An Interview With G+G’s Siobhan

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Last week, I sat down and had a chat with Siobhan!

Blabbering Collector: How did you get involved in Geeks + Gamers?

Siobhan: Oh boy! Lemme think… I think it was 2016; I can’t remember exactly. But originally, it was a Facebook group. It was a very small Facebook group where a lot of my friends were in, so I joined too. Basically, that was how it started. I just got involved by chatting with people and talking about various stuff, and at the time, it was like a PG-13 group. You could not curse. You would get lectured if you did. I cannot remember the conversation because it was so long ago, but I accidentally cursed, and people were like, “Hey, you can’t do that.”

BC: Busted! What is your role within G+G?

S: I am the community manager, so basically, that just means I handle talking to people, people within our community. I take feedback and receive questions, and I relay it back to the team, and whatever the team has to say to the community, I relay it to the community. I’m basically like the middleman, the bridge between G+G and the community. I’m like the telephone, I suppose.

BC: You’re like an owl! What are the easiest and hardest parts of your job?

S: The easiest is talking to people… and the hardest is talking to people. It’s really easy to just talk to people. I don’t consider myself an extrovert or an introvert, and I love talking to people! I’m very naturally friendly and always want to make sure the best is [happening] for our community and that the community is being heard. I’ve had some pretty unsavory messages and stuff like that, too, so it can be pretty tough sometimes.

BC: How do the forums work? What is your favorite topic?

S: The forums work very easily. All you have to do is start a topic under the appropriate topic, and you just type out your title, and you say something! If you do post an excessive amount of links, it will get flagged as spam, and we will have to manually review it. My favorite topic is video games. I love music too!

BC: Which social media platform do you prefer? Why?

S: I prefer Discord! It’s super easy. Think of it like an AOL chatroom; it’s super simple at its base. It can be super complex as you want, too. It’s so easily accessible, and I do like Twitter, too, to a degree. I’ve kinda pulled myself back from Twitter a bit; it is becoming overbearing.

BC: Was learning how to use Discord a challenge? I just use it for memes and phone/video calls.

S: I think it was around 2018 when I started the server up. Jeremy was like, “Hey I want to start a Discord server. I want it to go live in, like, three days!” And I’m like, “I’ve never done a Discord before!” And Jeremy’s like, “Good luck! *shoves*

So, I pretty much had to learn my way through it. It’s a mishmash, and if I had the opportunity to go ahead and start fresh and do it all over again, it would look way cleaner, and everything would be more organized. I’m still patching everything together.

BC: It’s like a quilted blanket.

S: It’s homey!

BC: Where do you see G+G in the future?

S: Most of my and Jeremy’s ideas are still aligned. We want to be a huge platform where people can come to us and have a conversation. We want to be on the same scale as IGN, for instance. Not be IGN, but the same scale, because IGN is so large, and everyone sees IGN… Now, I’m not saying IGN is the most credible because they’ve got their issues, to put it lightly, but they are seen as authoritative. They have so many eyes, and people really listen them. They have such a broad audience. We want to be on that level, that sort of authoritative… where people come to us and listen to our ideas. A person can be like, “Well, I trust X’s opinion; I like how they wrote this article,” or something. They don’t have to 100% agree with what we have to say, but they trust that we will give our authentic opinion on things. We want the whole world to listen to us.

BC: You and Jeremy have different political opinions. What is your advice to others on working together whilst having such vastly different opinions?

S:

BC: Which three G+G members would you want to be stuck on an island with [for survival]?

S: Marc, Ryan… those two have a military background! Ummm… who else? Not Jeremy… I’m kidding… And Jay! He’s my buddy! Gotta have my buddy.

BC: What three things would you want with you on this island?

S: Is there electricity?

BC: You know? I don’t think so…

S: Generator, so I can bring my PlayStation 5… no. I would bring food… *giggles* I don’t know! I’ll have to come back to that one. Cheese and crackers? Apples?

BC: So, a generator, a PlayStation, and cheese and crackers.

S: There you go! That will keep me happy!

BC: How did you get into Star Trek? Why do you love it so much?

S:

BC: What other IPs do you like?

S: Let’s see… I do love Lord of the Rings. As far as movie tastes go, I have really obscure tastes. I love Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I love Castlevania; I love Fallout. Mortal Kombat. I love Cowboy Bebop. My IPs are everywhere.

BC: What kinds of video games are you into?

S: I really love first-person shooters, specifically Call of Duty. I don’t like Battle Royales. I played Fortnite before the BR portion came out. It was like a tower defense. I just couldn’t get into BR.

BC: Do you like to collect? If so, do you have a focus?

S: I have quite a Fallout collection. I collect consoles, comics, I have a few Funkos, stuff like that. Some Mario Kart stuff, some Mortal Kombat stuff, like I have a huge MK arcade cabinet.

BC: Will you ever make a YouTube or Twitch channel?

S: I have a Twitch. I used to stream on it all the time! I do plan on getting back into streaming, but my work schedule is so inconsistent that I cannot commit to a streaming schedule. I don’t want to keep switching it up. As far as YouTube goes, I can’t see myself making videos. I’m more of someone who does livestreams; I like the interaction with people. It feels weird to just film a video.

BC: If you had to go on an adventure with any character, who would it be?

S: Ian from Cowboy Bebop.

BC: If your girlfriend asked you to make her a sandwich, what would you make?

S: Oh, that was implying that I would! No, I’m just kidding. I would totally make the sandwich because I’m the only one who knows how to cook. I would make her a turkey sandwich. It would have lettuce, tomatoes, all that stuff!

BC: Do you have any haters? How do you ignore them?

S: I just don’t respond… well, depending! I do love shit-talking. Sometimes I just can’t help myself. Sometimes I can get really snarky, and it can be really fun. But then, I’ve had some really concerning stuff, so I’ve just had to try to ignore it.

BC: Do you have anything you would like to say to the fans of G+G?

S: Well, thank you for being with us! We found our stride, and now we are evolving. We appreciate you all sticking with us and evolving along with us!

Speed Round

BC: Favorite video game?

S: Fallout.

BC: Hogwarts House?

S:

BC: Lightsaber color?

S: Green.

BC: Favorite food?

S: Pizza.

BC: Go-to destination?

S: Florida.

BC: Narnia or the Shire?

S: The Shire.

BC: Favorite book?

S: Lord of the Rings.

BC: Klingons: ridged or ridgeless?

S: Ridged!

BC: Hot or cold?

S: Cold.

BC: Cats or dogs?

S: Dogs.

BC: Do you like Nickelback?

S: *Aghast* No.

BC: Run a mile or plank for 5 minutes?

S: Plank for five minutes? I don’t know!

BC: J.J.’s Star Wars or J.J.’s Star Trek?

S: J.J.’s Star Wars.

BC: Favorite ice cream flavor?

S: Chocolate.

BC: Do you know how to ride a horse?

S: No.

BC: Sky or the ocean?

S: Sky.

BC: Favorite sport?

S: Soccer.

BC:  How do you like your steak?

S: Medium rare!

Thank you, Siobhan, for your time! You can find her on Twitter and Twitch!