Why I don't frequent forums anymore

[AllenETreat]

A few years ago I registered with BladeForums.com. I then put
up my first thread and was immediately confronted by the forumites
that frequent there. They questioned amongst themselves whether
or not I "looked like a "troll"". ( funny, I never posted any images! )
After awhile this clique continued getting more and more sarcastic
( they just love that quote function! ) Then I ended up getting
dumped on in the Whine & Cheeze forum.

Ken ( Kasten ) who doesn't frequent here much anymore put it
eloquently : "they're just a buncha kids, Al." ( with knives yet! )
Having a terminal disease, a checkered past and such may not be
common to the forumites of BladeForums.com or here, but it's little reason,
IMO, to call someone an "AIDS infested phuck" ( that's supposed to be
with a "f" gang. ) I also "mis-quote" literature -

Paradise Lost by John Milton :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost#Story

Lucifer challenges the Almighty by proclaiming : "It is far better to rule on the
earth than to serve in the heavens..."


It is the charge of the cyber-idiot box geeks like this to form cliques in forums
( sorta like prison gangs ; I guess they're learning early! ) and "run the place".

Hence I try not to be involved as much anymore. I spend more time at the
Jam Session ( guitarists forum ) than I do here. So far so good, but I wonder...

On the other hand, musicians don't strike me as being uptight ( or snobbish about what kind of
guitar ( "axe" ) you play ) I also disagree that a pocketknife has to co$t $300(!) to
be "quality" ( witness the Spyderco MeerKat, Cricket or Jester )

Anyone else had something more than mere literary jousting done to them? ( Let us not forget the hate e-mails from the clique. )

What say the augurers? *

AET

* Here's another one : Why do I use this expression? It's a snippet from
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar ( Act II, Scene II ). I think it ironic as Caesar
was assassinated in, of all places, a forum.

[flipe8]

I still frequent a number of forums, but I have reduced my time on one forum lately based on a few particularly nasty threads. It wasn't the arguments per se, but how the participants were so vicious to those whom were in the minority. I don't see the point in attacking a whole group based on different opinions. When I started seeing that these threads were affecting me away from the computer, I came to the conclusion it was too much for me. I saw the mob mentality come up and I made the point that I hadn't paid money for a membership that encouraged this sort of thing. I did this publicly and in private to the owner, but it fell on deaf ears. I'm not saying I don't go back, but it's changed my view on the forum. To be honest, it has actually resulted in me coming here more often again ,as this place is far more civil.

[J Smith]

I belive it is an infection.It seems that over this winter many normally good guys have been very short fused(not saying it did not start before that but it seems to have gotten worse in the past few months).In reading all these threads it has affected the way I post and I have noticed it.I have as of late posted many things I wish I hadn't.I noticed this just a few days ago and I now make sure I read my replies very well before I post.In the last week there has been at least six that I typed a reply to and then did not post it.
Latest one I got in on that I wish I had never seen was the QC thread on BF.I have stopped keeping track of it.
I come to these forum to relax and unwind,lately it has not been that way and I will make it that way again.
If anyone has seen anything I have posted lately that offended you I offer a heart felt apology.

[J Smith]

BTW,notice the smile in my sig.
I put that in about the time I noticed that the internet was no longer making me smile to remind me why I am here.

[Dr. Snubnose]

I find most martial arts forums have the members (bunch of Morons and I'm being kind) bashing people (who are not members or people who don't even visit that forum, and most don't even have first hand knowledge about the people they bash) for whatever gain they may seek...they get to do this under the cover of a username...and will most likely say things they would never dare say to that person's face....I come here cause I know most people here would say to my face what they write here in print....be it good or bad...I no longer visit any Martial Arts forums....I hate the my style is better than yours and this or that teacher is no good ect.ect. My father-in law used to say "If you win an argument with an Moron....what have you won?".....Doc

[Axlis]

Howdy Allen!

It is hard not to notice that many people at bladeforums are not as "friendly"as they are here. Not that I'm the "friendly" police or anything, but some of them act kinda crazy. I've seen plenty of people who are quick to cut others down, or rag the company to start arguments. Maybe it helps them feel macho or something, who knows.

Maybe there's a reason you don't see a lot of them other here too.

It it were not for the fact that Sal seems to post "vital" information over there first lots of times (sometimes never over here), I put into question whether I would be a member or not.

