I really didn't want to speak out about this... but I did over on the VCMB and I guess I will just C&P what I said from there to here.
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I mean, this is a really hard subject to tackle... but I think a lot of people have very good points.
Just in my case, in general, when people (at least this is how I feel) come to a message board, they want to entertain themselves, or at least have fun and be with friends. They don't want to see stuff like "This Artist Sucks Ass!!!", "WhY R YeW NoT TaLkInG tO mEeH!!!!?!?! i Am LeAvInG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", "I hate __________", "Newbies Suck", "The Old Timers Suck", etc. etc. etc. ...
I have been to a LOT of message boards in my day, and this is the only one I have stayed at for a long period of time because it has not been like that until recently. And no I do not blame the influx of junk posts to this board on newbies, or any one single "group" of posters. In general, most of the posters on this board are good and contribute to the board. It is just that once an artist gets popular, there will always be people who want to come to their board and start crap. And that is what happened here. And I guess a lot of the old timers don't want to deal with all of that BS, and that is why they left, or want to leave. And to be honest, I don't even feel like dealing with that BS some days. That is why I lurk and post on the important posts, or in threads that are not derogetory, etc.
And as for the old timers not wanting to help newbies? I am sure there is a few who are a little rigid, but in general they are all helpful. When I came here almost a year ago people like Joe, nikkee, Let, Mike, Tricia, etc. embraced me and helped me become somebody here. It didn't happen overnight. At first it is very discouraging, if you think people don't pay attention to you, but they do, trust me. I know most of the new posters, cause I lurk and read posts. A lot of the older members do too. And as having been embraced by some of the older members, I try to do my share to welcome newbies and that when I see that I can. If I see a thread that says "Hi, I'm new", I will always hit that up and say hi. I kind of feel as if its my duty, because if I don't do that, then I won't be giving back to the board, like I was given back to when I first came here. And there are a lot of other people who give back to this board who were embraced by the old timers too. People like Pete, Daniel, etc. Plus think about this, Kevin (BV), is one of the oldest posters here and look what he does for everyone on the board. He gets lyrics, info, everything. And then people say that the old timers don't give back. I don't buy it, I really don't. But whatever. ...
And I guess another thing that makes people leave is threads like these, because people don't feel like fighting about a message board, because most times to them, it is just not worth it. But hey, I figured I'd put in my two cents, since I haven't said anything on the matter.
-Brian
