Dear Friends 
I happened to see a thread which was a tribute to Old ElaKiri Members. I thought this was a great idea as it brings back fond memories and gives you an opportunity to thank your friends. Thank you to the thread owner. When I saw that thread it nearly put me in tears.
Upon seeing this thread I thought that I might open a separate thread where everyone can share their thoughts and experiences. So please feel free to post your story about ElaKiri.com
The Unforgettable Days
I joined this forum in 2008 so I guess I'm neither old nor new - just in the middle somewhere. When I joined ElaKiri.com in 2008 this place was a whole lot different. 2008 wasn't the oldest of times but now considering that it's 4 years since, it makes me wonder. It was only when I came to look for a song called "Lassana Aththatu" by Chamika Sirimanna that I'd realized there was a forum section, as I was only aware of the downloads section. This was the start for me. I have to admit, ElaKiri.com changed my life to a certain extent. It made me proud of being a Sri Lankan and it cherished the bond I shared with my country. This forum played somewhat a part in my life as I was active for most of my teenage years (I started out here at the age of 14). The year when I joined would probably have to be the most fond memory I share with this forum. I made many friends with ElaKiri.com, mostly who were older than me as I was fairly small. The spirit which was amongst the members at that time just can not be explained in words. Everyone was a part of a family and just being a member was considered a big thing - a thing to be proud of. That was the ideology anyway.
I wish I'd joined earlier in 2006 so that I could've had another 2 golden years. At times I thought to myself what it would've been like to hang around then. As I know, that's when ElaKiri.com started and I'm sure there are many members still active who joined in this year and the following year. They'd have to be luckiest members of all time - incomparable to the rest. I presume at this time broadband internet was becoming of more commercial use in Sri Lanka and more people were starting to use the internet due to the speed and convenience. Personally I never knew of any other Sri Lankan forums at that time. All I knew was that ElaKiri.com was the place to be. Whenever you logged into ElaKiri.com with the intention that you will log off in 5 minutes, never occurred to me and for you too I'd imagine. The initially planned 5 minutes always turned out be about two or three hours. There was always something interesting to read on the forum, whether that was music, poems, news, or entertainment - it was all fun. As I can remember, ElaKiri.com was the best tool for procrastination. It wasn't the type where you would regret thinking why did I waste my time. It was more rather the type where you said - that was much better than doing my assignment. Ever since I first logged into ElaKiri.com and even till this day it's been the first tab in my browser. Speaking of procrastination it was probably the most minimized tab on the computer. Giving the impression that you were either studying or doing what you were meant to be doing worked a treat. But this didn't last for long after my parents found out about ElaKiri.com. Thinking that I'd get in trouble, it was rather a more enjoyable experience as they laughed amongst friends - "Website ekak tiyenawa Ela Kiri dot com kiyala haha".
The Members and Forum Itself
I learnt a lot from ElaKiri.com - the good and the bad. ElaKiri.com taught me a lot about myself. I was able to understand who I really was and how great it was to not only be a Sri Lankan, but a member of a community with other religions as well. It's been an amazing experience learning about our mother land and I'm still learning, even today. Talking with different people across various cultures and learning about them has also been another wonderful experience because we all live differently and think differently, so that was a bonus. Like I mentioned previously, the forum was a much different place. It was like a family and when you logged in you could feel it. Seeking for help amongst any discipline was easy as there was plenty of it. Just minutes upon posting a thread it was flooded with members willing to help. Back in 2008, it was either a song or software that was needed most of the time in the help section. I was very fortunate to experience and meet some of the most helpful members at that time across all corners, most commonly in the song and technology section. If I were to mention names it would take forever as the list goes on and on but they know who they are and I am thankful for their dedication and contribution. Most of these friends are still around, some reached great milestones in their careers, some have gone abroad, and some are greatly missed. They were like brothers and sisters, good members, and are never to be forgotten.
Speaking of members, there were members who became your true friends - friends who stood by you and appreciated you for who you were and what you did. Then there were the occasional members who held something against you - a personal grudge sort of thing. It was strange. Conflict was kept to a minimal and the forum was calm and clean. When there was conflict it was usually dealt with within a short a period of time as both parties would either succumb or the administrator would sort it out. On the subject of conflict, members were content to a more peaceful sentiment where religion was not imposed as a means of bullying. As I can remember, everyone was respected for who they were. Being a member was more a privilege rather than an option and everyone was inspired by being a member. Although I never used one, signatures were largely used my members to show their dedication and respect for the community. This feature was later removed from the forum due to some system issue from my memory. Over the years as technology became more advanced and social media exploited society, things started to change a little. It was depressing and difficult to see this change. Even the theme of ElaKiri changed.
