Your input and thoughts on this project are welcomed. Please look this material over and pass it along to those you know that would like to know more about NA and the Internet, and to help in further development of the booklet. We hope to present a future draft of the material this fall with a completion plan to Narcotics Anonymous World Services, so we need your input soon.
|Welcome| |Mission Statement| |Preface| |Introduction| |What is the Internet to NA as a Whole| |Narcotics Anonymous Web Pages/Web Sites| |Online Chat Rooms/Meetings| |News Groups| |Meetings by Mail| |Personal Stories|
Welcome to this ongoing project!
We hope to address in this work the history, the ongoing, and the evolving use of the Internet in recovery as we learn to do it Web style. As more members reach out and use the computer as a resource for them in recovery, we felt that a booklet could be of some use. There are many members that have no idea of how the presence of NA has grown using this technology. So this work began as an effort to bring this information to a larger audience. This we believe will help in the future development of the use of this resource in NA. Several hundred web pages containing Regional, Area, and Group information currently exist and the number grows. Meetings occur nightly on a number of services using a variety of software. Discussion groups on recovery are ongoing and popular. Meetings by email are currently mailed several times a week by different groups and in different countries. This shows that the use is there and the educational need for a booklet of this type would serve to foster an understanding for those that do not currently use this technology. This is the first project that we know of that began by using this technology to develop material for use in NA. The committee that formed to do this work meets regularly online in real time chat to do the work. Communications and information exchange is done very quickly at no relative cost other than the expense to the individual to have access to be online. This media will continue to grow as more come online to use the variety of efforts that NA's members are developing to provide contact to others around the world.
THE NA ONLINE COMMITTEE 4/22/99
THE NAONLINE HANDBOOK FOR USING THE WWW
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD WIDE NET OF N.A. RECOVERY
1) Assist in the development of an Information
Pamphlet or Booklet about N.A.'s use of the Internet.
2) Seek World Service support in an effort at completing a
booklet on the use of the Internet in recovery.
3) Development of a web site to assist people in accessing
information about NA recovery online to make redistribution
easier and quicker than the usual Literature or handbook
developmental process
Our purpose is:
To bring the message of recovery in Narcotics Anonymous to those in isolation, the deaf, the fearful, those seeking a sense of total anonymity, the homebound, and members with service questions and other needs as they become known.
The NA Online Project began in March 1998. A group of recovering addicts came together for the common purpose of finding a way to educate the fellowship on NA's use of the web and to have online meetings become registered meetings. With a timeline of a few weeks, we developed a flyer that was sent to the World Service Conference. It was distributed among the Regional Delegates and World Services informing them that this project had begun. We hope that the end result of our work is something that will be useful to all NA members on the Internet and in the Fellowship as a whole. We sincerely hope that the addict online will find us wherever we are on the Internet. We also hope that this Guide to Internet Use in Narcotics Anonymous will help the NA members online to carry the NA message without having to re-invent the wheel. With a prayer for the future of NA, and humble thanks for those who came before us, we began this work on May 1, 1998.
The Internet is here to stay and so is NA online, but it is unclear sometimes how it fits into our Traditions and Concepts. How do we even begin the process of developing guidelines when we aren't sure what this really is we are experiencing online? There are many ideas and many questions about what it is we do on the Net. For those that have no experience or contact with this media, a work of this sort can help them understand our efforts at reaching more addicts that seek recovery. The Internet is an amazing resource to reach those in isolation, the deaf, the fearful, those that must feel a sense of total anonymity, the homebound, members with service questions, and a much larger audience that you can help us to identify. Who are we? What do we do? This effort began with the thought of requesting World Services to form an Ad-hoc Committee to begin the work of an IP for web use. Discussion of presenting a motion at the World Service Conference began several months ago. Several Areas and Regions looked at this idea, but the time frame for attempting it at the 1999 WSC had passed. We know that future project development is changing and we hope to begin to provide a resource for the completion of this sort of tool. This is one of the newest doors that our HP has opened for our use. Your footwork will allow many addicts to receive the best we have to offer on N.A. Recovery as we learn to do it Net Style.
