Camaro5 as a Discourse Community

[Rob561LS]

Hey all, as part of my ENC1101 writing class at UCF I have an assignment to study a discourse community and I choose Camaro5 and was hoping a couple members could help me out by answering a few questions.

A discourse community is a group, or community, which shares a set of common goals, has a way to communicate within the group, a way to provide feedback to one another, and a lexis.

As part of the project I need to interview members of the community. If anyone would be willing to answer a few of the following questions I would be extremely grateful.

1. What is the goal of Camaro5.com?
2. Who can join Camaro5? Are there any prerequisites?
3. Why did you join Camaro5?
4. In what ways do you communicate with others in the community?
5. How can you provide feedback to one another?
6. Do you have a particular Lexis(certain words used for things, i.e: OEM, LEO, etc)?
7. How does one gain authority or respect in the community?
8. Can you leave Camaro5, either by choice or be forced to leave?
9. Aren't camaro's the greatest car?

As stated above if you could take the time to answer some of these questions it would be very helpful with my paper. I know some of the questions seem redundant, I just want to make sure I cover all my bases. Thank you in advance!

[CamaroKid300]

1. What is the goal of Camaro5.com?

To help members join a community and talk about our cars, and to help people when seeking advice.

2. Who can join Camaro5? Are there any prerequisites?
Anyone, you don't even have to own a Camaro. I know of a few Mustang guys on here.

3. Why did you join Camaro5?
At first it was because I had a question about my car. Now, I try to learn something.

4. In what ways do you communicate with others in the community?
Events.

5. How can you provide feedback to one another?
Type it out, tell them in person.

6. Do you have a particular Lexis(certain words used for things, i.e: OEM, LEO, etc)?
IMO, OEM, LMAO, WTF...thats enough.

7. How does one gain authority or respect in the community?
I have tried to gain respect here by being respectful and not acting immature. Hopefully it has worked.

8. Can you leave Camaro5, either by choice or be forced to leave?
Somewhat both.... but really its by choice. If you want to be here thats a choice... you behave and follow the rules. However, someone also can be "banned" or "suspended" by making bad choices of what they post. So really, its all by choice IMO.

9. Aren't camaro's the greatest car?
Self explanatory.

[SnoopyAce7]

1. To consolidate information from user/consumer input pertaining to the 5th gen.
2. Anybody with internet. Unfortuneately no...
3. I was a prospective buyer and then continued using c5 after purchase for info on mods/issues/little known facts/etc.
4. Via posts
5. Flaming...lol
6. Oh wow...too many bro. Lots of drag racing terms too. AFM, BCM, TCM, WTF!!!?!?
7. Posting USEFUL info or being a moderator
8. hahaha being banned suckssss
9.

Good luck with the paper i despise english...

[ECCamaro]

1. What is the goal of Camaro5.com?

To have a forum to express views about the Camaro, get information about it, make friends and have fun.

2. Who can join Camaro5? Are there any prerequisites?

Anyone who is a Camaro enthusiast whether you own one or not.

3. Why did you join Camaro5?

The reasons are stated in number 1. Ususally Car forums are filled with a lot of good people. Meeting them in person after reading their posts is also great.

4. In what ways do you communicate with others in the community?

Through the posts and in private messages. I also invite people who have a Camaro to join.

5. How can you provide feedback to one another?

Yes, that is one of the purposes. Both negative and positive feedback can be provided as long as it is not personal.


6. Do you have a particular Lexis(certain words used for things, i.e: OEM, LEO, etc)?

Yes LT1 and the acronyms used for the colors RJT, SM, etc.

7. How does one gain authority or respect in the community?

By the number of posts and by the difference you make with them. If people find that you make a difference (knowlegible about a subject, or fun to be around) then you get respect.

8. Can you leave Camaro5, either by choice or be forced to leave?

NO ONE EVER LEAVES THE FORUM! THOSE WHO TRY TO ARE DEALTH WITH AND ARE NEVER HEARD FROM AGAIN!

No, seriously you can leave any time or just not post. Participation is strictly voluntary. Also you can be asked to leave or banned if you do not follow the rules. Play nice and be respectful of others.

