jakoz
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2001
- Messages
- 3,140
Something I've seen written on here fairly regularly on Bluelight, often in reply to people getting upset, is that this is 'just a board', implying 'who cares?'.
This attitude irks me, and always has, but I've never attempted to put it into words until now. I write this now because it would be interesting to see a discussion on the topic.
To me, saying it's just a board, is like calling a marriage a fling, calling a university a school, calling a telecommunications network a bunch of wires (or a couple of phones, a better analogy).
It is probably *the* communications medium for the topic at hand. It is based on good ideals and encourages learning and intelligent replies. A good example of the intentions is the Aus Drug Discussion moderator BigTrancer, who probably embodies the intentions of the site. Users enjoy virtually free speech on topics that are not generally acceptable, learning to a degree that far surpasses the level they would otherwise have reached.
How can this be 'just a board'? The fact remains that even if a web board were not the medium used, there is still a massive collection of people exchanging information in an environment where correct information is always encouraged.
This attitude irks me, and always has, but I've never attempted to put it into words until now. I write this now because it would be interesting to see a discussion on the topic.
To me, saying it's just a board, is like calling a marriage a fling, calling a university a school, calling a telecommunications network a bunch of wires (or a couple of phones, a better analogy).
It is probably *the* communications medium for the topic at hand. It is based on good ideals and encourages learning and intelligent replies. A good example of the intentions is the Aus Drug Discussion moderator BigTrancer, who probably embodies the intentions of the site. Users enjoy virtually free speech on topics that are not generally acceptable, learning to a degree that far surpasses the level they would otherwise have reached.
How can this be 'just a board'? The fact remains that even if a web board were not the medium used, there is still a massive collection of people exchanging information in an environment where correct information is always encouraged.