AnybodyOutThere

This week we thought we’d introduce you to StormyPetrel

Q: How did you find AnybodyOutThere?
A: I found it through StumbleUpon, so it was a rather random but entirely pleasant surprise find.

Q:What keeps you coming back to the site?
A: The people, plain and simple.  I find real people on this site.  For some reason people seem to really embrace the interface and let themselves be themselves.  I find a level of humanity in my interactions with people on this site that I just find lacking elsewhere.

Q: Who have you had some of your best chats with?
A: The people who are the furthest removed geographically from me.  It’s format remind me of my old ham radio days.  I can log on and readily connect with genuine people from around that world and every time I connect with someone we learn from each other and discover that, even though we’re countless miles apart, we’re largely the same (re: good people) no matter where you are.

Q: What do you like talking about on AnybodyOutThere?
A: I like to know what is going on in people’s lives.  I’m interested in the mundane (to them) affairs of their daily life not only because they’re new to me, but because the struggles we face are the same I’ve learned new ways of improving my life just by chatting with and listening to others.
I also love talking about random and sometimes political events.  My mind is never closed and I love new ideas; I find those here.

Q: How do you introduce yourself to someone you’re chatting to for the first time?
A: The same way I do in person: with a greeting and a “how are you” and a “what’s new”.  Are things good/bad?  If they are the kind of AOT people I’m looking for they’ll be honest and I’ll have something to talk about with them.  I always try to make a point of laying out something personal at the beginning so they don’t feel that the sharing is a one-way street.

Q: How did you come up with your username?
A: It’s a handle I’ve had for years.  Aside from being a waterfowl, a Stormy Petrel is one who appears at the onset of trouble or even the bringer of strife; there’s also a nice little literary history to the term.  I’m a bit of a trouble-maker at heart.

Q: Name one thing you have learnt from the AnybodyOutThere community?
A: The internet is not all trolls and bad spellers.

Q: Any tips for AnybodyOutThere newbies.
A: Be honest.  No one can see you and we’re all people at heart.  Put yourself out there, see what comes back and ignore the few bad apples that don’t represent the bunch.

Q: What’s one interesting fact about the part of the world you come from?
A: We are the only country to have ever definitively defeated the USA in open military conflict (cf: the War of 1812); a victory that included burning the White House to the ground.

Q:What’s one interesting fact about you that not many people in the AnybodyOutThere community know?
A: I have a special place in my heart for show tunes and pretty skirts (on me).

Here’s an update on what we’ve been up to. These are all the new features we’ve added and changes we’ve made to improve your AnybodyOutThere experience.

And if you think of anything else that you’d like added be sure to let us know, we’re all ears. We really value your feedback!

• Hide age and gender
  

You can now hide your age and gender by clicking Settings and then Personal details. Here you will see an option to hide age and gender.

• Block users

We’ve had a lot of requests for this feature, so you’ll be glad to know you can now block users who pester you. The block feature is not to be used lightly as blocking someone means they won’t be able to view your profile, send you a chat request or even a message.

To block a user click the block a user link found at the top of the user’s profile.

• Unsubscribe/subscribe to new threads

Sometimes being part of a thread can become overwhelming and may make you feel like you’re being spammed with notifications. Now you can unsubscribe from a specific comment thread by clicking the unsubscribe link found at the top of the open comment thread.

You can also subscribe to receive notifications from a thread you have not commented on. Just click the subscribe link at the top of a comment thread.

That’s all for now. But be sure to check back soon as we have many other exciting changes planned

We felt it was time we introduced you to some of the great people that make AnybodyOutThere what it is. This is something we plan on doing weekly, so watch this space . And it really doesn’t matter whether or not you have spoken with AndrewFromHere. You never know, you could learn something new

Q :  How did you find AnybodyOutThere?
A: I’m what you could call a “refugee” from another social-website that involved chatting via Web cam… and that got fairly old after the order of the day became full-frontal male nudity. So I searched for a Web site that was text-driven, where I could type back and forth between people who I chose or who chose me. And one day, AnybodyOutThere appeared on my screen, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Q: What keeps you coming back to the site?
A: At first, it was that interest in finding people to chat with who had the same interests as I did, searching through the topic posts and finding something I could agree with. But after awhile, finding new people with new ideas, ones that I might not have been familiar with at first, became a real interest of mine. Plus, I’ve found a lot of really great people out there who are amazing to talk to and get to know…. and many are just the funniest people around, whether they realize it or not.