9. Aren't camaro's the greatest car?

Absoulutely! They are very cool!

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by Rob561LS

Hey all, as part of my ENC1101 writing class at UCF I have an assignment to study a discourse community and I choose Camaro5 and was hoping a couple members could help me out by answering a few questions.

A discourse community is a group, or community, which shares a set of common goals, has a way to communicate within the group, a way to provide feedback to one another, and a lexis.

As part of the project I need to interview members of the community. If anyone would be willing to answer a few of the following questions I would be extremely grateful.

1. What is the goal of Camaro5.com?

To provide a place where Camaro enthusiasts can talk about Camaros is a good way to summarize the goal of Camaro5.

2. Who can join Camaro5? Are there any prerequisites?

Anyone can join Camaro5.

3. Why did you join Camaro5?

Because I wanted a place where I could talk about one of my favorite cars and meet tons of new people.

4. In what ways do you communicate with others in the community?

Posting, PMing, etc.

5. How can you provide feedback to one another?

By posting, submitting feedback, or submitting an iTrader review.

6. Do you have a particular Lexis(certain words used for things, i.e: OEM, LEO, etc)?

Many. If Camarospike finds this thread, he'll post the long list.

7. How does one gain authority or respect in the community?

Some think they gain respect by their post count, which in some ways is true. But someone gains my respect on this forum by knowing what they're talking about, not trolling, helping people out, etc.

8. Can you leave Camaro5, either by choice or be forced to leave?

Both. You can leave by choice because of your own reasons, but you can be forced to leave by the Moderators and Admins for their own reasons.

9. Aren't camaro's the greatest car?

Are you sure this question is part of your essay?

As stated above if you could take the time to answer some of these questions it would be very helpful with my paper. I know some of the questions seem redundant, I just want to make sure I cover all my bases. Thank you in advance!

Hope this helps.

[SSE 4 2SS]

Originally Posted by Rob561LS

Hey all, as part of my ENC1101 writing class at UCF I have an assignment to study a discourse community and I choose Camaro5 and was hoping a couple members could help me out by answering a few questions.

A discourse community is a group, or community, which shares a set of common goals, has a way to communicate within the group, a way to provide feedback to one another, and a lexis.

As part of the project I need to interview members of the community. If anyone would be willing to answer a few of the following questions I would be extremely grateful.

1. What is the goal of Camaro5.com?
2. Who can join Camaro5? Are there any prerequisites?
3. Why did you join Camaro5?
4. In what ways do you communicate with others in the community?
5. How can you provide feedback to one another?
6. Do you have a particular Lexis(certain words used for things, i.e: OEM, LEO, etc)?
7. How does one gain authority or respect in the community?
8. Can you leave Camaro5, either by choice or be forced to leave?
9. Aren't camaro's the greatest car?

As stated above if you could take the time to answer some of these questions it would be very helpful with my paper. I know some of the questions seem redundant, I just want to make sure I cover all my bases. Thank you in advance!

1. What is the goal of Camaro5.com?
To provide a place for Camaro enthusiasts to gather and discuss this remarkable car... Camaro 5 provides information for potential buyers and for cutting edge modders... Between the site administrators, the vendors, and knowledgeable members, pretty much any information needed can be acquired...

2. Who can join Camaro5? Are there any prerequisites?
Anyone can join Camaro5. There are no prerequisites for membership though the moderators keep a close eye on people trying to spam the site and are quick to remove spamming post and to block the IP address of said spammers to prevent their attempts to return...

3. Why did you join Camaro5? At first, I joined to find out options for my pending purchase, then after recieving my car from the dealership, I gravitated towards the modification sections, and now spend most of my time in the members journals and the performance areas...

4. In what ways do you communicate with others in the community?
At first, it was via this forum primarily, and still is for the most part, but there are a number of people, literally all over North America and even in Europe and the Middle East that I communicate with via e-mail and/or telephone as well as having had the wonderful oppurtunity to meet some of the members in person... In addition to the local members, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas Ft Worth, I have met and spent time with members from most of the United States, and some from Canada... I even have had oppurtunity to meet persons from the plant that manufactures these amazing cars...

