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Is this board 'cliquey'

I don't think there area a lot of cliques around here. By and large, people get along most of the time here, and if there are any issues, it has more to do with an individual poster being picked out than groups going after each other.

As for comparing me here to me in real life, I think I am probably better behaved here than I am in real life. IRL, I've earned a reputation of a sarcastic asshole, and as far as I can tell here no one has really taken issue with me.
 
I don't find it to be "clique-y"...Trekweb is definitely "clique-y".

Quite the contrary, I find the peeps here to be pretty darned friendly...and the mods here are FAR cooler than those at Trekweb or TrekMovie for example.
 
The only cliques I can think of are more in line with a "new poster" / "old poster" type of organization, but that's understandable. Old posters know each other better, have been around each other longer. New posters have just came in from the cold, they're bright, fresh, gullib-, uh, open minded, and usually eager to meet people. Most older posters invite them right on in. I think I may have seen one or two instances of old posters ignoring someone because they're new, but that's been years ago.

When I first came here, I was welcomed quite warmly, but it was a different board then. Not necessarily in a negative way, but in almost 7 years there has been a few changes in the world at large which trickles down here. Even for myself, while I do my best to welcome everyone with open arms, I get awfully tired of the people who seem to log in here spoiling for a fight, and their opening post is "Kirk sucks!", so I am a bit wary at times.

Other than that, I'm not aware of any real, defined cliques.

J.
 
^ I tend to be as non-confrontational here as I am in real life. *shrug* That's how I roll. :D


I am actually the opposite. I'm not a mean person in reality but I am very blunt and I basically don't care if you are ten times my size, I'll tell you off anyways if you piss me off.

On the net, I just try to be less confrontational because I don't want people to read my posts and get the wrong impression. That happens elsewhere and people are surprised, once they get to know me, how nice I actually am. I know it's hard to get a reading sometimes on tone because, well, there is no tone in text but a lot of people read it as me being angry for some reason.

Agree with Kirk's Tights here, I'm happier to speak my mind in real life rather than 'on board' because my words are accompanied with body language and facial expressions which can further explain a message.
 
All forums have cliques, this place does... but it's not nearly as bad as some other boards.

Witness RPG.net for an example of cliqueishness run rampent.
 
Those people who are saying they see cliquishness happening recently... I wonder what each of them see? I would take a guess it would be quite different in each case... I think this entire issue is quite a subjective personal matter, and would differ hugely from person to person.
 
Thanks Trample for getting the link.
Kestra, that's just your bonus ;)
Mallory ~ and you think we didn't know that :rolleyes:
And everyone else, we are in agreement.
No cliques ~ t'is a good thing:techman:
It is still true that posts can be misconstrued however well meant.
I s'pose that's what smileys are for :)
 
Yes, but it's not as bad as other boards are. I was on theforce.net for a time and their version of Misc. is VERY cliquey.
 
Thanks Trample for getting the link.
Kestra, that's just your bonus ;)
Mallory ~ and you think we didn't know that :rolleyes:
And everyone else, we are in agreement.
No cliques ~ t'is a good thing:techman:
It is still true that posts can be misconstrued however well meant.
I s'pose that's what smileys are for :)


My problem is that smileys aren't my thing....my favourite one to use is the rolling eyes but, otherwise, I don't really use them so people take me way too seriously sometimes.


I AM JUST A LOVABLE, CUDDLY TEDDYBEAR WITH A WITTY SENSE OF HUMOUR, MY LITTLE RUGRATS.
 
I think you'll find the harmony in this BBS is such that everyone here eventually "cliques" into place. :bolian:
 
One day the Ignored shall rise up from their exile and uh probably stumble around in the lobby trying to get an appointment to plan their attacks.]

If, of course, you guys aren't too busy.

Hey, you're still here! :)

Now you can't be one of the ignored stumbling around the lobby. I'm sorry because I suspect you were looking forward to that. :D
 
I'd watch out for those people with green names. They're jack-booted bullies.

They even have their own forum where they can plot against everyone. :shifty:

When we're not busy plotting against each other that is. :D
 
I'm not sure it's possible for a BBS to have "cliques". At least, not like their real-life counterparts.

