An observation, and a question.

[Terotrous]

CJ has aged, and the demographic for comics hasn't.

I don't think the demographics for comics is that young, really. I've always seen them as a kind of "for all ages" thing.

Well, sure, there's some that are just for kids (or adults), but I think things like Calvin and Hobbes or Peanuts are pretty timeless.

just my 2 cents on the chat drama thing. I don't think that's why so many people don't post anymore at all. I think it's just why people don't really go to the chat room anymore. Ops were taken away from the whole room having them long before that happened.

I know the reason I don't post much anymore is, I feel that I don't have much in common with the youngins that are piling in. I truely believe that it's creepy that anyone over 30 would even post in the main areas on the forum as a means of making friends and the closer I get to 30, the less I want to be here.

The above comment, quoted in whole, does not sound like CJ is trying to dictate rules for others to follow. She's quite clearly explaining her own reasons for not posting quite so much. In fact, it is only when she is accused of saying nobody should have any fun after age 30, does she elaborate at all.

Honestly, the part that starts with "I truly believe it's creepy" does sound like a rule, I don't think anyone likes for it to be implied that posting here makes them deranged in some way. If it was phrased as "I honestly feel like I have little in common with the new posters here and it's only getting worse as I get older" I don't think anyone would have had a problem with it.

However, this comment in no way got my back up, I was simply (jokily) disagreeing with it. Heck, there's always been age disparities here (like good old uncle Ghastly) and even if you feel like you have little in common with some of the new people, a lot of the old ones are still around and they've aged just as much.

I'll also freely admit that CJ was one of the posters around here with whom I got along the best and I'd be sorry to see her leave.

[Dracomax]

On the plus side, this argument totally supports my "drama increases posting" theory.

Your petty arguments make me look like a genius!

Then right here, right now, I will jump on the grenade and save the forums single handedly:

Everyone on this forums can all go straight to hell to suck on Hitler's dingaling while wearing furry costumes and murdering kittens.

*whew* You're welcome guys. Now comes the part where you all flame me, post in a hundred threads a hundred times, the newbies see a revitalized forums and start posting, and we achieve an upward spiral again. Sadly, in the process, I will be outcast and possibly ban-hammered.

YOu sir, are out of line.
telling us to masterbate...

[MariaAndMichelle]

No no, knitting is for the 50+ crowd.

Not when you're knitting mohoawk hats and bondage gear.

We're sure are those in the 50+ crowd who knit mohawk hats and bondage gear.

... We don't like to think about it, but we're sure they exist.


Also, our hay penny on the main topic: We aren't here as much as we used to be for a number of reasons... Graduating from college and getting jobs has left us with less free time than we had before, for one (boring cliche`). And then there was that long stint where our internet connection died, and we fell out of the habit of checking the forums. And lastly, the dreaded catch-22... other people are posting less, so we post less, which increases dead-ness of the Forums overall, which -- in turn -- causes others to post still less.

You know what? "Boo" on downward spirals! We're gonna go post a doodle!

[Rkolter]

*runs to the doodle thread*

[BionicDance]

Honestly, the part that starts with "I truly believe it's creepy" does sound like a rule, I don't think anyone likes for it to be implied that posting here makes them deranged in some way.

Exactly. It's a short hop, skip, and jump from "I truly believe it's creepy" to "I truly believe that YOU'RE creepy"; it's a borderline personal attack on any who don't agree with the premise that age groups oughta stick t'gether.
I mean, look at the language used, here:

"I truely believe that it's creepy that ANYONE over 30 would even post in the main areas on the forum as a means of making friends and the closer I get to 30, the less I want to be here."

Emphasis mine. The basic premise of this sentence is, frankly, "You're all creepy for having friends outside your age range, and that's why I don't wanna be here anymore...cuz yer all creepy. Ew."

If it was phrased as "I honestly feel like I have little in common with the new posters here and it's only getting worse as I get older" I don't think anyone would have had a problem with it.

Again, precisely. Had the comment been turned inward instead of outward, I think we all coulda just gotten along.

And again, this clearly her own opinion - every line but one starts with "I ... think".

But, BionicDance comes up with a very different interpretation in response:

Actually, if you look at it, every line starts with "I just think you..." followed by a should or shouldn't. The first sentence is about what makes you a "creepy loser". The last sentence is quite explicitly turned outward toward what society at large oughta be doing: "I just think people should get some friends around their own age."
And my different interpretation? All I did was ask questions. All of my sentences are "what ifs" and "whys"...except the last one, I suppose, but even that is still an inquiry.

Maybe you see what CJBurgundy wrote as benign, as self-assessment or something. But the words used were most emphatically not directed inward, certainly were phrased as social direction others should be following. Perhaps that was simply imprecise phrasing, but in text, phrasing is all we've got to go on.

[Rkolter]

You need to re-examine your logic. By your own statement, anyone who begins a statement with "I truely believe" is not just giving their beliefs, but now requiring all others to believe as they do. You've said that it was the laying out of a rulebook, feeling you were required to think in a certain way, that set you off.

