Why did you join this online community?

[Sucrose]

Hi everyone,

I'm a undergraduate university student from Tokyo conducting a research on online communities. Since I'm Japanese American, I decided to focus my research on the JREF online community. I hope I can be friends with many of you and I really am curious as to why you joined this community! Please answer the poll below if you have time If you have other alternative reasons why you joined this online community, please comment!

Thank you so much
Sucrose

 

[thomas]

Thanks, are you applying for JREF's CMO position?

 

[Sucrose]

Hi Thomas!

I'm secretly trying to take over this online community (hehe).

Just kidding! I'm just doing an ethnographic research about JREF and I really like the vibe of this community so I decided to join

 

[thomas]

Hi Thomas! I'm secretly trying to take over this online community (hehe)

Don't. You don't know what you're getting yourself into!

Just kidding! I'm just doing an ethnographic research about JREF and I really like the vibe of this community so I decided to join

I hope you'll be able to garner enough feedback! I see if I can support your research by promoting this thread.

 

[Lothor]

I'm an 'Other'. I live in Tokyo, don't spend much time with non-Japanese people, mainly because of family and work commitments, and it's good to have a place online where I can read about the thoughts of other non-Japanese people living in Japan. I've also been in Japan for a while and can sometimes post answers to questions that might be useful.
I like this forum and the people on here tend to be much more positive than other similar forums I've used, particularly the now-defunct Gaijinpot.

 

[Sucrose]

I'm an 'Other'. I live in Tokyo, don't spend much time with non-Japanese people, mainly because of family and work commitments, and it's good to have a place online where I can read about the thoughts of other non-Japanese people living in Japan. I've also been in Japan for a while and can sometimes post answers to questions that might be useful.
I like this forum and the people on here tend to be much more positive than other similar forums I've used, particularly the now-defunct Gaijinpot.

Hey thanks for replying! That's a really interesting perspective on why you joined this community. I realized that this forum is very organized and no one is giving out a negative vibe which made me choose this forum Are you looking into making friends or gaining/providing practical information to other people?

 

[Sucrose]

thread

Thank you! That'll be awesome I'm hoping that since so many people are active in this forum that people will answer my thread

 

[Uncle Frank]

I joined in hopes of locating old friends in Fukuoka that I knew from living there in 1970 to 72. At the time I didn't think about the odds of locating someone in Japan were about the same as winning the lottery. With females changing their names after marriage and so many people having the same name and young people moving often , there is not much hope for success. The members here were so nice , and I made many new friends here , so I have stayed on.

 

[lanthas]

Started learning Japanese in order to understand anime (cliché I know), found this forum while looking for a language learning community, soon enough more or less stopped watching anime, but still practicing Japanese reading and listening daily - せっかくだから (would be a shame to stop). Staying in this forum to ask language questions now and then and help others with their questions and translation requests where I can - and learning from the mistakes I make while doing so.

 

[Sucrose]

I joined in hopes of locating old friends in Fukuoka that I knew from living there in 1970 to 72. At the time I didn't think about the odds of locating someone in Japan were about the same as winning the lottery. With females changing their names after marriage and so many people having the same name and young people moving often , there is not much hope for success. The members here were so nice , and I made many new friends here , so I have stayed on.

Hi Uncle Frank!

Thanks for always replying to my posts :') It must have been really hard to locate old friends before social media platforms were ubiquitous. What made you become an admin and not just simply a member of this community?

 

[Sucrose]

Started learning Japanese in order to understand anime (cliché I know), found this forum while looking for a language learning community, soon enough more or less stopped watching anime, but still practicing Japanese reading and listening daily - せっかくだから (would be a shame to stop). Staying in this forum to ask language questions now and then and help others with their questions and translation requests where I can - and learning from the mistakes I make while doing so.

Hi!

Thank you for your reply Are people helpful when you ask questions? Are you simply here to learn the language but also to make friends?

 

[lanthas]

Are people helpful when you ask questions?

Absolutely. Unless you're rude or overly demanding right from the start, you're pretty much guaranteed to get a friendly, patient and in-depth response to your initial and followup questions.

Are you simply here to learn the language but also to make friends?

