TurquoiseB wrote: > With all due respect, as I suggested when you first > posted here, it is the newbie's "duty" to spend some > time figuring out How Things Work On This Forum. It > is *not* the long-term members' "duty" to make things > easy for them. Do the work; you might find it reward- > ing. There are some diamonds here among the turds. I frequently join forums (not so much Yahoo groups) and having been involved with forums and BBS systems since 1983 realize that they tend to build cliques and can be a little hard to penetrate. But I just jump in. If they don't like it, tough. I posted something on a new forum the other day and immediately one of the people posted a barrage back not having anything to do with my post but because I had posted something that might take away attention from them. And of course examining that topic realized that is exactly what that person does. They are in great need of attention so they almost overpost in an attempt to get it. With years of experience you quickly learn who these people are when you join a forum.
In another forum on video one guy posts like a complete illiterate, he can't spell at all nor handle grammar. He writes at a level above texting. Maybe you'd think that he is foreign and English not his primary language but his videos display something different. His narrations on the video don't display any of this and he is by no means someone unfamiliar with English. He apparently never learned to write. But like the case above this guy starts topics and wants to be the center of attention. To his credit though he doesn't take offense if you correct him on something. What I often think I am seeing on FFL is some late comers to the Internet and online communication. They're a bit like the people who send emails, new to computers, who write "friendly letter" format which is way out of style for email where memo format has ruled for year hearkening back to the days of 300 baud modems or slow networks where brevity was championed. They don't understand these are chat lists. Casual communication is in order not formal debate. I think they expect a polite tea party and get a keg party instead. I'm on a few lists that are run like tea parties and they are a little strained (pardon the pun). And then we of course have the artificial behavior or mood making that the TMO has ingrained in people. Those who expect holy people to be pious and never use harsh slang would do well to start packing their bags for a trip to India where they've apparently never been and get a reality check. :)
