Forums were a much better place before some people decided to think it makes them "cool" to be gratuitously rude to others, but God forbid someone disagrees with them, or they'll bring their entire club to gang up on you. Why is it that you think it's fair to be blatantly rude and come to people's threads acting like you're better than everyone? It seems like y'all will be mean to anyone who isn't already your friend or from the same club as you. You want to call people out for making "unnecessary threads" and "cluttering forums", yet you're there applauding your friend who can't even spell ONE word right and makes 10 useless threads a day. But I guess he can do that, because people will love it anyway. Hipocrisy much? Let people make the threads they want to make. If your illiterate friend can do it, why can't others? If you don't like the thread, you can disagree. But there's no need to be offensive for no reason. It's not cool and it's not cute. And it most definitely doesn't make people want to be a part of forums. I loved it here but I give up on trying because it's impossible to be welcomed by such a hostile closed group.
Are you talking about Scott in regards to the spelling bit? Did you miss the part where a majority of people ridiculed Scott? So idk where you're thinking the entirety of forums applauded him. Scott told me so much how he disliked how people treated him on here. It literally caused him to quit PIMD. And now you, calling out the oh-so toxic forums community*, are joining in on ridiculing him (or whoever it may be) because he isn't good at spelling? *And it is toxic; I agree. We can be very unwelcoming and abrasive at times. But I think some of your points are strawmen.
I really don't appreciate people calling each other out on alts. Its silly like... just be straight up about your feelings and share them as yourself. Why do people always want to hide behind anonymous internet personas, geez. If you cant share your thoughts and opinions as yourself then why share them at all. You obviously don't care about them enough to represent them behind your own name. and for the record, this isn't just directed at you (op) cause this has happened so many times before and this post is just the first one i've decided to comment on about it.
Forums are definitely not a friendly place quite often for new peeps and it’s encouraged to continue that path, however in a public platform on any app, site, even in person you should expect someone is gonna ruin the fun happy times. “iF yOu DoNt WaNt RuDeNeSs DoN’t PoSt” should never justify it imo but things won’t change unless a collective group changes it. Which ain’t happening any time soon, so really we just gotta accept it for what it is and try to make forums great again by making people great again :lol:
Additionally, the entirety of PIMD is usually very clique-y. This isn't a forums-only issue. You see this most everywhere on PIMD (and the world in general). I think forums just gets more recognition because it's public and the posts are usually permanent. That doesn't mean that people shouldn't be called out bad behavior. Just that it needs a wider audience being addressed. All of PIMD needs to be told to simmer down. And yes, I am including myself.
I do admit that I was wrong in criticizing the guy for spelling, especially since English isn't my first language. I tried to use that to illustrate how people will only be rude and throw criticism towards the ones who aren't from their "group", but their friends can do the exact same. I apologize for using that example. I'm also sorry for using this account instead of my main, but I've been lurking on forums for almost a year, even tried to interact but wasn't very successful because it's overall quite unwelcoming. I wish there was more interaction between people instead of always the same groups validating each other's posts, but I know the clique aspect and there's not much I can do about it. I know my approach was quite abrasive but it's just frustrating because I've seen a lot of people being treated unfairly here, and also I just wanted to be a part of it but could never since I'm not in the clique lol. I agree that it's not everyone, I've seen very kind and helpful people around here. While my original post has a bunch of things written in the heat of the moment that could have been said in a better way, I still know it's a valid and necessary criticism. Because I want the forum to be a nicer place so that people want to join and spend time here. And based on my experience, that's not where it is right now. It would be cool to have a bigger and "warmer" community here.
Forums is super toxic because people online are super toxic. There is a sense of anonymity online and, therefore, people feel free of consequences and repercussions for their behavior and the way they treat others. That being said, it comes with the territory and you need to realize that life isn't a bed of roses. Wouldn't it be lovely if everyone was kind and helpful? Absolutely. But. We aren't. I am sorry it has weighed so heavily on you but you can either try to build a thicker skin and take the good with the bad or become a part of a kinder, more nurturing community.
Personally, I felt pretty welcomed in when I first joined forums. There were some people I just didn't click with, and some of them I still don't (but I've also buried the hatchet with some as well). It took a while to get used to the rhythm of things but I persevered. I can see how most people wouldn't though. I guess a good way to view most forumers would be roasted marshmallows. We're hard on the exterior but a lot of us are very soft on the inside. You just gotta take a bite.
Nah, far from me to defend avatar trading. I don't want to say exact thread or names because I'm not targetting particular people here, it's not personal. It's just a general thing. I've seen people being met with hostility for posting random things that might have been pointless or dumb, but it wouldn't hurt to be nicer or to just ignore them instead.
Look, I'm relatively new to forums. Lurked a lot and one day decided it would be fun to post, now here I am. And while I'm not friends with anyone here (yet?), I was never met with that hostility you speak of. People are mostly indifferent to me. I just think if you start posting, keep posting and commenting things, people will eventually warm up to you. Or at least that's what I hope! ? I understand where you're coming from but I still think the forum is a nice place to have different discussions and cure boredom.
I’ve only been around forums for a couple months, but I really don’t see the hostility? It’s more like ppl who get offended cuz they can’t take a joke or can’t handle others opinions. The selfie thread is really where I see the most hate cuz of ppl who need to boost their egos by hiding behind a keyboard but other than that meh
I won't say there's a healthy amount of hostility... But there is a natural amount. If an argument or complaint is illogical, just ignore it tbh. Some feedback can be useful, and some can be ignored.
I don’t really think “ignoring it” is ever the best thing to do, at times yes but if everyone just ignores everything then nothing would change for the better..or worse even..however ignoring the negative by fighting it with positivity would be a decent exchange. Forums definitely ain’t welcoming to new peeps (new to forums not just stat wise) whether it’s because of the “clique” or just in general unwelcoming behavior. Just be yourself and not focus on feeling welcome or becoming like everyone else, it becomes more fun imo because in the end, fun is why we are even here