"Is there anything else about the Virtual Swamp that you would like to add?" was the final question on the VS survey. Listed below are the answers that you provided to that question. I have withheld the names of the respondents who "signed" that last survey question. Additionally, I removed the names of regular VS posters who were mentioned (negatively) in some replies. A message board is only as good as the person(s) who moderates it. It is interesting. I am not a UF fan but I do consider myself a member of the Virtual Swamp. When I began my message board, devoted to a different team, I attempted to use the VS as a model. I hope VS is here to stay for a long time. VS is a better sense of community than other message boards. People don't over-react and are typically nice to chat with. Mud keeps a great board. The place is great! It's a lot of fun and a place to let off steam! I spend WAAAY too much time on the VS. At work and home. It is almost addictive. However, there have been some benefits like meeting local Gator fans to watch games with, timely info both Gator and General... Free beer. Best Gator board on the net hands down. Posters are very knowledgeable and level headed. It was better than the old unmoderated trash that was the Gator Sports Message Board. Moderators do a great job and that along with a good participation and substance are the reasons I use it. And... UGA Delenda Est VS is a small, close-knit internet community. I prefer a larger community w/ separate Gator sports message boards so I can access info on specific Gator sports. Without exception, the most informative Gator sports internet site is www.gatorcountry.com. This is where I spend a majority of my time on the internet. personal icons are a very neat feature A notification that a post has been rejected and why. It's a great site.The VS is the best run message board that I've visited. Also, due to the fact that posts need to be substantiated with proof(i.e.,link) it is almost always the place to get accurate breaking news from all over the world. During the 9/11 incident I would think that VSer's were among the top 5% of informed individuals IN THE WORLD. I know that that is quite a strong statement but I believe it to be accurate. I would also be willing to bet that there is no other board that has more breaking Gator news than the VS. I am not a Florida fan but do enjoy reading and interacting with Florida fans who share a passion for sports which I appreciate. I also like the VS because it is run by fans for the fans and isn't commercialized. I have given gifts to help support bandwidth fees because I understand the cost of paying for them and I truly enjoy and want fan sites to exist. I have found that when Sports sights go commercial especially college sports sights they lose their sense of community which is replaced by commercialism. As a Kentucky fan I left a site that I posted on for two years because of the commercial aspects of corporate driven sites. I enjoy the fact that off topic stories, etc are always welcome. I hate the "follow along" scrolling letter that follow your mouse icon when you open up some people's posts. They are VERY annoying. enjoy the VS immensely. . .keep it going in its present format and content I like it when Mudlizard gets all mad at the political posts and reminds users that's what the lounge is for. Icons are really neat. I'm very surprised you didn't mention icons...or inside jokes. The key to an enjoyable sports message board is having a few simple, reasonable rules designed to keep it fun for the intended audience, and moderators / administrators that gently but firmly enforce the rules. I love it! Addicting Love it and Go Gators. Mud is sexy No more surveys I consider my time spent on the VS to be a relaxing hobby and a great way to have interaction with a wide variety of people in a short period of time. No Protect my right to post. Great site. As a rival fan, I find the VS and its posters to be among the best on the internet. I appreciate the wit on VS. I am a rival poster on the VS (FSU grad) so my poll results might not be what you are looking for. I live in Australia and don't get back much to Florida. But if I did I would see a lot of the people on the board quite often, by choice. I think it is a GREAT website and I love visiting it. VikingGator is a remarkable member and I always look forward to reading his comments. Great place to get info on the Gators It's a muddy place. *<8^) It is "Somewhat important" that we can buy thongs with the Virtual Swamp logo. :P Just wish sometimes they would allow differing opinions. It seems if you don't kiss the moderators a**, that your post gets deleted. Moderators delete post for no reason. I've also had moderators that have attacked me on this board, and then act like they did nothing wrong. It's fun, it's enlightening, it's harmless...but most of all it's a bunch of regular people who have one common bond....we all love the Gators and the University of Florida. Reading the many varied opinions on the Gators and other teams is very enlightening. I enjoy the different viewpoints. Some posters are very insightful and I have been able to broaden my sports knowledge. Go Gators!!!!!! No The Virtual Swamp doesn't stand