Bagpuss
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2003
- Messages
- 830
This whole debate interests me. I''m not interested in the particular players in this thread, but I am interested in looking at how forums work generally.
Most forums I''ve joined have a core of regulars who tend to dominate what goes on. While these regulars insist that everyone (including noobies) has the right to post their opinions in whatever way they wish, the fact remains that those regulars, especially the strong minded, outspoken, blunt (take your pick of the terminology) ones, do set the tone for the forum however much they may deny that it is intentional.
In reality, posters aren''t equal on forums and it''s niave to pretend that they are.
In my experience, some people will use a forum to get info and then never visit again. Others will feel an affinity with the posters they find there and if their interest in the subject is strong enough, hang around and become one of the gang. Others will participate up to a point but avoid areas where they feel uncomfortable, unwelcome or outright threatened by other posters. Then some will want to stay but find that the attitudes of the forum (shaped to a large degree by its ruling elite) grate on them, they end up fighting/arguing with that elite and eventually, they may chose to leave. Sometimes there is full scale war and a new elite appears.
I''ve seen this happen so often that it seems to be just the way forums work. I guess that we all have to find which group we belong to and act accordingly, but to pretend that all posters carry the same weight is just plain foolish.
Animal Farm farm comes to mind for some reason - ''All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others''
Most forums I''ve joined have a core of regulars who tend to dominate what goes on. While these regulars insist that everyone (including noobies) has the right to post their opinions in whatever way they wish, the fact remains that those regulars, especially the strong minded, outspoken, blunt (take your pick of the terminology) ones, do set the tone for the forum however much they may deny that it is intentional.
In reality, posters aren''t equal on forums and it''s niave to pretend that they are.
In my experience, some people will use a forum to get info and then never visit again. Others will feel an affinity with the posters they find there and if their interest in the subject is strong enough, hang around and become one of the gang. Others will participate up to a point but avoid areas where they feel uncomfortable, unwelcome or outright threatened by other posters. Then some will want to stay but find that the attitudes of the forum (shaped to a large degree by its ruling elite) grate on them, they end up fighting/arguing with that elite and eventually, they may chose to leave. Sometimes there is full scale war and a new elite appears.
I''ve seen this happen so often that it seems to be just the way forums work. I guess that we all have to find which group we belong to and act accordingly, but to pretend that all posters carry the same weight is just plain foolish.
Animal Farm farm comes to mind for some reason - ''All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others''
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