WHAT IS THE INTERNET TO NA AS A WHOLE?
The Internet (which includes the World Wide Web, newsgroups, chat and email) is a new medium that is different from print and television in that it allows much more privacy and interactivity for the media user. Do the same guidelines that apply to press, radio, and films apply to the Internet? Is this just a public information medium or does it allow groups, areas, and regions to exist in a new kind of way? The best way to answer these questions is to look toward our Traditions and Concepts. Our primary purpose is "to carry the message to the addict who still suffers". This is done in most groups by advertising the time and place of the meeting, having conference approved literature available for addicts, and with registration wi th the World Service Office. The Internet offers the ultimate in anonymity, which is "the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." This means, for newer members, a chance to find out about the program of NA in the privacy of their homes and at their leisure. For older members, it offers community with members all over the world, and as much anonymity as they choose to have. For those who are in isolated areas, the Internet offers quick and worldwide contact with other addicts, meetings in traditional format, and informal chat sessions. The Internet, as a complement to and in conjunction with traditional methods of service, offers a unique capability of carrying our message and reaching the still suffering addict wherever they may be.
NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS WEB PAGES/WEB SITES
When it comes to web pages/sites there
are two categories:
Personal Web Pages/Web Sites:
Personal web pages/sites are exactly that, personal. With this
thought in mind, personal web pages/sites should not attempt to
represent Narcotics Anonymous. Personal web page/site owners
usually do not have permission to use NA trademarks, logos, and
literature. An individual maintaining a web page/site under the
guise of providing a service to NA may not be in line with many
of the spiritual principles found within the Traditions and the
Concepts of NA.
Group/Area/Region or Subcommittee Web
Pages/Sites:
Web pages/sites created and maintained by registered service
bodies of NA have several factors and concerns to consider when
developing their presence on the Internet. Some of these concerns
are, but are not limited to the following:
Any and all Narcotics Anonymous trademarks, logos, readings, and additional literature must carry the proper symbols and statements: ®Registered, ©Copyright Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The committee responsible for creating the web page/site should be familiar with the Fellowship Intellectual Property Trust available through Narcotics Anonymous World Services.
To maintain control over the web page/site there are many factors to consider:
Choose a reliable server to host the site. In keeping with Traditions 6, 7 & 10, the sites should be completely advertisement free and paid for by the service body.
The responsible service body should consider getting a registered domain name.
There should be no external links or references to individuals' web sites or email addresses.
The webmaster(s) (web-servants) maintaining the site should be directly and regularly accountable to a service body (i.e.: Public Information Sub-committee).
Larger web sites will require the Public Information Sub-committee to form a Website Team.
Information on the site is available to everyone not just addicts, and as such, consideration should be made to ensure the presence of a clear and simple message that all would understand.
If contacts email or land address is made available on the web site, the Committee should be prepared to respond to these inquiries in a timely manner.
The web site should be maintained regularly to ensure the information available is accurate.
Links on the sites should be chosen carefully to ensure continuity and adherence to the spiritual principles of the Traditions & the Concepts. These links must be checked periodically to verify the destination and content on the other end.
Message Boards, Chat Rooms, Online Meetings, and Email Meetings bring with them an array of concerns that the service body should consider before creating them and making them a part of their official NA site.
When considering the use of graphics on the web site, the committee should appreciate that graphics will slow down the loading of the web page and not all browsers are capable of viewing graphics.
The web site should be created with the understanding that there are different browsers and systems being used. Therefore, the best plan is to keep it simple by using universal coding.
ONLINE CHAT ROOMS AND MEETINGS
INTRODUCTION
The growth of Internet usage has resulted in
recovery oriented contact between addicts online. Any member with
access to the Internet can usually find another addict online at
most times of the day. There are now many "locations"
where you can find nightly meetings of NA members on the
Internet. Each location attracts different members, and like a
face to face meeting elsewhere in the Fellowship, each meeting
has its own flavor or style.