Mostly just the language. But look at the Member Introductions forum and you'll see there are plenty of people looking for friends, study partners etc.

 

[Uncle Frank]

I helped moderate for a few years here before I was honored by Thomas and asked to become an admin helper. I have always enjoyed catching and banning spammers here , it is kind of like catching bad guys when I was a police officer many years ago. Having access to the program that runs JREF is a responsibility I enjoy. I like to check on IP location numbers for something to occupy my time. Being retired , I have lots of time , and helping to run JREF is a fulfilling way to spend it.

 

[Lothor]

Hey thanks for replying! That's a really interesting perspective on why you joined this community. I realized that this forum is very organized and no one is giving out a negative vibe which made me choose this forum Are you looking into making friends or gaining/providing practical information to other people?

Make new friends? Not really - as I said, I don't have time to get out much. Gain practical information - occasionally I have a question about stuff that comes up in daily life (I asked one about a Shinto blessing for a house a few months ago and got a lot of useful replies if you want to dig that up). I reckon I'm more likely to get objective and accurate information from a long-term foreign resident than a Japanese person. Provide information - it's always nice to do that when I'm in a position to do so.

 

[mdchachi]

I don't know... I guess it was to interact with people in a subject I know something about and have an interest in. I probably initially joined due to nostalgia for Japan.
I've been involved in various online communities in some shape or form for over 20 years.

 

[TheProphet]

I look for like-minded Japanese who have not sold her pride after the occupying!

君が代は
千代に
八千代に

 

[Lacota]

The best way to learn Japanese would be to immerse yourself into the country and culture. But because I can't afford to visit Japan, joining this forum is the next best thing.

 

[WNJ]

Hi, this is actually my first post in here ^^ I used to enjoy being part of a gamer forum. I liked the sense of community, and recognising people and personalities on it. It died, ages ago now, and I've just gotten used to Facebook. Recently, I wanted to join a forum again, but there aren't a lot of active communities for those living in Japan. Jref is active, and friendly, so it seems a good fit

 

[thomas]

Jref is active, and friendly, so it seems a good fit

Welcome to the forum, @WNJ and thanks for your kind words!

 

[mdchachi]

Hi, this is actually my first post in here ^^ I used to enjoy being part of a gamer forum. I liked the sense of community, and recognising people and personalities on it. It died, ages ago now, and I've just gotten used to Facebook. Recently, I wanted to join a forum again, but there aren't a lot of active communities for those living in Japan. Jref is active, and friendly, so it seems a good fit

You found the right place. Welcome.

 

[Sucrose]

I'm an 'Other'. I live in Tokyo, don't spend much time with non-Japanese people, mainly because of family and work commitments, and it's good to have a place online where I can read about the thoughts of other non-Japanese people living in Japan. I've also been in Japan for a while and can sometimes post answers to questions that might be useful.
I like this forum and the people on here tend to be much more positive than other similar forums I've used, particularly the now-defunct Gaijinpot.

Hi!
Thank you for your reply! The people here are really nice, which I also appreciate! What kinds of questions do you answer? Do you answer questions written in Japanese too?

 

[Sucrose]

Hi, this is actually my first post in here ^^ I used to enjoy being part of a gamer forum. I liked the sense of community, and recognising people and personalities on it. It died, ages ago now, and I've just gotten used to Facebook. Recently, I wanted to join a forum again, but there aren't a lot of active communities for those living in Japan. Jref is active, and friendly, so it seems a good fit

Hi! Thanks for replying What's the reason you wanted to join this forum after you were into Facebook?

 

[Sucrose]

The best way to learn Japanese would be to immerse yourself into the country and culture. But because I can't afford to visit Japan, joining this forum is the next best thing.

Hi thanks for you reply! Is your Japanese getting better?

 

[Sucrose]

I don't know... I guess it was to interact with people in a subject I know something about and have an interest in. I probably initially joined due to nostalgia for Japan.
I've been involved in various online communities in some shape or form for over 20 years.

Hi thanks for your reply! How active are you on this forum? How is Jref different from other online communities?

 

[Biancagwn]

Hello everyone. I'm new here, I wonder if anybody knows how do I start a forum/thread to talk about something?