Fun Stuff > CHATTER
Son, we need to have a talk.
Darkbluerabbit:
I don't really agree that people around here are so mean to newbies. I have always felt pretty welcomed, and I'm certainly not one of old guard. Sure, when I started out I was capable of being kind of a dick, but hey, people called me on it, and I stopped being a dick. Sometimes I even apologized.
I see new people come in and act argumentative, and then complain that this forum is such a clique. It is generally frowned upon to start making personal digs on people who you've just met in real life, and it's not particularly nice to do so on the internet either. People just do it, because it is the internet and it's so much easier when you can't see someone face to face. There have been instances where someone more established was unnecessarily mean, but others usually sweep in to defend the new kid. Everyone has good days and bad days, but generally this forum seems to be mainly decent people.
Discuss can get a little hard to defend, just because it seems like the majority of us are quite liberal, so some newbie with a dissenting opinion might get shit on more than is really fair. I can kind of understand why some of the more dickish newbs have come off as so dickish. When ten people in a row say "NO YOU ARE WRONG AND PROBABLY A BAD PERSON," you might react badly. It's not an excuse, it's just understandable.
pwhodges:
I have been posting since I first connected to the Internet in 1991. Even then there were similar spats from time to time; and different forums ("bulletin boards") varied on how bad these were and how they were handled. As the mean age of people using the Internet has fallen, and the sheer size of the Internet has exploded, some places have got a lot more unruly; but this place is as civilised as the others I visit regularly, in spite of not being dedicated to a single subject. One reason I enjoy it, in fact, is the opportunity to see young people bucking the all-too-common stereotype of the young being ignorant, feckless and aimless - I see plenty of evidence here (though not only here) that the next generation is not going to mess things up any worse than its predecessors did, and may do some things better. I find this rather a relief...
Inlander:
If this forum can seem cliquey, I think one reason is the trend towards addressing each-other by our real names. This isn't something that was done except in a few very, very rare cases when I first joined. Personally I like it: this forum has always seemed more like a community than a bunch of strangers on the internet, but to someone just starting out here it could easily make the place seem harder to crack. But then, I've seen relatively new people suddenly being addressed by their first name by some of the regulars, and it feels a bit like they've been accepted into the fold. I presume the reason behind this is that they've started frequenting Gabbly or Meebo or whatever the chat-room of the day is.
I guess Darryl/Sox's introductions thread is helping people get to know who everyone is, but maybe we need some kind of Who's Who list posted somewhere too? Just so that new people don't get all overwhelmed wondering who Jon is or James or whoever.
ImRonBurgundy?:
--- Quote from: Ballard on 02 Feb 2009, 14:07 ---To be fair, I registered almost two years ago and breaking into the clique was just as daunting back then.
--- End quote ---
Hell, I've been posting here for three and I still haven't.
Inlander:
Apart from your terrible, terrible username.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version