Wikipedia defines a clique as "an exclusive group of people who share interests, views, purposes, patterns of behavior, or ethnicity." Emphasis on the "exclusive."

But one of the most distinctive characteristics of an internet forum like this one is its very lack of exclusiveness.

Literally anyone can "join a conversation" in an internet forum, simply by posting in a thread. There's no way to stop them--not even by putting them on "ignore."

In real life, people stake out physical territories for themselves and their friends, from which others are excluded--tables in the cafeteria, or at the bar, for example. And in general, people respect each other's territories--unless they want to pick a fight, or engage in some other kind of battle for status.

If others do trespass on our territories, we either try to eject them ourselves, or ask others to eject them--the proprietor, or, in extreme cases, the police.

But an internet forum is a table that anyone can join. And if you don't like the company, the only way to escape it is to get up and leave--even if you were there first. And even then, there's nothing to prevent the people you dislike from just following you to your next table.

The closest thing I've ever seen to the clique-ishness of real life is a friends-only online game. And anyone who plays games online knows exactly why people play friends-only games: because the internet is full of assholes who like nothing better than to ruin other people's fun.

To have real cliques here at the TrekBBS, there would have to be some mechanism to allow friends-only discussion--that would allow the OP, for example, to regulate who gets to post in their thread, and who doesn't. Only that way would you be able to simulate the exclusiveness of real-life cliques.

Without such a feature, it seems to me that accusations of clique-ishness are just sour grapes. Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, I'm excluded, boo hoo hoo.

Well, guess what? There's no reason why anyone should like you, or include you. Other people don't owe you anything, and that includes their time--even the time it takes to read your posts at an internet forum, let alone reply to them.

If you want people to like you, or even reply to you, you have to give them a reason to do so. You have to offer them something, in exchange for their time. And if you've got nothing to offer, then expect nothing in return.
 
[
My problem is that smileys aren't my thing....my favourite one to use is the rolling eyes but, otherwise, I don't really use them so people take me way too seriously sometimes.


I AM JUST A LOVABLE, CUDDLY TEDDYBEAR WITH A WITTY SENSE OF HUMOUR, MY LITTLE RUGRATS.

Do you say that slowly in a really deep voice? Why do I feel uneasy :lol:
 
I'm not sure it's possible for a BBS to have "cliques". At least, not like their real-life counterparts.

Wikipedia defines a clique as "an exclusive group of people who share interests, views, purposes, patterns of behavior, or ethnicity." Emphasis on the "exclusive."

But one of the most distinctive characteristics of an internet forum like this one is its very lack of exclusiveness.

Literally anyone can "join a conversation" in an internet forum, simply by posting in a thread. There's no way to stop them--not even by putting them on "ignore."

In real life, people stake out physical territories for themselves and their friends, from which others are excluded--tables in the cafeteria, or at the bar, for example. And in general, people respect each other's territories--unless they want to pick a fight, or engage in some other kind of battle for status.

If others do trespass on our territories, we either try to eject them ourselves, or ask others to eject them--the proprietor, or, in extreme cases, the police.

But an internet forum is a table that anyone can join. And if you don't like the company, the only way to escape it is to get up and leave--even if you were there first. And even then, there's nothing to prevent the people you dislike from just following you to your next table.

The closest thing I've ever seen to the clique-ishness of real life is a friends-only online game. And anyone who plays games online knows exactly why people play friends-only games: because the internet is full of assholes who like nothing better than to ruin other people's fun.

To have real cliques here at the TrekBBS, there would have to be some mechanism to allow friends-only discussion--that would allow the OP, for example, to regulate who gets to post in their thread, and who doesn't. Only that way would you be able to simulate the exclusiveness of real-life cliques.

Without such a feature, it seems to me that accusations of clique-ishness are just sour grapes. Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, I'm excluded, boo hoo hoo.

Well, guess what? There's no reason why anyone should like you, or include you. Other people don't owe you anything, and that includes their time--even the time it takes to read your posts at an internet forum, let alone reply to them.

If you want people to like you, or even reply to you, you have to give them a reason to do so. You have to offer them something, in exchange for their time. And if you've got nothing to offer, then expect nothing in return.

Exactly.
 
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