T.W.
Wednesday 11th November 2009 6:11am [Edited]
15,786 posts
I may be wrong, but I personally don't see much evidence of cliques or an "in-crowd" on this forum. Pretty much all of us were newcomers once, after all. Any suspicion of bullying is usually dealt with efficiently and fairly by the moderators. People will always have contradictory opinions and will treat debates about "serious" issues in various ways. Some will be very strong and defiant in their comments, whilst others will prefer to be tongue-in-cheek, flippant, sarcastic, knowingly obtuse or just try to lighten the mood through gentle humour. And these are all valid ways of expressing an opinion in such an arena. And, when all's said and done, this is a comedy site, after all.
People's opinions should generally be respected, unless they are so far outside the normal boundaries of reasonable debate that they require challenging from either other members, or the moderators. That said, surely everyone's views are open to challenge? No-one can expect to adopt a superior position and expect everyone to fall into line. The general tone created by the majority/consensus view will be heard loudest and, though it doesn't mean that anyone who disagrees with that consensus is wrong, it is unfair to view it as being a conspiracy against them personally.
When members do (either intentionally or unintentionally) have their feelings hurt through these discussions, the evidence seems to be that either apologies are swiftly made, or that appropriate sanctions are imposed on the offender. My tip if one does feel hurt, offended or victimised, is to check first if there might be something that's causing me to over-react. If, objectively, I still feel that someone or a group of people might have a problem with me personally, then I think it would probably be best to raise these concerns via PM with the moderators, or with the members themselves.
People have dropped in and out of this forum in the past and (usually) it's sad to see them leave, as in the case of Dolly. However, in my case for example, I recognise that it was my own problems that ultimately led me to leave, not those of any particular member or group of members on the BCG. The way I see it, the generally "happy" people tend to stay (unless their happiness leads them away for other reasons, of course).
The good news is that people often come back after they've had a well-deserved break and perhaps have dealt with other stuff in their lives which caused them to feel that being here wasn't helping.
I hope we'll see Dolly on here once more. Soon.
