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CaringandReal -> RE: Being new gives regulars the right to be snide..agree or disagree (10/29/2009 6:44:54 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MarcEsadrian
quote:
ORIGINAL: blacklion
Being new gives regulars the right to be snide..agree or disagree
It depends, but generally, I vote nay.
Where does it depend? Perhaps in how ignorant and scathing the newcomer may sound. Those two ingredients seldom win friends and influence people, or more importantly, help to build the tower of collective wisdom. That said, I've noticed some people place too much value in post count and general popularity. I had contributed here for many years under another alias. When I ditched it and started posting again, nearly everything I shared was poked, prodded or questioned in some way by others. Comparatively, with several paddles under my name, what I contributed in the past was often received very well, so this appears to me to evidence a slight bias in viewpoints shared here in relationship to thread count and recognition.
Humans are pack animals that interpret information based on personal context and social hierarchy, and the evidence of this can be seen in pixel text from time to time, too. Newcomer says something pretty brilliant and thoughtful, and it gets buried in the thread. Then, MasterThunderClaw belches out a bland, cynical truism and it's praised as sage wisdom. Meanwhile, another user's comments in the same thread are attacked due to black sheep syndrome. None of that is very productive. I think it's important to focus on what is written rather than the person or the perception of the person. While that may be impossible for humans to do completely, that turns out to be far more productive for all—albeit perhaps less entertaining in the end, I suppose. Therein lies the rub, I suspect.
Sensible and insightful commentary as always.
Forum group minds are a very real phenomenon. I've been watching them for years. No matter where you go or what the forum is about, these same patterns, some of which you described above, repeat over and over, without variance. There's actually a very wide unbrella of behaviors (the struggles within the group for leadership, for instance or the rollercoaster ride of the pecking order as certain posters come in fashion and then fall out of fashion), but the behaviors directed toward those "ouside the pack" are the most noticable. Some packs are far more bullying toward newbies than others. This one's on the mild end of things, probably because the moderation keeps people in line a bit. It surprises me a little that someone's stepped in to fill the standard "avenging angel" role. It's certainly a part of the overall pattern, but one that usually doesn't emerge unless a place is quite harsh. In terms of online emotional brutality, I'm sorry, but this forum just doesn't make the cut, not in my experience anyway. (That's a good thing, by the way! :) )
I fear that if I become too accepted someplace, one of the "regulars" I'll just start mindlessly acting like a member of the group rather than speaking as an individual, and when that occurs my usefulness will be spent, because I'll just be saying things to please the pack or particular sub-packs. I intentionally start over when I think it is reaching that point (sometimes in the same forum but usually not). There's only been one forum where it never reached that point, where I remained a sort of queer quirky outsider, sometimes tolerated, sometimes not. I stayed there a long time.
quote:
Omnes una manet nox
Hmm, I'm not sure how your sig got in this quote so I'll move it down here, but in response, Absolutely!
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