alone, it also has the Lounge for political debate - often heated, allowing the main board to be more sports and general interest oriented and friendly. Add to this that both Wayne's Auburn Board and the Vols To The Wall board share the same server and the sense of community actually extends beyond the Gator family. I have met people from both of the other two boards and made friendships with those people. The VS has been something of a surprise to me. The people who post regularly are a diverse and interesting group of intelligent, funny, and kind people who share one thing in common: the Florida Gators. There are other more popular Gator sports message boards, but this one has the best sense of "community" in my opinion, and has the features and content that I enjoy. personalized icons makes it a unique forum. I enjoy stopping in to the Virtual Swamp throughout the work day to break up the monotony of work. No I love VS because it allows contact with Gator fans from afar. I live in Georgia an find few UF fans accessible in person. Also, VS regulars are, for the most part, quite intelligent, witty, and tolerant of contrary opinions and personalities. Once someone becomes a VS regular, even irritating idiosyncrasies are accepted by others. FWIW, your "average time spent" questions may not capture my behavior accurately, because it is seasonal. During football season I may spend 2-3 times as many hours per week watching UF sports shows or posting on VS than during other sports seasons. I did my best to guess averages in my responses. It is a great mix of mature attitudes and opinions I think it is informative because most of the items have been investigated by at least one person on the board. I'm an out-of-state grad so I use VS and other Gator boards to keep up with events on and off the field. For example, sometimes people post about the UF campus (building construction), favorite haunts, best professors, fraternities, etc. I like those kinds of posts. That allows me to at least imagine I'm keeping up with UF. VS strikes me as more of a "club" type board because many posts on the main board are not sports related. GatorCountry strikes me as more of a sports board, because they have "rooms" dedicated to basketball and spring sports. I spend a lot of time there. But I like VS too! Cheers. The VS is a close knit community that is in the unusual position of being open to a multitude of strangers. This may be usual in message board communities but the VS is the only one I participate in so it feels unusual to me. I feel a bond with the regular posters and have received support from them during times of stress, specifically on 9/11. I appreciate that it is run as a family board and I never hesitate to open links from regular posters. The founder of the board has created something special and I have never regretted supporting it. I have even supported it financially and plan on continuing to do so. There are several posters who act like it's their outlet to the world. They post everything they do in life on this board. (name withheld), (name withheld), (name withheld), (name withheld) to name a few. There are more. I also think most of the constant posters need to get lives. It's a good board but too many people hide behind the rules and insult others (name withheld) and then complain when it's done to them. I prefer VS because of its format (layout), that you don't have to pay a fee to access during peak usage periods, and that cordial communication is enforced. Add a lot more Vols Info, then it would be a Smokin board :-) (name withheld) I primarily use VS as a source for Gator sports information. I am an avid football fan, and adopted UF as my team, as USF did not have a football team at the time I attended. I spent (mis-spent?) many weekends in Gainesville, while my brother attended UF. I work too many hours a week to also invest time into be an active contributor in this forum, or any other. The sense of community, and importance of voicing my opinion would be rated high, if I had the time to invest in this activity. The answers to the average number of hours per week questions, vary wildly with my work schedule, and the Gators football schedule. If I have the time, and its football or basketball season, the number of hours watching Gator sports, and hitting this website go up. Conversely, I might not touch it for a couple of months. I occasionally get involved in regular team sports, if I can work the schedule, but not consistently enough to justify a positive answer to that question. I constantly check the board for various news, even non-Gator activities. When the towers were hit on 9/11, I found out about it first on the VS. Most of the people who post there are well informed and intelligent. Some are just entertaining. Overall, the VS saves me time from trying to keep up with everything that is important to me. - (name withheld) I'm and LSU Tiger, but Mud has the best message board in the SEC. I've been a member since the very beginning when it sprouted from dissatisfied members of the old GatorSports Message Board. It is one of the best-moderated sites around, and there is a premium placed on civility and community, which makes it a very easy site to go to. Continual