Rivals or Fantasy Friends, Connect through the norm

Conforming to the norm happens all over the internet, especially on specific message boards. I was scanning the internet looking at college football, in particularly www.rivals.com, and became very intrigued with how things worked. It begins with a list of topics that other people have responded to, which you can read, until you try to post. That’s when you have to become a member. According to Wallace, this would be considered the start of the “sign on the door.” Watching and observing the way other people have responded and created new questions isn’t random, it takes time to master. Usually you can assume it’s the same people because they have theoretically read the sign on the door and chose to abide by the rules. Proper etiquette and manners are essential to team pride and spirit, which create a sense of a friendly rivalry.

After viewing many posts, rarely anyone applied the “arched brow” effect. After having the forum around for a long time and having a sign up process, rarely were controversial posts posted, rather the forum was filled with responses towards team pride. Issues that brought confrontation were avoided and only questions regarding favorite teams, etc and simple posts letting other sports fan know what is on and what is worth chatting about. Keeping the posts and responses clean, it made the job easy for the leviathan. In this situation, the leviathan could be labeled the poster themselves. Even though they know someone has the veto power to eliminate the post, every post that I read was kept clean and without question.

None of the involved on www.rivals.com tried to begin debates unrelated to the sport they love, football. They all conformed to the norm and with the loyalty to their teams; it brought a hint of group polarization. Even though nothing became heated and dramatic, the debates still occurred regarding opinions of upcoming games and recaps of previous games. Of course there were risky comments posted, but everything was kept within good fun because everyone respected the norm.