Organization: Arizona State University
Date: Tuesday, 29 Dec 1992 13:16:47 MST
From: <IDSWB@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.soaps
Subject: Re: ALL: Soaps on Usenet, Chgo Sun-Times Fri 12/25/92

Greg writes:
>It's been ages since I've posted "anythin'" (a little DOOL humor) since
>I gave up DOOL cold turkey (clean since May 22, '92), but I wanted to
>perform this public service during this holiday season, especially for
>Nancy Baym.

Greg, I'm sure it wasn't hard to give up dold turkey around May of '92.
That's when DOOL was really sad.
>
>The following is the text of an article appearing on page 30 of today's
>_Chicago_Sun-Times_, reprinted here in whole & without permission.  All
>typos (if any!) are mine.  Opinions/views expressed are those of the
>writer & Ms. Baym.
>
It may make you feel good to know that I didn't see any typos.  Thanks
for the article Greg.
>------------------------- ARTICLE TEXT FOLLOWS-------------------------
>
>     Soap Opera Fans Leave Sofa For Computer-Age Critiques
>                         By Jim Ritter
>                         Staff Writer
>
General Hospital story deleted because I don't watch it.

>  The Bobbie-Tiffany fight is one of the burning issues that
>viewers are debating on an electronic bulletin board monitored
>by Baym for her thesis at the University of Illinois at
>Urbana.
>  The bulletin board is part of a computer network known as
>Usenet.  Anyone with a computer that's connected to the
>network can read and send messages.  It's like talk radio,
>without the host.

  I kinda like this description.

>  Baym pays particular attention to "All My Children," "One
>Life to Live" and "General Hospital."  She has read 60,000
>messages so far and interviewed many of the people who wrote
>them.

  Nancy, just curious.....
  Were those interviews via e-mail or were they in person?

>  Scholars have been researching soap opera fans since the
>first radio soaps in the 1930s.  Fans are usually described as
>isolated loners.

  Yeah, right!

>  But that's not what Baym has found.
>  "Fans have been much maligned over the years," said Baym, a
>visiting teaching associate in speech communications.  "These
>people are not stupid or isolated.  They lead rich, full
>lives."

  Thanks Nancy, I never thought as myself as a nitwit or isolated.
  In fact, I have many, many friends, a husband, four kids, and
  relatives all over the place who I'm constantly in touch with.
  Isolated, yeah right!

>  Each day, soap fans write between 100 and 150 messages on
>Usenet.  A typical message is 300 to 800 words long.

  Gee, the updates usually are much, much longer.

>  Messages may express opinions on such vital questions as
>whether Brian on "All My Children" should be with Hayley (who
>dumped him but wants him back) or Dixie (Brian's dim-witted
>new girlfriend.)
>  When it appeared that Tad would return to "All My Children"
>after a two-year absence, viewers held a lottery to guess when
>he would reappear.  (The winner accurately predicted it would
>be five minutes before the end of a Friday episode.)

  Wow!  This sounds like an interesting idea.  Instead of guessing
  when they're returning, maybe some of us should guess when some
  of them are leaving :-)

>  Usenet links up universities, government labs and computer
>and software companies.  The soap opera bulletin board draws
>comments from engineers, grad students, scientists, technical
>writers and secretaries.

  At least this article didn't go into the lives and times of
  secretaries.

>  Prodigy, a commercial on-line service, offers a soap opera
>chat line on one of its 400 electronic bulletin boards.  It
>draws hundreds of messages a day, a spokeswoman said.
>  "Soap watching is in part a public conversational activity,"
>Baym said.  "One of the main reasons people watch soaps is so
>they can talk to other people."

  Especially since I discovered the net.  I've found that I tape
  more often just so I can be more knowledgable on the net.

>  About 70 percent of Usenet's soap opera bulletin board
>participants are women.

  I guess I'm not the minority anymore.

>  "Soaps offer a way to talk about the nuances of
>relationships and emotions without being personal," Baym said.
>  Nevertheless, people occasionally do get personal.  After
>episodes about rape, racial beatings and hatred of gays,
>viewers have described their own experiences.

  Not to mention inconsistiencies.  I've noticed (when someone forgets
  to put the name in a header) that other groups also talk about when
  the writers forget a past storyline, name, or when something isn't
  within character.

>  But viewers generally don't take soaps too seriously.
>  "There's a mantra people use repeatedly," Baym said.
>"I.O.A.S.  It's only a soap."

  Another mantra people use is saying what we want to happen, in reverse.
  for instance if we want santa to bring us something for Christmas, we
  say he wouldn't bring us that item.  Therefore, hoping that TPTB will
  hear us and do the opposite, like they usually do.

>
>------------------------------ END OF ARTICLE--------------------------
>
>Included with the article is a photo of Nancy Baym with the caption,
>"Daytime soap operas mingle with the world of academics for Nancy Baym,
>who is studying viewers for her thesis."
>
Congratulations Nancy!  A special good luck on your thesis.  I'm currently
a Graduate secretary and know the many hours of research and frustration
that goes into writing and presenting the thesis.  Of course, as long as
you enjoy computers, you picked a wonder subject.

>Happy Holidays everyone!   :^)

Happy holidays to you too Greg and thanks again for posting this.  I'm not
sure whether you posted it on the 24th or on Christmas day but, thanks
for the thoughtfulness.

Sue

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