emphasis on recruiting, but for all sports. Unless you pay (Gator Country), it is difficult to keep up on current recruiting news. glad it is there for Gators A "hot chicks" link. The VS started out for me as a valuable link to Gator sports when I lived out of state and coverage was limited locally. It provides a short-cut to links concerning UF sports. It appeals to me because of the higher level of civility that exists. It is self governed and a certain degree of decorum is expected and maintained. I especially appreciate the humor that is consistently found. The inside jokes, creative art expression and "online" personalities give it a soap opera type appeal, i.e. if I don't keep current I might miss something. At work it is a break for me to check in and see what's up at the VS. I have only posted a very few times....if I got started, and created an identity, I'm afraid it could become too consuming. I am a former UF football player from '68-'72. The Virtual Swamp is important for two reasons. Gator sports news and breaking news at work. I check the Swamp regularly for breaking news. On 9/11 the Swamp was about all the news I was able to get. Interesting people and each adds something. When added altogether, it makes for a gestalt effect, ie the whole is worth more than the individual parts because it is the individual parts and it's also something new in and of itself. VS seems to have older, more thoughtful members. Whereas, Gator Country and GatorBait Message board seems to have younger posters that tend to talk smack. The information on VS is usually reliable. Everytime the computer is turned on, VS is checked. Intelligent board for the most part. I think it is a great place to meet Gators and fans. I find that most of the posters are intelligent, caring people who love the University of Florida and the Gator sports teams. I often ask opinions of fellow posters about non sports related items, from digital camera advice to Gator artwork/images. Sometimes I have given advice as well. It's like having an extended family! It has a higher average IQ than Gator Country. The Virtual Swamp is an excellent source for news about the Gators and for just good-hearted banter regarding the Gators as well as a variety of other subjects. I visit because I like the people who post on this board and enjoy reading their insights on various matters. In my opinion, Virtual Swamp and Swamp Gas are the top two Gator boards and I greatly appreciate the efforts which their owners and moderators expend in making such quality message boards available to the Gator nation. This questionaire must be for a Psychology class and has nothing really to do with online sports boards. Fun city!! School spirit!!! Intellectual completeness!!!! Get Mud, O&B, ClownTown, RRR & WizeGuy a beer [at least 8^D] !!!!! Wayne's AUBURN Board is better. War Eagle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If something is going on in the world, sports related or not, I usually read about it first on VS. Other Gator sites have their following, but I find the format here to be easier to work with. War Damn Eagle from an "Aubie" Lurker It kicks ass. Mud is good! It's the best source for Florida Gator information I've found. less politics more UF sports It has really been nice to check out the VS from time to time! I Hope that it continues to stay in operation. The main reason I come...many of the people on the board who post regularly really follow the Gators in depth and know more about the teams than the professional reporters. The main reason Gator Sports is important? Sports serves as a bonding ritual among men. The football games serve as an excuse to get together with my brothers and father. When I am at a party I can associate with other Gator fans as well as fans of most other schools and talk sports. Pretty well done. I can think of nothing to add. It is a good site, but at the end of the day, unimportant in my life. The virtual swamp's main appeal to me is that it is a place to connect with people who know what it is like at the University of Florida. It allows me in a sense to revisit experiences that I consider a critical component of my maturing years. It builds a sense of community among alumnus that is effortless and rejection free. What elevates the VS over other gator message boards is the sense of community, a core of 'regulars' that is not to large to get lost in the "crowd" and it's freedom from advertisements. I don't feel like their trying to see me something. It's just a place to hang out with no ulterior motives. Don't like to type- that is why I don't post much!! Best damn message board on the internet Small group of people that does the searching for Gator news items for me. would like an easier way to be able to post on Virtual Swamp. I think that Auburn posters should be paid a small honoriam for posting. Say, oh about $50-$100 per post. for an out of state resident, this an other pages are the ones where i get my gator news. sites like www.wmop.com allow me to listen to local-florida coverage. As a graduate of another SEC school and as a Florida resident, I enjoy the Florida and SEC banter and information. And the VS participants are less silly and venomous that on some other school's boards.