Waaaaaaaal, I thought about replying to this thread for some time before I decided to actually do so, and that is mainly to support Jackie, who, whether she's right or wrong, always tries to get it right!
I'm a Carpal Tunnel and Bar - some 5,000 posts in total - spread over two noms-de-guerre and I've been around since 2000. The reason I changed my moniker was to do with personal circumstances rather than any attempt to deceive or disguise myself.
Boards such as this are two-edged swords. When they work well, they provide a refuge from everyday stresses and problems. For two years, this board served both as a discussion forum about words - without taking itself too seriously - and as a kind of social club. Quite a few of us, old and new (and I was one of the "new") became off-board correspondents and quite a few of us have met personally and will continue to do so as circumstances permit. The other edge is the angst caused when one member "goes off the rails" and becomes abusive or takes on the characteristics of a troll. We have had, in the past two years, one abuser and one troll. The abuser actually eventually took our advice and left to form his own forum, where he became, and continuse to be, be king, judge, jury and executioner without let or hindrance from us. The troll is just that - a small-minded little man without the sense to realise that he's unwanted, not because there's an organised conspiracy against him, but simply because he's unequal to the intellectual challenge of sharing without needing constant affirmation of his innate superiority.
The fact that both of these individuals were what appear to be failed lawyers is neither here nor there. Or is it? I dunno, there may be a moral in there somewhere.
AWADTalk has actually been lucky, in that there have only been two such individuals in the past five years. Some forums that I frequent from time to time have an ongoing problem with the bullshit brigade and I typically take Father Steve's approach under such circumstances. I withdraw until the climate improves.
I PERSONALLY find accusations such as that baseless charge of racism levelled above at sjmaxq utterly reprehensible, and belated retractions do not improve my view of the accuser at all. It shows an appalling lack of judgement on the part of the poster. But there is nothing I can do - or any number of us can do - to censure such an individual beyond ignoring anything and everything s/he posts.
Talk of a conspiracy of "old-timers" aka Carpal Tunnels is just so much rubbish. Yes, several of us have discussed the situation, but the consensus is clearly that we actually cannot control people's activities on this forum - that is the bailiwick of Anu Garg, who chooses not to exercise his jurisdiction as bailiff - so we have shrugged and moved on. And, yes, we have another board where we discuss lots of things which are totally inappropriate for this board. That rarely includes the negative activities which sometimes mar this board. There are so many more interesting things to discuss, as friends typically do.
But the fact is that most of us still post here. We haven't quite given up on this forum. Some of the newcomers are very interesting; all are welcome. At least, they are until they prove themselves unworthy of that welcome, but that would have applied to no more than three or four newbies over the past four years. Any suggestion of a blanket "panning" of newbies is, again, just so much rubbish. People come along, dip their toes in the water, and either stay for a while and leave - and often come back - or they just stay. Not every forum suits everyone. Personally, the really serious language boards give me the heebie-jeebies.
Tact, patience and some small level of scholarship are all are required from anyone who posts here. The rest matters not at all.
