Elitism on the Internet

[Takila]

No matter where you go or what you do, you'll find someone that thinks they're better than you.  It's often a small thing like their post count or the date that they joined, which they think makes all the difference.  They think that it gives them a right to shoot down an idea from a less experienced poster, whenever they deem fit. 

Are they right?

[Alistair Erie]

All I know is that I'm glad that things didn't work that way when I joined.

[Violet]

In some cases there may be something to it.  People who have been around longer and have contributed more might know some things that the new guy who just found the board doesn't know yet.  So when someone new pops in out of no where and suddenly acts like they know eveything, the regulars are going to react.  And sometimes that new person might actually know what they are talking about, but since they're new, they haven't had a chance to prove themselves yet.  That's not just online, that's in the real world too.  If someone walked into your house and said "I'm a doctor and this is an emergency."  he might indeed be a doctor, or he could just be a crazy guy there to kidnap your family.  You need to know more about that person before you can trust him. 

The difference online is that you're not talking face to face, so 2 things can happen to give the "Elitist" impression.  1) The regulars could be rude and really have an attitude.  It's easy to forget your manners online since you don't see the effect you have on others until it's too late.  We all need to try and be a little more considerate of each other.  2) Is more common.  People's posts get taken the wrong way.  You don't have the benifts of tone of voice, expression and body language online.  This is sort of an extreme example, but: If I say "Get out of here!" with a smile on my face and a joking tone of voice, you'd know I'm just teasing.  If I said it with an angry voice while pointing to the door, then you'd better leave.  But online I can only write "Get out of here!" and people will make assumptions based on what they think about me and the place I posted it, and draw their own conclusions.

[Mechadon]

Elitism is the very thing I'm trying to battle. I've had a hard enough time with it on other forums; I don't want to see it here. I hope many of you will help me combat this problem. I think one thing that helps is the Introductions/ First SPC Experience topic. It gives the newbies a voice and gives us time to appreciate them and welcome them with open arms.

I don't have much to worry about yet; this forum seems to be fine in keeping equality. But I have seen the seeds of elitism here. I've had an encounter myself when I was still a newb. Several people started picking on me because of my video gaming preferences. One of them explained that it was because I was a newb. I got over it; I thought little of it. But that's just me. Someone else could have been more affected by the encounter. When it comes to bullying, is it not the little things that matter most? 

As I said before, I do see the seeds of elitism here in these forums. They are unproblematic now, but could be trouble in the future. My main concern is one member in particular. Right now I greatly respect Burke as a community leader, but I fear that one day he will let his post count get to his head. Believe me; I've seen it happen before. One year they'll be the shining icon of good will towards others. The next year they are sexist racist pigs. They think they can say whatever the heck they want to whoever they want. All because of their post count.

My second concern is myself. I've been climbing the post count ladder very quickly. I have long surpassed legends like Tsuneko and Tigriss. Never in my life do I want to think I'm greater than them in any way. That's why I need some of you to keep me in check. Some of you have already been doing that (Thanks Takila ).

[Alistair Erie]

Well since everyone else's posts are so long and thoughtful, I thought that I would elaborate on my own.
I had known about the forum before I joined. What actually got me to join was actually some fan mail that I sent to Tigris for Nyanki Fanatics (the only sure-fire way to get episodes I knew of). She was extremely kind and suggested that I join the forums. (This is the first and only forum that I actively participate in.)
When I did actually register, I was rather intimidated, not having the strongest self-esteem in the world. However, when I started posting, no one flamed me, and eventually I was able to become at least a little recognized. Hopefully we on these forums will always be as understanding with newbies as when I joined, because this is the only goodly sized SPC/KNT community out there. We wouldn't want to disappoint the fans. 






(Sorry for my atrocious grammar, folks.)

[Daisensei]

I have seem thing more like the 2nd thing that Violet said, if one suspects about elitism here, probably it was only a misunderstanding. Sometimes one can hurt someone with a joke, even if it was not the intention. Each one has its suceptibilities, I know, so it's better to be cautious and avoid irony or sarcasm. Anyway, it's better to take things here more easily, preparing itself as it is going to war doesn't help to make a civilized community.
Come on, people here has been mostly well behaved. They are  than   , aren't them? 

Besides, I'm the 2nd in rank of post count, but I don't think I'm better than anyone. It means only that I speak too much. 

[Takila]

Well, I got fed up with some of the things going on in this other forum, so I posted this:

"Any prediction that I've come up with has been independent of other ones. Every time I post, I try to find whatever supporting evidence that I can. So that's why it might appear that I think my predictions are "goldmines"

You know what? You can never assume that you have an original idea on a forum with [big number] people. Frankly, I'm tired of the 'holier-than-thou' attitudes of you [experienced people] '. The fact that you are proud over spending more time on a silly forum (that won't be worth a darn once [certain series] is over) amazes me. Though if I am a[n inexperienced poster] , I must be very easy to amaze.

So [do whatever to] me all you want. I really don't care. Actually, I'll find it funny that you think it matters.

Your's in reality,

[my forum name]"

Needless to say, I felt a bit bad about it afterwards.  Things have simmered down a little, and we're currently not hating each others guts right now.

(I don't mind at all when people act a bit elitist when they've contributed significantly.  I just gets to me when they go overboard or there's no particular reason.)

