gobbyidiot
LE
There's a recent thread about "is arrse dying"? A more interesting question - what kills every internet bulletin board?
Answer
1) Its defenders.
2) Those who don't understand the nature of the forum.
Every bulletin board attracts a cohort who imagine themselves to be defenders of the flame. Rather than address anything substantive they wish to police the board, preventing anything they consider "misleading" or self-aggrandising. Subconsciously they imagine their internet presence to be imbued with the authority of their real presence. They don't understand that a keyboard has limited potential: all you can do is hit the keys in sequence. Things (then) either make sense or they don't, they are either funny or they aren't.........
Nothing can be said "with authority", because i) plain vanilla "trust me" authority can't be established, ii) authorities of equal experience differ, and iii) people demand to see the sense of arguments to their own satisfaction - they won't "take it from an expert".
So the crucial point about any internet post is it should aim to be coherent and it should address itself to the substance of other posts, not the presumed qualities of the other posters. Often brains trump "experience" because there are plenty of total f*cking idiots with (it might seem) massive experience who have failed to learn anything throughout that experience, or what they have learned they can't express. A good point, though, is a good point, regardless of who said it.
There are really only two groups of people who really matter on arrse. i) Those who provide readable content, and are capable of responding in a manner that does not cause other people to disengage, and ii) those who click on the sponsored links and buy stuff.
Anyway, doubtless many of you will be glad to hear that this is my last post: disengagement is the only response once the praetorian guard have taken over.
But (and it is only opinion ) it is this "guard" who will kill the whole thing.
Answer
1) Its defenders.
2) Those who don't understand the nature of the forum.
Every bulletin board attracts a cohort who imagine themselves to be defenders of the flame. Rather than address anything substantive they wish to police the board, preventing anything they consider "misleading" or self-aggrandising. Subconsciously they imagine their internet presence to be imbued with the authority of their real presence. They don't understand that a keyboard has limited potential: all you can do is hit the keys in sequence. Things (then) either make sense or they don't, they are either funny or they aren't.........
Nothing can be said "with authority", because i) plain vanilla "trust me" authority can't be established, ii) authorities of equal experience differ, and iii) people demand to see the sense of arguments to their own satisfaction - they won't "take it from an expert".
So the crucial point about any internet post is it should aim to be coherent and it should address itself to the substance of other posts, not the presumed qualities of the other posters. Often brains trump "experience" because there are plenty of total f*cking idiots with (it might seem) massive experience who have failed to learn anything throughout that experience, or what they have learned they can't express. A good point, though, is a good point, regardless of who said it.
There are really only two groups of people who really matter on arrse. i) Those who provide readable content, and are capable of responding in a manner that does not cause other people to disengage, and ii) those who click on the sponsored links and buy stuff.
Anyway, doubtless many of you will be glad to hear that this is my last post: disengagement is the only response once the praetorian guard have taken over.
But (and it is only opinion ) it is this "guard" who will kill the whole thing.