[branesergen]

I'm with Mel on the cliques. I tend to talk to people more my age. Im 39 and dont really have much in common in tastes and interests as the younger people do. I dont think its cliques but more friendships. You extend yourself to more people then more people become your friends and post in your threads.

[phinzphan1372]

Finally, there are a few bullies on here. Its their opinion or the highway. THIS is the #1 reason I rarely post. I even brought one up to a mod at one point, but since he was part of the "clique" they actually defended him instead of calling him out. That was wrong IMO.
I talked a friend into coming here, he got ripped in one of his first posts, and hasn't come back, and I didn't blame him.

That really sucks!.... I know EXACTLY what you mean... Most the people here are awesome! ... but there are always 1 or 2 "Self-Rightous-P%^$#s" out there that like to stick their nose were it doesn't belong ..... most likely due to post count padding ....

[jacobystealshome]

since a couple folks in this thread have been talking about me - without saying my name...and since i do have an opinion on everything...my 2 cents

1. i think most cases of "bullying" are just folks expressing their opinion, sometimes in forceful ways. in the case of phinsfan: you expressed a desire to do something very non-standard in trading etiquette, and a bunch of folks took exception to that. you felt personally attacked, and replied as such, which took that thread downhill (im not picking on you, i just thought that thread was a good example.)

i personally have only seen a couple cases of bullying on the boards, and that would be stretching the boundaries of that definition

people expressing their opinions is not bullying.

my favorite is when people explicitly ASK for people's opinions, and then get mad when those opinions dont mesh with their own. THEN DONT ASK (okay, ask: but dont get mad if you get responses that dont match your own)

2. jfrench says it is bad for folks to have an opinion (on everything). this is bleeping ridiculous. im sorry...that's what the boards are for...for people to express their thoughts on a subject. im not sure what else i could say on this. it's a fairly simple concept

3. as far as cliques...i dont see them. not saying they dont exist (i surely dont belong to them). but human nature means we congregate with other folks we, you know, can tolerate (which is why im probably not in any clique: im not very warm and fuzzy). and if they do exist, im not sure whether or not that is really a bad thing.

4. as far as posting: i post on threads that dont bore me. frankly, for me...maildays arent that interesting. i dont even open them 99% of the time. box breaks dont interest me. threads with 400 scans of your collection? doesnt really make me go weeeeee.

everyone has their own thing on these boards, and i think for the most part, thats a good thing. i think just responding to a thread without really adding anything to the discussion is kind of...non-productive. sometimes that is appropriate, but a lot of the time it's just posting to post

tl;dr version:

sack up, not everyone is going to like you, post if you have an opinion, not everyone will have the same opinion as you, if you dont like someones's opinion, float on by, if the thread is interesting, post something interesting, and dont sweat if your thread doesnt get replies, it's not a popularity contest. we still think you are special

[wavytiger1975]

I agree with jacoby and although I've butted heads with him before I realized that my feelings were hurt more than anything else. I have blocked and unblocked many times on these boards, but it was mostly to stop arguing with those people. As for cliques, I've always thought that was true as well, but I can also see the other side to the story being laid out in this thread.

Phinzfan you really need to get over it, I said something you don't like, whoopdedoo, it happens here all the time and my opinion doesn't hold much weight here and I certainly don't post count pad, I delete my last post everytime I rebump my trade thread.

[phinzphan1372]

People asked for opinions.... @jacoby comments were not meant towards you ... sorry if you took it that way.... the target obviously knows who he is ...

all I can say is if you don't like the content in thread then don't post in it.... why bother posting negative comments .... Takes me a while to get over stuff when people make me waste my time.

[jacobystealshome]

I agree with jacoby

*jaw hits floor* :p

although I've butted heads with him before

and let me just say: ow

I realized that my feelings were hurt more than anything else

seriously though: wasnt my intention. and apologize if i did.

I have blocked and unblocked many times on these boards, but it was mostly to stop arguing with those people.

been there, blocked that. unblocked that. block quoted that

---

People asked for opinions.... @jacoby comments were not meant towards you ...

oh, i wasnt talking about you. yall have been going at it through multiple threads

and let me be clear: you both need to drop it. you werent being persecuted, just criticized. and wavy needs to drop it as well, and not mention it every time you bring it up. squash it.

youre both annoying me with it :p

Takes me a while to get over stuff when people make me waste my time.

that's kind of a "you" thing, though. it's sometimes hard to sit back and look at things outside your own perspective, and it sucks when you get criticized. but just remember that none of us are real, just 1's and 0's on the net, flapping our gums, getting carpal tunnel, one keystroke at a time

i mean, LOTS of folks dont like me, and what i post. water of a duck's back (usually)