But it is perfectly reasonable, and far more likely, that when someone says they truely believe something, that they are stateing their own personal opinion, and not setting down law others must follow.

Furthermore, given the thread is (was) about why people are leaving the forums and the forums are not rejuvinating the way they once did, her comments make perfect sense in context. She is saying why she, a VERY active previous forumite, isn't very active anymore at all.

You have reacted to her comments in a very defensive manner, but it was not called for.

[BionicDance]

You need to re-examine your logic. By your own statement, anyone who begins a statement with "I truely believe" is not just giving their beliefs, but now requiring all others to believe as they do. You've said that it was the laying out of a rulebook, feeling you were required to think in a certain way, that set you off.

No. No, no, no.

It's not that it began with "I truly believe", it's that it began with ""I truely believe that it's creepy that ANYONE over 30..."
This is not just a personal belief, it's a personal belief ABOUT other people. If someone says, "I truly believe that ketchup is the superior of all condiments," fine; no biggie. But if someone says, "I truly believe that all of you are complete twits," that makes it my business because it's coming to my doorstep.

You seem so focused on the "I truly believe" part, but that's not the meat of the sentence, and whether the opinion about the rest of us is stated as opinion or as baldly asserted fact doesn't change the fact that the opinion might just be the tiniest smidge obnoxious, or offensive to some people. "I truly believe that you're one ugly mother @#$%er," is still "just" an opinion...

You have reacted to her comments in a very defensive manner, but it was not called for.

For starters, I don't think I did; I reacted by challenging the assertion with probing questions. But even if I had, I do think it's called for, and still do; she made sweeping statements--opinion or not--about the behavior of others, and very negative statements at that. I don't see how that isn't the business of those who these statements may have slighted, not in the least.

[Rock_dash]

You need to re-examine your logic. By your own statement, anyone who begins a statement with "I truely believe" is not just giving their beliefs, but now requiring all others to believe as they do. You've said that it was the laying out of a rulebook, feeling you were required to think in a certain way, that set you off.

No. No, no, no.

It's not that it began with "I truly believe", it's that it began with ""I truely believe that it's creepy that ANYONE over 30..."
This is not just a personal belief, it's a personal belief ABOUT other people. If someone says, "I truly believe that ketchup is the superior of all condiments," fine; no biggie. But if someone says, "I truly believe that all of you are complete twits," that makes it my business because it's coming to my doorstep.

You seem so focused on the "I truly believe" part, but that's not the meat of the sentence, and whether the opinion about the rest of us is stated as opinion or as baldly asserted fact doesn't change the fact that the opinion might just be the tiniest smidge obnoxious, or offensive to some people. "I truly believe that you're one ugly mother @#$%er," is still "just" an opinion...

You have reacted to her comments in a very defensive manner, but it was not called for.

For starters, I don't think I did; I reacted by challenging the assertion with probing questions. But even if I had, I do think it's called for, and still do; she made sweeping statements--opinion or not--about the behavior of others, and very negative statements at that. I don't see how that isn't the business of those who these statements may have slighted, not in the least.

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays!

[Killbert-Robby]

In all my days on the internet, I haven't ever seen so much drama arise from such a banal subject

[Jim North]

That's what I love about these high school girls, man . . . I get older, and they stay the same age.

[Kirb]

In all my days on the internet, I haven't ever seen so much drama arise from such a banal subject

You obviously need to frequent more forums.

[Killbert-Robby]

In all my days on the internet, I haven't ever seen so much drama arise from such a banal subject

You obviously need to frequent more forums.

Hey man, all these kids talking about how much it sucks being 13 and having already lost their one true love, THEY HAVE REAL ISSUES, KAY?

[Jim North]

Some of us really did lose our one true love at 13! I was all like, "Please don't leave me, Jamie Lee Curtis!" and she was all like, "Look, kid, I don't know you."

And then security kicked me out on the street.

[Komiyan]

Haha jesus guys, chill out. she said 'I believe', how much more of an opinion can it get?!

I don't post here as much because I found a bunch of friends on here and I talk to them in IRC, on MSN or meet up with them instead. That's it, really.

[Killbert-Robby]

Some of us really did lose our one true love at 13! I was all like, "Please don't leave me, Jamie Lee Curtis!" and she was all like, "Look, kid, I don't know you."

And then security kicked me out on the street.

Now I understand there are true tales of tragedy out there, I'm just overgeneralizing for argument's sake

[Corgan_dane]

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays!

I'm pretty sure a "jump-to-conclusions" mat was used earlier in this thread somewhere, too.

Coincidence? I think not...

[Grabmygoblin]

[Risky]

D'aw, I love this thread.

[Jim North]

[Rock_dash]

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays!

I'm pretty sure a "jump-to-conclusions" mat was used earlier in this thread somewhere, too.

Coincidence? I think not...