There are many positives in this new availability and much has
been learned about its strengths and weaknesses. This media is
new to all of us and is continuously evolving. As in our
recovery, more will be revealed as time moves forward. We gain
experience and find better ways to recover. BEGINNINGS As close
as we can tell, NA meetings and chat rooms online began about
1992. The first such meetings used what is known as Internet
Relay Chat. Like local meetings in our hometowns, most of these
meetings started when two or more addicts decided there was a
need for a meeting and started one. As with physical meetings,
these meetings grew in size and other online.meetings were
started using similar formats as the original IRC, Email, and
Newsgroups meetings.
Today we can find NA meetings on almost every large commercial
Internet server, as well as on public and individually maintained
servers. With the explosive rate of growth in consumers with
access to the Internet, the ever-increasing number of software
programs making it easier and easier to use, we anticipate an
unprecedented opportunity to carry the message to the still
suffering addict.
As with face-to-face meetings, attendance at a meeting increases
-- sometimes quickly, sometimes gradually. These meeting become
an asset to our recovery. Like other meetings, these meetings
usually attract a core group of participants who become
responsible for that particular meeting decisions such as
starting times, meeting formats and topics to be discussed. Many
groups then decide to have a steering committee for these
meetings.\line These have functioned in a way very similar to
what may have happened in forming your home group. As always in
making our message availabl e, the dedication and commitment of
our members have made these meetings available and consistent for
quite some time. Unfortunately, like face-to-face meetings, some
do not stay active and at some point end for a variety of
reasons.
Online Chat rooms or IRC or "chat" has become a very
popular form of communication between addicts and people in
general on the Internet. The greatest attraction to this type of
connection is that it is "real time", meaning the user
has a live instantaneous connection with another user or group of
users. A "User" in Internet language, is someone that
uses the Internet. There are literally thousands of channels or
chat rooms on hundreds of servers that may be accessed using many
different types of software.
The people in a "chat room" can converse back and forth
as all that are "in " the room view a list of the
conversation as it progresses. The process is interactive in that
when the user wants to interject into the ebb and flow of the
conversation, all she or he needs to do is type their words, and
press the enter/return key on the keyboard. Their words are then
added to the list of the conversation. The user's name is added
before the text to identify who has shared. Everyone on that
particular channel/room sees the list.
Some groups of NA members have joined together to have regularly
held meetings on specific channels/rooms on the Internet using
IRC technology. This can be a great advantage to members with
access to a computer and the Internet. NA members can share their
experience, strength, and hope with each other from the far
reaches of the world for relatively little cost. Those in
isolation are instantly connected to other NA members whenever
they choose to be in touch. Although there is no replacement for
a fac e-to-face NA meeting, the spirit of NA unity often abounds
here.
Some pitfalls may arise as well. Although Nicknames are used in
chat rooms to protect a users' anonymity, anyone with a fair
amount of experience with computers can find your location and
other personal facts about you. You are never completely
anonymous on the Internet. Given this, any intimate conversation
in chat rooms should be done with some caution. There is no way
to assure that every person on a channel designated for an NA
group is actually an NA member, or that those who are practice
the steps and Traditions in their lives.
The availability of this medium as a way to meet and greet others
seeking recovery attracts all sorts of individuals, such as those
in isolation, both geographical and through illness, the
homebound, the fearful, and the deaf to name just a few. This
medium is but one more place for the addict seeking recovery to
stay clean.
How does one find information, and current locations of Internet
meetings? With the explosive growth of addicts on the Internet we
can already find NA almost anywhere. We do need however to have
one or more monitored sites that can provide this information.
NA Online now has the ability to:
A.Provide a means to 'Carry The Message Worldwide'
B. Availability and access is twenty-four hours a day, seven days
a week (24/7) worldwide
C. Great tool for the curious, shy, or ashamed with its Anonymity
abilities in the many forums available on the Internet
D. Terrific potential as a PI Resource.
E. The Future
The Internet in today's society has caused a much larger impact
than originally expected. We as a fellowship can utilize this new
medium to it's fullest if we desire to open up our minds, and
hearts to carry our message wherever the addict is. As in other
areas of service in our Fellowship, we must remember that we
don't do NA-Related service on the Internet alone. It is
important that we apply the same principles that we apply to our
Face To Face encounters to Internet encounters, whether service
related, or directly carrying our message of hope to the addict
still suffering.
