# Sticky  The paper I wrote using the forum as a community for analysis.



## Melissa Brill

I realized that I wasn't sure I ever shared the paper I wrote in 2018 for a class, using the forum for an ethnographic study - so here it is. I'm attaching the version with my instructors review included.


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## krandall

Melissa Brill said:


> I realized that I wasn't sure I ever shared the paper I wrote in 2018 for a class, using the forum for an ethnographic study - so here it is. I'm attaching the version with my instructors review included.


That’s really cool! I’d forgotten all about it! Unfortunately, it won’t let me download it. If I PM you my email, will you email it to me? I’d love to see it!


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## Janet

OK, at first, I thought your instructor must be a pedant (et al. always has a period, don't left-justify your margins) but - whew - then there was some useful substantive input. Haha. Any way, my takeaway is that you did a good job and that definitely Havanese Forum people are good people!!


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## Melissa Brill

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krandall said:


> That’s really cool! I’d forgotten all about it! Unfortunately, it won’t let me download it. If I PM you my email, will you email it to me? I’d love to see it!


Absolutely. If anyone can't download pm me.


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## Melissa Brill

Janet said:


> OK, at first, I thought your instructor must be a pedant (et al. always has a period, don't left-justify your margins) but - whew - then there was some useful substantive input. Haha. Any way, my takeaway is that you did a good job and that definitely Havanese Forum people are good people!!


Thanks. Masters/academic programs can definitely be pedantic for sure


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## 31818

Janet said:


> OK, at first, I thought your instructor must be a pedant (et al. always has a period, don't left-justify your margins) but - whew - then there was some useful substantive input. Haha. Any way, my takeaway is that you did a good job and that definitely Havanese Forum people are good people!!


As a former pedant at the higher education level your comments amused me, but heck, what good are pedants if they can't be pedantic!

Anyway, I agree with you that Melissa did a great job on her paper.


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## 31818

krandall said:


> That’s really cool! I’d forgotten all about it! Unfortunately, it won’t let me download it. If I PM you my email, will you email it to me? I’d love to see it!


The attachment is saved in a PDF format. I think you might need to download it on your computer rather than a tablet or phone. Not sure.


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## krandall

DogFather said:


> The attachment is saved in a PDF format. I think you might need to download it on your computer rather than a tablet or phone. Not sure.


I know it’s a PDF, and my iPad can handle PDF’s with no problem. It is some incompatibility with the forum and the iPad. No problem. I’ll get it the other way.


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## EvaE1izabeth

Melissa, this was so interesting to read, thank you for sharing it! I don’t remember you posting about this and I must have been a newer member about that time. In fact, I think it was about the time that I realized how valuable I found the forum compared to other online resources and other social media platforms. I’m sorry you didn’t get the participation you hoped for!

You did a really great job.


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## mudpuppymama

I am interested in reading it but also having download issues.


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## BoosDad

Very interesting study. Thank you for sharing.


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## Melissa Brill

DogFather said:


> As a former pedant at the higher education level your comments amused me, but heck, what good are pedants if they can't be pedantic!
> 
> Anyway, I agree with you that Melissa did a great job on her paper.


Thank you - and trust me, the pedant in me was mostly annoyed that I made those silly errors not that she pointed them out .


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## ShamaMama

Wow! ShamaPapa and I did NOT have to write theses for our master's degrees, and reading this paper reminded us of how lucky we were! We cannot imagine the number of hours this took you! But what a fun topic! Thank you so much for sharing!
💚💛🧡💙💜


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## Melissa Brill

ShamaMama said:


> Wow! ShamaPapa and I did NOT have to write theses for our master's degrees, and reading this paper reminded us of how lucky we were! We cannot imagine the number of hours this took you! But what a fun topic! Thank you so much for sharing!
> 💚💛🧡💙💜


Oh that wasn't a thesis - that was just a paper for 1 class (ethnographic research methods) . I was planning on doing a thesis for the program (we had a choice of thesis or portfolio and I really didn't want to do the portfolio) but then realized that I had run out of time and the thesis was going to take a few semesters (and had to finish the program before I could do that) so ended up doing the portfolio anyway (which was a lot easier but I still had wanted to do the thesis). A thesis is a ton!!! of work, just prepping for it and trying to refine my question was taking months of back and forth with my advisor, not even mentioning the hundreds of peer-reviewed articles that I had found for the lit review part and the rest of the research I would have had to do.

