378 posts
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Post by Nelly on Jul 14, 2016 11:48:30 GMT
When I was a lot younger (14ish years ago) I joined a forum for a long running show, I came in with a lot of youthful exuberance about the show, cast etc.
It rattled some cages (of both older and younger members who felt protective over the show and board) and I got some snarky replies which I didn't understand at first but there were also a lot of people offering suggestions on why people were doing this and ways for me to avoid it. I followed their advice and actually ended up making some good friends because of it some who I'm still very close to.
I felt George was given the same advice and I'd imagine was also getting advice over PM too but chose to mainly ignore it, in my opinion. I also want to echo what others have said about this forum. In general, the tone is way more polite, friendly and engaging than any other forum I've been part of or watched over. I don't think anyone's comments including mine overstepped the mark or were malicious. If you put something out there, people are free to engage with it, challenge it etc. If you can't take push back every so often, then perhaps you're not ready to post in an active online community. Age shouldn't matter.
I also want to add my thanks to the moderation team who I think do an excellent job here.
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4,047 posts
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Post by kathryn on Jul 14, 2016 12:04:29 GMT
Oh dear. I thought George was pretty harmless. Especially compared to some of the 'characters' we have had in the past.
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1,724 posts
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Jul 14, 2016 12:18:42 GMT
When I was a lot younger (14ish years ago) I joined a forum for a long running show, I came in with a lot of youthful exuberance about the show, cast etc. It rattled some cages (of both older and younger members who felt protective over the show and board) and I got some snarky replies which I didn't understand at first but there were also a lot of people offering suggestions on why people were doing this and ways for me to avoid it. I followed their advice and actually ended up making some good friends because of it some who I'm still very close to. I felt George was given the same advice and I'd imagine was also getting advice over PM too but chose to mainly ignore it, in my opinion. I also want to echo what others have said about this forum. In general, the tone is way more polite, friendly and engaging than any other forum I've been part of or watched over. I don't think anyone's comments including mine overstepped the mark or were malicious. If you put something out there, people are free to engage with it, challenge it etc. If you can't take push back every so often, then perhaps you're not ready to post in an active online community. Age shouldn't matter. I also want to add my thanks to the moderation team who I think do an excellent job here. I completely agree with this. I haven't seen any evidence of bullying, just George being occasionally challenged about the value of posting the same thing relentlessly or claiming to have information about shows/casting which he was unable to share. This seems perfectly reasonable to me, especially since in almost all cases it was approached in a constructive, supportive way or in good humour. I've thought for a while the Sheridan stuff bordered on attention seeking at times, maybe a desire to be a forum "celebrity" if you like. The more recent posts about meeting producers but not being able to share what was said only affirmed that perception. That's not to say we should welcome his departure - I said in a post only the other day that I don't think anyone wanted him to stop posting but perhaps take a step back and reflect on why people might be frustrated with the situation. However, it's his choice to leave and I respect that. As Nelly says, this is one of the friendliest, most welcoming forums I've come across. I don't think we should let one person's decision to leave cloud that view or influence how we judge other members of this fantastic online community.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2016 13:00:13 GMT
I don't wish to comment too much on personalities, as it's sort of what got us into this mess in the first place, but I will say that I have felt alienated from several other online theatre forums in the past, which saw a similar rush of what we're calling 'youthful exuberance'*, which then took over entirely because more seasoned posters got bored and left.
It was looking horribly like I was going to be faced with the same situation here, which would be sad, because I really value the laughs we have here, as well as the detailed discussion and disagreements.
EDIT: *NB by 'youthful exuberance' I do NOT intend to insult anyone under 30. I think you know what I mean...
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18,902 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jul 14, 2016 14:26:00 GMT
Ok everyone, George decided to leave but let's not have a post mortem about it, especially as he's no longer in a position to respond to comments about him.
People come and go all the time. Now let's move on please.
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750 posts
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Post by horton on Jul 14, 2016 14:44:26 GMT
He can always re-register under a new name- maybe a little older and wiser.
Yesterday my password wasn't working so I nearly had to make a new account- it was scary for a moment! This board is generally a great deal of fun!
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4,047 posts
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Post by kathryn on Jul 14, 2016 15:41:49 GMT
I'll be honest. I think it's really sad that some of you are so pleased he has gone. There is an ignore feature on this forum and you could have used it. It bodes very ill for the health of the forum if the old guard keep scaring off newcomers they don't like. I've seen quite a few forums die that way.
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750 posts
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Post by horton on Jul 14, 2016 15:45:03 GMT
But then, the great atmosphere on the West End board on Broadwayworld was killed off by one persistently annoying and aggressive newcomer.
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18,902 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jul 14, 2016 15:45:51 GMT
And with that, let's move on. Thread closed.
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