Living your life on the message board

[Asking for a scolding?]

I have been in Singapore for a few months now. I’ve found a lot of good information on the message board and it is a great place if you use it to meet new people.

Sometimes I wonder if you can get addicted to the message board. Can it be a substitute for human contact? I hope not but sometimes I wonder........

[Paul N]

When you are removed from expat areas with few friends close by, and a schedule that keeps you tied to a short leash, this board is a good outlet to keep the synapses firing in the right sequence.

It is important to keep it in perspective, however.  If you start spending time on the board at the expense of doing something else you know you should be doing, you are crossing the line of attraction vs. addiction.

I will be very frank and tell you.  I wander back and forth across this line every day...isn't it obvious.  But I know my relative isolation is only temporary.

[Addicted]

Thank you for opening this line of enquiry. I am totally addicted to this message board. It has become my life. I have no real life friends, they are all virtual with names like snoopdoggy, eloper and JohnS. They are all great friends (though I wish I knew what they looked like!) Does anyone know if there is some sort of organisation to help people like me - perhaps the board manager would consider setting up EMBAA - Expat Message Board Addiction Anonymous. To all those other addictees, good luck and stay strong.

[interloper]

Addicted -
as another "outlet" for our affliction/addiction - why not try some whisky.

When you crave to get back on the expat board  - down another 0.5 pint of strong liquor and you'll either:

(1) Become a so-called "non-addicted" On-line S'pore expat
or
(2) Become an alcoholic with an odour problem

your choice!

Ta
Inter

[Singaporean]

I confess, I too am pathetically addicted. But I do have real friends too  

[Billy Nomates]

Bod is my best friend. And Mr. Ben too. Oh yes, and I nearly forgot Dougal. So what is wrong with interacting virtually with people? We all dream don't we? And is that not what the essence of dreaming is? Interacting virtually without parameters that ordinarily restrict our mundane existences?

Message board dependency can of course have its negative effects when taken to extremes. But this can be said for the usage of alcohol and other narcotic or carcinogenic drugs can it not? Or any kind of activity that can create addiction. Everything in moderation is good, but excesses can prove fatal, or even worse. (Worse than fatal? Have I lost my mind? - See stoning scene in Life of Brian for reference.)

But which is the real world anyway? And where are the boundaries between fantasy and reality? Ask Terry Pratchett and I am sure the answer would be different to your own ideas.

But enough of this. I am having a barbecue with R2D2, C3PO, and Han Solo this afternoon.

[guilty]

Okay, so how many times a day you  all log on to the board?  Be honest!!

[Abdur]

I confess also that I too am addicted to the board. (Or is it OCD of some sort?)

We really should meet for drinks soon to form our own support group; only then we can venture into those obscure future directions...

[Ash]

Depends on if you see this Board as a means to an end or an end in itself?

[Asking for a scolding?]

Doesn't anyone understand that I am in denial of my addiction to the message board ?  

Though lately I have became a workaholic instead, but I hope to go back to the board.
At the moment I am holding a big glass of Mr Daniels in my hand, trying to compensate my two other addictions......