The Reputation System and Tags
I had not known about this feature until about a year and a half ago. It was only after I saw these "+" symbols everywhere that I questioned a friend and was told about the reputation system. Personally I thought that the reputation system was a great idea, especially for those members who truly dedicated their time and effort to make the community a better and more understandable place. On the other hand however, the reputation system set off a major turning point in the forum. The reason was because the system was not serving for its purpose - it was being used inappropriately. Because of this, I stayed well away from the reputation system for several reasons. Reputation was started to be used as a governing body and more or less as a symbol of power. Reputation was also used as a method of provoking and harassing members anonymously which is completely wrong. A great system did so much damage and as a result of this there was conflict arising. It was sad to see this happen as this caused major societal cracks throughout the community. As for those unforgotten old members who truly dedicated their time and effort towards the community, they were worth much more than just reputation.
Another aspect which came to my attention over the past few years were tags. The sole purpose of a tag was to make indexing easier and allow members to search for threads easily. Tags were essentially keywords which signified the topic on which a thread was based on. I noticed that over the recent years tags were being used to once again to provoke or harass members anonymously which is also wrong. At times there were threads which were very informative, educational, and helpful, yet had been exploited by inappropriate tags. As a result of this, thread owners were questioning themselves as to whether they should post and share in the future. Members were traumatized by the way the reputation and tag system were being used. Consequently, this became the catalyst of the conflict.
In spite of this story, it has been quite an experience being a member of ElaKiri.com. Like I said, the forum has taught me many things. It taught me culture and tradition which I'm greatly thankful for. I also learnt many lessons, particularly what to get involved in and what not to get involved in. ElaKiri.com is probably the only website I visit during my online leisure time because it has been an addiction for most of my teenage years. The fond memories and spirit of the days I joined, still drive me to log in, but not as frequently as previous years. Some friends I've not been able to get in contact with for years, I greatly miss. So this is how the story goes and ElaKiri.com will always be a part of my life.
Please don't think I had intentions of gaining anything from this thread as this was truly my experience. Please don't give me reputation nor am I asking for it. If you could perhaps share your story and thoughts I would much largely appreciate it.
So now it's your turn...
Suba Dhavasak
Budusaranai
Jaya Wewa
I happened to see a thread which was a tribute to Old ElaKiri Members. I thought this was a great idea as it brings back fond memories and gives you an opportunity to thank your friends. Thank you to the thread owner
. When I saw that thread it nearly put me in tears.Upon seeing this thread I thought that I might open a separate thread where everyone can share their thoughts and experiences. So please feel free to post your story about ElaKiri.com
The Unforgettable Days
I joined this forum in 2008 so I guess I'm neither old nor new - just in the middle somewhere. When I joined ElaKiri.com in 2008 this place was a whole lot different. 2008 wasn't the oldest of times but now considering that it's 4 years since, it makes me wonder. It was only when I came to look for a song called "Lassana Aththatu" by Chamika Sirimanna that I'd realized there was a forum section, as I was only aware of the downloads section. This was the start for me. I have to admit, ElaKiri.com changed my life to a certain extent. It made me proud of being a Sri Lankan and it cherished the bond I shared with my country. This forum played somewhat a part in my life as I was active for most of my teenage years (I started out here at the age of 14). The year when I joined would probably have to be the most fond memory I share with this forum. I made many friends with ElaKiri.com, mostly who were older than me as I was fairly small. The spirit which was amongst the members at that time just can not be explained in words. Everyone was a part of a family and just being a member was considered a big thing - a thing to be proud of. That was the ideology anyway.
I wish I'd joined earlier in 2006 so that I could've had another 2 golden years. At times I thought to myself what it would've been like to hang around then. As I know, that's when ElaKiri.com started and I'm sure there are many members still active who joined in this year and the following year. They'd have to be luckiest members of all time - incomparable to the rest. I presume at this time broadband internet was becoming of more commercial use in Sri Lanka and more people were starting to use the internet due to the speed and convenience. Personally I never knew of any other Sri Lankan forums at that time. All I knew was that ElaKiri.com was the place to be. Whenever you logged into ElaKiri.com with the intention that you will log off in 5 minutes, never occurred to me and for you too I'd imagine. The initially planned 5 minutes always turned out be about two or three hours. There was always something interesting to read on the forum, whether that was music, poems, news, or entertainment - it was all fun. As I can remember, ElaKiri.com was the best tool for procrastination. It wasn't the type where you would regret thinking why did I waste my time. It was more rather the type where you said - that was much better than doing my assignment. Ever since I first logged into ElaKiri.com and even till this day it's been the first tab in my browser. Speaking of procrastination it was probably the most minimized tab on the computer. Giving the impression that you were either studying or doing what you were meant to be doing worked a treat. But this didn't last for long after my parents found out about ElaKiri.com. Thinking that I'd get in trouble, it was rather a more enjoyable experience as they laughed amongst friends - "Website ekak tiyenawa Ela Kiri dot com kiyala haha".
