Posted by Porker on October 08, 2000 at 22:29:06:
| ...Or at least the cessation of the TJ related message board... I am much saddened by the shutdown of the board, it really did mean a lot to me, though there is obviously hope that it can be reassembled as a reasonable facsimile either here or on another site. I have no info as to whether that will happen, nor do I have any influence over it. It is just my hope that someone will pick up where NC left off. I feel at least partially responsible for the board's shutdown. As many of you know, I have big problems with Lakers. It started with disagreements over his posts, and I did try to limit my commentary to that. In my view, Lakers turned it personal, which was greatly upsetting, I thought the guy was a friend, and I didn't handle it very well. In the end, I was motivated by a desire to turn over every rock and bring to light every bit of the crap I associated with his persona. As most of you probably thought at the time, this was rather silly -- there was really nothing to be gained from 'winning' the game. In the end, it contributed to the Redsnake shutdown, which for me is a pretty drastic consequence. I regret this A LOT. So... what have I learned from any of this? Well, I would hope that I would be more tolerant of people that I disagree with, even very strong disagreements, and focus more on ideas than personalities. For example, I could go off on a tangent at the moment about what I perceive to be negatives re: Douglass posting here under his nom de jour. But then again, is he really causing any trouble? Or am I just still pissed about past sins? Hopefully the answer is to not even worry about this at all. It seems strange now, but a lot of my negativity on Redsnake was borne out of a desire to stick up for the little guys. I saw Lakers as a huge bully, saw a big chilling effect on the ability of people to post freely, and wanted to change that. The people making up their new ID's to slam Lakers had credibility problems. Fortunately (and YES, I still believe I am fortunate to have done this) I have met or interacted with enough people through the internet-TJ community that this was not a problem for me. When I spoke, people paid attention. I think this is why this obviously stung Lakers so much and he had to attack like there was no tomorrow to defend himself. I misjudged the dynamic. I thought I could be a positive influence by shouting down the bully and showing him that his behavior was inappropriate. I counted on the fact that whatever cache I had with Lakers himself or the readers of Redsnake would be enough to bring about a change for the better. What has become abundantly clear is that it was not my place and was not a good idea. All it served to do was stir up a hornet's nest that became a nuclear fallout. As much as I valued the forum, it was not OUR board, much less MY board, and if NC didn't have a problem with Lakers board persona (he was apparently waaaay above that fray), it was none of my business to stir one up. My arrogance was SEVERELY punished. I sincerely apologize for dragging a good thing for EVERYONE down with me. I fucked up. I have no intentions of riding off into the sunset. I don't believe in changing ID's or using multiple ID's. Personally, I hope TJ Hombre (or perhaps El Chamuco? or BOTH???) is up to the task of taking this board to the next level so the spirit of the TJwhoremonger-internet scene can live on in style. But even if it means going back to spam-laden ASPT, I will post if I think I have something to say or until I am convinced that I am not welcome. I would encourage all others to do the same. Do I think the 'next great forum' should include Lakers? First, that is not for ME to decide. I am biased. In my opinion, I think he does have something to add. He goes to TJ a lot, has been around quite a bit, and gives useful info from time to time (with the caveat that his posting style makes it difficult for me personally to glean ANYTHING from what he posts due to the sheer bombasticism and town fool image he has cultivated). Even though acknowledging that he may provide some value to some, knowing him as I do, I doubt he can ever remove the negative cloud he has built up over the last 2 years in many different forums, and I think that is bad for the free flow of information -- something I value greatly. I still don't think anyone that makes a practice of personally disparaging other posters has any place in such a forum, though I would not be in favor for some namby-pamby touchy-feely sin-cajones level board either. Sorry for the lack of focus in this post, but I wanted to clear the air on some things. I am interested to hear all of YOUR responses and thoughts. Thanks -- Porker
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