In our experience, it has been important to remember that there
is a real person on the other end of the phone line, and in the
case of newcomers to N.A., it is especially important to stress
that Face To Face meetings are extremely important to ongoing
recovery. Some have encountered other using addicts online who
are fearful of these N.A. meetings, and these addicts need our
love, and support to encourage them to attend local meetings.
Online meetings need to follow the same guidelines as physical
meetings. In our experience, it has been proven true that on the
Internet, we are as much in the open as in any open meeting.
Newcomers often come to online meetings, and we need to be
diligent in our application of the Twelve Traditions, or we will
portray ourselves as something other than what we are. The
identification that is so important to the addict coming into all
of our meetings should be stressed in online meetings as well.
An online meeting should be started by two or more people, and
should not have one leader, but several that understand the
importance of the "we" in Narcotics Anonymous.
Narcotics Anonymous started in July of 1953, and since then
hundreds of thousands have been saved from the horrors of
addiction. Now we embark on a new phase of carrying our message.
We need to start somewhere with creating a clear NA message using
the Internet and online meetings. As it was in the beginning so
now it is too. Our primary purpose is to carry the message to the
still suffering addict. As you can see in the personal stories
the Internet is another great tool to help achieve spreading the
message that we do have a way to recover from the horrors of
active addiction.
Many places on the Internet allow for discussion
on many issues, some related to recovery, some not. Although
NA-oriented newsgroups are utilized primarily by NA members, keep
in mind that anyone with access to Usenet has the ability to
subscribe and post articles to a newsgroup. Many newsgroups
provide a FAQ (answers to "frequently asked questions"
) to new subscribers, with the request that it be read before one
begins posting to the newsgroup, to determine what may be
considered on-or-off-topic for that group.
Newsgroups can allow for very lively discussion that is similar
to discussions that are held before and after a Narcotics
Anonymous meeting. Some topics range from service in NA, to
stopping using, to other Twelve Step Fellowships, and other
organizations that do not use the twelve steps in their programs.
It is important to remember that a NA oriented newsgroup is not
an online meeting, and should not be treated as such. It might be
looked at as th e gathering after the meeting, or the discussion
at the local coffee shop. Many of the posts on newsgroups are
made by members who have been there for awhile, and often, to a
newcomer to the newsgroup, it may seem like gibberish, or not
understandable. The reason for this is that these posts are
threaded discussions, where one post starts a topic, others
reply, then others reply to that reply, until the original post
is long forgotten. Often new topics spring up under the older
topic, and may seem confusing if it is not followed closely.
Several other types of behavior can emerge on newsgroups. Some of
these are known as "flaming" , "spamming",
and "Trolling" .
"Flaming" is what occurs when one person directly
attacks another person for a post he or she has written. Personal
attacks are not uncommon on newsgroups. Many of the longtime
members of newsgroups often see it as a game, and mean no malice.
Newer members to newsgroups can mistake this as a serious attack,
and can become offended if "flamed" .
"Spamming" is a term used when an individual posts an
advertisement to the newsgroup. Again, a newsgroup is not
private; anyone may access it, and as a result, sometimes
advertisements are posted to the newsgroup. This does not occur
that often, and members of the group usually do not condone this
type of negative behavior.
"Trolling" is what occurs when someone assumes an
identity, and posts fake posts to the newsgroup to try to create
chaos, draw others into arguments, and generally disrupt whatever
discussion is at hand. This can usually be spotted quite quickly,
and then the fun is lost for the person trolling.
