Are forums the panacea of today?

[Augustus Medici]

I'm sure I'm not the first person to notice this, but there seems to be an Internet forum for anything you can think of. White supremacy, black supremacy, StyleForum, AAAC, forums on auto repair, guitar repair, the list goes on. I think Wikipedia can even count as a type of forum-lite.

It always seems like the best place to get information on anything, from the most obscure to the most prevalent, can be most surely found on the appropriate forum.

Are forums the answer to all of mankind's problems??

 

[ghostdeini]

perhaps we should make a separate forum to discuss this further

 

[Quirk]

Originally Posted by Augustus Medici

I'm sure I'm not the first person to notice this, but there seems to be an Internet forum for anything you can think of. White supremacy, black supremacy, StyleForum, AAAC, forums on auto repair, guitar repair, the list goes on. I think Wikipedia can even count as a type of forum-lite. It always seems like the best place to get information on anything, from the most obscure to the most prevalent, can be most surely found on the appropriate forum. Are forums the answer to all of mankind's problems??
Mankind's problems aren't due to any lack of access to information.

 

[LARon]

No, but they are a wonderful way to build communities of people with common interests who might not otherwise meet. This, in turn, allows those interests to grow and foster where they might otherwise have shriveled and faded due to isolation.

While that might not be the best thing for fringe or dangerous/hate groups, even in those fora there are bound to be voices of moderation that tamp down the most extreme, like we try to do here in dissuading members seeking advice from wearing/doing crazy things.

 

[Tck13]

Originally Posted by LARon

they are a wonderful way to build communities

One thing that has been torn apart since (because of) the Industrial Revolution. It's not face to face but at least people with (as you said) common interestes can communicate and relate.

 

[LARon]

How do you think the disembodiment affect the atmosphere? For example, do you think the spirit of fraternity would be greater or lesser if people actually did meet, like in a weekly assembly? Would the dynamics of look and personality tend to foment politics and competition (which always seem to evolve when people gather in close proximity).

 

[Tck13]

Originally Posted by LARon

How do you think the disembodiment affect the atmosphere? For example, do you think the spirit of fraternity would be greater or lesser if people actually did meet, like in a weekly assembly? Would the dynamics of look and personality tend to foment politics and competition (which always seem to evolve when people gather in close proximity).

I think it would be much greater. It's always better to get together with "comrades" in person especially when commonality is involved. Could you imagine a monthly / weekly / nightly meeting / dinner / hang-out with comrades? Does that happen much anymore? I don't have a problem with politics and competition as long as it's in a healthy manner. Plus, the anonymity of the internet probably has more of an affect on flare ups than in person. I would imagine most people wouldn't talk to a person standing in front of them the same way they do on the internet.

 

[Quirk]

Originally Posted by Tck13

Plus, the anonymity of the internet probably has more of an affect on flare ups than in person. I would imagine most people wouldn't talk to a person standing in front of them the same way they do on the internet.
Well, another way to look at that is to say that people aren't as candid/honest with people they have to deal with in person. The trick is to maximize the candor while minimizing the rancor.

 

[Tck13]

Originally Posted by Quirk

Well, another way to look at that is to say that people aren't as candid/honest with people they have to deal with in person. The trick is to maximize the candor while minimizing the rancor.

True. And what you're saying would save a LOT of problems and wasted energy / drama.

 

[LARon]

As would a good tazering (as your signature suggests).

 

[Tck13]

Originally Posted by LARon

As would a good tazering (as your signature suggests).

 

[designprofessor]

Originally Posted by Quirk

Mankind's problems aren't due to any lack of access to information.

That doesn't seem to be the word coming out of Washington

 

[Joel_Cairo]

Originally Posted by ghostdeini

perhaps we should make a separate forum to discuss this further

metaforum.net perhaps?

FWIW, I think such forums are an amzing info source. Before any major purchase (car, electronics, clothes, etc), I not only comparison shop online and read articles and "old media" sources (consumer reports) but I also find a good forum to lurk in. Its a way around the advertizing hype, product-placement and othe paid-for judgement-clouders. Just imagine how many of us would still be paying MSRP for fused Hugo Boss suits if it weren't for places like this.

And yes, I do consider them real communities. I have more daily contact, via messageboard posts, PMs and personal emails, with "strangers" I've met in forums than many face to face friends with whom I've lost touch.

 

[Gladhatter]

Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo

metaforum.net perhaps?

FWIW, I think such forums are an amzing info source. Before any major purchase (car, electronics, clothes, etc), I not only comparison shop online and read articles and "old media" sources (consumer reports) but I also find a good forum to lurk in. Its a way around the advertizing hype, product-placement and othe paid-for judgement-clouders. Just imagine how many of us would still be paying MSRP for fused Hugo Boss suits if it weren't for places like this.

And yes, I do consider them real communities. I have more daily contact, via messageboard posts, PMs and personal emails, with "strangers" I've met in forums than many face to face friends with whom I've lost touch.


A goodly portion of the forums I have encountered do not offer sound informational leads to products as they instead tend to find a favorite son or flavor of the month variety and then avidly oppose via the powers that be anyone that would care to give out sound informations from an educated position that counter acts with the hype. Then they proselitize the weak spirited masses and act with pack mentality to execute anyone outside the commanality of their thinking, regardless if it is new common thinking differing from the vendor that paid them off last month.

I think if the same group of people met in person they would have mass carnage if they stayed together long and they would find just how flawed the photos are from the actual in person presentations and just how planted that information can be convoluted in a forum as well as any other media venue.

I could be wrong and all may gether up and all find peace, harmony and brotherhood on earth but I am not holding my breath.