and I feel like people actually care about what I say, as opposed to me just posting a random comment here or there before trying to get in on part of the discussion.

The heartfelt threads of old still exist as well as the well as the topics that cause one to think. The family feel still exists, the members have just changed. If you do take the chance to get to know the "new" board, I think you will like it and realize that much of the old feel is still here, it's just that there are new players.

Are you afraid of getting to know new people? Do you feel that by making room in your life for the newbies you will be forcing your old relationships to take the backstage? I think the newbies are definitely worth getting to know - they are a wonderful crew and have brought new life, ideas, and opinions to the boards.

cass ah i think some of the newbies might be getting offended at your reminiscing about the good old days

i have to say i'm sad that you feel that way and i can understand but i don't feel the same as you. I used to lurk all the time and hardly ever posted but now i seem to all the time (probably because I'm a student and have the internet in my room now) but also because i know more HOPers in person and feel more comfortable to post.

In your words: Shine On and i hope to see you post again soon

Som talk about growing out of HOP

i'd point out that just cos people grow out of something doesn't mean that they are shrinking if they start liking it again

for princess cass

ok i'm a new-ish member, though i'm also a post-whore. I don't do it intentionally. i'm not out to get the highest post count. i just love chatting with people on here, whether if be via the threads or in the chatroom. this is my family. and i lurked for awhile before i registered, so i feel a bit odd cause i sometimes feel like i'm older on this board than i appear to be. admittedly, there are some areas where i feel i don't belong, and i tend to visit various threads where my good friends post more often. but in all honesty, i sometimes feel like i'm a poser, afraid that some of the oldskool people dislike me cause of how quickly and profusely i started posting on here.

i'm sorry you feel that way cass. to be honest, i'm still intimidated by most of the oldskool kids. you guys have this very close clique (as perceived by an outsider) that i have a hard time getting up the nerve to say hi and get to know you guys. all of the oldskoolers that i'm friends with are that way because they introduced themselves to me. and i truly appreciated it cause it took away some of that intidmidation and made me feel more welcomed. for that reason alone, i make it a point to say hi in every new intro thread. i know my post count is intimidating to people who don't know me, as is my crazy high number of posts in my intro thread.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that in some small way, i think everyone on here feels a little detached or intimidated by some other member/group/area of HOP.

Quote:

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i sometimes feel like i'm a poser

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You're lovely you are
Its true you are a post whore tho Absolutely no way whatsoever that I could try and follow your thread. Happy to drop in and say hi every so often, although if you reply, I probably have missed it as its engulfed in about 20* new mails when I post again.

Edit: *um more like 120.

Cass

I find it alot harder to post now. I feel lost in a way. Although i still find refuge in the introduction section (i remember when that was first created)

I miss you online Cass. Good luck in your exams . And when will you next be in London so i can see your lovely self again?

Well I'm pretty new and will say that this site is a little draining. It's hard meeting people "electronically" and takes even more effort than meeting people in person. Not to say that it isn't fun also - it totally is. But every time I sign on to this site I feel like I have to "put myself out there." On the other hand it's so nice to have a community and the only way to participate is to participate. Longevity helps a lot with these things.

Anyway, thanks for being sensitive to this. Love and luck to you.

I like the school analogy Glass. I actually taught at my old high school...it was beyond strange!

I don't at all feel I am getting old. I feel that I am in a very different place than I was when I started on HoP and while HoP is still primarily a resource for hobbyists and beginners, I have progressed past that, and in fact, in many ways, past poi. I have had the distinct pleasure of being on HoP from the get go and so much has changed, so many people have come and gone.... Perhaps I have become cold because I truly feel like I made friends, and lost them through the incarnations. I don't put myself out there. I mod. I sometimes post. I care, but on a very different level than I used to. I don't think HoP has changed all that much to tell you the truth. Same silliness, same caring, same enthusiastic curiousity, more people to share it.
I am the one who changed, but I am okay with that, as long as I am able to keep in touch with those such as yourself, NYC, PK, etc.....

Love to all,
Pele