How do you strike up a conversation online?

I can't believe someone really use the u2u function to socialize in this place, all I get there is "your comment have been removed" and "I know where you live, I'm gonna shank you, I'm gonna shank you real good"

originally posted by: Indigent
"I know where you live, I'm gonna shank you, I'm gonna shank you real good"

Ah crap. I sent them to the wrong person. No wonder I never got my demands met.

a reply to: TerryDon79

No one ever makes demands or threatens me on ATS


Feel soooo left out right now !

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Imagine me now knowing it was all a mistake, my shanked dreams down the drain

originally posted by: Indigent
I can't believe someone really use the u2u function to socialize in this place, all I get there is "your comment have been removed" and "I know where you live, I'm gonna shank you, I'm gonna shank you real good"

Yeah im sorry about those PMs. I dont know what i was thinking. No more drunk PMs from me i swear.

originally posted by: geezlouise
a reply to: Profusion
I think when you get real like just now, it's real. It reads honest. I dig that, so thank you for sharing.

Thank you for the compliment.

I'm in shock. I just found out that I'm crazy. If it only affected me, that wouldn't be such a big deal. But, the some of the women I mentioned in the original post were hurt because of my craziness.

One mentioned something about her experience with me "shaking [her] view of reality" (I can't remember the exact words, it was something like that), one stalked me for months and then (as far as I could tell) never returned to the vibrant personality that she had previously (she seemed to be a completely different person), another one said I broke her heart and she seems to be a completely different person (far less vibrant and decent/warm now). I could tell other stories that are similar.

Can I prove that any of the above was directly tied to me? Some of it.

I'm full of guilt and shock at this moment.

a reply to: Profusion
Well Pro-dont give up, eh? Are you not striking up one now? You make a statement here, posing a question, and many respond back to you. Then, you respond to those and so on and so on, back and forth. To me? Thats a conversation.

Now in a one on one situation (PM's)...one begins to converse...and hopes the other responds. At that point, if either does not..the conversation has failed. Move on.

I think the world is so full of people these days its hit and miss with relationship building...even just a back and forth communicating one...some do not care to go further...whereas others just wont leave you alone!

Be yourself...be honest and straightforward...and know when its working between you and another...and when to let it be and get out. But, dont stop trying, ok?

Good Luck! MS

a reply to: Profusion

Me again...I just looked up thr posts and saw this "Im crazy" statement. You arent. People have all kinds of belief systems. It appears the one your speaking of here is the one who's off. Dont let it shake you.

Theres nothing wrong with you. Be yourself and move along...Best, MS

a reply to: Profusion

I have had experiences like that, too. And continue to have them.
(Augustus stalks me)

You're not alone.

It's tough when we realize that we're really partly responsible for the emotional and mental states of others.

We influence one another, that's the truth. There's no escaping it.

We are powerful influencers. And what do we do when we realize... yes, we played a part in someone else's emotional demise (or in their ecstasy for that matter- or both)? I guess we learn how to choose our friends/lovers better. We learn not to get involved with folk who can't hang- because we want to be free to be ourselves, don't we? We want to be free to be ourselves without breaking someone. And after we begin to become aware, if we break them then maybe we can put them back together so they can hang with us a little longer and also to ease our own guilt. But then only some people are capable of enduring that process. So we learn how to discern who is who better and better... and practice self-control when it comes to folk who clearly can't hang (don't try to involve yourself with them on deeper levels- keep it light). That's all we can do when it comes to getting involved with people.

As for being influenced- knowing is half the battle. Choosing how to respond to influences is the other half.

The truth is not negative, or positive. It just is what it is. There's a constant battle and movement to consistently re-adjust our views to line up with new knowledge/the truth.

a reply to: Profusion

like this.


hi i want to talk to you, do you want to talk to me.

or somthing to that effect

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: Profusion
Well Pro-dont give up, eh? Are you not striking up one now?

I'm not giving up on the forum at all. I'm giving up on sending private messages to strangers out of the blue. I'm still sending private messages to people I'm having on-going communications with. I just sent one about an hour ago.

