Fellow Cemetarians,

For the past week, I have been conducting an experiment. I have been tracking DRS posts. I did this because I am curious. Mostly I wanted to find out why people write in and what they like to talk about. This is what I discovered and now report to you.

By the way, I am no psychometrist. I simply tabulated a week's incoming messages. In fact, there were 410 of them. I categorized all of them in three ways: running-related v. non-running-related; affective v. cognitive (more or less), and according to topic. I arbitrarily limited myself to 25 of them.

410/255=62% Post is primarily about running or is running-related
410/155=38% Post is not about running

410/162=40% Post's primary intent is to be supportive, share feelings or seek affirmation
410/248=60% Post's primary intent is to gain/offer information or insight

1. 72=18% Seeking or offering support and fellowship
2. 46=11% Humorous commentary regarding existing DRS threads
3. 27=7% Questions and answers about running injuries or medical issues related to running
4. 26=6% Sharing personal information: attitudes, reflections, spiritual concerns, biographical
5. 25=6% Asking about or confirming DRS encounters; making racing/training arrangements
6. 25=6% Sharing race results or discussing one's training progress
7. 24=6% Seeking or offering non-running-related information on assorted topics
8. 23=6% Seeking or offering running-related information (books, sports drinks, clubs, etc.)
9. 21=5% Discussions about physiology, diet and the science of running
10. 19=5% Matters relating to the DRS server, birthdays, technical concerns, computer issues
11. 19=5% Questions/answers about running equipment (e.g., shoes, treadmills, HR monitors)
12. 18=4% Discussions about medications, vitamins, herbal remedies, etc.
13. 15=4% Seeking and giving information about races and race courses
14. 15=4% Seeking and giving information about x-training (weights, swimming, cycling, etc.)
15. 8=2% Commentary about the weather, current events, societal or technical issues
16. 6=1% Seeking or offering training and racing advice
17. 6=1% Offering congratulations on a running or racing achievement.
18. 5=1% Conversations about other sports...baseball, football, etc.
19. 5=1% Thank you's
20. 2=1% Questions and responses about medical matters not related to running
21. 2=1% Entertaining others with jokes, stories, poetry, etc.
22. 1=1% Discussions about geography, history, nature, regional information
23. 0=0% Discussions of unusual, interesting, personal experiences
24. 0=0% Flaming
25. 0=0% SPAM and chain mail

Observations, and mostly subjective:

1. I examined DRS in the month of February. It is a time of cold, harsh weather for many of us and a time without heavy schedules of races. The posts at this time probably reflect our mid-winter pudginess, our longing for springtime, our greater inactivity, and our tendency to wander cerebrally. Things will be different come April and our sweaty posts will reflect that. Consider this then only a snapshot of the pre-season. Later, Monday's posts will be dominated by race reports, etc. You all know how that goes. :)
2. We genuinely talk about running and running-related matters--by a margin of two thirds to one third.
3. We are primarily inquisitive and factual in our orientation; but not surprisingly, we are also very supportive of each other--and by a margin of only three to two.
4. There are several smaller communities of correspondents within our larger community. Some individuals, for instance, only communicate within narrowly defined circles while others communicate universally--responding to ideas rather than to individuals. Many of us, of course, do both and do so regularly. It would be interesting to ascertain whether or not some of the smaller internal communities also exist from similarities by age group or gender, but that would be difficult to elucidate, and I'm not sure I want to go there.
5. The principal strength of DRS, IMHO, lies in its larger fellowship. Most of us on the big list have electronic friends we've never met in person, and likely never will.
6. People come and go...that's both bad and good. :)
7. DRS epitomizes "stream of consciousness." It is delightfully engaging and international in its flavor.
8. We are both spontaneous and reactionary. Threads pop up at a moment's notice. Sometimes they continue for days, sometimes for only for a few hours. I was unable to reach any conclusion in this matter.
9. Most respondents are active learners, surprisingly literate and amazingly open-minded.
10. Several individuals are also really addicted to DRS.
11. Some people take DRS way too seriously; some not enough. I would add that our posts really do affect other people! Mostly, we seem to err on the side on of caring and compassion.
12. Some people have way too much time on their hands; some people should interact more.
13. Considerable information is transmitted daily, but be careful...passion occasionally crowds out accuracy.
14. There are several wackos on this list! That's good! Our human fabric runs from silk to polyester, our diet from caviar to pork rinds, but mostly we're waaay too health conscious. :) In other words, DRS is wonderfully diverse...a treasure trove of ideas from all around the world, and usually connected in some way or another by running.
15. Newcomers to the list, especially youngsters, novices and penguins are always treated graciously. We seem to take a special interest in welcoming them aboard.
16. Sometimes we take each other for granted.
17. Regular contributors usually fall into a behavioral pattern (e.g., humorous, informational, supportive, scientific, etc.)
18. Certain topics have earned a life of their own on the list: plantar fasciitis, heart rate monitors, being motivated to run, losing weight, to name just a few. Should we have a common topic index with appropriate informational links? No, and just kidding...If we did that, who would we look to for comfort and compassion? :)
19. Special status seems to have been conferred upon certain contributors...and it is not based upon their running achievements either. In other words, status has been awarded to adopted cyber-social roles: including mother, teacher, sister, coach, computer wizard, etc. It is apparent, however, that care and concern for others always wins the race. In my idle moments I sometimes wonder if their non-computer personae are the same. =:-O
20. I'm going out on a limb here...female respondents tend to be somewhat more motivated by their desire to be socially supportive; male respondents tend to be more information-oriented and engage in humor more frequently. Could it be that males have more difficulty expressing their feelings?
21. Infrequent posters are some of our most interesting and funniest contributors; active posters are often like our daily drive home from work--familiar, ordinary, comfortable, enjoyable, and yes, sometimes quite annoying, especially if *we've* had a bad day at work.
22. There were no real surprises for me in this data. I would, just the same, be interested in your reactions. Seems like a good thread to me. :)
23. I did not intend to single out or focus intentionally on any given individual. If you recognize yourself, it was entirely coincidental and unintended. :)

Well...I suppose I could go on and on here, but it's time to sign off.
Carpe Viam!

Respectfully,
Paul in Potsdam, NY
"All reports are in. Life is officially unfair."

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Comments, advice, submissions, and other stuff can be sent to JeffReed88@Yahoo.com