Many discussions on newsgroups can be productive, and recovery
enhancing. There are many that are not. The asset of the
newsgroup to the on line NA experience is that it is a free, open
atmosphere in which to have a discussion on almost anything you
can imagine. The liability is that it can be chaotic, hurtful,
and non-recovery related at times. This is true about all
discussions that are not in a formal NA meeting, and is not
exclusively found on the Internet.
Some Background on NA E-mail Groups
A Member Shares:
For many years, the World Service Office (now NA
World Services) printed and mailed out a "Meeting by
Mail" book let every two months. Inside the MBM booklet were
letters from people around the world. Anyone could receive the
MBM free, just by asking to join. In 1995, an idea began. The
Internet was more widely used, and email was an easy way to send
messages around the world.
There seemed to be two main types of groups:
1.) One kind of recovery group was a 'Cc' discussion. When a
member wanted to share, he or she would write their message, and
then paste the entire list of group members' addresses into the
'Cc' field before sending it. It would arrive immediately, as an
individual message, in the mailboxes of all group members.
2) Another common kind of discussion being used by 12-Step groups
was a "listserv," named after the automatic
"Listserver" software that was used. In this type of
group, members would send their 'shares' to a central address,
where they would be immediately mirrored to the mailboxes of all
group members. As with a 'Cc' list, each 'share' arrived as an
individual message.
In both types of groups, sending a 'share' to the group meant
immediately putting a message in every other member's mailbox. If
the group was large, or if a controversy had erupted, each member
might receive 30 or 40 individual messages a day. On top of this,
there was no way to control what types of messages were sent - so
personal messages, feedback, or chit-chat unrelated to recovery
could be easily broadcast to all members. The only restraint was
the relationship or sense of community between the members. To
preserve this closeness, some groups set a limit of about 40
members per group, and encouraged new groups to form as new
members continued to arrive.
Many of these discussions appeared to be well-run, serious
attempts at sharing recovery through email. There were some
NA-related discussions too. One NA 'listserv' discussion appeared
to be very large, generating 40 to 50 messages per day. The idea
of recovering people talking by email was very appealing -- all
that was needed was a simple email account, and a person could
become a member, linking up with love and care and support from
around the world.
Still at that time in 1995, there seemed to be some drawbacks to
the 'Cc' or 'listserv' type of discussion.
In a 'Cc' discussion, each member held a copy of the group
address list. When a new member joined the group, the other
members had to be careful to update their own address list to
include that new member. Any mistakes would mean that some
members would not be included in some mailings.
In a 'listserv' discussion, on the other hand, the address list
was kept up-to-date by the Listserver software on the central
computer - if someone wanted to join or leave the group, they
just sent a command of "subscribe" or
unsubscribe." But, since people could join or leave without
the other members knowing, no one could be sure who was 'lurking'
in the background, listening to the discussion.
Neither a 'CC' discussion nor a 'listserv' discussion 'felt' like
a 'face-to-face' 12-Step meeting though, because messages were
coming in at different times of the day. The sharing and feedback
crossed over each other, and disagreements, opinions and comments
seemed somewhat tangled together. Also, the heavy volume of
messages overloaded some people's mailbox capacity.
The WSO's 'Meeting by Mail' - a printed booklet of 'shares' sent
out on a regular basis to all members - seemed to be a better
model to follow. With email, it would be possible to eliminate
the expense of printing and mailing a paper booklet, while
grouping everyone's sharing into a nice, clean package. Also, it
could be sent out much more often, and the sharing would be
'fresher.'
So, borrowing some ideas from other email groups, and trying to
learn from the struggles of NA's existing discussions, an
"NA email group" was started in the fall of 1995.
The mechanics were simple:
One member had a personal email account, which was designated as
the 'group address.' Members who wanted to share would send a
message to that address. Every few days, the shares wo uld be
assembled into a 'meeting format' and mailed to all members, with
the address list placed in the 'Bcc' field of the meeting, so the
addresses would be hidden, and would not clutter the meeting.
Since each 'meeting' was actually just a long email message,
assembled by hand, there was 100% control over what was printed.