I have the same question for mysterioustranger, geezlouise, Sublimecraft, and everyone else who wants me to continue sending private messages to strangers out of the blue:

Why do you care if I give up on sending private messages to strangers out of the blue?

What difference could it possibly make to you?

Here are the situations in which I would still do it...

If there was some urgent matter that could only be handled via PM (that actually happened once in an out of the blue situation on this forum) or if I had a huge crush on someone AND they showed interest in me sending a private message to them.

Otherwise, I know how much energy it takes to make it all work. It's so hard; it's hardly worth it (the vast majority of the time).

On the other hand...

If anyone wants to send me a private message, I'm more than happy to consider what they say. I always read private messages from strangers (unless it's just an automatic message). That's completely different.

a reply to: Profusion

Nowhere did I say or imply that. I was encouraging you to do what you feel and when you feel it. You asked about starting a conversation...and you did that...by starting a conversation(thread here)!

a reply to: mysterioustranger

When you wrote, "Well Pro-dont give up, eh?", you were referring to the thread title not the original post.

I think we have differing opinions about what a thread is and what a conversation is. I have always thought of a thread as being basically a poll.There is some conversing, but it's mainly just people giving an opinion and moving on.

I have always felt the word conversation on a forum implied that it's private. Consider the definition of the word forum, "a place, meeting, or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged." A forum is not primarily a place for conversations in my opinion. It primarily is a place for other types of communication. That is why I believe conversations on a forum are mostly held in private.

a reply to: Profusion

Just the opposite. Conversations ON a forum...are not held in private. Matter of fact? 100's of thousands of reader ON a forum can read our postings....

Private communications between forum members are surely held as private messages. Agreed.

Not quite the way you put it...but I do understand your point(s) completely. And should you ever feel the need? Send me one! I'll always reply

Best...MS

originally posted by: Profusion
Why do you care if I give up on sending private messages to strangers out of the blue?

I don't care, actually.

You can do what you want.

I almost never make the first move myself but the other day I sent someone a random pvt, oddly. It wasn't to start a conversation (not really), it was just to tell them something personal because I felt compelled to do so. It's always something positive from the bottom of my heart, lol. It's not the first time I've done that, either. So, I do that sometimes. In those cases I don't expect them to give me their souls in return. Sometimes we go back and forth shortly, it usually doesn't turn into a lasting online friendship or ongoing conversation. Which I don't mind and doesn't lessen my initial expressed feelings about them.

People are like forces of nature. You don't ask a storm to be quiet and actually expect the storm to listen to you. You just observe forces of nature... and love them if you can, by paying attention. I know this kind of contradicts what I just said, about everyone influencing everyone (so sometimes the storm listens). But both ideas are true to me, although seemingly polar opposites.

When I pvt message people, too, I consider... would it be beneficial to say it in front of an audience? Specially in a case like this. Could someone reading it gain something good out of it? If so, I won't pvt message, I'll just say it publicly. That might be in part the martyr/artist in me, though... now that I think about it. Giving myself up basically, for some greater good? But anyway if what I want to say is specifically for someone in particular, I will feel compelled to keep it private. Since it's not really for anyone else and no one would care or take anything great away from it had they witnessed my message, etc.

Basically, I'm a robot. And everything I do has a reason and a purpose and a design behind it. lol.

originally posted by: geezlouise
Basically, I'm a robot. And everything I do has a reason and a purpose and a design behind it. lol.

Hey robot, answer your messages.

originally posted by: DocScurlock1774
a reply to: Profusion

like this.


hi i want to talk to you, do you want to talk to me.

or somthing to that effect

Naw man. Gotta get your ATS buddy to introduce you all nonchalant.

"Hey you know who's just the keenest guy to PM?"

Oops! People are honking at me for posting and driving--gotta go!

originally posted by: NarcolepticBuddha
"Hey you know who's just the keenest guy to PM?"

That would be TerryDon (as you already know) since he is good for the frequent D pics.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: NarcolepticBuddha
"Hey you know who's just the keenest guy to PM?"

That would be TerryDon (as you already know) since he is good for the frequent D pics.

That's very true.

Doughnuts
Dwarves
Dinghies


And so on.