I was a reading eHell when I was 18 years old. I'm certain of the timing, because I was still living at home with my parents, so it can't have been later than that. I joined the very first forum when it started. I'm now nearly 27. Thinking back to my early approach to things and some of the opinions I had, I'm amazed at how far I've come and the role eHell has played in that (fortunately a lot of my earlier posts were on various earlier incarnations of the forum, so are lost in the passage of time!) I've left eHell repeatedly over the years - not publicly, just walked away and taken a break for awhile when perhaps certain posters were bothering me or I felt it was distracting from real life. But I always come back and I'm glad of it, because it's a positive part of my life. I've made some horrific mistakes and said/done things that cause me to curl up in shame, but overall I think I'm a better person for being here.
But it's not just opinion and behaviour. eHell taught me a great deal about communication skills - I've practised wording posts in a way that will avoid offence, thinking out what I'm saying and how it will come across. I make mistakes, but nowhere near as many as I once did! It's also changed the way I write emails and approach all text-based communication. I think that's a skill worth practising!! (And I wonder sometimes whether posters care how they come across, or if they just blame the others for not understanding them). But that's just another wonderful influence eHell has had on me.