Feedback could be eliminated. A non-judgmental 'atmosphere of
recovery' could grow. It was decided that the meetings should be
mailed out twice a week at regular times, so that the g roup
would be 'meeting' twice a week. For that first NA email group,
the NA H.O.W. Group, it took about 9 months to build up to 100
members. During that time, the group rented its own address -
actually an email forwarding address - so the group's address
wouldn't have to change in the future.
More service positions were added, as the number of members
started to increase. One member started handling the Greeter
position - making sure that each new member received a warm email
welcome. Another member be came the secretary, keeping track of
clean-time birthdays and announcing them. The group is now over
three years old, and has about 900 members around the world. All
of the trusted servants have changed several times, but the group
is solid and stable.
Two other NA email groups have also been formed in the past three
years. The second one was the 'New Beginnings Group of NA', which
now has about 1,000 members worldwide. The newest one is 'Earth
Group NA', which started in July of 1998 and gained 200 memb ers
in just three months. There are other NA email groups in Spanish
also. Hopefully, more NA email groups will form in the future, as
people feel the need. All that is needed is an email forwarding
account, some basic knowledge of email, and the willingness to
serve.
While it is important to understand the technical
aspect of NA online it is equally important to be able to relate
to and share our experience, strength, and hope (ESH) on a
personal level.
Each of the following addicts experienced NA online in different
ways with the impact on each also different. For each addict who
has found NA online there are as many different experiences as
there are addicts. Not all the stories submitted were able to be
included in this very limited amount of space. The choices in
stories were based on their diversity and not on their merit or
value. In the spirit of anonymity all names have been removed.
Please take what you can and leave the rest.
Personal Story 1:
NA saved my life some 7 1/2 years ago. When I was lost again
about 1 1/2 years ago and feeling isolated and alone, I found NA
members & NA meetings on the Internet. They welcomed me, they
loved me and they restored my faith. There are so many thousands
out there right now that need NA meetings online. Some as another
tool in their recovery program - the wider the base, the higher
the point of freedom - and others as the only Basic Text they may
ever see.
It has been my pleasure and a gift to be a part of a fairly new
meeting online. We use a chat software program to meet once per
week. We hold topic meetings. At this point we are newcomers at
the Internet thing. However, there have been some things I have
learned over the past few months of participating as a trusted
servant. The first problem we encountered - and continue to - is
the validity of our group and meeting. Since the Fellowship has
not formally recognized online groups as part of our service
structure, and we are not permitted to use the literature, logos
and such, we are somewhat handicapped. It can be difficult to do
things the NA Way when you are not permitted to participate as an
"official" NA group. There is a definite need for
guidelines to help ensure continuity not uniformity among the NA
groups online. We need and deserve the same full access to the
resources of NA as any group gets.
Another point I wish to raise is the need to supply the members
and potential members as well as the general public with as much
information as possible about our group, how it operates and how
they can be a part of it. The vast majority of visitors to our
meetings come the first time as "newcomers" to online
meetings and - yes - to computers. Online groups should create a
basic, clean, organized, and informative web page to assist
visitors in attending online meetings. There should be an email
address for questions that is frequently checked by knowledgeable
trusted servants. My experience is this position is a great place
to serve to learn the spiritual principles of patience and
tolerance and to practice the steps. It is also a service
position that offers front line contact with many 'first timers'.
All the more reason for trusted servants with a solid basis in
recovery.
Many of the meetings online require specific software in order to
complete a connection. To some this may appear to be an
endorsement. However, we have a unique situation here, which
calls for some forward thinking. Some would argue the logos on
the coffee cups on the table in a NA meeting are an endorsement.
Others might state holding a NA meeting in a church is an implied
endorsement. It happens that the Internet offers places for
addicts to meet. What vehicle they use to get there is not
important. Unless NA offers its own software and programs to help
us achieve our primary purpose online, we must do the best we can
with what we have. Let us remember to offer disclaimers wherever
necessary to ensure there is no confusion - neither NA nor
individual NA online groups endorse any of these software
programs. They are merely the vehicles we use to attend our
meetings, share a message of hope and Take home a message of
hope.
