Lifering Online
What’s it about, what does it
offer, what can it do for you,
as individual or convenor?
A look at Lifering Secular Recovery’s
many different online support and
informational venues.
Lifering has six main
online venues
A sample page from the Delphi Forum bulletin board
About the Delphi Forum
bulletin board:
 One of Lifering’s oldest online venues, started
in late 1990s.
 It has lots of “older” sobriety, in
part due to its age.
 It has fair amount of non-American members.
 Amenable to blogs, diaries, topic threads, etc.
 Flexibility in how a moderator can control
commenting.
Delphi Forum page 2:
 Good, with caveats — it’s Google-searchable.
 Somewhat “Web 1.0” in feel,
etc. due to its age.
 Only moderators can change titles of threads
when they stray from original topic.
 In some ways, the most “isolated” of any of
Lifering’s online venues, as far as
connectedness with face-to-face Lifering or
other online venues.
Questions or comments about the Delphi Forum bulletin board?
The homepage from LSRMail, Lifering’s oldest email group
About LSR’s email lists
 Lifering’s email lists include and start with LSRMail
and LSRSafe for general sobriety support.
 Other lists were made for women’s
support, food/body, LGBT, loved ones.
 LSRMail was started in 1998 by Tom Shelley, a
pioneer in Florida’s move to LSR at the same time
as California.
 LSRSafe was started in 2004 by Lifering’s current
executive director, Craig Whalley.
 The other groups, plus one for long-term sobriety
and a ‘sober coffeehouse,’ all started in early-mid
2000s and currently have different levels of activity.
About email lists, page 2
 LSRSafe evolved out of LSRMail for people who wanted
a more … “nuanced” approach to sobriety support
versus a more “direct” approach.
 Neither approach is inherently better; different
individuals may benefit more from one approach than
the other, or the same person may like aspects of both.
 The “loved ones” list is pretty inactive;
a great way to integrate online and f2f
support would be for f2f convenors to
play it up, since we have no LSR-Anon.
 Ditto for Lifering’s workbook study email lists.
 As for privacy, no LSR email lists are Google-searchable.
About email lists, page 3
 The Lifering Sober Living list is oriented toward
people with longer-term sobriety who wanted to
discuss changes in life from that perspective.
 LSRBody list is for those with body
image, food &related issues who want
to address them in a non-Step way.
 The LGBTQ Portal provides a supportive environment
for people in recovery who identify as LGBTQ.
 The WO-list is a women’s sobriety list.
 There is a Workbook study e-mail group.
About email lists, page 4
 The Sober Coffeehouse lets LSR members discuss
politics, culture, etc.
 There are several regional lists. The
San Francisco and UK ones have
been around for a while.
 There is an e-pal lists, for people who volunteer to
exchange e-mails with people interested in Lifering
as would-be newcomers.
 Convenors and online convenors have email gropus
too. I encourage f2f convenors to join there.
Questions about Lifering’s email groups?
The homepage from Lifering’s Ning social networking page
About Lifering’s Ning site
 Ning is somewhat like Facebook. But, from its start, it
was oriented toward groups, not individuals, starting
sites on about anything they wanted to.
 People can personalize their page
with preset template schemes, them
further personalize colors, fonts, etc.
 Ning has advantages of the Delphi Forum and then
some. People can do blog posts, start comment
threads, post music, video and photos to their
individual pages, etc. In other words, it’s a way for
people to share sober living and growth. An example:
My page from Lifering’s Ning social networking site
Lifering’s Ning site, page 2
 Within Ning, people can, and have, stared
subgroups. For example, there’s a subgroup for
people who’s primary, or semi-major, problem was
with marijuana, not alcohol.
 Ning is Lifering’s largest online
venue, with nearly 900 members.
 One good/bad is that Ning IS Google-searchable.
It’s good for Lifering “marketing,” but it is not
“private,” unlike Yahoo groups. Hence my alias,
changed from what was a blog “name.”
Questions about Lifering’s Ning social networking page?
Lifering’s online meeting and chat room
About Lifering’s meeting room
 This is THE meeting option for many people in the
U.S. and around the world.
 Many others prefer the convenience
of online meetings.
 Yet others like online due to social or other anxieties.
 The room is open all the time for “just chatting” or
“hanging out,” outside of formal meeting times.
 With multiple “rooms,“ it can host special meetings.
 The room allows for individual private messaging.
Questions about Lifering’s online meeting and chat room?
Lifering’s online meeting and chat room
Help on Lifering’s home page
 Lifering’s homepage has plenty of help.
 It has blogs on books and science
news related to recovery.
 It has links to a list of sobriety “toolbox” items,
“keepers” of sober thought, sober poetry, and other
“personalizations” of Lifering.
 Links to Lifering’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.
 Links to all the support venues mentioned above.
 Check it out and find out what you’re missing.
Questions about Lifering’s homepage resources?
Lifering Online’s future?
(Note: Thoughts presented here are my personal speculation
and not official Lifering stances)
1. The future of online meetings: From time to time,
users have asked about the possibility of audio
and/or video meetings.
As Internet speeds advance and prices drop or at
least remain static, this is certainly viable and may
draw more interest. Overall, this has both good and
bad sides.
Lifering Online’s future, 2
 The good is that it would increase the
connectedness level. The not-so-good? With video,
many people might not like the intrusion on
privacy, a reason they're in a chat room in some
cases, when f2f is available. With both audio and
video meetings, it might be harder for a convenor
to manage a meeting. And, audio or video
meetings/chats will surely cost more in terms of
chat server hosting. Finally, a “Loved Ones”
meeting is an area wide open to growth
Lifering Online’s future, 3
2. The future of Ning: As long as we can keep a
reasonable level of Ning service with little money
(our current level of service is presently sponsored
by an advertiser), this seems like an area with room
for additional growth.
With Ning having various apps, and the variety of
ways it can be personalized, I have no doubt we will
soon break 1,000 members.
Lifering Online’s future, 4
3. The future of the two general email lists and the
Delphi Forum: I see slow but generally steady
growth here based on how people are looking for
various particulars within online sobriety support.
Delphi’s structure won’t change; Yahoo Groups in
general may have changes.
4. The future for non-online, non-face-to-face
venues: Former board member Mona hosts a callin meeting using a teleconferencing service. This,
too, has potential for growth.
Lifering Online’s future, 5
4. The future of special-interest email groups: As
said before, I hope that face-to-face (and online)
convenors promote the Loved Ones list.
This email list needs an active leader, one who would,
I hope, be comfortable at some point with leading
an online meeting, too.
The food/body group, given projections about our
future in this area from no less than former FDA
head Dr. David Kessler, has potential for more use.
The LGBT, long-term sobriety, etc., have potential.
Lifering Online’s future:
YOU
 You are part of what will make Lifering’s future
what it is, including its future online presence.
 Your feedback to board of directors members,
regional representatives and others will help
make that happen.
The floor is open for discussion and feedback.