[yablanowitz]

I know what you mean Allen. I fired a ranging shot in that QC thread early, then fired one broadside and left. Soon after, I check my exposure meter and discovered I had passed my quarterly stupidity exposure limit, so I have not opened that thread since. I really get tired of the whining by people who couldn't do half as well if their life depended on it.

Always remember, the ignore list is your friend!

[dete]

after having experienced what you said twice at 2 different
martial arts forums, after I had put in a significant amount of time
and posts, some people got jealous, I had my own following, but
I never encouraged that prison gang behavior,
so I left the 1st, the 2nd one was a forum big enough that
after getting a warning because wrote back to a moderator
that was rude to me, I went to the off-topic section and stayed
there, til the same thing happened.
so now I'm here, and so far it's completely different class.

[cobrajoe]

I applaud the people that make this forum great. Sometimes I branch out and read some replies from different places looking for some new information or at least some helpful opinions, but I all I usually find are constant insults and flame wars.

I suppose there are some insults here too, but I guess I don't usually particpate in threads such as those (SD threads, kids and knives, etc)

[Axlis]

I suppose there are some insults here too, but I guess I don't usually particpate in threads such as those (SD threads, kids and knives, etc)

I usually refrain from posting on those threads, but I keep up with what's going on .

[TeamAlan]

in my experience the quality of forum community declines predictably with growth in membership. once the forums pass say 10k members the sense of community declines as it nolonger feels like a tight knit group who are responsable for the quality of their interaction with others.

Anonymity takes over and people feel free to be jerks, and all threads become polarized, instead of nuanced and balanced. Loudmouths come in and start to define the tone, while moderate old timers are driven away by the decline in civility.

[Stevie Ray]

Good to hear from you Allen. Fortunately we don't have too much of that on this forum, but there have been more than a few flame storms on other forums .. Go figure.

[smcfalls13]

I only frequent 3 forums. This one(the home forum), the USN, and Bladeforums. Both this one and the USN are very cohesive, and they always feel like family, no matter how large they get. Bladeforums has always been a warzone so to speak. I haven't posted over there in a quite a while though, so it may have changed(I doubt it though).

[Jimd]

Perhaps one day you'll get a real treat, like I did.
I had the pleasure of actually meeting, face-to-face, at least one loud-mouth who thought he was super-bad-ass when behind a computer monitor. Funny thing, though....when we met in person, this fellow had nothing to say at all. No "I'm-in-charge" comments or persona. Meek and mild as a baby lamb.

Once he got back behind the computer monitor, Billy Bad-ass ruturned, and he was, once again, the guy in charge. But....he and I knew who was for real, and who was the lamb. And that's all that matters.

Being a real-deal guy in the real world, to me, means everything. He can have his cyber-battleground, along with his cyber-balls and cyber-bravado, because it means nothing in the real scheme of things.

Most of those people on those forums have no life, so they have to make one up online to be someone. What a pathetic existance.

[zenheretic]

Bah! I challenge you all to a cage match!

[CKE]

Things get crazy...some people are more fortunate than others to know what really matters in life.

Craig

[spyderknut]

Um, why are you posting in a knife forum about not wanting to post in a knife forum anymore because you were mistreated in a knife forum? I really don't get it. If you treat those you interact with respectfully, usually you get the same in return in my experience. If you are opinionated about religion, politics or whatever and someone angrily disagrees with you, I think you kinda need to suck it up. Whine and Cheese and Pirate's cove are not for the meek or feint of heart. If you get ripped there, you might have deserved a little of it. All this is just words and opinion. Not worth a lot in the real world.

[Th232]

Bah! I challenge you all to a cage match!

Oh yeah, I'll fight you on broken glass with one hand tied behind my back!

I agree with you though, Allen, BladeForums can get rough at times. Of the three main forums I visit, this one is by far the friendliest, although the HI Cantina on BF is also quite friendly. I partly agree with TeamAlan about the size of the forum, but I would personally redefine it to say that forums with a larger audience attract more jerks, someone who just searches for "knife" and "forum" will be way more likely to find BladeForums than, say, this forum.

[The Deacon]

Sorry Allen, but whatever your problems were anywhere else, this is NOT the place to air them. Complaining about Forum A on Forum B is never in good taste and, is almost certain to bring the "defenders of the faith" from Forum A onto Forum B to "avenge the insult".

[zenheretic]

Oh yeah, I'll fight you on broken glass with one hand tied behind my back!

I.

Ok, but I'm wearing shoes so broken glass won't mean much unless you sweep.