Personal Story 2:
"I find that talking to other addicts and or 'regular'
people online gives mean a outlet that I have much use for.
First, I have to say that this is not a substitute for going to a
meeting. It is a supplement, something additional that gives me
support and something to think about, another guardian against
the disease of addiction. I find a wider audience of participants
online that just are not available to me at a meeting. These
people are completely anonymous except for what they tell you
online, which may or may not be true. What difference does that
make? Do we check every story out we here at a meeting? The truth
is the support and feedback I get is just as important and
useable as what I get at a meeting. The only thing missing (and
it is a significant thing) is the personal contact, hugs, visual
cues, tone of someone's voice and things like that. It has also
given me a forum for myself to continue to write and look at my
thoughts and feelings in black and white. Very sobering! (pun
intended) Here I can compare what the lies that the disease wants
me to believe with the truth that I read from others about our
situations and behaviors. I feel that we should work towards
finding ways to broaden and solidify our policy towards having NA
online. If we can help one addict a day or a week at a time it is
worth it.
How do we monitor what is going on in a NA meeting online? Could
that be possible? What Region would it be a part of? How would
the GSR be elected? How would that person attend the Area
meeting? I believe that there are answers to all of these
questions."
Personal Story 3:
I was thinking about what kind of input I could give to on-line
meeting experiences and most of mine are not all that positive.
The sharing on an email group I subscribe to seems pretty bland
save for a few articulate members. I suppose it's not the actual
sharing, but the fact that you can't look them in the face and
feel the emotion behind it like at a regular meeting. The chat
room meeting I attended a few times seemed even worse. You have
to wait for what seems like forever to get everything each person
has to say and they can onl y type a couple lines at a time. I
hate to say it, but most times I was bored with the process and
that almost never happens to me at FTF meetings. Most of my time
is spent communicating on a listserv oriented toward NA service
discussions. While entertaining, I find it time slightly better
spent than watching television, which I almost never do anymore,
but not as productive as reading a book. Having said all that
though, I think the Internet is a great place to meet people from
around the world that I would otherwise never talk to. I see it
as invaluable to those who are isolated by physical or
geographical restrictions. Obviously I enjoy it, or I wouldn't
keep doing it. And it's much cheaper than using the phone all the
time. Guess I thought I give some honest impressions of my
limited experience. I believe that this project will help many
people and give recognition to what is undoubtedly a growing
medium.
Personal Story 4:
I'm a recovering addict since 7/6/94. With good help from friends
on IRC, we now have three meetings online in Portuguese, since
February. It's held every Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. We are
only in the beginning and almost no one knows that there are
meetings online in Portuguese, for now we have four or five
addicts in the meetings, but we have faith, and it is going to
change.
One of the improvements that we have already done in our Region
in Portugal is to add the Online meetings to our Regional Meeting
Schedule List.
Personal Story 5:
We hooked up with the Internet in July 1998 at which point I'd
had no previous experience with the World Wide Web (www). In
August, my recovery went through a major growth period. I was
right on the edge of going back out. I was on the floor, in bits,
wanting to die, etc., etc., etc. In pure desperation I reached
out through my computer and my HP guided me to an online meeting.
I spilled my guts, shared all my pain and cried openly because no
one could see me. What happened next, I truly believe, is the
main reason for me not following through with my suicide mission
(I'd already said my good byes to people in the meetings and my
sponsor).
The love and support that came flooding through my computer
totally overwhelmed me and knocked my disease off its evil feet.
The identification from total strangers from all over the world
fuelled my recovery and gave me a will to live again. It didn't
happen overnight, but over about four weeks or so -- an
experience that I will never forget. Some of those people who
helped me I am still in contact with and hope to meet one day so
I can thank them in person.
I am broadening my horizons all the time, learning more and
surfing further! As far as other service goes... I love it. At
the moment I am a Group Treasurer and have recently been voted in
as RCM alterna te. I owe NA online my life because that's what it
gave me.