The Members and Forum Itself
I learnt a lot from ElaKiri.com - the good and the bad. ElaKiri.com taught me a lot about myself. I was able to understand who I really was and how great it was to not only be a Sri Lankan, but a member of a community with other religions as well. It's been an amazing experience learning about our mother land and I'm still learning, even today. Talking with different people across various cultures and learning about them has also been another wonderful experience because we all live differently and think differently, so that was a bonus. Like I mentioned previously, the forum was a much different place. It was like a family and when you logged in you could feel it. Seeking for help amongst any discipline was easy as there was plenty of it. Just minutes upon posting a thread it was flooded with members willing to help. Back in 2008, it was either a song or software that was needed most of the time in the help section. I was very fortunate to experience and meet some of the most helpful members at that time across all corners, most commonly in the song and technology section. If I were to mention names it would take forever as the list goes on and on but they know who they are and I am thankful for their dedication and contribution. Most of these friends are still around, some reached great milestones in their careers, some have gone abroad, and some are greatly missed. They were like brothers and sisters, good members, and are never to be forgotten.
Speaking of members, there were members who became your true friends - friends who stood by you and appreciated you for who you were and what you did. Then there were the occasional members who held something against you - a personal grudge sort of thing. It was strange. Conflict was kept to a minimal and the forum was calm and clean. When there was conflict it was usually dealt with within a short a period of time as both parties would either succumb or the administrator would sort it out. On the subject of conflict, members were content to a more peaceful sentiment where religion was not imposed as a means of bullying. As I can remember, everyone was respected for who they were. Being a member was more a privilege rather than an option and everyone was inspired by being a member. Although I never used one, signatures were largely used my members to show their dedication and respect for the community. This feature was later removed from the forum due to some system issue from my memory. Over the years as technology became more advanced and social media exploited society, things started to change a little. It was depressing and difficult to see this change. Even the theme of ElaKiri changed.
The Reputation System and Tags
I had not known about this feature until about a year and a half ago. It was only after I saw these "+" symbols everywhere that I questioned a friend and was told about the reputation system. Personally I thought that the reputation system was a great idea, especially for those members who truly dedicated their time and effort to make the community a better and more understandable place. On the other hand however, the reputation system set off a major turning point in the forum. The reason was because the system was not serving for its purpose - it was being used inappropriately. Because of this, I stayed well away from the reputation system for several reasons. Reputation was started to be used as a governing body and more or less as a symbol of power. Reputation was also used as a method of provoking and harassing members anonymously which is completely wrong. A great system did so much damage and as a result of this there was conflict arising. It was sad to see this happen as this caused major societal cracks throughout the community. As for those unforgotten old members who truly dedicated their time and effort towards the community, they were worth much more than just reputation.
Another aspect which came to my attention over the past few years were tags. The sole purpose of a tag was to make indexing easier and allow members to search for threads easily. Tags were essentially keywords which signified the topic on which a thread was based on. I noticed that over the recent years tags were being used to once again to provoke or harass members anonymously which is also wrong. At times there were threads which were very informative, educational, and helpful, yet had been exploited by inappropriate tags. As a result of this, thread owners were questioning themselves as to whether they should post and share in the future. Members were traumatized by the way the reputation and tag system were being used. Consequently, this became the catalyst of the conflict.
In spite of this story, it has been quite an experience being a member of ElaKiri.com. Like I said, the forum has taught me many things. It taught me culture and tradition which I'm greatly thankful for. I also learnt many lessons, particularly what to get involved in and what not to get involved in. ElaKiri.com is probably the only website I visit during my online leisure time because it has been an addiction for most of my teenage years. The fond memories and spirit of the days I joined, still drive me to log in, but not as frequently as previous years. Some friends I've not been able to get in contact with for years, I greatly miss. So this is how the story goes and ElaKiri.com will always be a part of my life.
Please don't think I had intentions of gaining anything from this thread as this was truly my experience. Please don't give me reputation nor am I asking for it. If you could perhaps share your story and thoughts I would much largely appreciate it.
So now it's your turn...
Suba Dhavasak
Budusaranai
Jaya Wewa
Will post the story later 
