I am not afraid to admit I love TV. I'm beginning to love it less in these days of so-called reality television, and have managed to hone down my must watch shows to a handful from the every-night-of-the-week habit I'd accumulated a few years back. In the absence of new episodes in recent months, I have taken to visiting fan forums for a show or two, hoping to exchange thoughts and quips with fellow fans. I've also joined some of these forums so that I may join in the conversations. That was my first mistake.
One particular board is actually pretty thorough. It isn't populated by flamers or trolls. I'm under the impression this board was started due to dissatisfaction with the official fan board run by the network's web site. Moderators make it a point to state they welcome dissenting opinion and promote healthy discussion. That is--for the most part--true. But there is still something wrong, and I can't quite put my finger on it.
Maybe it's the way they give hierarchical rankings to the members based on number of posts. I suppose it is meant to encourage newbies to engage in board discussions instead of lurking. At first, being at times masochistically competitive, this excited me when I moved up the hierarchy one step. But now I feel it is pointless. Why make others work so hard to feel included? I don't care how democratic a discussion claims to be, I have noticed, through observation, automatic weight is given to those with the highest ranking. Those of us in the bottom tier are left to wonder if anyone is even reading our posts at all.
I don't believe this was the intention of the board moderators. I'm sure in their eyes it was all meant in fun. But every time I think about posting, I'm reminded of a far-off time when I was part of another fan forum which did something quite similar and of the negativity and dissent it bred, how left-out many members of the forum felt, especially when their questions would go unanswered or their contributions virtually ignored. A graduate student once did her thesis on this subject by studying this particular forum (I'm even quoted!); about how members of any community (even an online one) tend to segregate into circles of influence. Why this especially stinks in the online forum is the veneer of social equality that doesn't reflect reality at all.
I examine my feelings too closely in this regard. I wonder if I'm feeling stung because I want too desperately to belong to something greater, bigger. I wonder if my issue isn't just with my lack of automatic popularity. And I really don't know (except for the last one - I've never craved popularity and the pressure involved). What I can say is I've little desire to prove to anyone I deserve to belong in those upper ranks. And as long as I persist in posting little, thereby keeping myself in the lowest level of the hierarchy, those posts I do contribute will garner little notice or regard, no matter how insightful (or not) my words. And while I can live with this, I get a little pissy at this idea of fake equality for which the mods of this board pat themselves on the back. While they cannot control the thoughts and ideas of those reading and responding on their forum, they helped put forward those thoughts by setting up the system in the first place. I wonder if it occurred to any of them what the end result would be.
Am I feeling a little superior in this? Most likely. But I won't be driven by self-righteousness to stay away. While I may never get up in the inner circle of fabulousness on this or any forum, I also refuse to pad my ranking by posting platitudes to the queen-bees of the board. I will do what I do best: speak up when I feel I can no longer keep my opinion to myself, keep it brief, check and see if anyone even notices.
On another note: I just found out Angela Lansbury has been diagnosed with ALS. I cannot express how sad this makes me. I think she is one of the classiest, most beautiful (still!), and talented actors I had the privilege to watch while growing up. I used to watch Murder She Wrote with my grandmother and still love to catch it sometimes. Jessica Fletcher is my hero: full of grace, wit, courage, and brains. She was feminism in action and an awesome role model for me. Even if dead people showed up wherever she happened to be.
One particular board is actually pretty thorough. It isn't populated by flamers or trolls. I'm under the impression this board was started due to dissatisfaction with the official fan board run by the network's web site. Moderators make it a point to state they welcome dissenting opinion and promote healthy discussion. That is--for the most part--true. But there is still something wrong, and I can't quite put my finger on it.
Maybe it's the way they give hierarchical rankings to the members based on number of posts. I suppose it is meant to encourage newbies to engage in board discussions instead of lurking. At first, being at times masochistically competitive, this excited me when I moved up the hierarchy one step. But now I feel it is pointless. Why make others work so hard to feel included? I don't care how democratic a discussion claims to be, I have noticed, through observation, automatic weight is given to those with the highest ranking. Those of us in the bottom tier are left to wonder if anyone is even reading our posts at all.
I don't believe this was the intention of the board moderators. I'm sure in their eyes it was all meant in fun. But every time I think about posting, I'm reminded of a far-off time when I was part of another fan forum which did something quite similar and of the negativity and dissent it bred, how left-out many members of the forum felt, especially when their questions would go unanswered or their contributions virtually ignored. A graduate student once did her thesis on this subject by studying this particular forum (I'm even quoted!); about how members of any community (even an online one) tend to segregate into circles of influence. Why this especially stinks in the online forum is the veneer of social equality that doesn't reflect reality at all.
I examine my feelings too closely in this regard. I wonder if I'm feeling stung because I want too desperately to belong to something greater, bigger. I wonder if my issue isn't just with my lack of automatic popularity. And I really don't know (except for the last one - I've never craved popularity and the pressure involved). What I can say is I've little desire to prove to anyone I deserve to belong in those upper ranks. And as long as I persist in posting little, thereby keeping myself in the lowest level of the hierarchy, those posts I do contribute will garner little notice or regard, no matter how insightful (or not) my words. And while I can live with this, I get a little pissy at this idea of fake equality for which the mods of this board pat themselves on the back. While they cannot control the thoughts and ideas of those reading and responding on their forum, they helped put forward those thoughts by setting up the system in the first place. I wonder if it occurred to any of them what the end result would be.
Am I feeling a little superior in this? Most likely. But I won't be driven by self-righteousness to stay away. While I may never get up in the inner circle of fabulousness on this or any forum, I also refuse to pad my ranking by posting platitudes to the queen-bees of the board. I will do what I do best: speak up when I feel I can no longer keep my opinion to myself, keep it brief, check and see if anyone even notices.
On another note: I just found out Angela Lansbury has been diagnosed with ALS. I cannot express how sad this makes me. I think she is one of the classiest, most beautiful (still!), and talented actors I had the privilege to watch while growing up. I used to watch Murder She Wrote with my grandmother and still love to catch it sometimes. Jessica Fletcher is my hero: full of grace, wit, courage, and brains. She was feminism in action and an awesome role model for me. Even if dead people showed up wherever she happened to be.
4 comments:
I don't understgand the forums. I was a member of one related to my favourite actor. I didn't visit very often, but when someone else said they were really being nasty about the man we were all supposed to admire, I went and had a look.
I started to make comments that were positive about him, and critical of those who slated him. I was told that it was a "free speech" forum. But all this meant was that the trollw were free to insult our man, but no-one was allowed to criticise them. I was thrown out.
I just don't understand why they remain members of a forum for someone they dislike so much.
I don't even "understand" them...
I look at it like this: you and I love using the Internet to create something that reflects who we are and describe our obsessions--including the hunky one we share ;)--and share this stuff with others. I think people like that visit forums because they have to fulfill some need to have their opinions spewed out all over the place. They are not sharing or creating. And I have no time for them. Don't let them bug you, Val.
Thanks for your comments, btw! Your page is my favorite daily click!
Thank you kindly. It is a labour of love.
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