[BurkeWorld]

Ugh, I've said it before so I'll say it again:

HIGHER POST COUNT = BETTER PERSON!

End of story!

~Leo

[KyoZaber]

Well... At least...

More Posts != More Gas

Otherwise many people on the internet would be floating up against the ceiling with a string tied to their toe.

[Schweinkenstein]

Even though I'm not Elite, a hater, a troll or a flamer, I still have way more problems with Hyper Sensitive, Easily Offended Cry Babies on other forums than I do with people questioning my integrity due to lack of posting or joining in later than other folks have.

Believe it or not, people have had problems with me making a bunch of topics when I first join a forum. Now, I'm sure anyone with experience posting in forums can see how something like that can be annoying but I did not do this in an annoying fashion. They were all elaborate topics that had very much to do with the forum's site or the forums sub-catergory.

This forum, although intimidating at first, is one of the most warm and welcome forums I've been on.

I'm also the kind of person that thrives on being pissed off. I get a strange joy out being furious about something, especially if it's over something general and hard to support being pissed off about. Haha. Makes me feel alive and makes me feel like I really know how I am. So with that said anything advice that I could ever have for you, may not be right for you.

No, these people are not right. Especially if they belong to a bigger forum where there are a lot of MVP's in the "I'm more of a Regular than you Are" game. The same BS happens in real life and in chat rooms and no matter where it happens it all pisses me off the same. An even worse example of this is when you're an entertainer or a blogger (video, text, audio, any), because not only might you get guff from Entertainers and Bloggers who have been around longer, you will also get guff from people that admire those other entertainers and bloggers. It's really disgusting. Luckily, most of the attacked Entertainers have unified against those other Entertainers and those who admire the other entertainers enough that echo or speak for them. Now these folks are just shrugged off as haters and don't really affect anyone's activity, though it may not seem that way pre-unification. If only it were like this on some of the other forums I've posted on.

Here's a way to look at it. Folks who have nothing but discontent for your online presence are actually acting out of fear. Posters who have the potential to rise friendships with others on the forum can attract bad attention to themselves when haters are present. You can do one of either two things. (speaking with experience here)

1) Play like a Professional in Customer Service
 Don't necessarily be polite, but be professional. Someone wants to have an attitude or use foul language with you and attack you perosnally or is just being a big time douche nozzle. Let them be that way. Let them continue to act like asses. Meanwhile you act like someone that wants nothing but cooperative discussion. Ways you can do this can vary. Ignoring them just encourages them to harass you more and be louder about it. The threads that they come bother you in, just continue to defend yourself, but professionally. If these people take it up to the next level, by fallowing your posts and attacking each and everything you write outside of the topic which you and the user have a dispute, you can stop all together and ignore them. His posts will be out of topic and singled out against you and other posters may not respect that. If they do respect it. then I suggest you do this
2) Confront them once and only once
 If they continue and you get no support from anyone else in the forum and you're getting much more harassment than praise for your comments. Just up and leave that garbage.

People who boast about their seniority can go fly a kite and pound sand. If it's not Manners, Religion and Tradition, it's Senoirity.

Jerks.

Haha, Sorry if this comment was uninteresting, uninspiring and just a plain bore-a-thon of nothing interesting. I tend to ramble but only when I speak as myself and not as a character and not as a "professional".

[Gryphman]

The only people I am better than, are idiots.

If you are offended by that, let me know. That way I know who to ignore. 

I'm kidding by the way. Well, the second part at least. >_>

[Purrcat]

It's the same with every group of people, be it friends, work, forums or other occasions where multiple people get together.

There'll always be people who by sheer egocentrical reasoning try to lift theirselves by pushing others down. It becomes a problem when those sorts of people are listened to by others in their presence. Those sorts usually have built a stack of people around them nodding at everything they say. Simply human group behaviour, about which nothing can be done. Best is to just ignore those people and get the support of sensible people by introducing genually good ideas.

Apart from the idiots identified, people like it when you first listen, and only after you've been accepted (by i.e. responding relatively neutrally to other topics) introducing your own stuff. This kind of behaviour will also shield you from the idiots mentioned earlier.

Haven't really got any other inspiration at the moment other than to type to just ignore those people you complain about. It always works best.

I guess I'm the Big Cat type on forums, see http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/index.htm .. I used to be on usenet anyway.

[Ksim3000]

Well, although I have only started posting here on Edoropolis, I must say that for a forum from what I have seen, there dosen't appear to be any form of "Elitism". It seems rather relaxed and I have been on some forums where elitism is very strong, especially on Global Political games which I do play alot.

For example, if you are of a certain nationality, let's say.....Danish. Your a small minority on a forum but quite high up. In quite a few cases, the Danish members (although I've never seen any Danes do this and this is just an example) group together and start running against the other players, resulting in some kind of "Danish Team".

Another type is when despite being on a forum for even longer than some other members, better positions and countries or what have you end up going to the "friends" of whoever runs the said forum, even if your a better forum member and player. Question it, you end up getting kicked or heavily insulted.

It's nice to come onto a forum where it is very nice and relaxed. I'm not going to point out which forums such elitism is common but what I have just mentioned is what I have experianced.

Anyway, nice forum we have here!