5. How can you provide feedback to one another?
Feedback is provided primarily through comments to thread topics... This can be direct, or via linking to other places, Youtube, specific vendor websites, and to other relevant post topics locations... Occasionaly feedback is provided only through Pm's for one reason or another... In the case of vendors and sellers, there is the ability to provide user specific details about the quality ad timeliness of sales transactions... This would be to recommend a vendor or seller to others or to protect others from bad associations..

6. Do you have a particular Lexis(certain words used for things, i.e: OEM, LEO, etc)?
There is actually a thread with site specific meanings of abbreviations or words commonly used... Some of the thread topics can be quite confusing without knowing the meaning of the words used...

7. How does one gain authority or respect in the community?
Authority is given by the site administrator to respected members based on quality of post information and for the ability to properly moderate thread topics and keep inappropriate material from staying on the site... Admittedly some of the moderators are better than others at this but all are for the most part very fair and reasonable... For a site with roughly 50,000 members, I can only imagine the time and effort it takes to stay on top of this... and there will be some members that grumble and complain... We have a great cross section of society, covering everything from elementary school aged members to the elderly... (me) from minimum wage earners to the very wealthy, from borderline illiterates to very very highly educated persons...

As for membership respect, this is often tied to the quality of information in comments to a specific thread topic... There are discussions, sometimes heated discussions as people are passionate about this car and the mods performed... It is often said that cars are an extension of a persons personality and therefore slamming someone elses mods or color selections or whatever, can lead to hurt feelings and arguments... There is a nucleus of members that can be looked to for mostly unbiased honest and knowledgeable information to speciffic topics...

8. Can you leave Camaro5, either by choice or be forced to leave?
Yes, there is no contract required for membership and you can leave as easily as logging off and never logging back in... On the other hand, if the moderators feel you are a huge distraction that is constantly causing problems or violating the rules, you can be given a "time out" so to speak, with bans of varying times that may ultimately lead to an outright permanent ban... There are rules that you are asked to read at initial sign up and an individual is requested to know and abide by them.. This is a public site but it is privately owned and administered.... There is a broad target base audience and so thee admins will control the information to keep it an informative site with family values...

9. Aren't camaro's the greatest car?

Yes...

[The Shadoww]

1. What is the goal of Camaro5.com?
To meet people that share the same interest as you as well as have people that can help you and support you every step of your build.
2. Who can join Camaro5? Are there any prerequisites?
Anyone can join! There are no Prerequisites!
3. Why did you join Camaro5?
I joined Camaro5 because i wanted to upgrade my car and learn more about her. I also wanted to get to know other Camaro drivers around my town and get another person's opinion on how my car is coming along.
4. In what ways do you communicate with others in the community?
I talk over the forums, in person an meets and even called a member in AZ friday to ask for help! the C5 community is truly family!|
5. How can you provide feedback to one another?
You can post it on profile, or on their thread. We encourage positive feedback though!
6. Do you have a particular Lexis(certain words used for things, i.e: OEM, LEO, etc)?
I'm 18 and don't understand most of them, i just use Lol.
7. How does one gain authority or respect in the community?
I feel that everyone is respected other than those who have acted inappropriately, they have lost respect.
8. Can you leave Camaro5, either by choice or be forced to leave?
You can leave whenever you want... BUT YOU BETTER NOT. Just kidding, i don't know of anyone that has left really. We encourage people to stick around even when the sell their Camaro!
9. Aren't camaro's the greatest car?
By far! how many other cars are the star of a block buster movie?

Good luck with the paper bud! Congrats on getting to write about the most awesome community ever!

[Milk 1027]

1. What is the goal of Camaro5.com?

The goal, I have always thought, is to have a large database of a single car, for people to be able to research and learn about. It is also a large community of car lovers, where people can discuss the Camaro or other cars with a large audience of like-minded people.