Part of me still wants to do that research - so I might keep the topic in my back pocket in case I ever am crazy enough to either do (1) another master's or (2)a PhD (because everyone keeps telling me that a 4th master's would be silly  ).


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## 31818

I have had the opportunity to take a "deep dive" into @Melissa Brill 's academic paper. Most interesting! There are a lot of details in the paper I was unaware of. For example:

Melissa categorized two different types of user groups, 1. Social Network (e.g. Facebook) and 2. Interpretive Network (e.g. "Building a Race Car"). In my opinion, Havanese Forum appears to be a hybrid of the two types of networks, but I will let Melissa speak to that issue.
35% of initial posts were to request advice
25% were to share a story, picture, or experience
18% introducing themselves or their new dog
14% to share other information
Several Forum members were interviewed personally for this study but their identities were kept anonymous (for the record I was not one of them) however it is fairly easy to identify most of them if you pay attention to their posts on HF. Their perspectives are very enlightening on an individual basis.

Reviewing Melissa's paper led me to research the origins of Havanese Forum:

Havanese Forum was founded by Melissa Miller, a private individual who apparently dabbled in breeding the Havanese breed dogs. This occurred in August, 2006. The first thread was posted on August 2, 2006 and low and behold, our own @Tom King was one of the first posters! :First thread Tom it is good you have hung around and we still can use you as a valuable resource!

Four years later, Melissa Miller sold the Forum to a Canadian company, VerticalScope for reasons that are not entirely clear to me - time and money I suppose. Here is the thread announcing the change of ownership on August 10, 2010. If you have the stomach to read 200+ posts steeped in controversy, have at it: Change of Ownership Havanese Forum has evolved over the years since then, but it still is basically the same. Sometimes controversies flare up but are quickly forgotten. Just be aware that anything a member posts on Havanese Forum, including photos, can be viewed and used in the public domain, sometimes without a posters permission. This has nothing to do with the current owners, VerticalScope. Havanese Forum is a public forum and can be viewed by anyone, however you must be a member to post on the Forum.

VerticalScope is a business with over 200 employees VerticalScope Their goal is to make money which includes selling advertising on Havanese Forum. If you don't like the ads (which I don't) you can pay to become a Premium Member and the ads disappear. There is very little in life that is free, there is a cost for everything. People have tried to create a competing forum until they found out how much it was going to cost to create, operate, and maintain that forum. I think that is one of the reasons Melissa Miller sold the Havanese Forum - to save it for posterity because she didn't have the time and money to keep it going.

There you have it, a bit of history and my perspective. I hope Melissa Brill will jump in here to add her perspective as the result of researching her paper.


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## krandall

DogFather said:


> VerticalScope is a business with over 200 employees VerticalScope Their goal is to make money which includes selling advertising on Havanese Forum. If you don't like the ads (which I don't) you can pay to become a Premium Member and the ads disappear. There is very little in life that is free, there is a cost for everything. People have tried to create a competing forum until they found out how much it was going to cost to create, operate, and maintain that forum. I think that is one of the reasons Melissa Miller sold the Havanese Forum - to save it for posterity because she didn't have the time and money to keep it going.


She mostly sold it because she was tired of running it, and made a fair bit of money by selling it.


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## 31818

krandall said:


> She mostly sold it because she was tired of running it, and made a fair bit of money by selling it.


I know how tiring it can be running it! 😉 "Keeping all the Kangaroos jumping in the same direction" as you put it. But there is no money or profit upside for us volunteers!


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## Jeanniek

Melissa Brill said:


> I realized that I wasn't sure I ever shared the paper I wrote in 2018 for a class, using the forum for an ethnographic study - so here it is. I'm attaching the version with my instructors review included.


I enjoyed reading your these, Melissa! And enjoyed reading your instructor’s comments. It was quite interesting. Thank you for sharing it all with us!


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## Melissa Brill

Jeanniek said:


> I enjoyed reading your these, Melissa! And enjoyed reading your instructor’s comments. It was quite interesting. Thank you for sharing it all with us!


Thanks.


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