Q: Who have you had some of your best chats with?
A: Oh, wow. There are a lot of people out there I’ve talked to that have been amazing, and I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out. There’s a core group of people that I chat or communicate with on almost a daily basis that are just so awesome. Whether it’s a regular chat, back-and-forth comments on each others’ posts, chats that continue after we leave AOT, or a game of “Apples To Apples/Nutsy Bolts,” they’re people that never let me down by being funny, understanding, and generally an outstanding group.

Q: What do you like talking about on AnybodyOutThere?
A: Anything and everything. I think we’ve all run the gamut of things to talk about on the site. Politics, music, relationships, sports, pop culture, society as a whole, it’s all been discussed. I think the best discussions, though, are about life as a whole. I really enjoy just talking about the everyday things people out there are going through, because I like to hear about them and offer some wisdom if I can, and because I know that there were a few people out there, and there still are, who have talked to and about me and where I’m going when I’ve needed it. So I think that’s probably my favorite thing.

Q: How do you introduce yourself to someone you’re chatting to for the first time?
A: I find it all has to depend on what the topic-line that drew me in is. Normally, it will be like “Hey, so what about….” and it goes on from there. Nothing too fancy, just a basic greeting.

Q: How did you come up with your username?
A: Well, Andrew is my first name (no real secret there, I suppose). And then the “FromHere” portion comes from, everyone always gets around to asking where I’m from. And right now, I am currently living somewhere that I hope to not be living in the not too distant future. I want to get back to the place where I’m originally from, actually. So when I’m there, where I really want to be living, I can still be “AndrewFromHere.” That makes sense, right?

Q: Name one thing you have learnt from the AnybodyOutThere community?
A: Age doesn’t matter as much as I thought it does. It’s the amount of game you bring to the table that matters more. The oldest people can still be the dimmest, and the youngest can be the wisest.

Q: Any tips for AnybodyOutThere newbies.
A: Proper grammar, people. Please. I’m begging you. Sometimes people will pass on a conversation because it looks like the topic sentence has been written in an online form of hieroglyphics. So I suggest that, and keeping the teen-pop music praise to a minimum, because it’s likely you will be ridiculed by someone.

Q: What’s one interesting fact about the part of the world you come from?
A: I’m from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area originally, and many people know Philly for its culinary delights, such as the Philly Cheesesteak (Pat’s King of Steaks, 9th and Passyunk avenues, South Philly- gimme one Whiz-Wit- WOOT!!) TastyKakes, Water Ice, and the soft pretzel. And also, Turtle Soup originated there, too. But I still prefer a cheesesteak.

Q: What’s one interesting fact about you that not many people in the AnybodyOutThere community know?
A: I’m really a closet Justin Bieber fan….. no, not really. I am a burgeoning collector of 33 1/3 RPM vinyl records, although that has taken a backseat lately, as I’m in an area devoid of record stores.

Sometimes they make us smile or leave us laughing.  They amuse us. They make us think. They challenge us. Without out fail, every week there are posts and comments which stand out from the rest. Here are the posts and comments that made our week. Enjoy.

Keep posting , it could be your post next week p.s. click on the posts to see the entire thread.

A question that plagues all of us at some point

Food for thought

This made us smile

Tackling real issues

It’s that time of year again when people stop, reflect on the year that was and list their resolutions for the year to come. We thought we’d do the same. Here are our resolutions for 2010. Some of them may surprise you, but they’ll give you a good idea of what we have planned:)

1. Gain some weight: The bigger the better we say. No dieting for us. We plan on growing and growing and growing and that means more people and better conversations for you. And now we’ve made it easier for you to invite your friends and family to join the fun.

2. Spend more time with friends and family: That would be you! Aww We’re often online. And we love it when you say hi. Now it’s easier for to touch base with us because you can use AnybodyOutThere from your IM agent.

3.  Be more generous: After all it is the festive season and a time to reflect. And who would we be without you? You may have noticed some of our users have Top user badges. That’s  our way of saying thanks to all our active users.  And there are plenty more where those come from so keep talking

We look forward to a great year spent talking with and getting to know you. Happy New Year : )