2. Who can join Camaro5? Are there any prerequisites?
Anyone can join, it is an open community. However, there are rules put in place to keep this a friendly community, where hopefully people won't feel afraid to ask questions and get involved in discussion.

3. Why did you join Camaro5?
I've always loved the Camaro, and when I heard of the Concept in 2006, I went online to read more about it. I came accross this site, which at the time was really nothing. A couple of years later I bought my first car (1974 Camaro LT), and that is when I decided to officially join the Camaro5 community.

4. In what ways do you communicate with others in the community?
The most common way to communicate with people on this site is to post in threads asking questions or putting forth a topic (Like I am doing in yours now). You can also communicat with individuals by posting a visitor message on their profile or by sending them private messages.

5. How can you provide feedback to one another?
Just like I mentioned above, feedback can be provided in any of those ways.

6. Do you have a particular Lexis(certain words used for things, i.e: OEM, LEO, etc)?
There are several community known terms, such as engine designations. (LS3, L99, LLT, LFX, LSA etc..) There are also terms used to talk about colors on the cars, such as ABM, IBM, SIM, RJT, CGM etc... Of course along with these terms there are the common online terms such as LOL, LMAO, WTF, etc.

7. How does one gain authority or respect in the community?
Respect, is gained by simply being respectful to others and following the site rules, as well as answering people's questions and concerns. As far as authority, there really is only one and that's Tran, he's the site co-founder and sets all the rules. Moderators just enforce the rules set by him. As far as being a moderator, we are chosen by Tran along with all the other moderators.

8. Can you leave Camaro5, either by choice or be forced to leave?
You can leave Camaro5 whenever you wish. Nothing is forcing any person to be part of the community. But as long as a person doesn't follow the rules, they will be forced to leave.

9. Aren't camaro's the greatest car?
Come on now....

[Rob561LS]

Thank you all for helping me out I really appreciate it

[dudemangod]

If you want to find a real interesting group for your project you should look at "juggalo's". The people that follow the insane clown posse. FYI I am not one of these people.

Not only will you be shocked, horrified and amazed. The cultural aspect that surrounds it is fascinating, much more so than people who own Camaro's. Go check out their forums and some youtube video's.

[OrangeVert]

Rob, hope you don't mind one more response:

Originally Posted by Rob561LS

Hey all, as part of my ENC1101 writing class at UCF I have an assignment to study a discourse community and I choose Camaro5 and was hoping a couple members could help me out by answering a few questions.

A discourse community is a group, or community, which shares a set of common goals, has a way to communicate within the group, a way to provide feedback to one another, and a lexis.

As part of the project I need to interview members of the community. If anyone would be willing to answer a few of the following questions I would be extremely grateful. ...

1. What is the goal of Camaro5.com?
It appears to be a place where people who are interested in the 5th generation of the Camaro can get together and share information and learn more about the car itself and each other's vehicles. Also where they can share stories about their cars and related experiences.

2. Who can join Camaro5? Are there any prerequisites?
Anyone with an interest in the 5th generation Camaro.

3. Why did you join Camaro5?
Because I had just found out that the new SS was available in a convertible model, and was determined to buy one. Wanted more information about the car, its options, and the best way to obtain one. I found so much more - lots of practical information and a community of helpful, positive people.

4. In what ways do you communicate with others in the community?
Postings and private messages, sometimes e-mail.

5. How can you provide feedback to one another?
Same as above: postings and private messages, as well as e-mail.

6. Do you have a particular Lexis(certain words used for things, i.e: OEM, LEO, etc)?
Yes, there are several Lexi as Milk 1027 alluded to.

7. How does one gain authority or respect in the community?
Several ways - number of postings, helpfulness of responses to others' questions, initiating topics that help people, being respectful in postings.

8. Can you leave Camaro5, either by choice or be forced to leave?
Yes.

9. Aren't camaro's the greatest car?
Yes, my parents said "you finally found your dream car!" And they are right.

[40again]

Originally Posted by Rob561LS

Thank you all for helping me out I really appreciate it

After looking at the responses especially SSE 4 2SS I really don't think that I could anything that wasn't already posted, they pretty much covered it all.